School lineage

[AceHBK]

For people like me who are looking for a CMA school.
What all do you look for?
I notice schools list their lineage but how do u know if their lineage is any good?
The fear of joining a school and paying for lessons and not knowing it is a McDojo is scary, especially with CMA's.

 

[Flying Crane]

lineage isn't the end-all for determining a good school. Some very impressive people don't have impressive lineage.

 

[clfsean]

lineage isn't the end-all for determining a good school. Some very impressive people don't have impressive lineage.

Very true but it is an indicator at least of where they are.

My take is if a person has a good lineage, then that lineage is good for a reason (ie good skills, good teaching, etc...).

There are teachers who have a good lineage but aren't good fighters, but can teach. It doesn't invalidate them just says they weren't the best fighter ever put out by teacher "A".

Many good fighters have crap for lineage saying it's a hodge podge or made up, but they are able to apply it. It just says the background may be shakey at best, but they learned "something" & can apply.

I prefer the solid background & skill. It leaves little room for dicussion.

 

[Xue Sheng]

lineage isn't the end-all for determining a good school. Some very impressive people don't have impressive lineage.

I agree with flying crane. Also it has been my experience that those that are good and have an impressive lineage tend not to talk about it much. They will tell you if you ask though.

But lineage is not the most important thing. My main style is Yang Tai Chi, my teachers lineage is considered very good, but others would say it is not because he did not learn directly from the Yang family. He learned from Tung Ying Chieh who learned from Yang Cheng Fu. But then again some say Sifu Tung was very good as were his students.

On the other hand, traditional Yang style Tai Chi was changed by Yang Cheng Fu and much of the fajing was removed. And the Yang style taught by Yang Cheng fu was different than what was taught by his older brother Yang Shao Hou. So whose lineage is better?

And then depending on which version of the origin of Tai Chi you subscribe to, lineage can change. The Chen family says there Tai Chi is best because it came from them and all others copied them. Yang family says it came from Chang San-feng, prior to Chen, but Yang came from Chen.

I do not subscribe to the belief that someone is better at a certain martial art JUST because his or her teacher was from a good martial arts line.

In my opinion you should research the style you are interested in ask your teacher or future teacher about their teacher or teachers, they should not be offended, if they are walk away. Watch a class or two and see how good his or her students are, and then decide.

I once watched a Hapkido class that had a head instructor that was from Korea with a very high rank. His son taught most of the classes, his son was very good, from what I could see, but the students in general were sloppy. Good lineage does not mean good teacher.

Don’t get me wrong a good lineage can be a good thing. But please do not get hung up on lineage.

 

[Flying Crane]

I think there have been some good responses here. CLFSEAN has good points. Lineage can certainly be an indicator, and until you have more information to go on it might be one of the first things to consider. But XUE SHENG also has good points, in that lineage alone does not guarantee a talented martial artist, or a talented teacher.

I think lineage is one of several important things to consider when looking for an instructor. It is not the only thing, and don't get hung up on it. But give it appropriate consideration as part of the larger picture.