11 reasons why it sucks to be a martial arts sensei, instructor, coach or teacher

[RTKDCMB]

I found this article on the internet and thought it was quite good and thought I would share.

http://www.martiallife.com/index.ph...ei-instructor-coach-or-teacher.html?showall=1

 

[tshadowchaser]

1. Don't know where all this cheap instruction is most places I've seen are very expensive.

Instructors are respected by their student or the students parents else the student would not be
there
True most students are accepted when they pay BUT not in all schools. True Hollywood has hurt the idea of what instruction should be. But so has the school down the street that hands out rank every few months after the testing fee has been paid no matter what the student has learned or can do

1. True newbies need the attention but that dose not say advanced ranks can not be learning at the same time
2.“Teaching, may be fun and easy for the students who earnestly try their best to follow the instructions, but what of the children that do not want to listen and otherwise disrupts other students? “ I hate this situation .
3.Instructors are not parent replacements or babysitters.
4. Keeping adults in hand is easier if they can not be classmates and help each other in class then keep them separated.
5. As for sexual problems they should never be allowed and if they do complaints should be taken seriously to the point fo going to the law
6. I agree most may not know someones teacher if they are not from the area of the person. However one can ask. Knowing who taught someone tells much about what they learned sometimes
7. Agreed …............been there , done that, had it done to me
8. True much much to true.....finding time to train oneself and keep practicing things one needs to practiced is sometimes hard
9. YEP all make a difference in keeping a school open
10. most instructors are part time instructors and full time workers at some other job
11. Politics..always a problem....sometimes small sometimes big enough to make people leave the organization they where in

 

[tshadowchaser]

Sorry my numbering is messed up can some mod fix it please

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

8- Teaching means less time to train

When you teach, you have "free" sparring/wrestling partners. You can throw your student 100 times. You don't have to let him to throw you 100 times as a regular training partner supposes to do. When you throw your student, you tell him that you are helping him to train "break fall". But the truth is, you are training your throwing skill by using a free throwing dummy who even have to pay you for that.

Where will you be able to find a better deal than this?

 

[RTKDCMB]

8- Teaching means less time to train

When you teach, you have "free" sparring/wrestling partners. You can throw your student 100 times. You don't have to let him to throw you 100 times as a regular training partner supposes to do. When you throw your student, you tell him that you are helping him to train "break fall". But the truth is, you are training your throwing skill by using a free throwing dummy who even have to pay you for that.

Where will you be able to find a better deal than this?

Also sometimes when you show students a particular technique, after you show them slowly you can then show them at full speed and power and, viola, you have gotten some training in. When they are doing pattern work you can sometimes do their pattern along with them, little things like that here and there.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Also sometimes when you show students a particular technique, after you show them slowly you can then show them at full speed and power and, viola, you have gotten some training in. When they are doing pattern work you can sometimes do their pattern along with them, little things like that here and there.

You can also ask your students to line up. Tell them that today's lesson is to have a taste of "being knock down". You then knock down your students one after another. :EG:

 

[wingchun100]

They didn't put this item on the list in these exact terms, but I think some of their items covered it:

As a student, I have had nights where I felt absolutely down in the dumps...miserable, sick, etc. I can choose to go or not to go. If you are the instructor, you don't have that luxury...unless you have a "phone tree" set up or if you have senior students that could run the class for you. However, a freshly opened martial arts school wouldn't have any senior students yet.

 

[drop bear]

8- Teaching means less time to train

When you teach, you have "free" sparring/wrestling partners. You can throw your student 100 times. You don't have to let him to throw you 100 times as a regular training partner supposes to do. When you throw your student, you tell him that you are helping him to train "break fall". But the truth is, you are training your throwing skill by using a free throwing dummy who even have to pay you for that.

Where will you be able to find a better deal than this?

For our coach it is quality. That the students cannot test him to the level that is required. It is solved by making him do round with fresh guys constantly. So when he is exhausted the skill level evens out a bit.

As far as drills go it is more the student throwing and him. Defending.

(See the mother of all drills)

Designed specifically so students can train the coach.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

1- Instructors are treated as a consumer good
...
In the mind of the students (and their parents), they pay for martial arts lessons and expect to be taught.

Well, yeah. Also, if you are a plumber then customers pay for you to fix their pipes and they expect their pipes to be fixed. If you are an accountant, then your customers pay for you to prepare their tax returns or balance their books and they expect those services to be done. If you are a physics professor, then your students have paid tuition and expect to receive physics lessons.

