What quailities should a Teacher of the Martial Arts Possess?

[Geeba12]

What personal and professional qualities are needed to be a Teacher, a person beyond reproach, of the Martial Arts?

 

[Tez3]

A very good sense of humour, optimism and an understanding bank manager. Martial arts instructors are human with human qualities, they aren't little gods, priests or ancient Japanese heroes.

 

[exile]

A very good sense of humour, optimism and an understanding bank manager. Martial arts instructors are human with human qualities, they aren't little gods, priests or ancient Japanese heroes.

Quoted for truth. All I'd add is that, so far as we can tell, that's always been true—including any of the ancient Japanese heroes who were historically real.

There's a great quotation from the poet Adrienne Rich I once read:

Everyone looks back to an ancient heroic age. But there never was one—it's always been just us chickens, all along.

 

[terryl965]

They need to be a true person and always do the right thing. So many are in it for money only and make empty promises.

 

[Gordon Nore]

There's a great quotation from the poet Adrienne Rich I once read:

Everyone looks back to an ancient heroic age. But there never was one—it's always been just us chickens, all along.

:asian:

 

[Geeba12]

Great comments and insight so far.
I guess the primary underlying question is: do Teaches teach for the money or their Art?
The secondary is: if one or the other is not met, what concessions should be made (if any)?

Thank you.

Yours in the Arts,
SJG

 

[terryl965]

I can only speak for me I teach for me and the students that want to learn what I have to offer. IfI make a dollar great if not I will keep the doors open until it is time for my son's to take over and then it will be there call.

 

[Geeba12]

The following Chinese proverb hung above the doorway in the Dojo I trained in from 1971 - 1994, I think it says it all;

If You Wish;
Come or go, it is all the same to me;
I will not look for you to come;
Nor miss you when you leave.

Although this may be "acid" to some mainstream "Martial" factory "schools", I have followed this phylosophy all these years and always will.

Yours in the Arts,
SJG
​

 

[Tetsujin]

- Excellent martial arts technique.
- A thorough understanding of all techniques, principles, and applications.
- The ability to explain and communicate ideas clearly and logically.
- Experience.
- Patience.
- Personal integrity.
- A respectful attitude towards students.
- A passion for one's martial art.

 

[Drac]

- Excellent martial arts technique.
- A thorough understanding of all techniques, principles, and applications.
- The ability to explain and communicate ideas clearly and logically.
- Experience.
- Patience.
- Personal integrity.
- A respectful attitude towards students.
- A passion for one's martial art.

Good list..The 4 th item should read-A LOT of Patience...

 

[Gordon Nore]

I would squeeze into that list... Someone who respects other arts, practitioners and teachers.

 

[Kacey]

First and foremost, a teacher needs to genuinely care about his/her students.

To be a good teacher, a teacher needs to understand what s/he is teaching at a deep enough level to be able to break it down into its component parts and teach those parts in a variety of ways, to meet the needs/abilities/learning styles of a variety of students.

 

[Tetsujin]

I would squeeze into that list... Someone who respects other arts, practitioners and teachers.

Agreed. I very nearly typed that in my previous post, and didn't only for the sake of brevity. A good teacher should have a respectful attitude towards everyone.

 

[exile]

- Excellent martial arts technique.
- A thorough understanding of all techniques, principles, and applications.
- The ability to explain and communicate ideas clearly and logically.
- Experience.
- Patience.
- Personal integrity.
- A respectful attitude towards students.
- A passion for one's martial art.

Good choice, T. If you think about it, these are the main desiderata for teachers of virtually anything (changing the reference to 'martial art' in the last item appropriately): they kind of define the requirement of the teaching vocation. Any good teacher will display these traits, and without any one them—particularly, as Drac shrewdly pointed out, a lot of patience—you have someone who isn't going to be outstanding, and maybe a lot worse than not outstanding.

I think an important quality that all teachers should have is the ability to remember—vividly!—what it was like to be students themselves, to struggle with concepts that have since become so familiar as to seem self-evident. This is connected to patience, but it's a little different, because the instructor who can recall what it was like not to know something is more likely to try a much larger variety of ways to make the complex and abstract more familiar and usable to students who are just not getting it. A lot of the problem facing teachers is putting themselves in the position of students who see as hopelessly complex something that the instructor sees as totally unified and simple. There has to be some kind of imaginative empathy that allows instructors to recall what it was like before they were able to acquire that simple, unified view. If a teacher can remember that, patience and shrewd teaching strategy will both follow.

