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Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The say those who can't do......

Teaching sometimes gets a bad rep as being filled with people who were never quite good enough at their chosen field who forgo trying to work in their field and instead try to teach it to others. In Kung Fu and other martial arts it is different, usually teachers are people who have attained an extremely high level of skill and are imparting their knowledge to their students.


The teacher or Sifu in Kung-Fu is a position of high regard. Only the best disciples who have shown patience, commitment and humility are allowed to instruct other students. In most cases the Sifu or teacher is himself a student, albeit a senior student. Most traditional martial arts take a lifetime to master so it is not uncommon for most teachers to be students themselves. In most disciplines the classroom is a place of theory and most students assume their teachers knowledge is highly theoretical but not always practical. In martial arts the teachers knowledge is theoretical as well as practical. The teacher has theoretical knowledge and practical application. She has refined her application by persistent practice and has gained an understanding of the technique. He has gained the ability to digest the technique, make it a part of him and is able to pass it on in a way that other students can understand.

Lam Sai Wang - Hung Gar Master

This is not to say that all it takes is skill in the martial arts to become a teacher or that all teachers who teach the martial arts are the best martial artists. Teaching requires an exceptional amount of patience. It also requires the ability to relate to others. Not all people have the patience or the personality to teach. Not all martial arts teachers are ethical and some open martial arts schools just to turn a profit and offer very little genuine instruction. Though I would say they are generally the exception and not the rule. For example if your teacher is anything like the one in the video below, who rules by intimidation and fear, then exit and run for the hills immediately!



Teaching benefits the teacher as much as it does the student. You can only say you truly understand something if you can explain it to someone. I have tried as an assistant to show a brand new student a new form and it always amazes me how difficult it is to perform the action and teach someone at the same time. Eventually I got better at it and I was amazed at how much better I understood my material after teaching it. I had a deeper appreciation for my instructor and how easy he makes it look! If a student asks me to show them a technique or explain something to them, they thank me and I always smile inwardly knowing it is I who should thank them for allowing me to teach and improve.