Respect for younger instructors

Buka said:
I'd love to work out with everyone on this forum, I'd love to take a class from everyone on this forum.
I'd have a ball. Even if I was lost in a sea of new material.
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Agreed. If we ever win the lottery (which probably requires buying a ticket...need to rethink my methodology), I'll be making many MA trips.
 
I feel this - im a 27 year old instructor with 22 years of martial arts experience and have been teaching (assisting or lead) for 16 years, and am a 4th dan.
Ive experienced
  • new students parents looking worried to sign their kids up with me (if my teacher isnt there) but all the current parents love me
  • new adult students acting like i dont know what im talking about when teaching
  • people my own age seem to be not believe i know enough
  • other older black belts baby and dumb down explanations to me when we are the same rank and have trained for nearly the same amount of time (they just started later in life)
If people dont know my time frame or im training outside of the dojo (with a black belt on) people are pretty impressed with my techniques and what not. Lately ive had better success with this aspect teaching self-defense classes at Yale.
 
gpseymour said:
I haven't yet met a good instructor who couldn't teach me something I don't know. I have a former student (he has about 8-9 years of experience) who I learn something from almost every time I go to his class. It might not be something entirely new, but he'll point out something I've been ignoring or something I just hadn't thought of before. Sometimes, it's a question he asks that sends me down a rabbit hole.
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Whoosh. That one went right over your head.
 
kempodisciple said:
I just finished reading the Then vs. now differences thread in the TKD sub-forum, and it made me wonder how people would treat younger instructors with more experience than them. I'm going to use myself as an example for this. With overlap, I have around 23 years of experience, without considering overlap, it's over 30 years experience. However, I'm only 25 years old myself. How many of you would be willing to accept a 25 year old instructor, who had 20 years experience in an art you have no experience in? Alternatively, how many of you would accept a 50 year old instructor in the same art, who had 10-15 years experience in the art. From my personal experience, the answer in reality tends to be that more adults (over 30 or so) will rather learn from the 50 year old with less experience than the 25 year old with more experience. But those same people are fine with their kids learning from the 25 year old, as long as he isn't the "head instructor". If you were to start a new style, which would you rather learn from, and why?
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hmmm, what do you mean by " respect " you have to earn respect and youl get the respect you've earnt, it maybe that someone older will have an easier time of it at the beginning, based on the ma stereo type that older is better for trad ma, but that will soon abate if he isn't worthy of respect as your will increase if you are ?

I find it somewhat annoying when people patronise me over what I'm capable of doing at my advanced age, so it cuts both ways. I was refused a sign up to play at a very informal five a side soccer class, as I was over 50 and therefore a significant risk to myself, some arguemente and a couple of months later, they gave me an award for being the most outstanding player over 50, which as I was the only one, was also very patronising.

age discrimination is every where, no matter what age you happen to be
 
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There’s something to learn from everyone. Even a horrible instructor can teach you something. Let’s let’s say you’re watching said horrible instructor; what if he/she does a drill you haven’t seen before and it’ll fit into what you teach?

During my grad school training in physical education, we had to take turns teaching. For my team sports and coaching class, the teacher gave a group of 3 of us a sport. We chose what skill we were going to teach and how. The teacher would be off to the side evaluating us and gave us feedback. He was a full-time high school PE teacher with about 25 years of experience. Guess what? He told us he saw new things all the time that he’d end up using in his classes. And we all had zero experience. And he wasn’t giving baseball guys baseball assignments, basketball guys basketball assignments, etc. He went through the class roster alphabetically; 1st 3 we’re baseball, next 3 were basketball, next 3 were football, and so on. I drew baseball and lacrosse that semester. Never played organized baseball, and never even picked up a lacrosse stick. And he really liked my lessons.

No one has seen every drill, heard every explanation, etc. Even the person with practically zero experience can show someone with decades of experience something new. They might not have as much experience, but that doesn’t mean you know every single thing they know and then some.
 
I think good instructors can learn from anyone or anything if they are observant enough and can make the relationship between what they see and how they can apply it to a MA situation. Shaolin monks stylized techniques from animals they observed why shouldn't we be able to learn from people younger and or less experienced than we are ? The beauty of interacting with people of all shapes, sizes, experiences and ideas is that we can possibly see something we have never noticed before.

