Learn From Many Teachers

While studying the martial arts years ago at my TaeKwonDo school there was a major problem that my dad and I call the factions of the Martial Arts. The factions of the Martial arts are the two major ways to perform the arts. The traditional, unevolved form or the evolved, practical version of the martial art. Students, around green belt would start to decide which of the black belts would be their guide (below our head instructor of course) for how techniques should be done and combative philosophy. At the time, my father and I (although I was not a black belt) were the leaders on the practical side of the war. I still remember when my cousins and friends would rant about which black belts teaching style and philosophy they did not like, from either side. By the end of all of this, my father and I left the school but continued training at home as well as teach Self–Defense at a Church we no longer visit. To give it a happy ending, we did come back to class with the knowledge that you cannot be a complete martial artist without the traditional art.

Note: Since Writing this I generally found that there are three that focus on traditionalism and the arts of the martial arts, the sparring competitors who focus on being the best athletes and the self-defense group that want to teach people to how to defend themselves. All this being said the battle between tradition and adaptation still exists as well.

Using the point my dad made in the car ride home last night, you need both practicality and the primary source traditionalism to become a fully developed martial artist. My father made the comparison of our former Judo instructors. If you were being taught by one of them he would teach you the throw exactly as the textbook teaches it. The other would teach you how to mod it to work with the new competition rules, self–defense, or with your specific body type. If you only followed one you would not have a complete understanding of the technique. Instead learning it from both gives you the knowledge on how to make it look good or work good whenever you’re called on.

The traditional teachings and forms are the art of the martial arts. The practical modifications in self–defense could be considered the science. While I still lean towards the practical I have learned quite a bit from studying the art of the martial arts in the last few months. By the same token you can learn quite a bit about the arts from studying the practical. The forms are supposed to be like fighting about six enemies like in a cheesy martial arts movie; they even attack you one at a time. The part to note is that each part of the pattern is simulating a short self–defense technique.

Within the class now we make it a point to teach others to respect all of the black belts and elites and practice it. Rather than dismissing an instructor because they teach in a way or a philosophy you do not prefer, listen and follow them and pay attention to what they are saying. This is especially important when they are leading the class because there’s the risk that other students will be disrespectful or half commit to the class as well. There is something to learn from each of the instructors. If you learn from all of them you will progress much faster than if you only learn from one.