The Way of Tea: Insights from Tea Master Randy Channell Soei

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What is Urasenke?

In Japan, some establishments offer tea ceremonies conducted by a tea master; people are amazed at how precisely executed each ceremony is. It turns out that it takes a lot of studies to become an effective tea master. Randy, a Canadian tea master, shares what it takes to become one and defines what Urasenke is and what they do.

A school carrying on the 'way of tea'

Nick: Sensei, you live in Kyoto where you teach the tradition of Urasenke. So let's start with that, you are a chajin, a “tea master." So what does that involve as a profession and what is Urasenke?

Randy: Let's start with your last part, what is Urasenke. I'm sure many of your viewers are familiar with traditional Japanese culture and arts, from the martial arts to different kinds of like musical plays or even dance things.

And each of these traditions will have separate schools or traditions if you want to call them, and so Urasenke is one of the schools that is responsible for carrying on the way of tea.

Urasenke tradition is by far the largest school of tea in Japan, also largest internationally as the previous Grand Tea Master, Dr. Sen Genshitsu has been travelling all over the world for the past 16 years promoting the way of tea and his motto: "From peacefulness through a bowl of tea." 

The blood lineage of the Senke families, there are three families we call the san-Senke, and the blood lineage stems from Sen no Rikyu. So the traditions, of course, stem from the same person, so our ideals and philosophies are very much similar.

It's just kind of what I do with the left hand, you do with the right hand kind of differences, but generally speaking, we cover the same principles of Wa Kei Sei Jakyu, which in English translates to harmony, respect, purity and, tranquility.

So we kind of follow these guidelines as we serve tea to various people that we serve it to. 

Nick: So the other part was, as a tea master as a profession. What does that involve?

Randy: I'll be honest, there are very few professional tea teachers. A lot of people will have the license to do it and do it as a hobby, but people that actually make their living from it are very few.

So what that entails is, of course, a lot of study to be able to get to the degree that you need to achieve to be able to teach somebody.

In my particular case, I came to Japan a very long time ago, and I started just with martial arts, but I came to Kyoto in 1993 to enter a technical college here that teaches the way of tea.

The technical college is of course related to Urasenke, the tradition I follow, so I went to that school for three years course, and then I graduated in 96 and started teaching from that time. 

Of course, there are different ways that you can teach it but as you mentioned in the introduction, I do teach all facets and all of it.

So aside from just the knowledge, just the actual practicality of it, the logistics of it is kind of daunting, you need to acquire a large collection of utensils to be able to show different facets of the way of tea, seasonal, things change and stuff like that.

So it's a never ending process to be perfectly honest, or a cluttering process, if you would. I have a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have.

Nick: But that seems to be the way of many Japanese fine arts, there never seems to be an end to it.

Cha No Yu (The Way of Tea)

When you study tea ceremony, you'll understand there's a difference between conducting a tea ceremony for everyday lives and performing it for a ceremonial aspect.

Randy shares that they prefer to call the daily application of the "way of tea" as cha no yu (hot water for tea), where they try to put the principles of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility into balance.

Being served sweet with a bowl of tea

Nick: So what I've learned from researching you, Sensei, is that the translation tea ceremony doesn't best describe what cha no yu represents. So would you like to talk about that?

Randy: Interestingly enough, our school doesn't like to use the term tea ceremony, other schools will use it, and to be perfectly honest, up late even our schools tend to use it a little bit because everybody knows it is the tea ceremony.

But what we want to avoid is the ceremonial aspect of that. So it's something that, if the grand tea master or his father does a ceremonial serving in a temple or shrine or a funeral, even, that is more of a ceremonial style.

But what we do in our everyday lives is to try to put these principles of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility, into balance. 

So it's something that shouldn't be really ceremonial. Of course, looking at it from the outside, it might appear to be ceremonial, but the term that I prefer is cha no yu, which just means hot water for tea.

But if you take the actual term, in Japanese, the majority of people will call it sado. But in our tradition, we prefer to call it chado, like Judo, Kendo, these are terms that go together.

So it's something that just trying to bring it into everyday life would be the major point that I would try to say, it's not that ceremonial, it might look it, but when you understand a little bit more about it, then you can see it's more of a practical basis. 

Nick: I did have a tea ceremony experience a long time ago, when I first went to Japan in '95, with my employer. Then on a recent trip, I had something far less formal, it was just as someone made me a beautiful cup of matcha in a Kyoto garden.

So in a sense, it wasn't really a way of tea experience, but it still felt, actually that experience probably was more enjoyable than the first one because I remember the first one, I was thinking about my sore legs after about five minutes of sitting on my knees.

I do like the way you express that it can be a ceremony in the context of perhaps a funeral or when you're welcoming important guests, or if there's an occasion but also it is just drinking tea with someone being the host and someone being the guest.

Zanshin and Mushin

Randy introduces two key concepts, zanshin and mushin, explaining their significance in the tea ceremony and their broader applications to other Japanese arts.

