Hi all In my opinion Good Teachers in the martial arts need high levels of technical ability, good communication skills, good coaching skills and motiavtional skills. TOM
Good Teachers The path to good teaching is lit by being a "better" student. Teachers are extremely naked. If they haven't mastered it as a student, they will certainly never convince their student as a teacher. Begin to be..... that which you wish to become. Pete Ticali
they should focus a lot on details! making sure you do the basics correctly before you get promoted and try harder material
A good teacher helps to develop his/her students to their full potential. That's all he/she can TRY to do.
Keeps you working on the basics and not skipping from one thing to another. Adds a new skill only after you have gotten the previous ones down. Example my boxing coach had me doing footwork for at least 3-4 weeks before I even threw my first punch. We always started my workouts with footwork. I didn't hit a bag until I had been boxing for almost 6 months, but it kept me where I needed to be, out of the reach of my oppoents.. Oh yeah and lots of patches make a really good instructor, if he doesn't have atleast 6 he isn't worth wasting your time with.
I don't quite see relationship between "ruthless" and "remorseless" in Aikido. I can live with remorseless in terms of getting the best from your students and but to be ruthless implies, to me, a degree of sacrifice of a person's humanity. Not a thing I would encourage in any instructor. My own instructor was Jan de Jong 9th Dan and I would describe him as determined and at times single minded but ruthless in his instruction - never. He led by his incrediable knowledge of ju jutsu, aikido, pencak silat and weapons and his desire to pass on his love of the martial arts. He had a carisma that had his senior students stay with him for well over 30 years and attracted students from around the world. He was a gentleman at all times who could do very nasty things if and when he had to. He is still a source of inspiration some years after his death. Greg Palmer Tsutsumi Ryu Ju Jutsu
