Teaching in the Martial Arts by KJN Ronald Stone

Teaching in the Martial Arts by KJN Ronald Stone

In order to be a good instructor one has to be willing to consider themselves still a student. Learning does not stop just because someone gives you a black belt or some fancy title.

I have been in the martial arts since the summer of 1970 or in other words 54 years. That is a lot of mat work in several martial arts and quite a few schools in various states and two countries. Even so, at 71 years of age and with such experience, I realize every time I study with my own instructor how much more I still have to learn.

I enjoy teaching and have done so for quite a few years but what makes it enjoyable for me is the fact that every time I teach a class I learn something new. Perhaps it comes in the form of questions posed to me by students or by studying the class assignments that my own instructor has given me. Other times it is simply the duplication or even modification of techniques that I must perform in order to teach or explain a principle or application.

Sadly far too many in today’s martial arts teach for the ego boost it gives them when they stand in front of a class and order new students around. Perhaps the reason some are so anxious to teach is the adoration they receive from other students who have never known another instructor and have nothing to compare their teacher to.

Teaching in the martial arts is supposed to be about passing down knowledge, and guiding students towards wisdom. It is not supposed to be about mindlessly imitating techniques when they know nothing of the history of the style or the true application of its movements. Monkey sees monkey do is not the correct qualification for a true instructor.

Today we see martial artists claiming high rank who are offering seminars or courses when they in fact have never attended anything more than a weekend spent watching techniques at a glorified demonstration class. If you don’t already know this, I should tell you that that is not the correct criteria or procedure as set forth in the Master level classes of the Korean Martial Arts Instructors Association or the World Martial Arts Congress.

Instructors certainly should pay homage to their own mentors but are not expected to mindlessly regurgitate techniques. To be a true teacher one must impart some of their own experience. And that word, experience, is the key word. It takes years upon years to gain the knowledge and wisdom to decide what to pass on and how to pass it on to each individual student.

Again there is a reason the Korean arts have age standards for belt promotion. Logically, if the exuberance of youth and the athletic ability to perform difficult maneuvers was the main requirement for rank promotion then we would all start out as Grand Masters and decrease in rank with age and loss of musculature and physical ability. It isn’t. The advancement in rank comes with knowledge, experience and with contributions to the art and that, by necessity comes with time. Ever heard the saying that youth is wasted on the young?

Other attributes for a good instructor must be empathy and impartiality. Teaching should not favor a more personable student over a shy one, or over one whose parents pay more money. Again, empathy for a student’s difficulties comes with years of facing similar obstacles and learning to overcome them. Pride, greed and ego have no place in proper martial arts instruction.

Making your student recite the tenets of the martial arts at the top of their lungs when you personally are lying about your past achievements, your true rank, or your lineage is hypocritical, and a blot on those other instructors who are truly adhering to those tenets. Never was the saying “Do as I say not as I do” so corrupted as it is today with such teachers.

Want to be a good martial arts instructor? Follow the tenets of humility, honesty, integrity, perseverance and create an indomitable spirit in yourself. Put in the time, be patient, lose the ego, forget the greed motive, and continue to study your art.

About the author: R.W. Stone is currently a practicing veterinarian in Central Florida. He is an avid equestrian, a master ranked martial artist, a best-selling western author, and a firearms enthusiast. After joining a martial arts school in 1970 Stone started studying Yudo with a Korean grandmaster. He eventually became a member of the Judo team of the University of Illinois. It was at the University that a Korean classmate and friend introduced him to Tae Kwon do. After graduating veterinary college, he found the martial arts becoming too sports oriented and eventually after moving from Miami to Central Florida he sought out a Hapkido grandmaster. Currently Stone is ranked 8th dan in Haemukwan Hapkido, 4th dan in Daehan Yudo and a second dan in Kukki Taekwondo. He is the Hapkido instructor at the American Dragon Martial Arts Academies.

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