ItÂ’s interesting how this thread has spun. A gentleman asks if itÂ’s kosher to make romantic moves on his martial arts instructor and hereÂ’s how some of us have tried to help him: encourage and empower the man by trying to demystify the non-existent mysticism of the instructor and almost belittle her professional role. The tone from some of us even seems to suggest that the gentleman make his move because the instructor is after all just a mere athletic coach that he is paying. ItÂ’s as if athletic coaches are not trained, ethical, professional people, who continue to make our communities better every day. ThereÂ’s always a few bad apples of course, but thatÂ’s in every profession, if I can even be allowed to use that term.
I don’t think my experience is unique. I’ve had a number of WTF Taekwondo teachers over the last 23 years who have a significant amount of education in addition to being a very experienced martial artists. Some have graduate and post graduate education in fields including education, pharmacy, kinesiology and law. I’m sure a number of MT members here – who teach and own studios – have the same if not more academic and practical qualifications. They are people I would put up against many doctors, psychologists, lawyers and engineers, any day, when it comes to raw intellect, professional development and standard.
There is no Eastern mysticism, American cultism or African pungu-pungu philosophies associated with the said instructors/coaches/masters. They – and others without higher education – are just good martial arts teachers, who also happen to know one or two things about life that they pass on to their students. They also understand how getting romantically involved with their students to say the least is ethically risky and bad for business. They apply the same rationale used by many professionals. Some of us might ask: how dare they?