Respect for younger instructors ? If they have something to teach of value and you become a better MA because of the knowledge they impart, why would you not respect them ?
 
If your good, respect isn't an issue. If your not that good then age only magnifies or masks the reason for the lack of respect. If your an immature arrogant jerk then your an arrogant jerk and everyone knows it.
 
My son is 26 and he's been around MA pretty much his whole life, but he started seriously training with me when he was around 15.

He teaches a lot now and I'll sit back and listen to him explain something in class...the little $h!t is teaching me a lot.
 
yak sao said:
My son is 26 and he's been around MA pretty much his whole life, but he started seriously training with me when he was around 15.

He teaches a lot now and I'll sit back and listen to him explain something in class...the little $h!t is teaching me a lot.
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You named your kid little $hit? My mom did, too!
 
kempodisciple said:
I just finished reading the Then vs. now differences thread in the TKD sub-forum, and it made me wonder how people would treat younger instructors with more experience than them. I'm going to use myself as an example for this. With overlap, I have around 23 years of experience, without considering overlap, it's over 30 years experience. However, I'm only 25 years old myself. How many of you would be willing to accept a 25 year old instructor, who had 20 years experience in an art you have no experience in? Alternatively, how many of you would accept a 50 year old instructor in the same art, who had 10-15 years experience in the art. From my personal experience, the answer in reality tends to be that more adults (over 30 or so) will rather learn from the 50 year old with less experience than the 25 year old with more experience. But those same people are fine with their kids learning from the 25 year old, as long as he isn't the "head instructor". If you were to start a new style, which would you rather learn from, and why?
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Personally, I need to separate this into two, if not more, distinct questions.

Would I be willing to accept a 25 year old as an instructor, and would I be able to give that 25 year old the same level of respect I would to a 50 year old instructor? The short answer is "yes." The longer answer is that I generally approach people with an open mind and a listening ear. If the potential instructor is able to show mastery over their subject matter, explain concepts effectively, demonstrate techniques appropriately, and answer questions and make corrections patiently, then their age isn't necessarily a factor. I trained briefly under a couple of instructors that were much younger than I am, one a female just a couple of years older than my daughter. I had no problem with this, because they were clearly dedicated to their art and were knowledgeable, competent instructors.

Would I be able to respect an instructor of 25 with a claimed 23 to 30 years of experience. Bearing the above answer in mind, and respectfully, I wouldn't be able to seriously accept the claimed time in training. You didn't start training at two, and certainly not before you were born. I understand that you are likely saying you have X amount of time in one art, and X amount of time in another, and cumulatively that equals Y amount of time total. I tend to look at it from the perspective of "what age did you begin training." It was at this age you began developing skills as a martial artist, learning and understanding techniques and the principals behind them. As an analogy, I took three years of History to earn my minor, four years of political science to earn my major, along with two years of astronomy, two years of English Lit, etc... I don't tell people I have eleven-plus years of undergraduate work. I earned a four year degree.

Going one step further, I do agree with others that the younger a student is, the less likely they are to examine techniques from a critical perspective. That tends to be, in my experience, something that develops later in one's development, sometimes not until well into adulthood. That isn't to say a 25 year old can't be better at critical analysis of an art, it's theory and techniques than a 50 year old, not even a 50 year old with more time in training. That is determined by the individuals themselves, and their desire and ability to think critically. Which takes me back to my first response.
 
skribs said:
@JR 137 @Yokozuna514
I feel like there were more whooshes in this one. Unless I'm just being vain and you aren't talking to me.
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I've never been accused of being too tall so it may just have gone over my head ;). There is no reason I can think of for not talking to you. Should there be one ?
 
Yokozuna514 said:
I've never been accused of being too tall so it may just have gone over my head ;). There is no reason I can think of for not talking to you. Should there be one ?
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I meant, if the post I was referencing was not directed at me.
 
We have young instructors in our kenpo karate class and shes gonna 2nd degree black and she only jr in highschool we have 3 young sifus and we respect them too
 
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