Why is this so...

[CapitalKarate]

From what I've seen, most MA instructors are overweight or have a slight pot belly, why is this so?

[pineapple]

One possibility is that when you spend a lot of time teaching, you have less time to train yourself.

I trained a lot harder prior to teaching others.

[taiji fajin]

its where they store all the chi they've built up over the years

[swooshfinn]

I think pineapple is right, unless the instructor gets a class that has a few blackbelts at various levels to delegate to, the instructor teaches more than he can train. Even the lower degree black belts will try to delegate to competent advanced colored belts (brown and brown/ black in Kuk Sool Won's case) if possible, and by getting the brown and brown/ black belts involved with the teaching, it prepares them more for the black belt role.

[Mr. Mike]

you also have to consider that most instructors are at the school a good portion of the day and might not choose the best foods...mostly convenience foods.

Add to that the fact that they aren't training as hard to get to where they need to be, and you have a slight weight gain. I'm as guilty as the next guy of this. I got comfy in my Program Director position and didn't train as hard and started eating the cruddy foods out of convenience...guess what...I put 15 of my hard lost 70 lbs right back on. But, back on track, I have lost almost 20 lbs since the middle of march onthe Body for Life program. I suggest giving it a look if you have similar weight loss goals. I want to be at 225 by the end of the year. I am 272 right now.

[aefibird]

its where they store all the chi they've built up over the years

Yes, it's not fat...it's a chi reserve...

I agree with what has already been said - many instructors don't tend to train and compete as hard or as often as they did when they were junior ranks.

Also, instructors tend to spend more of their time watching and teaching their students than actually training, unless they have a large enough school so that the teaching is shared amongs various people.

The fact that he does more teaching than training was one reason why my karate instructor set up a 'fight club' at our dojo, which is free sparring, weight training and fitness training. It means that he gets in a good 2&1/2 hour session of training from that, so that is a good way of maintaining his fitness even when he doesn't train much during other classes.

[CapitalKarate]

I would think though that they have have at least 20 minutes to do like circuit training or something similar to maintain muscle endurance while also maintaining fat% or decreasing it. After all, what good's knowing MA if you're not in good enough shape to use it?

[Traditional-Fist]

My sifu does not have an ounce of fat on him. He trains about four hours a day and that is before he gives his first class and then he accompanies the students in the conditioning exercises. I am sure there are others like him out there.

[granmasterchen]

by the time your an instructor....hopefully you have the skill to end a "street fight" quickly....I admit that I am no where near as in shape as I was before black belt, but I can guarantee you that my skill and ability have only gotten better, I no longer train endurance, I see no point in me being in shape and prepared for a fight in the street to last 5 3-minute rounds.....but yes I still believe in staying in relative shape, we just don't have the time, keeping a job that makes us our true income, then spending time teaching, and having time for our families....many things have changed in life for the martial artist in general since they first received their black belts....at least a good amount of us.

[CapitalKarate]

I'm so happy my career choice is a LEO/SWAT, I get paid to stay in shape!