Instructor with more than one style

[Alan Armstrong]

Would you prefer your CI to have experience in many styles or just the one?

[RobertAslin2]

Multiple styles, that way if I want to diversify my art they can teach me.

edit: I'd prefer them to have mastery of all the arts they teach, however. Sure, a 6th dan in TKD and a 3rd dan in shotokan is great and all, but I'd rather learn shotokan from a 5th dan or higher.

[Nidan Melbourne]

I do like it when my CI has multiple styles/arts under his or her belt. As they took the time to learn each one, and also that they can pass on that additional knowledge too.

My CI does Balintawak Arnis as his additional MA, and every now and again teaches us that curriculum. Which means that we are also learning it, but also will dramatically improve our primary art of karate due to the amount of rotational force being required.

[bushido_man96]

Not necessarily many, but a few, for sure. We used to some Combat Hapkido as a supplement to our TKD training, but not anymore. I really enjoyed it, though.

[Zaine]

Diversity is nice. It allows the CI to give context via other styles that they have practiced. It's especially nice when they have training in something fundamentally different from their mother style (e.g. light vs hard or purely striking vs purely ground).

[singularity6]

Diversity is nice. It allows the CI to give context via other styles that they have practiced. It's especially nice when they have training in something fundamentally different from their mother style (e.g. light vs hard or purely striking vs purely ground).

Agreed!

We have a student who joined our taekwondo class who already has black belts in judo, Uechi Ryu karate, kobudo (focused on niganata) and who also fenced in college. He has a very unique perspective on things, and his input can be very helpful (provided you're not overwhelmed!)

[ashworth]

It wouldn't bother me either way, happy to go else where if there was another art I wanted to learn, but then it would make things a lot easier if I could learn that art from my current teacher, as I would already feel comfortable with them and their way of teaching..

[Wado Heretic]

My primary teacher had experience in several forms of Karate; so got to learn some kata from styles aside from Wado-Ryu and Shorin-Ryu. My secondary teacher also tended to borrow exercises from different systems he encountered, and ideas he picked up on courses, and he tended to incorporate them into lessons. It was helpful in that it helped to learn different ways of generating power, and also different perspectives on the receiving techniques, and fighting at different ranges. Yet; they never really touched on anything else to distract from the main style.

Really; I think it comes down to how well the incorporate their different knowledge bases into a systematic approach. Also, if they have a depth of knowledge; where they can identify the parallels and which concepts are mutually exclusive. Otherwise; I have found it just being taught several different ways of doing things in the time you planned to learn one thing.

So multiple-styles incorporated into a comprehensive approach, or high-level expertise in one system, would be my personal preference.

[tallgeese]

It really depends on what you're looking for. If you have a wide array of interests in the arts then clearly diversity in your instructors resume is important.

If you really just want to focus on a single thing, maybe even compete in it at high levels, then diversity is unimportant. The question is how can that coach make you the best in whatever art it is that he/she is teaching.

Again, it's about one's goals.

[MatsuShinshii]

It really depends on what you're looking for. If you have a wide array of interests in the arts then clearly diversity in your instructors resume is important.

If you really just want to focus on a single thing, maybe even compete in it at high levels, then diversity is unimportant. The question is how can that coach make you the best in whatever art it is that he/she is teaching.

Again, it's about one's goals.

Solid point.