Being 'in the groove'

Nick: There are two other words, I've discovered through researching you sensei, and that's zanshin and mushin, and again, they are related to tea, and I believe zanshin is also related to martial arts.

Randy: As is mushin. For me, zanshin was one of the most powerful phrases when I was doing martial arts. I refer to it in a very simplistic way as situational awareness.

Meaning that if I'm fighting somebody, and I knock them down, or if I'm doing Iaido know what zanshin is, you make your cut, and then you assess that, you're not just going to put your blade away and walk away, you want to make sure that your opponent is actually down and done, he's not going to get back up and lock you in the back of the head when you're not looking. 

So this kind of situational awareness, or this awareness is very important, and in tea, I kind of describe it, it's a little bit different, the actual two Chinese characters for that is Mokorino Kokoro, lingering heart for an English explanation, the leftover, zan, it's left over heart.

There is one phrase in the poems of the 100 poems of Rikyu, where it states that we should not, for example, this is probably kind of out of my book as if I'm wiping the caner that holds the tea, that process is not finished after I'm finished wiping, I have to put the piece down and then I have to pay attention to where I'm going next. 

So I'm not just okay, that's done next, there has to be an element of a flow to it and so the in the way of tea in these 100 poems of Rikyu, there's one poem that says that, when you release an item, you should be like releasing your hand from the face of a lover that you're not going to meet for a long time.

So you're not just going to take it away, it's going to be more of a lingering part, your lingering heart. 

Nick: That's a beautiful way to frame it.

Randy: Yes, it struck me quite, very interesting, one of the other YouTube videos that I recommended to you was where Peter was being hosted by Yamamoto sensei.

There's a part in that video where Yamamoto sensei puts up the tea bowl for Peter, and when he releases his hand from the tea bowl, it just floored me. It was just so elegant. It was just exactly what I talked about.

You can just see that zanshin. To this day, I've been trying to duplicate that from Yamamoto sensei, but I don't quite have it. So that was quite nice, it looked like it was slow motion, but it wasn't, it was just like he just put it down and then let go, it was very elegant, the movement was very elegant, lots of heart.

Nick: I did actually notice the movements of the tea master and also the guests, and one guest after he's taken a sip and he's slowly put the ball down, he gets his right hand and kind of angles it down and puts on his knee on top of his kimono.

I'm thinking that is an expression of gratitude. So as he had a sip, he put the ball down because I think he was going to share it to the next person, but as he did that, his right hand was almost pointed down like that on an angle and on top of his right knee.

It looks so precise and purposeful. 

Randy: What would happen probably is he took a sip, and then the host would have asked him how was the tea, so then he takes his right hand down to bow and puts it down in front of him, and he bows to the host, and he says, "It was very nice, thank you."

So when he's sipping, after he's made the first sip, the host will say, "How is the tea?" and he will take that and bow to the host and say, "Kekkou desu."

Nick: Yeah, he bowed, maybe they removed the audio. 

Randy: But yeah, probably they were having a talk over it.

Nick: So there's this elegance of movement. But I was thinking, you know, if I were to describe the way of tea, or what is described as a tea ceremony, I was thinking you describe it as sort of precision and action and subtlety in communication.

Randy: Very much so, yes. There's a lot of silent communication as well, like I said, the sound of the guest drinking the tea, the host isn't watching him, he's sitting away looking away.

So when he hears the first sip, the host would know to ask, so it's this silent, nonverbal communication, and so this plays into the elegance of the gathering as well. This sign of respect and harmony and purity, they all play into each part of it.

So definitely, the way you explain it is fine, it's a very good way to talk about it. Then getting back to your other term, which was mushin, again, the previous one was zanshin. Shin means heart in Japanese kokoro. 

So zanshin leftover heart; mushin means no heart. But it doesn't mean cold hearted or no heart, like that, it's a totally different concept. To actually translate it in my book is "in the groove."

Nick: Yeah, I like that translation. 

Japanese Culture: A World Treasure

With its rich culture that has been developed over the centuries for the tradition, Randy describes Japan as a "world treasure that everyone can enjoy," which can be proven by the number of people from different countries showing their interest in Japan.

The appeal of Japanese culture

Nick: And finally, you describe Japanese culture as a world treasure that everyone can enjoy. And yes, I'm in agreement with you.

But what, what makes you believe that just being in Japan for so long, and realizing there's so much to learn from Japanese culture, or is this something else?

Randy: Yes, that for sure. But also the expressed interest of people from overseas in Japanese culture. Like Of course, I mean, Kyoto, and up until just recently, it was the mecca for tourists.

There were many people from all over the world who would come and all of them expressed this interest. A lot of people come to Japan, Kyoto.

It's interesting, though, a lot of people see Japan as this cultural, historical enclave, but really, Kyoto's a very forward looking city. If we take the tea ceremony, for example. Back then, it wasn't a historical traditional thing.

It was something that was new and avant garde, so the Kyoto people are always looking to the future. 

