teaching without training

[mal103]

I started teaching Karate a few years ago but was told by everyone to keep up my training which i did, i have seen a few examples of Sensei that have been teaching for years but have stopped training - or at least stopped lining up in front of someone else.

one had a pot belly and broke into a sweat walking up stairs, another had developed bad habits and was even getting puzzled looks from white belts as things like age uke were way off. I was getting questioned by students who trained at both of our dojo's as they were getting conflicting info.

I now think that its essential to maintain training, i have now linked up with a few seniors but they also take their turn in the line.

can anyone stop being a student?

[sensei8]

If their dedicated, thus serious, then they can't stop being a student. It wouldn't be in their character to do so. I can't! I won't! It's all I've ever known, and it's all that I ever want to do. But, that's just me, I can't speak for others.

MA Seniors at times forget that they're more under a microscope than they even realize by other MAists, especially those from same said style/governing body. They're either looked up to or they're scorned because of their actions, or the lack thereof. Senior's forget themselves in that accord, and start to stray away from the core of what it is that they USE to hold dear; accountability!

At times, it's difficult to live up to the stereotypical MA Senior that other MAists have decided that they should be, even though they're not even miles close to being a MA Senior themselves.

If a MA Senior is disrespectful on the floor, in any way, then get off the floor!! Don't get back on the floor until they can be accountable of their actions!! The floor has already judged them, and will continue to do so. Other MAist will continue to judge said MA Seniors until the MA Senior quits all together, or gets their head gets screwed on correctly.

Aging is a fun thing, but it also isn't an excuse. Especially if there's nothing physically/mentally wrong.

I believe that I can speak intelligently on what I'm about to say because I'm a MA Senior myself, approaching my 50th year in Shindokan this October. So, to all MA Seniors...let me just say this...SHUGYO...SUCK IT UP!! If not, get off the floor immediately. Continuing not to get off the sacred floor only prolongs the agony of defeat!!

Imho!!

[tamaro]

My opinion is that someone that wants to teach without training is in it just for the money or status.

I've even seen young people wanting to start teaching and, at the same time, wanting to stop training.

In my point of view, that way of thinking goes against the very thing one should attempt to teach, and those who think like that shouldn't teach at all.

How can a math teacher be a good teacher if he doesn't like math? It's impossible. For someone to teach, that person must have a passion for the subject.

Having a passion for martial arts implies one actually feeling depressed when not training.

To sum it up...no passion for the art, no business in teaching.

[bushido_man96]

As an instructor with a wife, 3 kids, and a full-time job not instructing, it can be hard to pencil in training time like I could when I was young. As a teacher, your duty is to your students, and not yourself, so you can't always line up in the class and do basics and forms, especially if you are going to watch and make corrections, and help your students get better. Often times, the only class I can make in a week is the one I teach, so I don't get a class of my own to work out in. So, I have to try to find some training time on my own, which can be hard to dig up, too.

What is important, is knowing the material you teach. That is a big one. So, its important to take the time to review at least, to stay on top of what you teach.

[Zaine]

I now think that its essential to maintain training, i have now linked up with a few seniors but they also take their turn in the line.

can anyone stop being a student?

Absolutely. I got into MA and loved it, I can't imagine not training but there are some who teach and do nothing else. That baffles me! You teach because you love MA so much that you want to pass it on (ideally, I'm aware that there are those who do it for other reasons). As teachers, we are an example! Technique has to stay above standard and if one doesn't train that can't happen. Can anyone stop being a student? Sure. Should they? Absolutely not.

[Archimoto]

Even professionals (doctors, attorneys, architects, etc.) have to meet continuing education requirements that are State mandated to achieve a minimum number of learning units per year. Why should it be any different for martial artists?

I think it's important for so many different reasons for anyone who teaches anything to continue learning.

[IcemanSK]

The issue I see with someone who teaches but doesn't train is there enough money involved to keep that up for very long. If someone doesn't love MA enough to actively train while they teach, there's nothing else to motivate them to keep a school open. Far too many keep teaching until they're near financial ruin (out of love for their Art) than continue to teach because the money is too good to give up.

Are there out of shape folks who teach MA? Of course there are. Way too many. But that, too often is an issue of diet & other exercise apart from the Art in which one trains. Too many folks (whether instructor or not) eat as if they're in their teens with great metabolisms & don't get enough exercise outside of training. The older one gets the more one has to get the heart rate up in a way that MA training doesn't usually do. The fittest instructors I know are foks who run, bike or swim regularly, too.

[ShoriKid]

As an instructor with a wife, 3 kids, and a full-time job not instructing, it can be hard to pencil in training time like I could when I was young. As a teacher, your duty is to your students, and not yourself, so you can't always line up in the class and do basics and forms, especially if you are going to watch and make corrections, and help your students get better. Often times, the only class I can make in a week is the one I teach, so I don't get a class of my own to work out in. So, I have to try to find some training time on my own, which can be hard to dig up, too.

What is important, is knowing the material you teach. That is a big one. So, its important to take the time to review at least, to stay on top of what you teach.

I'm going to second the married guy with kids and a full time, nonMA teaching job angle here with bushindo_man96. I still am out on the floor with the guys every night, putting in the time and drilling the drills with them and doing my rounds and basics/kata. I can't get to instruct once a week, or month. I do well to get to meet with one of my own instructors more than a couple of times a year. All of us are busy, with kids, jobs, school, military service for one and hampered in travel by disability. When you live on the back side of civilization, where you are 60 miles from the nearest good instructor, it's a lot harder to do. I'm not discounting the importance of training. Give me more ready access and I'm there, every chance I get. For now, I'll work with other martial artists of any skill level to improve my training. And I'll work myself into a puddle of sweat and laugh and cry and bleed along side my students.

[Nidan Melbourne]

I teach and train actively because I'm young. But my sensei doesn't have a whole lot of time to train or able to. Because his instructor has ties still with our old school. And he is uncomfortable training there. But will train with the state and national squads. Other than that he will often train with us advanced students or with other senior people he used to train with.

He is very active and is wanting to break a sweat. He has a wife and first child on the way. Unfortunately he hasn't trained someone to take over until he can return.

[devil dog]

No matter how old, what your rank is or how many years you have trained we are all still just students of the arts. The point at which you stop training is the point when you should leave.

I can't stand seeing guys with higher ranking that could not perform at a Mudansha level much less Yudansha. The ones I have known in the past have their Shodan and Nidan teach all of the classes and they sit on their rump and watch and give instruction. Although there is something to be said for their knowledge, it's mostly lost when seeing them lathargically attempt to teach the class when their assistants are not available.

We all get old and develop issues later in life that make us slow down. However you can definitely tell the difference between someone that has slowed due to age or ailment compared with someone that thinks they do not have to train any longer.

My Sensei is retiring at 84 years old and still teaches all of the classes every week. He can deliver a strike to the makiwara that puts our yudansha to shame and can still move like he is floating. He says that even Soke and Hanshi are still but students of the arts and are ever learning.

There are so many aspects of the arts that it could literally take a life time to learn and master them all. There really is no excuse for an instructor to stop training except laziness.