more than one sensei at a dojo?

[Sin]

So why would your teacher's advice necessarily carry any more weight than that of any other person with first hand experiences of a given kind? Not that you said his advice would have more influence, but would you give equal treatment to the advice of someone else? Just curious...



Hell, I don't even get worked up about having one "master." "Master" is an over-rated term and concept. Too many folks give themselves the title, too many folks consider themselves the embodiment of the concept. I was told once, back in Church, that the person who considered themselves a saint were the least qualified for the position. I think it is the same idea here...

I was making a list the other night of all the teachers I've had and who I had to thank for some personal things going on in my life right now. Here we go:

Yiliquan - Sifu Phillip Starr (founder), Sifu Mark Hachey, Sifu Tim Heuertz, Sifu Vince Hardy, Sifu Matt Johnson

Modern Arnis - Guro John Lehmann

Shuri-te Ha Karate-do - Sensei Mitsuo Onozaki

Ryu Te Karate - Sensei Robert Rousselot

Judo - Mr. Brad Ramos

Systema - Brian King, Kaizen Taki, Emmanuel Manolakakis

That's a lot of teachers. I consider most of them family, all of them friends, and I owe all of them far more than they know. My main teacher has been Sifu Starr, and he will remain my teacher for decades to come, regardless of who else I might train with. Maybe that is what some folks mean when they refer to their "master." I know Sifu'd just about crap his pants if I referred to him with that word!

Anyway... Back to work, then on to training.

Enjoy.

i hear ya,
You made the point that i was trying to make, This just being my second year of training, I haven't had a lot of time to have multiple teachers. But I hope that one day I will have a lst as extensive as yours. Although if I quit what i am doing now, I will feel unfinished, this a chapter in my life that never reaches a climax. So I'm gonna learn every†hing my sensei can teach me, and when I reach a point where i feel unfullfilled with my training (This being years down the road) i will seek out new styles and new systems, always expanding and always learning more. But would still consider my sensei a friend, and someone I can talk to if needed. his advice is regarded by me highly, not because hes Sensei, but because hes a friend.

 

[Paul Smith]

I trained for many years at one Dojo only. I now train at multiple dojo's. The orginal place of training was JKA after a ten year break for medical reasons I discovered they were now training under Kase Ha. I moved to another Dojo which is purely traditional JKA but 2 sessions a week weren't enough, I started training with Kintora (They are Kase Ha as well) We also have a S.K.I 3rd Dan train with us so when we practice Kata we have the discussion of the differences between S.K.I, JKA & Kintora and the reasons for it & share bunkai techiques. A very informative & very respectful association but there is of course only one person running the class & they are the only one in charge.

 

[Ivan]

Soon my school may be getting another instructor, my sensei now is well versed in many arts. the Sensei coming to the school is a grappling instructor. do you guys think its a good idea to have specialized instructors?

Absolutely. Especially if your dojo is a popular one. However, it is important you and your other senseis are on the same page in terms of curriculum, technique etc. The last thing you want is for one sensei's teachings to conflict with yours and confuse your students.

 

[KenpoMaster805]

Of course its always great to have different instructors and you learn a lot from them.

 

[dvcochran]

Soon my school may be getting another instructor, my sensei now is well versed in many arts. the Sensei coming to the school is a grappling instructor. do you guys think its a good idea to have specialized instructors?

Yes. That said, it depends on what a person is looking for.
To be the most well rounded fighter adding a grappling specialist (or other area of deficiency) is a good thing.
To follow traditional roots, not so much.

***It is very interesting to re-read this whole thread.***
You can really see a change in mentality from 15 plus years ago. It supports my belief that styles are and will continue to homogenize.

 

[Buka]

I trained for many years at one Dojo only. I now train at multiple dojo's. The orginal place of training was JKA after a ten year break for medical reasons I discovered they were now training under Kase Ha. I moved to another Dojo which is purely traditional JKA but 2 sessions a week weren't enough, I started training with Kintora (They are Kase Ha as well) We also have a S.K.I 3rd Dan train with us so when we practice Kata we have the discussion of the differences between S.K.I, JKA & Kintora and the reasons for it & share bunkai techiques. A very informative & very respectful association but there is of course only one person running the class & they are the only one in charge.

