Odd request

[Sam]

So about 6 weeks ago I started cross training in a hapkido/boxing/kickboxing school. I came every single class for the first couple weeks, and I missed two in a row in order to relax the days before and compete at a tournament (point sparring). When I came back, the instructor asked where I had been. I told him about the tournament, the girl who I had beaten (who was a black belt). About three weeks after that, (this week) he asked me if I was interested in participating in some tournaments he got flyers for in the mail. I took a look at the flyers, but they were already tournaments I was doing for my kenpo school.

At first I was flattered, but looking back, I don't understand why he would ask me to fight for him. They have never seen me spar, and he has only been training me for 6 weeks. We haven't worked on sparring either. All he knows about me is that I claim to be a successful hand at point sparring - which is true, but how does he know I don't have a big ego or over estimate my own skill? I would basically be putting on his school's uniform but the technique I would be using wouldve been taught from another school. I didn't quit my original school, either. I just don't see any logical, moral, reason he would ask me to fight.

I dont see how an instructor could ever be prepared to send a student into competiton without having seen them in action. For all he knows, I could've been lying!

What is everyone's opinon on this situation?

 

[Wing Chun Dummy]

maybe he just wanted to see how u felt about it before checking u out further. maybe he just wanted to look impressive by wielding opportunities about.

 

[MJS]

So about 6 weeks ago I started cross training in a hapkido/boxing/kickboxing school. I came every single class for the first couple weeks, and I missed two in a row in order to relax the days before and compete at a tournament (point sparring). When I came back, the instructor asked where I had been. I told him about the tournament, the girl who I had beaten (who was a black belt). About three weeks after that, (this week) he asked me if I was interested in participating in some tournaments he got flyers for in the mail. I took a look at the flyers, but they were already tournaments I was doing for my kenpo school.

At first I was flattered, but looking back, I don't understand why he would ask me to fight for him. They have never seen me spar, and he has only been training me for 6 weeks. We haven't worked on sparring either. All he knows about me is that I claim to be a successful hand at point sparring - which is true, but how does he know I don't have a big ego or over estimate my own skill? I would basically be putting on his school's uniform but the technique I would be using wouldve been taught from another school. I didn't quit my original school, either. I just don't see any logical, moral, reason he would ask me to fight.

I dont see how an instructor could ever be prepared to send a student into competiton without having seen them in action. For all he knows, I could've been lying!

What is everyone's opinon on this situation?

While he hasn't actually seen you spar, he's probably looking at your current rank in Kenpo, assuming that you've done sparring at that school, and figures that you already have a good background in it, so he figures he'd offer you the chance to spar representing his school.

Maybe next time you're there, you could bring this topic up to him, and mention that you'd like to do some sparring during his classes. Not only would it show that you're interested in the tournament, but it'll also give him a chance to see you in action!

Mike

 

[terryl965]

Sam I would never ask a student to sparr for me without first seeing that person in action at some point and time and maybe he was at one of your previous tournaments and that would explain some of the oddness.
Terry

 

[bobster_ice]

Sam maybe your new instructor wants to see how much skill you have or maybe he just wants to see you fight. You should ask him why he wants you to spar for him... The same thing happened to me last summer when I stated TKD. My instructor asked me to spar for him because I was a high rank in karate, it turned out he was testing me, to see if I was a good fighter or not, and look at me now, ive passed his "test" and now im doing trials (later on in the summer) to get into the N.Ireland under 16`s TKD team.

BTW, good luck in your sparring compitition (if you choose to accept it).

 

[Grenadier]

I would never let a new student spar in a tournament, no matter what his experience may be, if he showed poor fundamentals in the everyday class drills, or if his kata techniques were sloppy and weak. For example, if I see someone constantly raising the heel of his plant foot when throwing kicks in class, it's pretty much a given that person is going to have a significant weakness when he enters the ring.

However, if someone shows excellent technique, such as great balance, being able to snap back the leg after delivering a kick, good posture, good stances, good movement, then I wouldn't be uncomfortable about that person engaging in free sparring at tournaments. If there's one thing that I've always believed in, it's this: you can't lie your way to having good fundamentals and techniques. That only comes with training and dedication.

If your instructor has been watching you in class, then he probably has a decent idea of how solid your techniques and fundamentals are, as well as your mental attitude.