 

[Rich Parsons]

What personal and professional qualities are needed to be a Teacher, a person beyond reproach, of the Martial Arts?

Personal: As mentioned, good sense of humor and being open minded and friendly and ...

Professional: Presentation skills, and understanding of styles of education, this can be self taught or come naturally or ...

Beyond Reproach: This has me speachless. I am confused. I mean, humans are humans. How does being in the martial arts make it impossible for a person to get upset or get mad or swear or ... ?

 

[Ninebird8]

I agree with all the great comments already said. In the latest Tai Chi magazine, there was a whole article about what makes a great teacher and all that you mentioned was said in the article. But there was one other thing I found profound: admit what you do not know, do not teach what you cannot show, and be enough of a teacher and love your students enough to send them to someone who does if you cannot!! I found this very illuminating and too me, for a teacher, is the ultimate humility! I have done it myself, and have found it engenders even more loyalty than you can imagine from your students. A great man, my grandfather, once said there are three great English phases, " I love you," "I do not know," and " I apologize." All three will get very positive reactions, but the second one is the key to self knowledge and teaching! After 32 years, just when I think I am very good, I work out, talk, or call one of my three masters, and realize I am still a baby in their and my eyes!

I found that article to be great,and it said one other thing: you cannot be a great student until you have taught!

 

[Geeba12]

I agree with all the great comments already said. In the latest Tai Chi magazine, there was a whole article about what makes a great teacher and all that you mentioned was said in the article. But there was one other thing I found profound: admit what you do not know, do not teach what you cannot show, and be enough of a teacher and love your students enough to send them to someone who does if you cannot!! I found this very illuminating and too me, for a teacher, is the ultimate humility! I have done it myself, and have found it engenders even more loyalty than you can imagine from your students. A great man, my grandfather, once said there are three great English phases, " I love you," "I do not know," and " I apologize." All three will get very positive reactions, but the second one is the key to self knowledge and teaching! After 32 years, just when I think I am very good, I work out, talk, or call one of my three masters, and realize I am still a baby in their and my eyes!

I found that article to be great,and it said one other thing: you cannot be a great student until you have taught!

I agree 100%! at the end of every class I thank the students for teaching me. I learn from them every class I teach and have for years. I agree the mark of a great Teacher is his/her humility and remaining "human", not to be perceived as a God, infallible.

 

[KELLYG]

I think knowing how to read people and knowing your students.
What it takes to motivate one person would not necessarily work on another!

 

[Geeba12]

I think knowing how to read people and knowing your students.
What it takes to motivate one person would not necessarily work on another!

Agreed, that's why I believe Teaching is one of the most important aspects of growing as a Martial Artist. Teachers should learn from their students and grow from what they experience as Teachers, each and every class. If a Teacher is closed minded and think they are above their students, they only prove how limited they are in the first place.
Regards,
SJG

 

[teekin]

Good choice, T. If you think about it, these are the main desiderata for teachers of virtually anything (changing the reference to 'martial art' in the last item appropriately): they kind of define the requirement of the teaching vocation. Any good teacher will display these traits, and without any one them—particularly, as Drac shrewdly pointed out, a lot of patience—you have someone who isn't going to be outstanding, and maybe a lot worse than not outstanding.

I think an important quality that all teachers should have is the ability to remember—vividly!—what it was like to be students themselves, to struggle with concepts that have since become so familiar as to seem self-evident. This is connected to patience, but it's a little different, because the instructor who can recall what it was like not to know something is more likely to try a much larger variety of ways to make the complex and abstract more familiar and usable to students who are just not getting it. A lot of the problem facing teachers is putting themselves in the position of students who see as hopelessly complex something that the instructor sees as totally unified and simple. There has to be some kind of imaginative empathy that allows instructors to recall what it was like before they were able to acquire that simple, unified view. If a teacher can remember that, patience and shrewd teaching strategy will both follow.

Excellent point! Being able to take an exersice back to the point at which it begins to unravel for the student and then to rebuild it in a diffrent way that makes sense to the student and the student can apply effectivley seems to evade a lot of teachers. Perhaps your reasoning is why.
lori