masochism

I have a couple of things about the Japanese that make me wonder.  One of them is the tendency towards masochism, though I'm not sure if this is the right word.

A couple of months ago, a high school student committed suicide due to physical punishment from a teacher.  He was the captain of a basketball team and had been physically punished occasionally.  I was surprised that there were more than a few students who were defensive of the teacher - they said the punishment had come from love; it was because of the teacher's coaching that the basketball team had managed to participate in the national tournament.  Wow.

It reminded me of when I used to do kendo: the practice was super tough (especially during the summer time when we had to practice with heavy protectors on when the gymnasium would be near 40 degrees) and we weren't allowed to stop even when we felt sick.  Because the purpose of the practice was to

1. endure pain and gain patience
2. endure pain and gain mental strength
3. endure more pain and gain confidence
4. and "reach beyond our limits"

Of course we practiced to become better at kendo but that wasn't the major purpose, or it might've been, but the way we practiced was not really rational in that sense.  I mean, 1~4 is obviously based on the idea that physical strength comes from mental strength.  Patience has always been the key element of kendo practice, but still when you're sick and the only purpose of continuing the practice becomes tolerating pain, you don't learn anything technical - it almost becomes a physical punishment.  After all, we're being hit with bamboo sticks in the first place.

It was amazing how students in the kendo club would keep practicing until they had to throw up or develop hyperventilation - something I might now call self-bullying.  What's even more amazing is that I was one of the students who sort of liked the tough practice.  I sometimes had stomachaches before practices and couldn't even sleep before camps, but the great satisfaction I felt after all the self-bullying was somewhat addictive.  Or maybe I feared the regret I would have to endure if I didn't do my best, and the best meant practicing until my end of strength.

So it makes me wonder if the samurai spirit has anything to do with the fact that we are known as diligent workers.  The Japanese culture probably values hard work more than any other culture - hard work has always been regarded as virtue.  And I actually still like it.

But it also sometimes makes me wonder if the samurai spirit has anything to do with the sometimes positive attitude towards physical punishment.