 

[Jimi]

After having you in his school for only 6 weeks and he wants to field you as a fighter under his flag, sounds like he is short on competitors or wants your skills from your other training to reflect well on him. Check with both of you Instructors, let them know you want to compete, but don't want to upset or dissappoint either Instructor. Had a weird situation years ago, after training with my boxing coach for a few years (I was one of only a few kickboxers he had) I had moved on to community college and working the door at a club in DC to make ends meet. I wanted to teach for a few etra bucks, so I visited a school in College Park Maryland near U Of M to see if the Vietnemese Instructor wanted an assistant. As I was leaving the school I see my old coach coming up the stairs. He was there to discuss arrangments for an fight between the 2 clubs. He sees me and his eyes get wide and says, "Jimi, what are you doing here? You aren't gonna fight for this guy are you?" Sounding upset. " You know I don't want anyone I train to go and fight for someone else against Takoma/Langley!" I said 'No Sir! I was just looking for part time work teaching TKD and Kali" He smiled and said "Good!" and went on his way saying to stop by and see him some time. My heart skipped a beat. Check with yopur Kenpo Instructor, if it is his art helping you compete at your level of success, he may have issue with you fighting under someone elses flag so to speak. Resolve this first before you throw down at a tourney. That's my advice, hope it helps. PEACE

 

[rutherford]

If I trained at multiple schools, I would only ever wear one school's uniform to events, unless the events were mutually exclusive. So, I might wear my BJJ uniform to a Jits tournament and my Kenpo uniform to a point sparring tournament. But that's not the issue here.

I don't see a fighter switching camps to be at all odd, and an experienced fighter could be ready to fight before a lot of time with a new coach. But fighting for two different schools in similar events seems very odd.

Maybe your Hapkido instructor is trying to gauge your commitment to his school?

Maybe he just wanted to show you the flyer in case you hadn't heard of the event and wanted to attend - and there was nothing more to it.

 

[Ceicei]

About three weeks after that, (this week) he asked me if I was interested in participating in some tournaments he got flyers for in the mail. I took a look at the flyers, but they were already tournaments I was doing for my kenpo school.
<snip>
At first I was flattered, but looking back, I don't understand why he would ask me to fight for him. They have never seen me spar, and he has only been training me for 6 weeks. I just don't see any logical, moral, reason he would ask me to fight.
<snip>
I dont see how an instructor could ever be prepared to send a student into competiton without having seen them in action. For all he knows, I could've been lying!
<snip>
What is everyone's opinon on this situation?

I hope he isn't asking you to switch to his school when going to the SAME tournaments.

If he didn't know that you are already sparring in these tourneys, then let him know that is where you are going and you plan on representing kenpo there.

However, if there are other tournaments that you haven't signed up yet, then I suppose you are free to represent whichever school you wish. Usually, you spar in the style you represent, though.

A problem may happen if both schools are at the same tournaments. There might be tension if the instructors from both schools feel you're supposed to represent them. It would have been better if the tournaments were distinctly different so the two schools likely will not be found competing.

Let me share an experience from my early years. I competed for one school a few times (kenpo). I then transferred to another college and took a martial arts class for one semester (mixed karate). My college instructor decided to enter me in a tournament (I was the only student from his class to enter, although some classmates came to watch). :idunno: We didn't do any sparring in class though, but he apparently must have thought I did well enough so he wanted to enter me. He is a relatively new instructor to the college and I guess he wanted to feel out the martial arts community.

It surprised me to see my former instructor at the tournament. I didn't realize that my kenpo school would be competing there. He ran up and hugged me and was basically happy to see me. I explained to him why I was there and that I was representing the college. The college instructor looked really unsettled to see I knew other people from different styles. (I hadn't told the college instructor I used to take kenpo because I didn't want to seem egoistical with the other students in class).

Soon, it was time to spar. My college instructor tried to give me advice from the ringside of what to do and I wasn't doing too well. I realized I had the choice to either listen to him and lose, or disregard him and go my way in sparring. My former instructor watched for a while, then got frustrated. He and I already had a working relationship with sparring, so he came up to the ring and quietly gave me sparring codes; I automatically responded. I then won the matches and got a trophy. Needless to say, my college instructor wasn't very happy, even though the trophy went to his school.

