behind your back

[tshadowchaser]

Have any of the instructors on the forum ever had a student ( most likely a black belt) try to take your class/students away from you with behind the back activities.
These could include talking to other students at pizza parlors about how you are doing things wrong, changing techniques during class when they think you can not see them ( while telling the other training partner that this is how it is really done), etc. It could mean simply getting ready to start there own school/system and trying to get your students to go with them because of their supposed superior knowledge of what really should be done.

 

[kidswarrior]

Have any of the instructors on the forum ever had a student ( most likely a black belt) try to take your class/students away from you with behind the back activities.
These could include talking to other students at pizza parlors about how you are doing things wrong, changing techniques during class when they think you can not see them ( while telling the other training partner that this is how it is really done), etc. It could mean simply getting ready to start there own school/system and trying to get your students to go with them because of their supposed superior knowledge of what really should be done.

Only been teaching three years, so no BBs yet, but do have an OT parallel tale (I'll be brief).

Coupla decades ago, had a *student*--someone I'd brought onto my business team and mentored, even helping him branch out and start his own team--who secretly began to spread all kinds of crap about me to my remaining team, and getting them to transfer to him. This as we were on the verge of me breaking from six figures to seven, and many of them from five to six. Long story short, his ruse was successful, even convincing my boss I was Satan incarnated. My former protégé went on to make (my) $1mm a year, while I went on to declare bankruptcy.

The good news, tho: my family landed on its feet in many ways (albeit a hard landing), while my wife recently discovered by accident that he's out of the business and living essentially as a recluse. I'm finishing the second decade of this work I do, which many of you are familiar with.

So regards the BB Backstabbing, guess I'd hope for the same karma of my earlier evxperience, or *What goes around comes around* as Mom used to say. Still, it hurts at the time. :ultracool

 

[Svart]

Ive heard from my best mate of some stories about our club. Apparantly there have been two guys who have followed similar paths. Both began under our master, moving along to black belts and senior through the years. After class when the mothers would come to pick up the kids theyd get changed right there on the side of the floor, standing around without doboks on, trying to look all tough. Master Suh would always yell at them and kick em out as soon as he saw. They ended up being kicked out because they started cracking onto the mothers who came with their kids. Last I heard they run another club somewhere and have been the cause for 2 divorces.
They would often try and take over authority from our master. Luckily he's rather strict and knows his stuff, got rid of them pronto.

 

[Father Greek]

My assistant instructor of 15 years went behind my back and complained to the heads of the park district that we worked for that i said some nasty words to him one night. All along he had been telling my Adult students that He would never do the techniques that I was teaching and spreading other crap. The windup was that I left with all of my adult students and he is still with the park district. A bad way to leave a situation but it was my choice to leave after the way that I was treated by the park district. Best move I could have made! Word of advice: Do not become complacent and always keep your eyes and ears open!

 

[stickarts]

Having been a manager for quite some time, I learned there are always some that will try something sneaky. While the cat's away......
I have nipped problems early before they develop into something worse.

 

[terryl965]

Yes and I had to get rid of them for doing so, I have no ckue why people you train turn on you when you have given them so much. I have always said I would train people for the love of doing so but lately I have come to relize MA has become like any other place it is a business and it needs to be runned like one as well.

 

[stickarts]

Yes and I had to get rid of them for doing so, I have no ckue why people you train turn on you when you have given them so much. I have always said I would train people for the love of doing so but lately I have come to relize MA has become like any other place it is a business and it needs to be runned like one as well.

I feel the same as you. There seems to be a competitiveness where sometimes the student isn't happy just to learn from you, they want to beat you. My view is that when you help each other, everyone wins. I try and keep a strong sense of what is happening. As my instructor told me once "anyone can bite you" Sad, but true.

 

[hogstooth]

Never had that happen. I find it amusing that someone that acquired his skills from you would tell others that the way you do things is wrong. I would think that the other students would be smart enough to know that if your way doesn't work and he learned from you, his by proxy wouldn't work either. It's kind of like the guy who makes his own art but after closer examination it's someone elses with his name on it. A thief by any other name is still a thief. Hope he didn't get away with it.

 

[Kwanjang]

It happened to me. It hurts to find out someone you trusted for so long and put so much time in to them could slam your behind you back to the students and their parents. I guess its a part of life and another opportunity to grow from the experience. All it did was black the eye of the martial arts and confuse the students. I lost half of my students to them (two cousins) I had trained them for fourteen years. Such is life. Fracturing and splintering in the MA has been going on for a long time. Some of the students that left to go with them have came back...I accepted them with open arms. Things happen for a reason. This most unfortunate situation allowed those instructors who were sitting on the bench- so to speak, to teach. I was humbled by both the students that stayed and the students that left with the cousins. The wound is still fresh-and a hot topic for me.
But the wound is healing, and I am a better person for the lesson.

Live Long and Prosper

 

[Shaderon]

We have a couple of rules to help combat this, you can't open a school within a certain distance from your black belt training class, also you are not allowed to take on a student who was previously someone elses student or you can get your instructor status removed. We can check this as all students are centrally registered and grade and compete together and if they change classes there is questions asked.
I don't even think that we can register at another class with the same instructor without having a really good reason. i.e. not just to bump up membership at a certain class in order for that class to get ahead on the medals board at comps.

 

[Kwanjang]

We have a couple of rules to help combat this, you can't open a school within a certain distance from your black belt training class, also you are not allowed to take on a student who was previously someone elses student or you can get your instructor status removed. We can check this as all students are centrally registered and grade and compete together and if they change classes there is questions asked.
I don't even think that we can register at another class with the same instructor without having a really good reason. i.e. not just to bump up membership at a certain class in order for that class to get ahead on the medals board at comps.

Well, Sounds good in theory. I had Non-Competes agreements for my employee's (extremely hard to enforce!) And what are you suppose to do when they completely go off on their own? Including leaving the National Assoc. they belonged to? You can't do anything about it!

 

[Shaderon]

what are you suppose to do when they completely go off on their own? Including leaving the National Assoc. they belonged to? You can't do anything about it!

Well it's true you can't stop that but they don't get the support of the association any more. That means that they have to find some other way to grade the students and lose the support network, most of our students are very loyal to the association in itself, if they aren't... well they'd probably leave anyway.

You can't really stop someone leaving if they really want to, but you can make it easy and more preferable for them to stay.

 

[tshadowchaser]

Many just start there own association these days.

 

[Brian S]

I've visited a school once where the instructor was talking crap about his former instructor which is a friend of mine. (he didn't know) Plus the guy added a couple of degrees and bs lineage to his school,lol.
Afterwards I told him about it and he just laughed it off and said it wasn't the first time and it would take care of itself.
The guys school closed down a few months later and I haven't heard from him since.

Funny how things happen.

Try not to worry too much about it,but talk to him if he is getting out of hand. If nothing else he's being completely disrespectful.