Training With People That're Better Than You

[MJS]

Well, the title pretty much says it. How important do you think this is? Should you be training/refining your skills, with someone who's better?

IMO, yes, this is something that you need to do, to continue growing. Do you feel that there comes a time when you don't need to do this?

 

[Haakon]

I think it's very important to train with people better than you. You can learn by teaching and training with people who know less or are less skilled, but eventually you'll hit a point where you need someone with more skill/experience/knowledge to help you grow. It could be someone in your same discipline, or it could be someone from outside - I'm also a big fan of cross training and exposure to other systems to further growth.

Is there a time when you don't need this? Maybe, I sure haven't reached it yet.

 

[oaktree]

I think training with others who are better allows
You to explore your strengths and weakness. It allows
for feed back and honest critiques on improvement.

Someone at your level is also good because both
IMO are trying to best the other resulting in giving
And making you.commit 100%.

Teaching those that are of a lesser skill is an excellent
way to train or rebuild your foundation. It also
Let's you examine yourself through someone who
Is not "tainted" by years of training in your art.

 

[MJS]

I think it's very important to train with people better than you. You can learn by teaching and training with people who know less or are less skilled, but eventually you'll hit a point where you need someone with more skill/experience/knowledge to help you grow. It could be someone in your same discipline, or it could be someone from outside - I'm also a big fan of cross training and exposure to other systems to further growth.

Exactly! IMO, its good to take full advantage of training with these people while you can, while they're still around. Its a shame that some don't take advantage of this. I dont know, maybe they think they don't need to, who knows...lol. I do agree that you learn by teaching those who're less skilled, however many times those people lose out as well, by training under those people, as they think they're learning from someone thats quality, when in reality, they're really not.

Is there a time when you don't need this? Maybe, I sure haven't reached it yet.

Neither have I.

 

[Steve]

If you're the toughest guy in your gym, you need to find a new gym.


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[sfs982000]

It's absolutely necessary to train with folks better than you. The feedback you get from your training partners is crucial for your own personal growth as a martial artist. I try to train with folks outside my style/organization every chance I get.

 

[Danny T]

How important do you think this is? Should you be training/refining your skills, with someone who's better?

If you are wanting to grow and get better Absolutely. I train with a number of instructors who are much better than I am. These instructor are awesome in their prospective systems and they help me not only in making me a better martial artist they also help to make me a better instructor. I train with others who are in their martial prime, help me with my timing. At 57 my speed and quickness has diminished tremendously so timing has become far more important.

Do you feel that there comes a time when you don't need to do this?

Only when one no longer wants to continue to grow. Have a look at Guro Dan Inosanto; at 75 is still seeking out instructors to train with. If someone as masterful as he is still training with others better than himself I certainly haven't gotten to that point yet!

 

[Cyriacus]

Ive found that after Training with people bigger, stronger, and more experienced than Myself, Ive become their equivelant to People My own size.

 

[Big Don]

Of course training with people better than you is important! Training with people you are better than is ALSO important. If you teach the material, whatever it is you will understand it better. You may not be able to physically implement it as well as others, but, knowing how it works is just as important.

 

[chinto]

Of Course! you always improve and much faster if you are training with some one who is better then you! makes you stretch your skills and get better!

 

[Dirty Dog]

I train with people who are equal to or better than me. If they're not, then I'm teaching, not training.
"Equal to or better" is not determined by rank either. It makes no difference what their rank is. If they're better at poomsae or sparring or whatever, then they have something I can learn.

 

[Jenna]

Well, the title pretty much says it. How important do you think this is? Should you be training/refining your skills, with someone who's better?

IMO, yes, this is something that you need to do, to continue growing. Do you feel that there comes a time when you don't need to do this?

Mike I wonder perhaps if it depends on what you want to achieve?

I mean say a partner can consistently get the better of me while sparring. I may decide to train more with him in order to gain the skills with which he defeats me so that I can in future defeat him. If my goal is to improve my sparring then common sense suggest that is a good way to do it.

However he may beat me for a number of reasons that either I do not need to learn from him or, in fact, by copying him may make my overall performance worse.

So in this example then the question is WHY did he defeat me?

