[newshep]

If you use strong words like "fake" then yeah, you were out of line.

First, thank you for all the replies on this. I'm still at where I was at the beginning--maybe we were both wrong about things.

Also, about the red string--it's something that I tied around the tip of my shinai from day one. It isn't really noticeable. He (apparently) noticed it once and told me I should take it off, where I apparently replied "It's special." It sounds like something I would say, but I don't remember it. Anyway, he's never said anything about it since whenever that was. I feel like if it was really that large of an infringement he should have just laid down the rules at once, instead of letting me (and the other kids) slide on so many things.

I don't think I used it too strongly. Here is exactly how I used it:

"I'm having a hard time understanding why we need to change everything about our routine when a sensei comes. Yes, I'm happy that we are having someone of a high rank, it's special, but sending a list of stuff we need to fix in three days is overboard, especially when we have been doing it for two years without you fussing about it. We're being completely fake. If you are worried about what he is going to say about your teaching, it would have been better not to have taken the risk by inviting him."

I, at least, don't find that disrespectful or rude--just a straightforward explanation of how I feel and why.