Hey Everyone, I guess this question is directed mainly for people who are already martial arts instructors. Saying that anyone who has instructed (quallified or not) may have some interesting thoughts too Anyway, I was wondering........... What are the benefits/rewards of becoming a martial arts instructor? and.... What do you 'get' from it? Obviously i'm looking for an answer other than 'money' (also I'm guessing it's not always financially rewarding!) Thanks Angie
by the act of teaching, you have to think about what you do, in order to be able to transmit it correctly, and thus you are also teaching yourself
This is definately true. It is no good just doing or showing a technique or drill. You have to be able to disect it from every angle. You know when you have got it right when one of your students hits you with one of your own techniques. Very hard work, sometimes frustrating, but satisfying when the student gets it right. I like it when I see my guys (and girls) explaining to a training partner what they are doing wrong, shows a degree of understanding.
Totally true!!! Look you get to touch a lot of lives and you get to pass on something that you enjoy. That is the main thing. If you really enjoy it you get to share it and that is a wonderful thing. One thing you have to remember is that not everyone will share your passion. And that is a fine thing. I have noticed martial arts teachers will get depressed because not everyone seems to find value in it. There are people who prefer running. There are people who prefer rock climbing. There are even people who prefer another art over the one you teach. It is very easy to get distracted by that (especially when you are first trying to build a class base). But if you keep your joy for the art and not get bogged down by the other stuff the rest seems to sort itself out (in my experience).
It's very much like any teaching Angie, you get to see people develop and hopefully help them share your passion. You get to meet some nice people too, though dealing with the higher ups can be a nightmare Mitch
If I ever get to the stage where I run classes or my own club I think the major thing I'll get out of it is finally getting to run things the way I want to run them. It can be pretty frustrating toeing someone else's line.
I think my best moment was a young (10ish) student telling me they'd used something i'd taught them to defeat a bully , i can't describe how good that made me feel. But i must warn you these moments are rare , the majority of time will be frustrating (why don't kids seem to know left and right any more ?) , still as Simon & Mitch have said seeing a steady improvement over the months is pretty good.
The reality of training others While I agree conceptually with that statement, and it IS of learning value to yourself to see if you can transmit knowledge - the reality of teaching others Martial Arts is is takes time away from your own "student training". I am not trying to be overly selfish here, I am just stating something I have observed. In Martial Arts schools sometimes the "instructor role" is thrust way too early in the person's skill development lifecycle. Then the caveat just because you can do - doesn't mean you you can teach. Along with this little old mantra for "Education Majors" over here in the USA: Those who can, do! Those who can't, teach!! Those who can't teach - teach future teachers!?!
if the instructor role is thrust upon you, then, barring exceptional circumstances, something is wrong and you'd probably do well to gtfo
I like seeing the twinkle in older students' eyes when you teach them to do something they thought was impossible. My philosophy in teaching is best summed up by Thomas Jefferson: "Nothing on earth can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; but nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." Or woman. The feeling of helping others feel empowered is, well, empowering!
I get many things from passing on what I have been taught. My all time favorite thing is when a dedicated student looks at me with complete sincerity tells me " Thank you" Those two little words are probably have the biggest meaning in my life, those two little words tell me " you have helped someone move forward in something they love and wish to continue for the rest of their lives" It feels wonderful to teach, and my students have taught me many many things over the past year. I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.
Thanks for all the resposnse It would seem from the responses that the benefits are mainly the 'good' feeling they get when someone learns something new, getting thanked or developing knowedge further. From this i'd like to take this question a little further by asking........... WHY did you become an instructor? What made you take that step? I understand that the feeling is great when you help students do things they never thought they were capable of or you correct a technique which greatly improves them but, in most cases, until you became an instructor it would be impossible to realise that 'feeling' would happen. So what was the original reasons behind your choice to instruct?
Just because you are promoted to blackbelt or instructor level doesn't automatically make you an instructor.. In finding your own method to teach, you have to go through several phases of self exploration in finding your own niche on how to present your training.. Remember, some martial arts practitioners make good teachers, and some make good fighters, but to be the best of both, you need to experience and develop your own method of presenting your knowledge to others
It was a natural progression for me. I attended an assistant instructors course right after passing my black belt at 14. I took the full instructors course, and was teaching classes without supervision, by the time I was sixteen. It's something I have always thoroughly enjoyed.
Training partners. As to your query on why -kinda like Mitch.I had this awful habit of becoming my teachers' thumb student,being an assistant,being recognized as a full instructor,and then inheriting the students when the teachers left town after some years.That happened twice.One time another teacher had a terrible family tragedy and withdrew from public teaching and only taught privately to myself and 3 classmates who had some prior experience.I was ordered to take his regular class over.Fair enough,he wasn't charging me anything,and had also taught me something to overcome my chronic chondromelacia patella.(Haven't spelled that in so long it's probably wrong). I concur with the others here with all the various benefits one experiences from teaching,esp. what Fish said in post #2.I also really agree w/what Quincy stated in his first sentence in post #8.While I was considered very good at instructing by my peers and seniors in the local martial community and by my students who had a good level of prior experience-(even to having people drive an hour to 2 hours one way to study with me,quite flattering)-and do enjoy teaching,the truth is I'd much rather undertake full time study under someone to further my own development.
