Why do you teach?

[Shorinryu Sensei]

I don't know if this thread has been done before, but I thought this would be an interesting topic for instructors.

 

Why, as an instructor, do you teach?

 

I'm not looking for assistant instructors that teach because their instructor tells them to, or it's a requirement for them to do so. I'm looking more for the head sensei of a dojo/dojang.

 

Why, when we could be sitting on our duffs watching some reality show instead, do we drop everything, schedule our lives in such a way as to make sure we have every Monday and Thursday (or whatever) off so that we can teach a bunch of newbies (or not so newbies) blocks, kics, punches, kata, kumite..and so on?

 

Why do we tell our friends and family.."I can't make it to that party, meeting, BBQ..whatever, until AFTER my karate class is over. Why do we put our entire social lives, family time..even work sometimes on hold, just so that we can get all sweaty, maybe beat up and abused?

 

OK, I think you get the idea.

 

Now, my reasons are this (in no particular order of importance):

 

1. I love the arts, and I love teaching people (I used to be a school teacher).

 

2. I feel the arts have been very good to, and for me in the mental, physical, emotional and social sense throughout my nearly 29 years of doing them.

 

3. Because I love the art, I feel it is my responsability to pass on what little knowledge I have to others that are interested in learning it.

 

4. I feel that if I didn't teach, then I would probably not have enough drive myself to practice on a regular basis, and eventually my knowledge would be lost. Teaching a class gives me the opportunity to practice what I know, improvwe my skills, and gives me somebody to practice (play?) with.

 

How about you?

[stl_karateka]

I'm not a head instructor, nor was I one of those who had to be asked to teach to fill a requirement, so I'll take a stab if you don't mind

 

I pretty much knew soon after getting started that I wanted to teach. I remember at my old school the owner overseeing a class with his wife (one of the kids classes) saying 'we need help'. I talked to him after class --- I was only a yellowbelt at the time but at 21 I possessed the maturity and 4 years of assistant director at a camp I knew a thing or two about working with kids! So that was my start (most people don't start helping until green and yes it is a requirement then) --- all I had to do was help get the kids in a straight line before and after class and walk around and check stances, make sure they had their right/left feet in the right position etc....it would be a few more months until I actually started teaching a handful on my own.

 

After I retire or get out of the military and settle in one location (whichever comes first) -- I want to open my own school. I soak information in like a sponge --- I see what works and what doesn't work.

 

By the time I left my old school I was second to the head instructor. I would run classes, open/close the dojo, help build the curriculum etc

 

I knew it was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

 

Missed or arrived late at social events for MA? Oh yeah! Compromised my own training to work with students sometime (that was the problem with having the adult adv class right after teaching -- sometimes your 'in the zone' and I'll continue to work with the student )

 

- I absolutely love MA!

 

- No matter what your situation is, I belive the MA can offer you something...

 

- Share what I've learned with others

 

-Selfish reason - my skills increaase exponetially when I am teaching...I don't know if its cause I feel I need to set the example, or cause I am doing it more...but teaching makes me sharper

 

I've only been in the MA for a little over 5 years but its been a top priority during that time!

[RobinT830]

Well, I have been teaching for about 4 years now and I love it.

 

I teach because:

 

1. I want to share what I have learned with others through MA.

 

2. My techniques get better since I have to break it down for teaching.

 

3. I learn alot from my students.

 

[telsun]

I originally opened my own club due to my sensei leaving and I was frustrated at the lack of good clubs in my area. I got in with an association that convinced me that I could make some serious money out of it!! I stuck with it for about a year or so until I met my current instructor. I came to realise that although my karate was at a reasonable standard it was also lacking real depth. I gave up my dojo(very hard thing to do) to pursue my own training. My new instructor also taught me that karate is not for making money. Something which I never really achieved anyway, I'm just not a business man, too soft hearted

 

One day I will start my own dojo again. Although I am starting to take quite a disliking to the whole dojo route and may consider home training/ small private classes. Not sure yet. Shorin-ryu sensei you teach at home. Why?

 

The reasons that I want to teach:

 

1. I love karate and want to show people the beauty of my art.

 

2. There are so many bad clubs around here I want to show them what it's about.

 

3. I know of the positive affects that ma training has on an idividual and I want to be the one responsible for enlightening my student.

 

4. I want to support my association.

 

5. I enjoy teaching. Karate is the only thing that I am good at in life and I want to share that. I believe that is human nature.

 

It's quite a difficult question actually...........

[Shorinryu Sensei]

Shorin-ryu sensei you teach at home. Why?

 

I had a commercial dojo for 3 or 4 years with around 70 students, and I was running it 6 days/week alone. I refuse to use contracts (not good business, I know) and inb the summer months classes would dwindle down to just a couple of students.

 

It was fun the first year...felt lik3e work the 2nd, and really sstarted to burn me out the 3rd year.

 

Long story short, I took a bit of a sabatical from the arts, then started teaching out of my attached single car garage with about a dozen good students. I'm much happier now..less stress, and I don't have to worry about bills and can just teach the art for the sake of the art, instead of the almight dollar.

[Squawman]

I can't see myself doing much else. There is nothing else like seeing a student come into your school and sometimes they are so uncoordinated they can't even walk down the floor and then transforming them into a great person metally and physically through the years. I also love to see our school grow and getting more and more known in the community. Plus it's also that ego boost you get when your done with a class and you have parents tell you how great you are with the kids. (Twice today in fact). Where else can you work in your pajamas and have fun.

[G95champ]

I was asked too

[karatekid1975]

I'm not a full blown instructor, but I'll take a stab at this anyway. I teach because I love it. When a student of mine learns something, and gets it right, the look on their face says it all I was teaching a kid a new form (to them) today, and when he got it right, he knew it. His face just lit up. He got so excited. That makes it worth it to me

 

I knew when I first started MA that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My instructor, Master P, gave me that chance, eventhough I'm just a color belt, and I thank him very much Someday, I'll open a branch of his school My instructor is awsome, and that would be the way to repay him

[ialwaysgethit]

because it is fun.

 

it is so good to see somebody that wants to learn something actually pick up and learn something that they would not normally do, it is a hude sense of achievement for the student as well for the teacher.

 

it is great fun.

 

what a buzz

[Sasori_Te]

I teach because I love to do it.

 

I teach because I learn something new everytime I teach something I thought I knew.

 

I teach because it's the best way that I can repay my instructors for teaching me.

 

There's my condensed list of reasons.