MMA guy wants private karate lessons from me!

[Luther unleashed]

So I got a guy that's trying to make a name for himself in the mma world. Seems like he's had some lower level fights and had moderate success. He said he wants to add to his game and have some traditional rank to add to his resume from what I understood! There is some positives to it of course as a newer instructor I'd have a good opertunity to make an impact on his game, but some reservations of course as well. There are guys in this generation of mma that ha e a strong blend but lack a foundation. In this way it could be much harder then teaching a student with no experience. Also, I have plenty of ideas how to impact his game from videos I saw, but him wanting to earn rank is a slower/ different process as I see it. It's an interesting situation. Lastly there's the ego factor. Karate does imho, a great job tearing away the ego and helping to facilitate the growth of humility, interesting predicament indeed!

I'm supposed to set a time to meet this weekend, so I suppose we will see how this goes. Thoughts?

[The Pred]

So I got a guy that's trying to make a name for himself in the mma world. Seems like he's had some lower level fights and had moderate success. He said he wants to add to his game and have some traditional rank to add to his resume from what I understood! There is some positives to it of course as a newer instructor I'd have a good opertunity to make an impact on his game, but some reservations of course as well. There are guys in this generation of mma that ha e a strong blend but lack a foundation. In this way it could be much harder then teaching a student with no experience. Also, I have plenty of ideas how to impact his game from videos I saw, but him wanting to earn rank is a slower/ different process as I see it. It's an interesting situation. Lastly there's the ego factor. Karate does imho, a great job tearing away the ego and helping to facilitate the growth of humility, interesting predicament indeed!

I'm supposed to set a time to meet this weekend, so I suppose we will see how this goes. Thoughts?

That's great, George St. Piere one of the best UFC fighters of all time has a traditonal Martial arts background. Just remind him that some moves are illegal in MMA that you might teach him

[liger]

Love the idea. Good luck and like the last person said make sure he pays attention to the rules and what is allowed in mma.

[Judodad_karateson]

Sounds like a lot of fun! That should be interesting. Does he have any previous Martial Arts training, or is he a straight MMA fighter from an MMA gym?

[Luther unleashed]

Thanks guys yeah, clearly I need to draw a line from what I do and what he does! I'm not much for mma stuff to be honest. 90 percent of martial arts stuff I have done is traditional. My aim would be to through a kick to a vital point for protection, I don't think about the rules. Something I need to keep in mind.

Also, he has a small amount of karate history from our discussion as I understood it. The fact that he says he wants to build credentials in martial arts tells me he doesn't have much, and is looking to grow his knowledge, or hopefully his knowledge anyways, could be after the paper more, the certification. We will see. I watched a fight of his on YouTube, he got tak n out pretty quick after a missed (and heavily telegraphed) front kick. I watched video to decide weather I had anything to offer him in my honest opinion, I felt that the way I go about a fight would bE very different. I could see that trying some new things could be good for him. Much like machida is awkward to many mma guys, as the footwork is different and the manner in which karate executes strikes is different, it could be fun. He sounds like a bit of a braggart/know it all, so in all honesty I am just not convinced it's a fit but we spoke on the phone. We are shooting for this weekend.

You want to know something crazy though? I may be weird but I grew up fighting, I was ignorant in my youth. I got beat up a lot lol! I gear my training towards self defense not sport, but what I'm afraid of is can you imagine if I showed him something new for him and he used it, something like an under the chin upward strike? Anything idk, but can you imagine him really hurting somebody and knowing I had a direct part in the injury? This bothers me greatly. I just don't like the sport aspect for these reasons. I don't know, Im sure most would say I'm making a big deal out of nothing, and really who knows if I can offer him anything at all, but just a thought I had about moving forward and some of these things make me think twice. I spend so much of my time attempting to teach people to fight so they don't have to, and I am going to attempt to add to a guys arsinol knowing he's going to? Internal dilemma indeed!

[sensei8]

I would not teach him because he's shopping for rank to add to his resume. I've not the inclination nor the desire to pad his MA resume...

He said he wants to add to his game and have some traditional rank to add to his resume from what I understood!

If this isn't his goal, then I'd consider to teach him!!

[Spartacus Maximus]

The fact that the individual seems mainly concerned with earning rank to "pad his resume" or add to his "game" would not make him an ideal student. Karate is not a game! Learning karate is a serious endeavour that requires dedicated practise and sustained efforts over years of training.

Unless this MMA type is ready to set aside and forget his "background" , it is highly unlikely that he has the patience or mental fortitude needed to progress beyond just picking up a few techniques and leaving to move on to whatever his next "stripe" might be.

[Luther unleashed]

Sensei8 and sparaticus, thanks for the input. This is a concern to Mae as well of course.

If I had a very in depth conversation on the topic in general (new thread?) I would probably sound a bit like an mma hater. To me it lacks the core foundation of traditional martial arts as a whole, and resembles that of boxing more accurately. After a knockout while the opponent is Bradley hurt on the mat you typically will see the winner gloat and scream, possibly even beating their chest. Just doesn't do a whole lot for me personally. Showing compassion gets me going. In general I don't feel an mma person is an ideal student, and I hate to put people in a box, and obviously each person can be different but this is what I see in general, within the movement. It's also been very important to the resurgence of martial arts popularity imho so it's not all bad and I don't mean to offend anybody, just not for me. I sound like an old man, I'm 38 what the heck is going on haha!?!?

I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting rank in his position BUT there's a problem when it's all you see, so if my personal goal (to him) should be to help him earn rank he will have missed the point and needs to read my posts here about rank lol! Hence the reason I feel it's as damaging as it is beneficial. We have discussed chasing rank and it's very negative impacts, but also how's my of us have done it so we can potentially relate as well.

I honestly just haven't decided yet. My wife says do it, and find out in person but to be completely honest my gut tells me it's not a fit for what I am about in my journey. Tough spot mentally.

[sensei8]

No, you'd not sound like an MMA hater, not at all! You'd sound like someone who doesn't want to train someone who's seeking to pad their MA resume, if that is their main goal...and that was HIS words!! I too, don't like seeing the post fight celebrations; they lack humility and honor...two staples of the MA.

[The Pred]

If the person was smart, he would have never said he wants to pad his resume. Instead he would have just asked you for some extra help. If he did this, you wouldn't be questioning yourself whether or not if you should teach him.