Ojigi - Bowing
"In showing obedience, your back will never break from too much bowing"
Etiquette is an essential part of Inu Jyutsu, being an honourable way of expressing your sincerity of devotion to your Master. Never doubt that pup training is an honourable pursuit, and honourable pups behave politely and treat one another with respect.
Deference to your Master - While it is not necessarily true that a pup with good manners is honourable, a lack of manners is usually an indication of a lack of respect, for others and himself. So it is important for a pup to display good manners, and show an understanding of and practice of etiquette. Just as etiquette provides structure to our society, so to does proper etiquette provide structure to a pups training. Etiquette allows the pack to be better.
Inu Jyustu uses a simple rule of etiquette - bowing, where you lower your head in deference to your Master. Proper bowing is called Ojigi. While bowing is the customary greeting in Japanese society, it is more than the western equivalent of a handshake. Bowing is how a pup shows humility and respect to his Master. If you are too full of yourself with ego to bow, then you will inevitably find yourself resisting instruction and correction in training. When you bow, give your full attention to the action pup. Do not let your eyes or your attention wander.
Vows of Pride - You are a human pup, like any other human pup, so why should you ever feel inferior to them? All of your practice as a pup, if it is not done with a great sense of arrogance, is of no use. If you do not think that you will hold up reputation of the Sirius Pup Clan all by yourself, then you are failing at your practice. You must must vows to keep up your strength in your practice as a pup.
"I will not fall behind in Inu Jyutsu
I will be of use to my Master
I will be loyal to my Clan
I will be good and helpful to others"
Never forget the fundamentals - Pups who work hard at their practice out of dedication to being a pup usually become haughty and puffed up with pride, forgetting the fundamental thing. What a pup must do is to get rid of extraneous and distracting thoughts, love and cherish his Master in a down to earth way, and give his heart to service. A pup should always endeavour to return to the root of puphood, so that his pride is balanced with common sense.
The inside might be the skin of a puppy, but on the outside show the skin of a fiercely loyal dog.
The obedience you show when you are happily playing with your Master is not the real obedience. The devotion you give and perform when you are facing trouble and it is a struggle to serve your Master - that is true service. You must understand this point pup very, very well. You must not show weakness and stray from your obedience no matter how difficult the circumstances.
As the water rises the boat also rises
When a pup of talent or a pup proficient and skilled encounters difficulty, his heart rises to meet the challenge. The greater the challenge, the more he is spurred to take it on. This is a vast difference from a pup who thinks of the difficulty as just trouble. Your skill in pup play enables you to meet challenges.
