Importance of Instructor and student accomplishments.

[JiuJitsuNation]

Depends on what you want. My instructor isn't a "world champion" or anything-- he doesn't compete in tournaments anymore, although he will judge them sometimes. Some may say that he's not "accomplished" because he never held any titles in tournaments and some say they are accomplished because they do. But my instructor's been training for 40 some years, he's trained with experienced instructors in many different arts and he studies and researches the martial arts like a fanatic (actually, he is a fanatic). Even in his 60s and with his bad back and limited physical capabilities, he's constantly learning and searching for new information and usually he finds it. He's also creating his own new ideas and applications for old moves and kata every single day. To me, that makes him accomplished, even if he did never bother to go past 3rd or 4th degree black belt (not exactly sure what he is) and even if he doesn't hold a bunch of fancy titles. I think of him more as a martial arts academic-- if the martial arts world handed out PhDs instead of concentrating on new cool colored belts to give out, he'd have one. So yeah, I think everyone considers their instructor accomplished. Everyone just has different ideas of what the word "accomplished" means to them based on what they value in an instructor.

Very good. He would be an asset. But we are talking about martial arts right? Learning how to defend ones self? I don't mean forms champion or any of this although again the public generally can't distinguish between what's real and what's not. Does his experience globally have any bearing?

[Lupin1]

Very good. He would be an asset. But we are talking about martial arts right? Learning how to defend ones self? I don't mean forms champion or any of this although again the public generally can't distinguish between what's real and what's not. Does his experience globally have any bearing?

But again-- not everyone wants MMA "can he and does he beat the crap out of people". I have no doubt he'd be able to defend himself and he wants us to be able to defend ourselves and so yes, we learn some very practical stuff that looks like it's out of a police-taught "woman's self-defense" class. But for martial arts study he tends to teach it more as an art. A lot of the things we do he openly admits probably wouldn't work in real life, but no one in the class seems to mind or else we'd go somewhere else. He studies very old techniques and tries to make them work, knowing full well that it'd probably be impractical to use them in a real fight. But we study those moves to perserve history and develop the martial ARTS as an art. The people in the class don't go there just to learn how to defend ourselves, although as I said we do learn that type of stuff as well. There are many reasons to study something beyond just wanting to put it into practical use. But different strokes for different folks.

[JiuJitsuNation]

Well put. And I understand. And MMA is intimidating and I personally do not accept that title although I have fair stand up from boxing and muay thai. I am provoking a bit here but with good intention. Everything I am hearing is why I started this thread. I appreciate the responses.

[sensei8]

Maybe, if the student considers her/his instructor(s) "accomplished", than that's the only thing that matters to that student.

[bushido_man96]

I went with "should be marketable." My TKD instructor was the running sparring champ in his weightclass at an area "national" tournament for 10 years in a row, and that gets printed in school flyers and such. He has lined some of the walls at the gym with tourney trophies. So, I think it can be a good tool to use when seeking students.

If/when Steven Lopez decides not to compete at the international level any longer, then I am sure he will become a sought-after instructor for future TKDers seeking Olympic and international glory. They'd be on the right track, too. Now, whether or not he can coach, who knows yet. I'm not sure if he coaches yet or not, but I think he probably has some ideas to get someone heading in the right direction.

Forms champs could draw the same kind of attention. Mike Chat draws in students seeking coaching on creative forms competitions and the like.

Guys like Iain Abernethy draw in people for bunkai and training methods. The fact that these individuals have success in fighting, forms competition, and have written books on their subjects, respectively, all contribute to the fact that their "accomplishments" are marketable, and will have an impact on the student draw they have, and thus, the talent level they will draw to work with.

One quick question....can anyone tell me the name of Muhammed Ali's trainer?

[JiuJitsuNation]

Ha good point.

[DWx]

Well for starters my instructor is a world medallist in forms and sparring so he's accomplished in that regard. But he's also an awesome teacher, I'd like to think everyone at our school is of a good standard. And he has trained plenty of students to world class level. We rank pretty highly on the tournament circuit and nearly a third of the national squad come from our little school. If anything these achievements make me want to train with him more so yeah I guess having an accomplished instructor matters to me. But even without those competition and sporting achievements I'd still train with him because of his other accomplishments.

Originally I read "accomplishments" as not being just the tournament and sporting achievements but to include stuff like being renowned for your knowledge on the subject or even if you've just been studying for decades and have a wealth of knowledge to share. To me accomplished can also mean producing top quality students. So if you've wrote books or people regard you as being one of the best teachers out there. So I'd consider somebody like Iain Abernethy as extremely accomplished..