# Teaching and learning



## Hapkid0ist (Dec 1, 2006)

*Teaching and Learning*
*By **Keith Vargo*
 Great martial artists and legendary training halls have a kind of magic about them, drawing in people from all walks of life who study the arts for a variety of reasons. Those who seek out the best in the martial arts have one thing in common: They all hope the magic will rub off. 
            That seems reasonable. The best people to show you how to be great are those whove done great things, right? Like most things in life, its not that simple. Sure, you can acquire some serious skill and a deep knowledge of a style by training at its best _dojo_. However, youll find out pretty quickly when you get involved with greats and legends that there are more detours and frustrations than there are shortcuts.

v *The first difficulty you may run into is that excellence in doing the martial arts*
* doesnt automatically lead to excellence in teaching them.*
            Excellence isnt a personality trait. It isnt a general quality that comes out in everything a person does. Rather, genius is often confined to one field. Martial artists who are brilliant in one style often struggle in others. Still, if a person is truly great at something, he understands it more completely and deeply than his peers. Does that mean hes the best person to learn from? Not necessarily. Teaching is a skill, to-one thats often at odds with developing a real genius for fighting.
            Anyone who develops his ability to a high level is necessarily a little self-centered. Hes always improving himself and thinking about his progress. Once a martial artist reaches that level, he must constantly focus on maintaining his health and the outstanding skills hes developed.
            Good _sensei_ are different. Their job is to discover your native talents and develop them. However, after spending years focusing on themselves, some high-level fighters and martial artists cant dial down their expectations and truly understand less-gifted athletes. Often, its the individuals with more patience and better teaching skills that make better instructors.

v *The second difficulty is that learning is a lot more active and adversarial in high*
*level gyms than most people expect.*
            Many students come to the martial arts with the idea that theyre empty vessels into which a great master will pour knowledge. But learning isnt about waiting to be given information or insight. Its about actively figuring something out under the guidance of an expert. Thats especially true when you train under a great martial artist who possesses minimal teaching skill. He may have the knowledge, but you must actively experiment and ask questions to get the answers you want. But often even that isnt enough. 
            The martial arts ideal is for each practitioner to become the perfect marriage of knowledge and fighting skill. High-level gyms have a community of people who are committed to achieving the same goals. That means youll have to rise to the level of the people around you. Youll have to learn more than youre taught while staying in great shape so you can keep up. Youll have to struggle constantly in practice with other ambitious students who are also getting better.



v *Third, martial arts mojo is nontransferable. That is, not much magic rubs off. No *
*Matter how hard you try to or how closely you study him, youll never be the same as the great fighter you try to emulate.*
            In a fighting art, learning isnt just mastering a set of skills that can be used successfully by anyone. Its also discovering things about yourself. As you practice and push the boundaries of physical fitness, you discover your own strengths and limitations. For example, some who go to top mixed-martial arts gyms to become better grapplers accidentally discover that theyre talented stand-up fighters.
            Whats more, people can excel only at something thats consistent with their personality. You could go to a top boxing gym to learn how to systematically beat someone down with your fists, but if you cant handle the idea of pounding on another mans face for 12 rounds, youll never be successful at it. 
            In the end, great training halls and great martial artists are as ideal as they are real. Theyre beacons of perfection that compel us to be better. They bring out the best thats already in us, instead of just depositing wisdom and information. Through them, we discover ourselves and define our talents.


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## The Kidd (Dec 1, 2006)

Very well said, some good points. Thanks for sharing.


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