Has there ever been a situation where your instructor asked for your opinion and it didn't coincide at all with your instructor's? My instructor asks me for what I think about several different things relating Tae Kwon Do, and I don't think we agree on too much. I read about and see that people are so loyal to their instructor, that no matter what he/she may say, they will agree. Is it wrong to not want to blinded agree like I'm in some type of cult?
Does disagreeing make you a bad student?
- Thread starter Azulx
- Start date
It is not wrong no. In fact quite the opposite. No good instructor wants students who don’t think for themselves. And I would be very wary of any instructor who did.
There's an interesting question.
Can you elaborate a little on -
"My instructor asks me for what I think about several different things relating Tae Kwon Do, and I don't think we agree on too much."
MI_martialist
Brown Belt
First, if you agree very little with your instructor, why are you training with him / her?
Our instructor always tells us that we should NEVER accept what he says without testing it and questioning it. We are to be defiant and question everything.
Our instructor always tells us that we should NEVER accept what he says without testing it and questioning it. We are to be defiant and question everything.
I'm not asked my opinion on much, and I've voiced a differing opinion when asked directly. However, I don't volunteer if I have disagreements. I keep it to myself out of respect. I have discovered over time that more than a few things I thought differently than my sensei about, I came to discover that he was right and I was wrong, so it's a good job I kept my gob shut.
Zeny
Blue Belt
I was young and headstrong, and i voiced my disagreements openly. In the end i too discovered he was right and i was wrong.
I learnt the respect part later.
I didn't start training until I was older, plus I have a military background where one keeps one's own counsel or one does pushups.
Unless they are wrong. LOL
Zeny
Blue Belt
I was speaking in a broader sense. You see, he is a conservative. I hope there is a cure for it. However, he can still beat me up.Unless you can defeat your instructor in a sparring match, quite unlikely.
Especially if your art has no sparring.Unless you can defeat your instructor in a sparring match, quite unlikely.
ShawnP
Blue Belt
does this not depend on what the OP is actually disagreeing on? with respect.
Yeah, run it by us, and we'll let you know if it is you. 
ShawnP
Blue Belt
i can think of many reasons..ego for one, maybe to look good in front of new members or to keep members thinking he is some thing hes not...sorry im just being defensive here. we wont really know until the OP is more forthcoming on his issues.
Azulx are you disagreeing on how to perform techniques or training methods? If the first, understand why you are wrong (you likely are, unless he is a bad teacher). If the second, there are many different ways to teach, so your disagreements may be completely valid. If you ever open your own dojo, teach how you want. If not, and it's not a big enough issue that you wish to leave, don't focus on it.
My old Chinese Sifu also had very strong opinions. He was very good at what he did, but his opinion of most other martial arts was essentially the same as Master Ken's. Also, he believed that his art had the answer for everything, which it didn't. I learned some very good stuff from him in the early years, but he could sense I wasn't a "true believer" and I got pushed outside of the inner circle and eventually had to move on.
Respect your teacher, but also respect yourself.
Respect your teacher, but also respect yourself.
Depends on the thing you are disagreeing on and how you voice that disagreement. And if we are being honest, it's going to vary from school to school as too what you can disagree with. Just like any other organization. You can't go into a McDonalds as a cook and start arguing about your preference for thicker cut fries. But in a mom & pop dinner maybe you can.
I am an Assistant Instructor at our school. We often have instructor meetings. We have one head Instructor, and Instructor, and two Assistant Instructors. What I tend to disagree on is testing people early. We are supposed to have a strict system where someone isn't considered to test unless they meet a minimum criteria of hours. For this specific case it was a white belt. The White Belt minimum is 16 hours in three months. This student had 15 hours in four months. Our Head Instructor wanted to test him anyway, because he is our only white belt at the moment, and he rather have all yellow belts and above, because we do not allow white belts to spar. I as well as the other instructors disagreed with testing this student early, and our Head Instructor wasn't too happy.
The reason why I was so reluctant to agree, was because we had just made an exception for three students to test early a week prior , and I didn't want to create an atmosphere were we continue to make exceptions.
Not everything is that black and white. Not everything is " If you love it so much why don't you marry it?" I train with my instructor because I enjoy training. I don't agree with my mom and dad all the time, and I'm not planning on looking for new ones either.
My Instructor doesn't ask for my opinion publicly. It is always at instructor meetings, and I often give an opinion that is different than his. So although sometimes I feel his ego, gets big. He doesn't ask for it to be fueled in front of all the students.
No I vary rarely disagree with how my instructor teaches application of techniques. I have only ever had one issue with application. We use the Ch'ang Hon forms, but for some reason my instructor is against use transitioning counter clockwise, which is how the forms are originally done. His reasoning: Clockwise is the fastest way to strike an opponent. I think that is a silly reason, but I do not argue.
My instructor does say some Master Ken like statements. especially about boxing and grappling arts, but he is just one of those guys that believes his art has all the answers.
Side Note: I think a big reason why I'm not so quick to blindly agree with my instructor, is because I knew him before he was my instructor. So I see him as regular Joe not "Master Joe." He also had a huge falling out with his Head Instructor and bashes him frequently so I feel that these things sometimes come back full circle.
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