Nothing is obvious when it comes to Martial Arts. I make no assumption about people's skill level.
Jkd instructor
- Thread starter super saiyan 4
- Start date
This is what I don't like about kung practitioners in general. Not all of us. Just some of us. Kung people for some reason think they are the exception to stuff. That some how the world turns differently for us. Lots of speak about being humble, but listen to some kung fu people talk and you'll hear a lot of arrogance when they talk about why their system doesn't bend to the same laws of nature.
All of these are personal issue. If fame poison your mind then that's something that person needs to work on. I've seen obscure stuff that was total crap. They want it to be obscure so that people with experience won't call out their scams.
In today's age, A Martial Arts teacher who wants to be obscure is like a boyfriend telling his girlfriend that he wants to keep the relationship a secret so that other people won't poison the relationship.
As for a thousand enemies, that's nonsense too. TKD tricking is famous, no one is coming for them. Extreme martial art is famous, but no one is coming for them. Muay Thai is famous. Boxing is famous. Wrestling is famous. Fencing is Famous. No one is coming for them.
Now if you talk a bunch of crap, brag, and become arrogant, then yes you'll get your enemies.
I find this ironic being that Jow Ga's saying is "Spread Jow Ga" You can't spread anything if you are trying to be obscure.
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
The best don't need to spread anything.
It's the need to teach that usually screws things up over time. The pride involved.
Somewhere out there are Jow Ga tigers who have never felt the need to post about it.
Even if someone was the best. I would still want to know their skill set. Not every good fighter makes a good teacher. A good fighter can have the knowledge and skill set for fighting, but does a horrible job in communicating with students. Which is probably a lot of good fighters are known as good fighters and not awesome coaches.
I'm sure there are. But I'm equally sure that there are a lot more out there with Instructor BIO's on their website that speaks about their skill set and the qualities that they think are important..
I'm also sure that a lot more would tell a person their skill set if someone asked them to. Imagine this.
A potential students is thinking about joining your school. That person asks you. "What is your experience? What are your skill sets?" And You answer. "I don't discuss my skill sets." If it's me. I would turn around and walk out of your school. Then I'll let my friend know not deal with you. If you can't be honest and open about that, then what else are you going to keep "secret"
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
Asking someone for their "skill set" is a problem though. How can you trust anybody, without really getting to know them.
Therein lies the paradox behind all martial arts schools. It's like the Matrix, people want something, they may not know what it is, but their senses typically blind them from the truth. Still, they'll walk right into the lion's mouth with cash in hand, ready to be told what it is.
The truth about Jeet Kune Do is fraught with danger. On one side it's a master class in "anything goes", on the other, it's a sad tale of philosophical woe, straight out of San Francisco.
I'll always be a terrible teacher, which is why I like to maintain close to zero students, at all times. Compared to the great grandmasters of JKD, I'm a happy hermit.
You can find that from that person's personal record. This is why a student needs to do his homework. A student wants to make sure that a teacher has some valuable skill to teach him.
It's not what you say but how you say.
1. Are they bragging about their skills when they tell you.
2. Do they sound humble about their skills.
A potential student asked me about my skill sets. This is what I told them.
1. I'm not a Sifu.
2. I've been training for X amount of years
3. I focus my training on Function and then I gave them a perspective of how I see kung Fu. (not how I think everyone else should train it.)
4. I have not used my Jow Ga in competition, but I have used it in sparring.
5. I coach /teach the Jow Ga sparring class. I used to teach self-defense classes when I lived in ....
6. The Sifu of the school is.....
7. The main instructor of the school is......
8. This is the role that I play in the school and helping students, self-defense, function, fitness.
That's how I talk about my skill sets. The 2 general questions that I get 99% of the time are.
1. How long have I've been doing Jow Ga
2. Can I actually use Jow Ga.
#2 is often answered by videos that I post on the school website. I don't post videos to show that I know how to do Jow Ga. I post videos to show that Jow Ga is real kung fu that can actually be used against a resisting person, who is trying to attack me.
Most people who see me use Jow Ga kung Fu don't question my skill set. Even though it's not the next level Kung Fu master stuff. It's more than what they can do and it looks like what Jow Ga trains. Most people aren't looking to be MMA fighters. They just want to be able to use what they train.
