OrangamusJulius

BTW, my schools owner started teaching at fifth kyu as well, his instructor decided to toss him in the "deep end" of instructing a class by himself and see if he could swim. He has now been teaching for over 25 years. It seems to have worked rather well for him.

Teaching the martial arts is not the same as learning the martial arts. If this were true then I know an old Kung Fu master who should hang up his silk suit. Proficient technicians do not necessarily make good instructors. Just because you can do it doesn't mean you can pass it on to other people. I have heard stories from my school about a BB, a strong fighter, that threatened to toss a 5 year old student through a window. I personally knew two excellent BBs (they are gone now) that were excellent teachers when they were alone, but could not stop verbally abusing each other long enough to pay attention to class. On the flip side, my favorite instructor has always been my first long-period instructor (he's since moved). He wasn't the most skillful martial artist, in that his kicks were low and his stances were short, due to ankle and knee problems. But he was an excellent fighter (usually only used his hands) and an excellent teacher. He could teach kata better than anyone else in the school (not because the other instructors were bad, this instructor was good). He knew exactly how to pick you apart. He saw everything, and knew how to point it out to you. Teaching takes certain key skills. It takes leadership (foremost), maturity (not equatable to age), originality and variety (just a dash, to establish your own teaching style and to keep the students interested), intuition (thinking outside the box), and an eye for what wrong technique looks like and how to fix it. Most times the natural martial artist doesn't make the best teacher because s/he doesn't know the struggle of a regular student, or how a technique can be done IMPROPERLY. A good black belt may be able to show you how a technique SHOULD be done, but will not necessarily be able to point out why you are doing it wrong. I think that is also an important aspect of being a good instructor -- being able to definitively tell a student "You are wrong, and this is why". This is not an aspect that can be taught to a budding instructor. It is a personality trait, the sort of quasi-arrogance that comes with a natural born leader. Confidence in your own technique is key, because if you are not confident with your skill, why should your students be confident in you and the art you teach them? My original instructor knew he could not perform even a flying side kick, but he was confident enough in his hand technique. I am an instructor myself. I've taught my own classes since 5th kyu, and am now a 1st dan. I started off with a small class of 4 year olds. Around 3rd or 2nd kyu I was put in charge of my own adult class. I have been the only instructor many of them have had. My students are some of the best in the school. Maybe I was lucky, maybe fate gave me naturals. Or maybe my natural leadership, maturity, confidence, and intuition have allowed me to see what my students are doing, what is wrong, what is right, and what to do about it. My original instructor has since visited me and worked out with my class. He complimented me on how good an instructor and a martial artist I had become.

I want to start my own school, with my head instructors approval of course. What do you think would make a good name? Our art is based on TKD, but only loosely. For example, we punch a lot. We do a lot of self defense training, and generally stick more closely to the ITF kata set (though not exclusively). We study weapons as well. Thanks for any ideas you have.