And so, but the culture of it is something that has been developed for the tradition, it is something that developed over the centuries. And so of course, to protect that tradition, we have the grand tea masters and the families that are protecting the tradition.

But even then, we're looking forward, like I said, In 1872, we developed this tea bowl for foreigners. And so that was at the time probably, well, what are you doing, you know, kind of avant garde again, there.

So yes, it's something that is taken into consideration. But I think that at the end of the day, the spiritual, I don't like the word, but the philosophical side of Japanese culture appeals to a lot of people from different nations.

And that's why there's such a great appeal for it. And it's something that I find, of course, going in depth into it, I can experience it a bit more, but I can see the fascination with it for people that are just being introduced to it. For the first time.

What Led Me to The “Way of Tea”

Before becoming a tea master, Randy was into various martial arts: kickboxing, taekwondo, and wing chun, to name a few. However, during his martial arts journey, he sought some balance between the martial side with something cultural, which directed him to the "way of tea."

Balancing martial arts with something cultural

Nick: So sensei your journey to becoming a tea master is really interesting. So originally, you were from Canada, and you came to Japan in the 80s to study Budo. But weren't you studying kung fu in Hong Kong before that?

Randy: Yes, I was. In Canada, I was doing a little bit of martial arts, I was kickboxing and things like that, and Taekwondo, and some Wing Chun originally brought me to Hong Kong with a friend of mine.

So we went to Hong Kong, he was actually a Chinese fellow that was being introduced to his wife to be, so he said, he's going to Hong Kong and I said, okay, I'll go with you. So he left and I went with them, and just kind of never went back.

I went back to Canada a couple times in the interim, but I started doing kung fu in Hong Kong, and then about eight 8 or 10 years ago, I can't remember. 

It was probably my age and my understanding of things. I wasn't really satisfied with the way my kung fu is progressing. So I wanted to find something a little bit more with a path, michi, the way. 

So any of the Japanese martial arts are very easy to understand, they usually ended with the Chinese character for path or way. So originally, I wanted to come to Japan to study kendo, and then Iaido, the art of drawing the sword.

So I left Hong Kong to come to Japan to study martial arts, and I can't remember the exact year '84 '85 something like that.

Nick: I know you studied several including kendo, Judo, and Iaido, sword drawing. I had a student who taught me some Iaido, and you also did naginata.

Randy: Yes, I did, naginata, it's similar to the halberd. It's a long pole with a blade affixed to it, it was often used by the foot soldiers.

And more recently in Japanese history, it's a weapon that's attributed to the women of the warrior families, it's something that they would use to defend their homes and things like that.

And the traditions again, there are many schools where I was doing naginata tradition. And so these traditions, unlike most of the martial arts are run by men, these traditions are run by women and so kind of interesting to see how it has progressed through that.

Nick: So how long did you study and how proficient did you become at these various Japanese martial arts?

Randy: Now proficiency might not be the adequate word but I studied for quite a long time, in the two swords style, nitoryu, I was a Rokudan first level instructor with a sixth degree.  

Then in Iaido, I was a Godan, fifth degree with the first level instructor and then in Judo, I was Godan, which is a fifth degree. And then the other ones I kind of forget, I'm thinking somewhere third degree or second. So I probably have about 25 degrees of black belts.

Nick: It sounds like the ultimate martial artist. I mean, that sounds like a lot of levels of proficiency there. 

Randy: That's pretty much in the past. I'm just a tea guy.

Nick: Oh, we will have to slow down and enjoy life. So I guess that leads to this idea of, at some stage you wanted to connect more culturally, or you wanted to connect your martial arts training  to Japanese culture.

Initially you tried learning koto and also calligraphy. And you sounded like you struggled with those two.

Randy: I always tell the story, even when I was in Hong Kong when I was doing kung fu and things like that I learned a phrase.

In Japanese, we say bunbu ryodo, which is the culture of martial ways together in unison, kind of like the American military concept of an Officer and a Gentleman. You don't want to just be a thug and beat somebody, you want to beat him artistically, so you need that kind of a balance to it. 

And so, when I first came here, as I just mentioned, and you knew that I did a lot of martial arts, but I felt kind of an imbalance in my Yin and Yang, I needed some kind of balance. 

So I wanted to live my life in this bunbu ryodo style. So I wanted to balance my martial side with something cultural.

And as you mentioned, I tried calligraphy and the koto which is a Japanese harp, for those that don't understand it, long plank of wood with strings on it, and apparently had no talent for either.

And so that's what led me to the tea. Actually, it's not true. I was doing tea at the same time, I kind of picked them all up at around the same time, probably.

Within six months of coming to Japan, I was doing everything, which was probably a problem because I was doing too much. Probably I couldn't focus so much. But like I said, I needed to balance that martial side with the cultural side.

So I was looking for something to do with culture, and that ultimately led me to the way of tea.

For the full podcast conversation, go to: The Way of Tea With Tea Master Randy Channell Soei