Being an instructor makes you a better martial artist

[Montana]

Being a teacher of martial arts, makes you a far better, martial artist. The reasons are simple and I would like to break them down as simple as possible.

For one thing, I believe that most martial artists would agree that one of the most important thing that you should have to be effective in your martial art is a very strong foundation in the basics. When teaching it did not even become clear to me, how many times I will go over the basics from teaching students about the structure of the stances and why it is important to throwing a jab or a roundhouse or executing some of the most basic, fighting combinations, or kata to even executing the most basic defense when somebody mounts on top of you. It took about seven or eight years before I finally started to say holy cow I’m getting burned out a little bit on teaching, the same beginning techniques over and over. The list to say you will become quite good at the basic and most simple techniques and this goes into a very famous Bruce Lee idea which was I do not fear the man who knows 10,000 kicks but I fear the man who knows one kick and practiced it 10,000 times.

Another thing is that there is a heightened sense when demonstrating to ensure that you have 100% proper technique. This could mean the angle of your arm in a block or it could mean the positioning of your body and shoulders and hips, when throwing a strike, or the pivot of your foot on a kick. Knowing that you are being watched and these days probably recorded definitely makes you hyper focus on ensuring you demonstrate proper technique.

Lastly, I believe the teaching is a tremendous responsibility to represent not just the art in the proper light, but humanity, which is an important component of martial arts. It is in this way, that we continue to progress more deeply, and meaningfully in the hearts by always being on our toes, so to speak Representing the core values that are so important.

Please let me know your thoughts. For those teaching longer than me I am quite interested in what you have to say, and for those teaching last time to me, I am equally as interested of where you are at in your journey, and if you see things differently than myself. I have been teaching Since 2014.

100% agree!

I like to visit a lot of different dojo's when I travel places and watch what other people are doing. No so much to critique, but just see the differences between what they do compared to what I do.

If you've done this also, I'm amazed how many dojos where the head sensei don't do anything other than bark orders! They don't participate in the warmups, basics, kata, kumite or really anything other than stride around telling people what to do.!

DRIVES ME NUTS!!!

[sensei8]

Experience can be the greatest determent of creativity and innovation because you learn from experience what not to do. It's the unchecked desire and fearlessness to just go into something that allows you to impart something from nothing. That allows you the resourcefulness and to be able to take things to the ultimate.

As the CI, I get to teach/train my students, with that unquenchable fervor, that doesn't possess the decades of experience that teaches what not to do, and I get to learn from them, and I get to feed off of their passion, and I get to feed off their enthusiasm.

I can’t stop wondering who’s the lucky one here??

They keep me anxious, and they remind me on a daily basis of what I love about teaching, what makes teaching so intimate, and what makes me feel so fortunate every day to teach a score of diversity student body that well be far more talented than I have ever hoped to be.

Being an instructor made me a better martial artist.

[bushido_man96]

If you've done this also, I'm amazed how many dojos where the head sensei don't do anything other than bark orders! They don't participate in the warmups, basics, kata, kumite or really anything other than stride around telling people what to do.!

DRIVES ME NUTS!!!

I'm like this in most of the classes I've taught. I'd like to be able to do class with the students, but in order to better watch what they are doing and give them direction on fixing things, it's easier if I walk around the room and watch and to try to see what everyone is doing while I'm doing the same thing. I don't bark orders so much as I give cues to the students to fix this or that while they're going up and down the floor.