None of this implies a lack of respect. Nor is it a problem, unless the instructor is expecting to be venerated as an exalted master rather than just respected as someone who is sharing their knowledge regarding a specific set of skills.

2- Always judged, questioned and criticized by new comers

Newcomers often do not know much about genuine martial arts and base their preconceived notions and expectations from unrealistic movies

Strangely enough I've been teaching for a few years now and I haven't experienced this, even though what I teach doesn't look like anything from the movies.

3- Constantly training newcomers becomes repetitive

I actually love teaching beginners, because I have a chance to help them develop a solid foundation from the get-go. I also enjoy teaching more advanced students for different reasons. If you do a good job in retaining students, then you will eventually have some advanced students to play with.

4- Some people need to be disciplined and motivated

Makes me glad I'm teaching adults and teens who want to be there, rather than running a daycare with funny outfits.

5- No gratitude or recognition
Gratefulness is not a natural trait of human beings, which may explain the lack of gratitude exhibited by most students. One Canadian 6[SUP]th[/SUP] dan Tae Kwon Do instructor once argued that his personal achievement were due to his hard work and had very little to do with being taught by his teacher and went on asserting that he would have achieved the same skill levels had he trained under any other teacher. He relegated the role of a teacher to being a learning tool, not unlike a book or instructional DVD.

Am I the oddball here? My students thank me after every class and show plenty of appreciation for my work. I'm not even the head instructor or one of the highest ranked people at my gym.

With regard to the TKD 6th dan practitioner being mentioned, let's be honest. Most of his accomplishments were due to his own hard work. He very likely could have achieved the same rank and skill level by applying that same work ethic under the tutelage of a different instructor. (Assuming that other instructor was competent.)

The writer of the article kind of gives away the game in his opening paragraph: "Taking in a bumpkin and gradually transforming him into an articulate and able martial artist feels rewarding in itself." He wants to feel that as an instructor he is the one to magically transform a "bumpkin" into someone "articulate and able". (Seriously? "Bumpkin" If he has that little respect for his beginning students, then he shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't receive respect in return.)

When I promote a student and they thank me, I tell them - "You did the hard work. I'm just recognizing it."

6- People tend to disappear without a word

It can be disappointing when a regular student stops showing up. Then again, if the training was right for them, there's a good chance they may reappear down the road.

7- Demands high level of dedication

Yep, if you are running your own dojo, it is a lot of work. Then again, probably any business that you run yourself is going to require a lot of hard work and dedication. I'm happy to not have that responsibility. I have a regular class that I teach twice per week and I frequently help fill in for others as needed. That's just about right for me so that I can enjoy my teaching and not get burned out.

8- Teaching means less time to train

Teaching can be a form of training if you do it right. On the other hand, it is good to have time devoted just to your own improvement. I imagine that is harder if you are working as the head instructor of your own school and don't have any peers or seniors available to train with consistently.

9- Additional stress caused by local regulations, insurance, rent, tuition collecting, marketing

Yeah, running a business requires a lot of work unrelated to the primary focus of your business. I expect that's true if you are a freelance artist, plumbing contractor, or doctor as well. I don't imagine any of them appreciates having to work on paperwork, bill collecting, marketing, and so on either. If you want to just teach martial arts without dealing with all the business aspects, maybe you can run a non-commercial club or teach at someone else's school.

10- May be harder than expected to make good money

If you got into teaching martial arts with the expectation that it was going to be a sure-fire road to riches, you may need to rethink your assumptions.

11- Organizational Politics

Organizational politics can be ridiculous. On the other hand, it seems to me that the people I hear complaining about it the loudest are the ones who engage in it the most. From my standpoint: people are people, some people don't get along, some people say stupid stuff when they get competitive. Just train and don't take it personally.

 

[pgsmith]

It seems, judging by the article, that it apparently makes you whiney also!

 

[donald1]

they seem reasonable but that don't mean you have to let it hold you back. be PROUD of instructing, besides sometimes there are students that don't quite. (if good quality martial arts was easy then almost everybody would be high rank students) but thats just one problem a lot of people new people don't think about(not the only and maybe not the biggest but defiantly one of them)

 

[PhotonGuy]

I found this article on the internet and thought it was quite good and thought I would share.

http://www.martiallife.com/index.ph...ei-instructor-coach-or-teacher.html?showall=1

Number 8 it says that for martial arts instructors, their work, family, and friends take up most of their time. That depends. A sensei might be making a living by teaching martial arts and so that would be their work. A teacher and students can also be seen as a family and as friends. So it can all be combined.