How do you know when you got a good instructor

[YoungMan]

Unfortunately, when some people ask me about a certain Instructor, they want to hear how good he is. I'll be honest. If I think an Instructor is good, I'll say so. If I think an Instructor stinks, I'll say so as well. Don't get mad at me because you asked my opinion and I gave it to you. I've had people get downright snippy (especially online) because they wanted to hear so-and-so was great and I thought he was crap.

Unfortunately, not too many TKD Instructors I can recommend.

[dyeguy0807]

Oh...one thing to watch out for is someone that is in their 20's and claims to have a very high rank...say 4th dan or above. MAJOR red flag there in my opinion.

Does anyone believe in exceptions to this rule? By the time I am eligible to test for 4th Dan I will have been running classes every week for 10 years...but I'll only be 22. Is Montana saying I should test just because of my age, and not because of experience?

Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are many immature instructors out in the world, some in their 20's...some in their 50's. I may be showing immaturity by questioning this, but I feel I should.

I look forward to hearing some opinions on this.

[G95champ]

I think you know you had a good one the first time you get a bad one lol.

[lordtariel]

Does anyone believe in exceptions to this rule? By the time I am eligible to test for 4th Dan I will have been running classes every week for 10 years...but I'll only be 22. Is Montana saying I should test just because of my age, and not because of experience?

Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are many immature instructors out in the world, some in their 20's...some in their 50's. I may be showing immaturity by questioning this, but I feel I should.

I look forward to hearing some opinions on this.

There are always exceptions to things. Starting at 8 and sticking with it hard core(20-30 hours of training a week for 14 years) till your 22, you might get there, but that is an exception that is few and far between. For the most part though, it's simply unrealistic.

Say you get shodan at 16... then it's 3 more years to 2nd, 5 more years to 3rd(not sure the average time between dan ranks but from what I understand it's exponential), that's already at 24.

[dyeguy0807]

Sorry to bring this forum off topic a bit...but I think its a good cause.

How we handle testing after shodan is you have to wait one year for each dan. 1 year for 1st, 2 additional years for 2nd, ect. which means that from brown belt to 4th dan would take 10 years...IF you train hard enough. I achieved shodan at 13 years old, which, looking back seems a little too young. 2-3 years later would've been best. But I've only grown from the experience and I put in just as much work as people twice my age. I'm being ranked through a credible organizaion (I think...) so... I dunno. Thanks for the input, any other opinions? I may make this its own post eventually.

[YoungMan]

When I see a "Grandmaster" Instructor who looks like he is no older than 45, I seriously question how good he could be.

I also read an article from a very well known TKD Instructor (American) who supposedly got his son promoted to 4th Dan at 17 years old and allowed him to judge. To me, that is outright fraud.

[Zanshin]

I don’t know whether there is such a thing in the US, but in the UK, Karate instructors should have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) enhanced disclosure.

This of course, has absolutely no relevance as to how good their Karate may be.

The advice offered here is all good, but to an extent deciding on a Karate instructor does come down to a leap of faith in the end. Having sight of “tangible” assets like proof of insurance, CRB certificates and first aid qualifications are good indicators that the school is being run in a professional manner.

More often than not, it follows that the Instructor will adopt the same approach to his / her art and the way that he teaches it.

[karatekid1975]

I think that a good instructor is someone who teaches in a way that you can understand, practices in a way that you can want to emulate, and runs his buisness in a way that you can respect and support.

I like this answer..couldn't agree more!

This is how my instructor is. She's the best in my opinion

[Sensei Rick]

Does anyone believe in exceptions to this rule? By the time I am eligible to test for 4th Dan I will have been running classes every week for 10 years...but I'll only be 22. Is Montana saying I should test just because of my age, and not because of experience?

22 is too youg to be 4th dan.... period......IMHO. 4 th represents your contribution to the art......how can you contribute anything at that age. I have seen organizations that don't even allow this rank untill 35. I have seen very young high ranking BB's that don't even understand there own style. One couldn't tell me weather the backfist in his 3rd kata was a high back fist or a middle back fist..... c'mon, they should at least understand there own art.

Now, I will answer the question at hand. First, ask the order of the ranks in the system. What color follows what color? Write them down if you have to. Then watch a class that has many ranks. Usually a night class consisting of only adults. Is there a distinction between the skill, or do all the belts look the same? Are the black belts strong in there presence, even if they are small people? Or does everyone, no matter what belt color, look the same. Are they just hap hazardless going thru the motions or are the senior ranks inspiring the lower ranks to try harder and meet a higher standard. That's what’s important to me anyways. I want to see a definitive distinction at each level

[ironsifu]

its hard to answer this question if your a student. how can a beginner judge the expert? on what he sees in the movies? or a tournament? or comic book?

some people will look at a teacher with a belly, and say, he is no good. or a teacher who can do splits and has a nice body, and say he is good. or one who is acobatic, and think he's good. "good" teachers, you can only tell one way, that is to compare his students fight against others.

just like you cant chose your parents, i dont think its that easy to chose your teacher. you find a school and you study for x, y, and z. and months, maybe years later, you find out if he was that good or not. but the real focus should be, to be a damn good student. you train like a mad man, to make your teacher and school look good, and to be good skills yourself. if the teacher can guide you to that goal, then i say he's okay.