Edit: If people haven't seen the videos then I show them a couple simple and easy to understand techniques and concepts. A lot of times I tell them the value of the horse stance and how people don't think that you can actually use the horse stance. I show them a perspective that they have not thought of or heard of .
This is where the instructor / teacher / coach should help them out by asking questions.
1. Are you looking to get into shape?
2. Are you looking to be more active?
3. Are you interested in sparring?
4. Are you interested in learn how to use the techniques or do you want to just good at the forms?
5. What do you want your child to get out if.
The instructor should reassure the person that there's no right or wrong answer, because Kung Fu is whatever you want to get out of it. Just like some people take Boxing Fitness classes, but don't want to fight. People take kung fu in the same way.
I always talk to people about what I don. It's no secret. Just like I didn't try to keep it a secret that I got kicked out of a kung fu school because "I focused too much on using kung fu to fight" Fast forward 5+ years MMA vs Kung Fu masters is a thing. You know what I hear now? I hear Sifu's saying that "It's not good enough for us to collect forms. We also must know how to use it."
I have nothing to hide and I haven't hid anything about my training. When I was injured. I stated that. When I was out of shape. I stated that too. When I was wrong and offended someone by accident I apologized in public. The only thing that type of stuff will is build up my character and will show the type of person I am. That way if you want to learn from me, you don't have to guess what you are going to get.
I'm not sure why people are so afraid of being honest and afraid of "Unlikes."
"Anything goes" is how I've always known kung fu. I have never thought of it as something honorable. It was always about surviving the fight. I know Jow Ga kung fu. If I get into a fight and I see a brick, then I'm going to utilize the brick. It's my choice to either use it or throw it away. But I only get those options if I have the brick. If my opponent gets the brick, then I have no say.
For a system that has groin kicks, joint breaks, eye pokes, and tricks to hurt your opponent, there are sure a of people who this it's "Honorable" If I have dirt in my hand, then you better believe I'll make use of it. People fall in love with the fantasy of Kung Fu. Not the reality of it. No one develops techniques to strike the groin or poke out the eyes because it's "Honorable."
That's a good thing you can be honest about that. Because if someone ask you to teach them. Then you can be honest and say that you are a horrible teacher. From there the student can determine if they still want to learn from you or if they want to find another teacher. But they will have respect for your honesty.
super saiyan 4
Yellow Belt
super saiyan 4
Yellow Belt
When I was 16 I was released out of a mmagym no big deal sparring got a little rough
super saiyan 4
Yellow Belt
I was getting at if you saw the technique you would know I can talk but it means nothing until you see it good feedback like what you say and agree
How are you advertising for students besides posting very limited information on relatively obscure martial arts message boards?
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
My problem is that I've been asked by quite a few people to teach them, and failed not because I didn't know what I was doing, but because they were only willing to put so much effort in. In other words, my bar is too high.
See, in my view of the world, JKD is low hanging fruit. It's the popularization of the whole idea of kung fu...without a lot of the work required. Wing Chun is by comparison a rich artform with a 200+ year heritage, JKD is a pop culture martial art. If I upset anyone with that statement, fine.
I've known kung fu students who will wake up at the crack of dawn to pick up a staff and toy with it until the school bus arrives. I've known students who have scrubbed their old Sifus name off their uniform.
The former is a hard truffle to sniff out. The latter is a big problem in all the arts, especially the ones surrounding Bruce Lee. How can you tell who to trust? I think JKD schools are some of the hardest to fan out. There are sooooo many bad ones, so few good ones, and even fewer ones you might want to join only to learn how to fight.
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dvcochran
Grandmaster
I hope it would be better said if you were to say "my bar is too high for them".
Oily Dragon
Senior Master
I can't ever seem to dumb things down enough using words. Ever get that feeling?
Maybe the bar is raised too soon. Like if you see some of my exercises you would think that I don't know what I'm doing. I do that so people, including myself can grow into a higher standard. It's like math, start small then grow big.
super saiyan 4
Yellow Belt
If you own a business of any kind let me know what you do for advertising
