Overweight Karate Instructors

[Dobbersky]

Indeed! I have gone through all of Ev's blog posts over the last two days, and I am impressed.

She "suffers" from the same problem as me: I train hard, and a lot, but weight-loss comes hard if it comes at all.

I am, however, rather fit. I can wear down younger and tougher guys than myself, even though I probably weigh 20-30kg "too much".

I'm 120+kg and I can wear down younger fitter fighters than me I work hard train hard but weight is something I've accepted as opposed to trying to loose it

[Himokiri Karate]

I have a question for you guys, when you say overweight, are you guys saying that the instructors suppose to be around 8-12 percent bodyfat?

Just to add to discussion, I have been watching Jack Lalannes videos as well as other fitness folks and they mentioned that before losing weight you have to go through a period of time for the body to adapt the new lifestyle and eating habit.

Its interesting to mention that all these fitness teachers have mentioned that many people do go on a diet change but they dont stick with it for very long and in the beginning you feel fatigued,hungery,irritable and overwhelmed by feeling of impending doom.

I wonder if changing diet/losing weight is similar to an indiviual who is new to sparring. What I mean by that is, in the beginning you get more tired and nervous then you should in sparring.

I feel the same when I do my raw vegan cleansing during spring/summer seasons, in the beginning it felt like I was losing my mind, each summer it has gotten much better and better though...

[Dr. D]

I think the issue here is not whether an overweight instructor is capable of being an effective teacher, but rather to what extent that overweight instructor, who is supposed to be a karate "model" to his/her students, is an admirable overall example. Conditioning, diet, self-discipline, respect for others and oneself, are some of the many principles repeatedly taught through karate, but a grossly overweight instructor, regardless of the myriad of excuses I have heard over the years for their plumpness, are not optimally effective in teaching karate as a whole. Yes, an overweight instructor might be a great fighter "on the floor" (as one posts here), but the inability to control one's physical fitness (e.g., weight) diminishes your students' respect as well as your own credibility, no matter how awesome a fighter you are. This is where the big problem exists with overweight instructors.

Ninanjurse hits the nail on the head in this thread. I could not agree with Ninanjurse more...

[Wastelander]

A karate instructor should promote a healthy lifestyle and, ideally, live a healthy lifestyle. That said, even those with healthy lifestyles don't always look healthy, and those with unhealthy lifestyles don't always look unhealthy.

Take a look at this list: Motobu Choki, Higaonna Morio, Masutatsu Oyama, Kinjo Masakazu, Patrick McCarthy, Iain Abernethy, Wullie Roger, Jeff Speakman.

All of these men are well-known in their respective realms of martial arts, and they are all considered to be skilled, knowledgeable martial artists and, by all accounts, great instructors. They are (or were, in the case of those that have passed away) also all overweight, to varying degrees. Does being overweight negate everything else about them? Going along with that, I have personally known some great instructors who are overweight, and I know people who are overweight despite living a healthy lifestyle because of medical conditions. Calling such medical conditions "excuses" is the same as saying that a person with a compromised immune system due to chemotherapy or HIV is making "excuses" for why they get sick so easily.

Are there martial artists out there who preach a healthy lifestyle, but don't live it, and are therefor overweight even though they could be trim and fit? Of course there are. But regardless of that fact, I don't see the need to demonize overweight instructors, or to question the quality of their teaching. My instructor happens to be thin and in great shape, and he promotes and lives a healthy lifestyle. He is also very skilled, very knowledgeable, and a great teacher. A Godan that trains with us is a big, barrel-chested, overweight man who promotes and lives a healthy lifestyle, but is overweight anyway. He is also very skilled, very knowledgeable, and a great teacher. I, personally, am thin and in good shape, and promote a healthy lifestyle, but I also eat an awful lot of fast food and way too many desserts. Appearances can be deceiving, but regardless of that fact, they do not impact an instructor's ability to be a good instructor.

[MasterPain]

You know, there are plenty of legit reasons for not being able to lose weight. I don't have one. I just really like food. I think I transfer knowledge fairly well anyway. If someone would rather learn from a fitness model, I really don't care. But if they are disrespectful to me, I have an extra 40 pounds that creates useful inertia for throwing them down the fire escape.

[MasterPain]

Also, Sammo Hung is awesome.

[ShoriKid]

You know, there are plenty of legit reasons for not being able to lose weight. I don't have one. I just really like food. I think I transfer knowledge fairly well anyway. If someone would rather learn from a fitness model, I really don't care. But if they are disrespectful to me, I have an extra 40 pounds that creates useful inertia for throwing them down the fire escape.

Mental note: Never disrespect MP higher than the ground floor..

[MasterPain]

You know, there are plenty of legit reasons for not being able to lose weight. I don't have one. I just really like food. I think I transfer knowledge fairly well anyway. If someone would rather learn from a fitness model, I really don't care. But if they are disrespectful to me, I have an extra 40 pounds that creates useful inertia for throwing them down the fire escape.

Mental note: Never disrespect MP higher than the ground floor..

It's part of the unwritten Bujin Code, that disrespectful people are to be thrown down the fire escape. Well now it's been written, I guess.

So it is written, so shall it be done. (I've always wanted to say that.)

[SA Karate]

One instructor I had many years ago was NOT a technician. But he was an excellent teacher, he created one of my instructors who we coin as the technician. Another Japanese instructor in Japan is over weight, but moves like dynamite. You are in the dojo for YOU! If the teacher is over weight but a good teacher so what. Judge not lest ye be judged. Now in saying that, we in the western world do not eat properly. In the USA, weight is a serious issue for most of society. I see over weight instructors, glad they are teaching and it is better to coach them to become healthier than to point fingers. Nutrition is an integral part of karate. The better teachers eat well, exercises and lead. I am impressed when an instructor shows you how to do a technique rather than just talk. My suggestion is train for you, you are the only one you need to be better than. Oss!

[T3chnopsycho]

Overweight does not necessarily mean that he isn't a good teacher.

Just one example from my own experience.

I do Kimura Shukokai Karate. We have 4 8th Dans. (The highest ranked in our style) they all trainend more or less from the beginning of our style (it came from the shukokai style) under our Soke. Well they are already a bit older folks and one of them is also quite overweight.

But still in my opinion he is one of the best teachers of our style. He sometimes comes and gives a gasshuku. So I had the opportunity to train under him.

He is truly a genius and has a damn deep understanding of how the techniques work and if you ask me he is one of the fastest punchers of our style despite him being overweight he could easily land one punch after another on some of our top adult fighters. Just because he knows the techniques and can use it.

Apart from that he also knows how to explain and teach it to you.

So concluding from that a overweight teacher doesn't need to be bad.

The best thing in the end is to watch him that's the only way you can find out

cheers

T3chnopsycho