Newsletter 982
The Educational Level of Most Martial Arts Instructors
Whew!
Hot today.
So I went to a martial arts ‘jamboree.’
Open call to everybody,
we all came into the school and worked out.
Did anything we wanted.
Lots of instructors around,
everybody had a blast.
So,
I was watching the instructors.
Some of them were freakin’ fantastic.
Some were okay.
We didn’t have anybody that was bad.
BUT…
I realized something.
Most martial arts instructors
are at the level of about a high school senior
when it comes to knowing and understanding the martial arts.
That’s right,
a black belt is,
generally speaking,
about the level of a high school senior.
He is bigger and tougher than the juniors and sophomores,
he knows a little bit,
but he doesn’t know enough to teach.
Pretty sad, eh?
For instance,
I spent some time showing a girl,
with physical disabilities,
how to punch so she could do the job without hurting herself.
I come back to her 5 minutes later
and a black belt has moved in and started teaching her.
‘Hit it harder!
Hit it harder!’
Pays no attention to the fact that she has problems
stopping her from ‘hitting harder.’
Isn’t aware of how her body is reacting to the overload.
Doesn’t really even know how to train a person,
especially how to hit somebody without hurting themselves.
And I don’t want to talk about the instruction
concerning joint locks or takedowns.
Simply, the instructor was about as knowledgeable
as a high school senior.
What should the knowledge level of a martial artist be?
A real martial arts instructor
should know three or four martial arts,
and actually understand how to teach.
That’s like a fellow who has graduated from college,
with a specialty in teaching.
Most instructors are trained in only one art,
and ‘know about’ every other martial art they have never seen.
Most martial arts instructors have never taken a course on how to be an instructor.
Most martial arts instructors think that a course in high school physics qualifies them
in the specialized physics of the martial arts (which are totally different that high school physics)
Most instructors don’t know anything about what chi is,
how to blend arts,
and they certainly don’t know anything about matrixing.
I spend a LOT of time educating people.
People who take my PMAT course are sometimes shocked
at what the real knowledge of the martial arts is.
People who take my Master Instructor course
are frequently blown away by what they didn’t know.
Think about it this way.
most instructors are about as smart as a high school senior
a real instructor would be at least a ‘college graduate’ when it comes to knowledge, and then have specialized courses on how to teach under his belt.
And, the alternative to all this, my solution to making instructors.
Get a black belt in matrix karate.
Learn 2 or 3 more matrixed arts.
Take the Master Instructor course.
Then you can call yourself a 4th black belt (master) with a master’s degree in teaching martial arts.
Then you would be actually qualified to teach martial arts.
Hey, it’s all on my site, and I’ve been saying this stuff for decades.
Here’s the Master Instructor Course…
Have a great work out!
Al
A WIN!