Bottom line, I learned my lesson. It was a mistake signing up for that particular tournament, even if my college instructor requested it. The lessons were: 1) Be upfront with all my instructors and explain my background so that there are no surprises. 2) It is better to stay affliated with one school when competing. If I compete for another school, it should be in a different tournament (For example, Jujitsu style with grappling tournaments and Kenpo style with karate tournaments). 3) Make sure the expectations are clear.

There were other lessons I learned from this experience, but basically, the above are the major points.

- Ceicei

 

[Adept]

I dont see how an instructor could ever be prepared to send a student into competiton without having seen them in action. For all he knows, I could've been lying!

What is everyone's opinon on this situation?

Maybe he figures you enjoy competing, and wanted to give you the opportunity to compete in these tournaments, unaware that you already knew about them, and were competing in them.

Perhaps how his students perform isn't quite as important to him as it might be to other people.

 

[hongkongfooey]

Maybe he just want's you to compete for his school.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I hope he isn't asking you to switch to his school when going to the SAME tournaments

he may be setting you in a posistion where you have to decide which school you will attend amd/or represent. You need to talk this over with both instructors

 

[KOROHO]

There were a few good responses:
Perhaps he just wants you to be representing him rather than someone else regardless of how you do.

Since he got these flyers in the mail, maybe he gets some kind o fpayment if brings a certain number students. Maybe he needed 10 to get paid and he had 9.

Also, just because you have not sparre in his class does not mean he does not know you well enough. Assuming he knows what he's doing, as seen you move in class. Maybe just by talking to you and watching you train, he knows you have something there. Maybe other students came to him and made comments about either what they saw or what they hear around the tournament circuit.

Talk to him about it.

 

[tradrockrat]

I see two issues.

1. You really need to stick with one school when it comes to "shared" tournaments. If your new instructer knew your "original" school was going to be there... not a good sign. This is simply a matter of loyalty. Always stick with your primary instructor - he / she's provided you with their hard earned knowledge and respect you enough to allow you to represent them. don't throw that away.

2. Why would an instructor that had worked with you only six weeks ask you to spar? Well, he has to know a little about your basic level of profienciency after training you for a while. Maybe he just wants to offer you the opportunity to continue fighting. Are you a liar? I would imagine this is a great way for him to find out.

Chances are, this was just an instructor trusting his students accounts of success and wanting to offer you an opportunity to continue that success. Just communicate you feelings to both of your instructors and ask for their opinions. This might be an easier problem than you think.

 

[jks9199]

There were a few good responses:
Perhaps he just wants you to be representing him rather than someone else regardless of how you do.

Since he got these flyers in the mail, maybe he gets some kind o fpayment if brings a certain number students. Maybe he needed 10 to get paid and he had 9.

Also, just because you have not sparre in his class does not mean he does not know you well enough. Assuming he knows what he's doing, as seen you move in class. Maybe just by talking to you and watching you train, he knows you have something there. Maybe other students came to him and made comments about either what they saw or what they hear around the tournament circuit.

Talk to him about it.

It's unclear, but it could simply be a case of the new instructor realizing you might be interested, and passing info along.

 

[matt.m]

So about 6 weeks ago I started cross training in a hapkido/boxing/kickboxing school. I came every single class for the first couple weeks, and I missed two in a row in order to relax the days before and compete at a tournament (point sparring). When I came back, the instructor asked where I had been. I told him about the tournament, the girl who I had beaten (who was a black belt). About three weeks after that, (this week) he asked me if I was interested in participating in some tournaments he got flyers for in the mail. I took a look at the flyers, but they were already tournaments I was doing for my kenpo school.

At first I was flattered, but looking back, I don't understand why he would ask me to fight for him. They have never seen me spar, and he has only been training me for 6 weeks. We haven't worked on sparring either. All he knows about me is that I claim to be a successful hand at point sparring - which is true, but how does he know I don't have a big ego or over estimate my own skill? I would basically be putting on his school's uniform but the technique I would be using wouldve been taught from another school. I didn't quit my original school, either. I just don't see any logical, moral, reason he would ask me to fight.

I dont see how an instructor could ever be prepared to send a student into competiton without having seen them in action. For all he knows, I could've been lying!

What is everyone's opinon on this situation?

He could have introduced it to you for the aspect that he didn't know that your kenpo school would be attending. Who knows. I don't think that he necessarily had an ulterior motive.