Welcome to Martial Talk, Paul. Nice to have you.

 

[drop bear]

Yes. That said, it depends on what a person is looking for.
To be the most well rounded fighter adding a grappling specialist (or other area of deficiency) is a good thing.
To follow traditional roots, not so much.

***It is very interesting to re-read this whole thread.***
You can really see a change in mentality from 15 plus years ago. It supports my belief that styles are and will continue to homogenize.

Yeah. In top mma gyms now it is very common to have specialist coaches.

I have a coach who is a statistics guy. And he is adamant that there is consistently more successful methods.

So say a rear naked choke will submit people more often than a gogo palata. And so people will be better more consistently if they follow those trends.

Which for say self defence where you kind of want reliable stuff as fast and easy as you can get it is a pretty efficient method.

 

[Directional Harmony]

At my school we had 2 senseis (both teaching the same art just co-owning the school together). It was fine until they started to not see eye to eye. They would low key argue about business during classes and it was very awkward. Eventually, one left and now we only have one sensei. I think it can work if both see eye to eye. Otherwise, it can create awkwardness and mixed messages to students. Now that we only have one sensei, the direction and philosophy of the school is more clear and consistent. Thankfully in this case, our better sensei is the one who stuck around

 

[drop bear]

At my school we had 2 senseis (both teaching the same art just co-owning the school together). It was fine until they started to not see eye to eye. They would low key argue about business during classes and it was very awkward. Eventually, one left and now we only have one sensei. I think it can work if both see eye to eye. Otherwise, it can create awkwardness and mixed messages to students. Now that we only have one sensei, the direction and philosophy of the school is more clear and consistent. Thankfully in this case, our better sensei is the one who stuck around

I would suggest that the acknowledgement that they won't see eye to eye is more manageable.

 

[isshinryuronin]

At my school we had 2 senseis (both teaching the same art just co-owning the school together). It was fine until they started to not see eye to eye. They would low key argue about business during classes and it was very awkward. Eventually, one left and now we only have one sensei. I think it can work if both see eye to eye. Otherwise, it can create awkwardness and mixed messages to students. Now that we only have one sensei, the direction and philosophy of the school is more clear and consistent. Thankfully in this case, our better sensei is the one who stuck around

Few things will hurt a dojo more than friction between sensei. There can be only one head and it should be clear to all, sensei and students, who that head is (this is assuming just one art is being taught.) This is where rank and seniority come into play. The instructors, especially if both are high ranked, may have different views of the art and teaching, but must hash this out privately. The senior may be open for suggestions, or allow for differences in teaching. This can be beneficial to the students is some cases. In others, the senior may have no flexibility in how to do things in his dojo, and of course, his say goes.

The students must know, even if there is some individuality in the instructors (as there should be,) the basic techniques are the same and the general atmosphere fostered is similar regardless of who is teaching. Consistency is important. As is mutual respect. Without these foundations, harmony and proper instructional setting and structure is weakened. Students don't pay money to experience drama or discord. They expect more from a MA dojo.

 

[J. Pickard]

I have trained this way before and it can be absolutely terrible or the best training you'll ever have in your life! If the instructors never train together to get a feel for each others teaching style, personality, and knowledge level there can be conflict. But if the instructors are good at playing off of each other and are familiar with the other's background and methods then it can be great. A good example of this, we hosted a Uechi Ryu sensei and let her run classes in our facility when she moved and needed a new place to hold classes. We did a few joint workouts and it was great! She would start the class talking about certain body mechanics of a stance/technique and how Uechi Ryu applied it and then I was able to take that same concept and show how it can be applied to TKD and boxing. I had a similar experience training in a BJJ school where one of the instructors was also the kickboxing coach. The two BJJ instructors played off each other really well and showed how to apply a concept purely for grappling, purely for striking, and then in a combination of the two. On the flip side I visited a TKD school that had two instructors (not sure of the full background on them) that were always contradicting each other in their respective classes and never seemed to be on the same page.