I don't mind.
Bryan Hawkins himself seemed like a good instructor. However, as a beginning student I was being taught by brown belts. This normally wouldnt have been a problem, but I myself am already a brown belt in Chinese Kenpo, which is an extremely similar style. I don't have a problem learning from other brown belts - anyone who can teach me I'm willing to listen to. But already having a brown belt, I think I noticed some things that maybe a white belt wouldnt.
One of the first classes I was in we were meant to be learning a technique for a person who was grabbing your right shoulder with their left hand, standing very close to you. The first thing we were told to do was step to the right and chop. If the person was standing very close to you, this wouldnt result in a chop to the neck; it would result in an elbow to the neck.
I asked about this, and the person instructing told me I was correct, it was meant for someone who was a little further away, not close up as originally told.
I noticed several other similar inconsistancies but did not say anything, because I didn't want to be rude. However, I think the person instructing you should know the material WELL.
Secondly, as I previously mentioned, I already have a brown belt in a similar style. When I tried a couple of classes, I was allowed to come to the intermediate and advanced classes. While never explicitly stated, I was under the impression that I was going to be allowed to continue to do so. However, after I paid for 3 months of classes, I was told that I needed to buy a new uniform, stop wearing my black gi and brown belt, and only come to the beginning classes.
There were also times when I asked a question when I didn't understand the movement being shown or the purpose of the movement being shown, and instead of being answered in words, I was shown the exact same movement again. When I would ask the question more specifically, it would yield the same result.
In fighting class, never once did I hear plans or tactics discussed. Fighters basically lined up with no plans, and went to hit each other. No one mentioned setting plays up, drawing people into attacks, or fakes. Also, within the first fighting class, I had a man at least twice my weight and quite a bit taller than me hitting me very hard. I was using normal control, but after being blasted, I got set on a defensive side kick and took his air away. I'm sure it was unpleasant, but it was fully deserved and not unreasonable force. The only way I can describe what happened next would be a hissy fit. Come to think of it, I made a thread about it.
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50097
Anyway, they're might have been a couple of other things but that's enough to be getting along with, I think.