• Has he cross trained or come from another style? Has he adulterated the style with something he learned somewhere else? Is it important to me to fight keeping the technical purity of my art or would I rather learn what works regardless of where it came from?
• Do his fighting attitudes and values agree with mine? Perhaps he can win at any cost. I can be his equal or better if I espouse his fighting values. Is this important to me or not relevant? Again, maybe another introspective question.
• Does he defeat me because he is fitter than me? In which case, copying him will teach me nothing since I need to independently improve my fitness / endurance / stamina / strength somewhat first of all.

etc., etc.

There is always something to be learned from those we deem "better" than us though I think before we assign ourselves role models we might assess our own goals from that pairing and whether or not our new role model can help us achieve those goals.

 

[Jason Striker II]

If you're the toughest guy in your gym, you need to find a new gym.


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It's absolutely necessary to train with folks better than you. The feedback you get from your training partners is crucial for your own personal growth as a martial artist. I try to train with folks outside my style/organization every chance I get.

It's so damn easy to become complacent in the MA. As Funakoshi Sensei said: Karate needs to be like boiling water - you need to keep a fire beneath it. You must train with the best you can find.

 

[Instructor]

I find that regularly teaching students combined with going to intensive seminars and conferences filled with people who know a lot more than me is a nice balance. I learn new things at the seminars and I learn those things better by teaching them to students.

I am always surprised in Hapkido the difference between a black belt, a master, and a grand master doing the exact same technique. You can really tell a difference with the more experienced people. However much I learn I always want more!

 

[Xue Sheng]

How important do you think this is?

That depends

Should you be training/refining your skills, with someone who's better?

That is what it depends on, if you want to improve you need to train with someone better than yourself or with those of other styles and with a whole lot of them too

Do you feel that there comes a time when you don't need to do this?

No I don't but there could come a time when it is very hard to do this. My Taiji sifu is very highly skilled and I think it would be hard for him to find someone to do this with, not impossible, just very hard.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Training with people who are better than you is important. It teaches humility; you ain't the be-all, end-all of martial arts (yet). It teaches confidence; when you can take what they dish out, and even give a little back in return, it feels like you're on the right path. It lets you throw your techniques with all the speed, power, and precision that you can muster, knowing that your uke can handle it without being hurt; this is important because you need to know how it feels to throw that technique with all your might and main. It gives you a sense of place and purpose, and it builds confidence yourself and others in your dojo.

It is also important to train with people who are DIFFERENT than you. By that, I mean that heavy people need to train with thinner people. Tall people need to train with short people. Men need to train with women. When possible, different arts need to train together (safely, not in a 'my way is better, here let me prove it' manner). Everyone uses their art and their personal attributes to their own best advantage.

Proverbs 27:6 Trustworthy are the blows of a friend, dangerous, the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron is sharpened by iron; one person sharpens another

 

[tshadowchaser]

Training is a learning experence and (IMHO) we should all what to learn more. Without someone to push you a little that learning may not happen.
Yes we can learn things on our own but it helps to have someone to guide us or set an example for us.
OR perhaps we do not need that someone better because we already know it all (LOL)

 

[lma]

I'm not going to say I'm the best at martial arts but, I can hold my own. I know this as I train with lots of different clubs styles and even nations (either when I visit or when they visit).

I make a point of it as I know reason I can hold my own is thanks to a boy 3 years older than me and foot taller that joined the club when he came from Ukraine ( I think ). He whipped me every time we fought but it encouraged me to do better. We were rivals but it was good for me. Seriously don't think I would be were I am with out that friendly rivalry we had.

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[Brian R. VanCise]

Critical self analysis is very, very important! With this in mind you need to work with people that are better than you. However, as you get better and better for some people this can then become more difficult. Still you need to search and find someone to train with who is better. If you find yourself in that position then you need to find someone better than you in another aspect of the Martial Sciences. This fortunately is easy because there is a lot of variety in the Martial Sciences and you will always be able to find someone better than you in this respect! I look at it as a three fold process in that you constantly need to be critical of your own skill sets and find people to work with that really, really push you to the limit. You also need to work with people who may have a lower skill set than yourself because you can experiement more this way. Finally if you teach you will gain a lot because you will be constantly reinforcing your foundational skill sets! This three fold process is very important for a martial practitioner!

 

[puunui]

How important do you think this is? Should you be training/refining your skills, with someone who's better?

I personally feel this is essential. If you not have access to people who are better than you, you need to travel to a place where there are such people, even if it means going outside of your own country.

Do you feel that there comes a time when you don't need to do this?

I'm sure for some people this may be the case, but for the vast majority, I don't think they ever reach this level.