Maria White

Your article elucidates the traits of a proficient martial arts instructor so beautifully and precisely. By mastering the techniques of any form of martial arts is not enough to be a good instructor. Thus all martial artists are not essentially good instructors always. Thanks for posting such an informative article. It was truly a delight to read.

You are absolutely correct. A level of emotional maturity is indeed require along with expertise to be a rightful claimant of black belt. I completely agree with whatever you have stated. Thanks for such a wonderful post.

Most people consider Tai Chi as a martial art that includes graceful and slow dance-like techniques. But you will be amazed to discover the intense power that can be generated by these apparently soft movements. Once you master the techniques of Tai Chi properly you will develop a kind of expertise that will allow you to deliver a strike with explosive power to unbalance an attacker and that is fa jin. “Fa” is to attack and “Jin” is trained force. Now, it may take years to master the expertise to use fa jin. So you need to be patient when you are training in tai chi.

You said that you want to become a better martial artist and there is also a kunfu school nearby. So you can always consider Kungfu to enhance your martial arts skills. If you train you will experience a number of benefits of Kungfu. I found the techniques highly effective for self defense and they are also good workouts as well. Kungfu training is also great to promote your health. However, since you are already into karate, are you thinking of shifting into kungfu totally? Focus on any of of them as it would be rather difficult to learn both the styles simultaneously as both are quite physically demanding. Happy learning!

I am not an instructor and have just started learning karate. But still I want to comment since I have discussed the issue with my trainer and found that he does not at all encourage that a student is getting trained in a same style under another instructor. He feels that there is a chance that the student might lose his focus and will get confused. Different instructors have different approach in training student on a definite style. So it is always better to stick to one expert to develop advanced skills on a specific style.