I have a four-year thesis-based B.A. (Hon) in Psychology, and a M.Ed in Educational Psychology in the Learning Development, and Assessment program. I am "chartering" as a psychologist (similar to what "apprenticeship" is in a trade). My day job is doing psych assessments. No doctorate for me, thank you. I want to start making good money, get a house, wife, and kids. Maybe in middle age.
I used to be a real psychology supremacist, because I was enamored with the knowledge that is yielded by rigorous experimental methodology and sophisticated statistical technique, but over the years have learned to appreciate the contributions and epistemologies of other disciplines. I'm also learning to appreciate the role played by life experience and what the wisdom of years offers that my education did not.
My instructor has very little education, though he has certificates up the wazoo from such hotshots as Bustillo, Shamrock, Blauer, Worden, etc. Instructional videos are his textbooks and he lives on them, day and night. He LIVES IN them, just like a grad student, when resting, when eating. The studio is his wet lab. He got some life experience through years in the infantry, victim services, and survival courses. There are things that are lacking for him by virtue of not having a psych or education background, but what he does do he does very well, and he's a nice person who really tries to help ppl learn. For the hours, money, work, and mental stretching he's done, I'd say the guy has about earned his Masters in combat... but not in teaching. The teaching he has a personal knack for. I'd try to talk the guy into college, but he'd never do it. Besides, he's got his own style hammered out.
Martial arts is physical education. It differs from "conventional" education in that the subject matter is experiential, concrete, kinesthetic, rather than verbally-based and largely abstract. I don't know about your school, but at my u, phys ed was considered the dumb jock major. There are some brainiacs in there, and I knew one who did a killer thesis on an exercise physiology topic, but for the most part, it's not genius-level stuff. Putting a few differences aside, strictly performancewise (teaching ability), I'd say my instructor is on par with a guy with a 4-year phys ed, rec and leisure (PERLS) degree and a couple years experience.
The other thing he sucks at, is business. He has no appreciation for the realities of marketing, etc. He's hired a consultant for a few months at a time, learned some stuff, and improved a bit.
:asian:
