Most of this post is a quote of EHellDame's post. My points are in bold and italics
You have a hole in your story. If the group is super secret, no one else knows of it and they aren't telling anyone else, how would the sensei know of its existence? Because, as the old saying goes, a secret can only be a secret as long as it's known to only 2 people and 1 of them is dead!
Perhaps the loyalty of the super secret group isn't as strong as its members would like to believe it is. And what would compel individuals to question their own loyalty and abandon their oath of super secrecy to their private, super secret group to alert the sensei to a problem? Did they have a hazing ritual for potential members that some found offensive and similar to junior high immaturity? Or perhaps some members got far too catty and ugly about the other members of the club who were excluded or kicked out of the super secret group which left a sour taste in the more sensible members? The latter would create a terrible dilemma for some people who perhaps joined thinking it was just another fun offshoot of the original club but found they were caught up in a hateful pack mentality which, if they said anything, exposed them to ridicule or banishment. Did the behavior of the super secret group spill over into the main club in any way? Again, as I said in an earlier post, there is 1 in every group - the one who, if they don't get enough attention or the right attention, pouts/whines and creates unnecessary drama.
Why would the sensei asking a few questions to verify that the stories are indeed accurate be considered a bad thing? Because it's none of his business. He is not their boss, their parents or their marital partner. He merely runs a business which provides an activity they partake in. What they do outside of the hour or two they spend with him is absolutely none of his concern.If the super secret group has done nothing to wrong others in the main club, why does the sensei's attempt to get to the truth distress them? A sensei is someone revered for their knowledge, trusted for their restraint and honored for their code of ethics. I would imagine his students are shocked and appalled at his behavior. True aficionados of the martial arts practice them for the inner peace and strength it gives, not just so they can learn to kick a bacon fed knave where it hurts.I'd think they would want to exonerate themselves and make sure sensei knew they had been maligned with a false report by disgruntled "friends" out to make trouble for them. What exactly is there for them to exonerate themselves from? That they made new friends? That they want to talk about something they are all interested in *other* than martial arts?
The sensei has the right to protect his/her own club or business from both outside and inside interests that affect the cohesion of the team. If there is no contractual agreement or exchange of money for services, I don't see where the sensei is obligated to keep any person on a team whose activities outside the club have a negative impact on the operation of the club she created and manages. The sensei doesn't seem to understand he is in the business of providing martial arts education and nothing else. There is no *team*. It's just a large group of students who take martial arts training from him.
And it's simply folly to believe that what one does in spare time will have absolutely no effect on other areas of life. What you do in your spare time can most definitely affect your career, for example. News articles abound warning that employers do google prospective employees to see how they behave online and there are stories aplenty of people losing jobs because of a lack of discretion in what they publish online. Pole dance at night and you'll probably lose your job as an elementary school teacher. Write pron on the side and you won't be welcome here at all no matter how polite you appear. A social activity such as martial arts training is in no way similar to work life. What I do in my spare time can, in some ways, impact my working life, that is true. What I do in my spare time has no impact on what *other things* I do in my spare time.
I find your remark about pron and not being welcome on this site deeply disturbing. Are you saying I can't be interested in etiquette and express other facets of my personality elsewhere? This is a public forum; there is no checklist of attributes (at least there wasn't when I joined) that I had to meet before I could join. I only had to be able to read that little capcha thing and prove I was human. The only thing that should affect my inclusion *here* is my behavior *here*, not elsewhere.
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