Advice regarding potentially teaching needed

[CallMeLuke]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking about offering Karate instruction in a year or so, but I'm not sure whether or not I should. I'd really welcome some advice.

I'm a thirty four year old brown belt in Shotokan Karate and I've held this rank for more than fifteen years. Since gaining my last formal rank, I've spent most of my training time training privately outside of a formal club setting. During this time my "style" has changed into something that, whilst clearly and unmistakably karate, can no longer be called shotokan Karate (I'm happy to elaborate on this if anyone wants). My family and I live in China at the moment (where I'm an English teacher) but we plan to return to the UK in a year or two. I'm thinking about sharing what I know, teaching my form of karate, but I don't know if I'd be criticised or dismissed for not being an official black belt.

I have no intention or desire to misrepresent myself by claiming official ranks that I don't have. Nor do I wish to proclaim myself a "grandmaster" of my personal style - because that seems rather egotistical, pretentious, and, well, rather silly. I just think that since I know a thing or two, have quite a bit of experience, and since I'm passionate about both Karate and teaching, I would like to share what I know with others.

So, to cut an already long-winded post somewhat short. What do people think about me teaching my personal karate style to others? Is it a good idea or a bad one?

[sensei8]

Nobody can stop you. By this I mean, anyone, despite rank, can open a dojo and charge money for providing lessons. I've only seen 2 dojo's ever opened up for profit when the chief instructor was only a brown belt.

First one opened up his dojo as an Sankyu, but while he was teaching at his dojo, he'd still be taking lessons from his Sensei, who was a Yondan. In time, he earned his Yudansha, and he never experienced a burp from only being a brown belt when he opened up his dojo. He was honest with his students right from the beginning, and his students, while he was a brown belt, never questioned him for not being a Yudansha.

Second one opened up his dojo as an Ikkyu, and he conducted the classes himself, but he had a Nanadan sitting on the testing panel during testing cycles. Whomever passed, the Nanadan signed and stamped his seal of approval on the certificates. This went on way beyond this Ikkyu earning his own Yudansha.

I'm not sure what the laws are in UK concerning this, but, in the USA, nobody can stop you from opening a dojo. Whether you'll get any students, well, that's up to your future students. Some consumers will avoid you like you had the plague, and others will not be so concerned with outer decorations.

Nothing ventured is nothing gained.

[ps1]

I'm going to echo the post of Sensei8 here. No one can stop you. However, not being a black belt yourself, how will you rank students? Are you going to do a RBSD type of system that doesn't have rank? I would imagine that would be the best, and most honest way to do it.

[sensei8]

I'm going to echo the post of Sensei8 here. No one can stop you. However, not being a black belt yourself, how will you rank students? Are you going to do a RBSD type of system that doesn't have rank? I would imagine that would be the best, and most honest way to do it.

ps1, that's a very valid point. My two examples in my post had a mid level to high level black belt to certify their students.

[tallgeese]

I was teaching at brown in my initial system. Granted, not at my own facility, but still pretty much ran classes. Additinally, I ran an on campus club for our style.

If you've got quality stuff, and people will train with you, have at it. For me, personally, I wasn't interested in ranking people so it wasn't an issue. And while teaching for someone else any rank was officially sanctioned thru them.

If you start people now, what's the chances they'll have any elevated rank options before you get your own promotion to black. Probibly minimal. If your instructor, or organization if your part of such, will clear you to rank out the lower belts then you have even less of a problem.

Running your own school at brown is much more common in the BJJ world than oriental arts and is hardly considered odd at all in most communities. My own BJJ coach was still a brown when I started training with him.

[bushido_man96]

You might take some ridicule for teaching something you call a Karate style, especially when other instructors begin to find out it is your "own" style (read, a "created" style).

I don't view what you want to do as a bad thing, and it sounds like you aren't leading with your ego, which is great. I do think that if you had attained a black belt, you would have more credibility amongst other schools, but again, I don't think this a big deal if you plan to be honest with everyone you plan to teach.

Good luck in your endeavor.

[JohnASE]

I know many would disagree with me, but I think that as the creator of your own style, you have the right to declare yourself a black belt in that style, even if you didn't earn one in another style. I agree that it's silly to call yourself grandmaster, at least until you have a really large following and have been teaching for a couple decades, but I see nothing wrong with you being a sensei.

In my opinion, the term "black belt" by itself doesn't mean much. It's not sacred. Each group defines its own requirements for achieving that rank, and many are vastly different. Some styles don't teach kata, so their black belts don't know ANY kata. Some styles don't do ANY sparring, so obviously, their black belts don't spar well. To me, for the term black belt to have real meaning, it needs to be qualified: black belt in Shotokan or black belt in SKIF Shotokan or black belt in CallMeLuke-Ryu.

Would you be criticized and dismissed for not being an official black belt? Heck yeah! Especially if you gain any kind of notoriety. Of course, most of this will come from within the martial arts community, not from potential students. At some point, maybe you'll find a way to prove yourself and the value of your style, but until then, others will scoff.

Should you teach? Why not? You seem to think you have something of value to pass on and the ability to teach. I would hope you have enough knowledge to maintain the interest of your students for at least a couple years, and that you will continue your own training so that you'll have more and more to teach as time goes on.

Now, my perspective is that of someone who grew up in Hollywood, California, where being different was the norm. I'm used to cultural diversity and inconsistent values. I'm not sure what things are like in the UK, but I've heard that martial arts in Europe are much more homogeneous than in the USA, so you might find more resistance there.

[CallMeLuke]

Thanks so much for your opinions, people. I'll way up my options carefully before I make a decision on how to proceed. Fortunately, I'll remain here in China for a year or so, so I have plenty of time to think things through before I act. In the meantime, I'll continue to train and develop my knowledge and ability, which is the true pleasure of Karate.

[Montana]

Funny, I just posted a reply to a thread in the karate section which might apply to my opinion on this thread.

http://www.karateforums.com/mcdojo-are-you-one-vt40659.html

[CallMeLuke]

Funny, I just posted a reply to a thread in the karate section which might apply to my opinion on this thread.

http://www.karateforums.com/mcdojo-are-you-one-vt40659.html

Hm. I'm not sure if you've just given me some friendly advice or accused me of being a scam artist with a wall full of fake certificates who is out to milk innocent people of their hard earned money.

If it's the former then thanks, I'll be sure not to replicate the dodgy practices of your first teacher. If it's the latter then I'll overlook the insult because you obviously had a horrible experience and, quite naturally, want to protect others from falling for the same scam.