Your Teachers Experience

[MJS]

When choosing an art to train in, what do you look for in a teacher, as far as his experience goes? Do you look to see if he has a competition record or background? Do you look to see what, if any, real world experience he has? Ex: Does he work or did he work in an environment in which he had opportunity to test/use his skills, ie: Corrections, LEO, etc. Do you feel that his experience is relevant to your training?

 

[ForeverStudent]

At first i watched at nothing, just to train. After some bad experiences i started to watch at it all - competitions, certificates, and so on. The again i had some bad experiences.

What i can say is that i think you can't judge master by see what he have or what he doesn't have. In most cases, the only wat to see is he good for you is to go and train, for some amount of time, at least few months.

And what else i think, i spended for years looking for a good master. Then i realised that i just needed to relax and train, devote myself to the art. I mean, sometimes it's not good master or art, it's we and our will to devote.

 

[Darksoul]

-A fellow student at a placed I trained several years ago said that before he choose that school, he had shopped around a bit, but asked each instructor one question. "Have you ever used your self defense skills in a real fight?" The sifu at the school where we were at was the only one who told him yes. Not that thats all a person should look for, obviously. I more or less decided on that place, have already researched the school and lineage, that the sifu's senior students would be a good way to judge. And those two scared me...in a good way, lol. Now I don't train at all, but thats a whole different topic. However, having been a MartialTalk for 6 years now, I certainly feel a little more prepared next time I'm ready to train.

Andrew

 

[WC_lun]

I had almost 15 years in training when found my current sifu. What I saw in him was twofold. He showed me he had integrity and he showed me he had something to teach me. That may not sound like much, but for me it took a while and felt huge.

 

[bluewaveschool]

I just recently went shopping for a new instructor to work out with on the side, to help further sharpen my skills, as my work schedule doesn't let me spend much, if any time outside of class with my other BB. And in class, we are too busy teaching, only having 1 hour a class. First I hit the web to see what schools were around, and then I narrowed my search to my style, shuffled the schools that I'd heard negative things (either from my BBs seeing their classes, or seeing the students that have switched to our school) to the bottom of the list to check. The first guy I visited, I spent about an hour and a half talking to, our experiences with TKD and our thoughts on teaching. I decided to return and take a class because of how approachable he is, how he talked to a potential customer that called when I was there, and how the love of what he is doing for a living radiated from him. You can tell that while it's his business, he gets far more than money out of teaching. Sure, being familiar with my formset was one of my big concerns, but even if this guy wasn't, I'd be working out with him. That he does a variation of the Chang Hon system is a plus.

 

[Bruno@MT]

I didn't look for anything in particular.
I went for a practice lesson to get a feel for the place and the teacher (the dojo had just opened). From day one, I felt like I fit there, and the teacher and I are very likeminded when it comes to training and our art.

I think it also depends on what you want to get out of your training. I love the traditional Japanese arts, but if you are looking for self defense, then there are better places to look, and you'll want different things form a teacher. There is no '1 size fits all' I think.

 

[Brother John]

When choosing an art to train in, what do you look for in a teacher, as far as his experience goes? Do you look to see if he has a competition record or background? Do you look to see what, if any, real world experience he has? Ex: Does he work or did he work in an environment in which he had opportunity to test/use his skills, ie: Corrections, LEO, etc. Do you feel that his experience is relevant to your training?

The instructor's life experiences are a bonus if he has some that is relevant: LEO, Military, bouncer, security work, collegiate athlete....etc. But honestly these things are not a huge factor on my list of things that I (or I think MOST) look for. There are other factors that predominate the list of "Needs":
Location
Art
Cost
Personality
school-culture
Instructors MA specific experience/background
THEN........additional 'instructor background'....like LEO / Military......etc.


I'd say that 99.9% of all the people who shop for a martial arts instructor establish the parameters for their search FIRST through proximity. IF you can't fit the training into your life w/out merely GETTING to your instructor as being a huge sacrifice..... you won't go. IF proximity wasn't an issue, everyone would train under the most renouned fighters or those HIGHEST on the chain of "Authority" in a system: ie; we'd all be direct students of the grandmaster of our most IDEAL system.
SO: First into the hat is proximity.

I've had instructors that had been Army Rangers who'd been in multiple REAL LIFE hand to hand life or death combat encounters. Their MA pedigree was pretty solid too. But: They really weren't that good of an instructor.

I've had instructors who had NO background that many would find as "relevant" in most cases, yet they were SO good at teaching their martial art that we had outside people come just to watch the way that sensei would run his classes....he was that good. What is it in his own background that effected this?? He was a seventh grade history/sociology teacher.

SOME who DO have 'relevant' backgrounds (Navy Seal, LEO...etc.) end up relying TOO MUCH on that....as though it were a dominant factor. What it is that makes one a Navy Seal or any other kind of real WARRIOR, can't be learned or passed along unless the SEED of it is already there..........so using it as a 'selling point' is mere marketing, and in many cases....an underspoken false advertising.

Your Brother
John

 

[Cirdan]

In short I`d be looking for someone with a deep understanding of the art, who is in touch with reality and wants to pass the knowledge on. Background is relevant, but as a traditionalist I`d rather ask questions about the art, lineage and history. If i was looking to compete or for SD it might be otherwise. Naturally, trying a class might tell you a lot more than just a talk.

Sometimes you meet great instructors in arts that are not quite for you. I have tried and enjoyed many lessons in BJJ, Katori Shinto Ryu and Nihon Goshin Ryu, but they were not quite what I was looking for.

 

[harlan]

In descending order of importance:

1. Time/date of class. Makes no sense to start a martial art, join a gym, etc. if one can't make it to class.

2. Location. Again, can I make it to the class.

3. Price.

If all the above are met, the most important factor...is whether or not I like the teacher. Is he/she personable, and do I think he/she can keep me learning for a long time. I'm not looking for a specific set of skills/background, so much as years in training. I figure, you start training with people that have got 20-30 years on you, and you'll be kept busy learning for years.

 

[MJS]

Its interesting, because I've seen teachers who had their strong and weak points. Some were great at kata, but not so great at sparring. I suppose in the end, it'll all come down to what each person is looking for. Ex: If you were interested in competing, say in BJJ tournaments, then yeah, I'd say that it'd be nice to be training with someone who's done so already.

For myself, competing isn't really something that I'm currently interested in. I've done my share of tournaments, winning some and losing some, so....

SD wise, yes, IMO, it'd be nice to train with or under someone who will be teaching something applicable, rather than a fantasy move that probably won't work. A few of my current teachers either have or still do, work in environments, in which they need to be effective with what they're doing, so thats always a plus.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Its sometimes hard to find out about an instructor's background as far as real life street altercations go. I have met a few instructors when I was new to the art who told me they had never used what they are taught, fighting is dishonourable, fights can be avoided etc etc. Several years on and knowing them personally I know for a fact that they have backgrounds full of heaps of street fights but when talking to new students (particularly parents of young kids), it is not wise to rattle off all the stories about people they have beaten up as it can be frowned upon.

 

[maft]

Hey,

I my eyes teacher has to know how to tech, he has to understand that not every student is the same so communication is very important.

Also some people are better teachers than fighters so his or hers fighting experience can help, but also means nothing, if they can't teach you what they know.

Maybe see how many of his students are successful fighters. Then again fighting is no mesaurment.

I guess it will come down to how do you feel, do you feel you are learning, developing, can you see yourself improving?

Hope it helps,

Cheers,

maft