Teacher-student relationship situation

[mal103]

Tricky situation, their Karate may be good but no good if they have other problems and issues that they can't share it.

Be careful not to put another person on a pedestal and think they can do no wrong as they are only human and could be going through their own battle.

Confront them and challenge then to get on with it, but they must drive it, don't shower them with gifts and make excuses for them because they have potential, a good MAist should be headstrong enough to cope with most of life's challenges.

After all your MA journey is yours and you need experienced people to pass on their knowledge, I would also favour a busy Dojo than just one on one, the atmosphere is great when several train together. Go out and seek similar training from someone who is able to give it, if this Sensei can bounce back then keep in touch.

[cheesefrysamurai]

He isn't unreliable to you - he is unreliable to himself, sad but its not in your control.

Don't blame yourself one bit. He had/has issues. You did the best you could which is more then most would have done.

I would possibly go back, and train else where. Learn from him and use it to supplement your other Training. Take what ever piece of him he gives or you want and better your karate and yourself.

[hawkfish]

You have to remember that your Sensei is human and no matter how good of a Martial Artist he is, sometimes life gets in the way and knocks down even the best of us. He is not a god or a superhero and he still bleeds blood and gets hurt like the rest of us.

You should also understand that even though he failed before, he came back from it and reopened the dojo. Most people would have just stopped at that first failure, Martial Artist or not. Can he go off the rails again? Sure he can but at least he is making an effort to try again.

If you are learning and getting value from him and he is charging you a fair price for classes, you can still learn from him if your mind is open to it. What he did in the past is in the past and you can either continue to learn from him and get some training in or look for other options.