Parting ways

[Shizentai]

Personally I have always been a bit of a nomad, though one instructor I hold most dear, and have trained under the longest. Even though I haven't trained full time in his dojo for the past 5 years, I write him letters from time to time, and visit every now and again. I think it is ok for students to leave, so long as a bit of their hearts stay.

[JazzKicker]

Setting aside the external factors like job & family, there does come a point where it's time to move on. It's been quite a few years now, but after I tested for 3rd dan in Tang Soo Do, my instructor said something that still sticks with me- "What you do with it is up to you", and we talked about things like, I might open a school, or train in something new. And while I still came for black belt classes periodically, I moved on to Jeet Kune Do and Hapkido.

The "breaking away" thing is more political- a friend of mine was a senior instructor in an organization, without naming names, the GM was renowned for teaching pressure point seminars. The GM became increasingly off the deep end with his theories, among other things, and was eventually widely viewed as a charlatan. My friend left, as did others, and he's enjoyed a successful international career in his own right.

[Wado Heretic]

I have never broken away personally; but my primary instructor, and the man I considered my coach, both broke away from the organisation I earned my Shodan in, and I stayed with them rather than the organisation. I have not trained with either of them in a couple of years, after I moved away to study, and they closed their clubs in my home-town (Where I am now again). I am looking to return to training regularly with them again; I have been reliant on seminars, instructional materials, and training against my own students to progress, and I have hit something of a plateau.

I have refused to continue teaching two students because of what they elected to do with their lives, and what I had taught them. One found employment with a Private Military Company; an industry I am ethically opposed to, so I have refused to continue teaching him. The other had become involved in the anti-fascist martial arts movement. I myself have supported anti-fascist activities, but I disagreed with the particular sort of Anti-Fascism he became involved with, in particular ties to certain individuals. I will not offer more details than the above, to avoid identifying any one, but I do take what i consider the misuse of what I teach seriously.

Now; when someone commits a misdemeanour, I do prefer to keep them under my wing so I can hopefully support them in not repeating their mistakes. I believe it an irresponsible action to cut someone out for one mistake, when you could be the positive influence that stops them going down the wrong road. Yet, the two students above studied with me for years, and seemed to wilfully ignore my stance on such things; so the only sensible course of action was to discontinue our affiliation.

[tallgeese]

The only real break away that occurred in my MA career was from my first BJJ coach. This had nothing to do with politics and such but sheer proximity. I was driving 45 minutes one way to train from white to purple. I had an instructor open a school literally less than five minutes from my home. This was done very up front at the end of a contract cycle.

This moved me from Nova Unaio to Renato Tavares as an association. Now, this was the best break up in jiu jitsu history, but anytime a purple belt moves schools kind of locally it makes ripples.