Unraveling the Essence of a Grandmaster: A Perspective on Leadership in Martial Arts

[Gerry Seymour]

I think you should reboot your ‘sense of humour’ algorithm, Gerry Seymour.

But since you’ve asked, martial arts is the one of the few physical disciplines where the teacher is expected to be ‘better’ than his students. It’s very strange because nobody expects a boxing or swimming coach to be as good as their top student but, for some reason, there is that expectation in our disciplines.

As a complete aside, most people get fat as they age because their calorie intake exceeds their metabolic needs. This happened to me so I reduced my caloric intake and KAPOW! Normal range BMI ensued. There are some medical conditions that can make the person put on weight, hypothyroidism and Cushing’s syndrom but the latter is quite rare. ‘Bad genetics’ making everyone fat is an excuse for the vast majority of people. Rarely, a pattern of inherited obesity within a family is caused by a specific variant of a single gene (monogenic obesity)

Firstly, I still don't see what the humor was supposed to be.

The difficulty some people have because of their genetics and/or endocrine issues is more common than just including like Cushing's and hypothyrodism. It's almost certain there are epigenetic issues involved, too, though I've forgotten what the research says about that. I do recall that both previous personal and parental dietary habits have been shown to have an epigenetic effect that causes the body to store fat more readily (and use those reserves less readily).

What worked for you will absolutely not work for everyone. I'm genetically lucky that I'm able to maintain my weight with little effort (I just have to avoid extreme overeating). Where my genetics make it easy, others do the opposite.

As for the other part, I wholly agree. It's odd that so many in the MA community tend to expect the instructor to be the best fighter in the room. I certainly had at least one student who could keep up with me in strikes-only sparring (he had prior experience), and if I'd managed to keep the program going, I'd have hoped that by now I'd have students who could best me in other areas. The best fighter is unlikely to be the best teacher - they are different skillsets. It's pretty rare to find someone who excells in both.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

The observation is that the fatter they are, the more shiny objects on their gi and belt. My observation is the same. Looks like someone right out of a Saturday Night Live or other sketch comedy skit.

This isn't to say that someone who's older and overweight can't be good instructors. But if his martial arts uniform looks like a Christmas tree, you gotta wonder how he got all of that with his level of physical fitness.

I'm guessing - just a wild guess here - that people are more likely to have higher rank as they age, and are also more likely to put on weight as they age and as they go from personal training to teaching.

Your second comment assumes people always were the level of fitness they are now, which is ridiculous. I'll also mention that I can think of at least two distance athletes (one a triathlete, the other an extreme distance runner) who you and I would both consider overweight. Both are probably fitter than me, aside from that weight.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Note: the term Grandmaster, if on mainland China, is only a title used to impress westerners. Between Chinese, it tends to mean someone is fake. And it is used in the west, by those from China, to impress westerners

Per my Yang Shifu, trained in Hong Kong, there are no Grandmasters in China, only Sifu....

Also note those using Shigong (sigong) in the west to refer to themselves as "Grandmaster" are using the word incredibly wrong. It would translate to teacher's teacher.... So they are saying, by using Shigong, that they taught their teacher who then taught them.

To that last part, many of these terms have become loan words, and changed meaning somewhat from their meaning in the original tongue. It's my understanding that "sensei" is not something a Japanese person would use to identify themselves, but an honorif used to identify that someone is ahead of you on the topic at hand.

 

[Dirty Dog]

For me it's simple.

Students learn martial arts.
Instructors teach students martial arts.
Masters teach instructors to teach students martial arts.
Grand masters teach masters to teach instructors to teach students martial arts.

So I'm not allowed to teach anyone below 4th Dan????? That seems harsh...

Or do I get around this rule by just having people call me Mark?

 

[Gerry Seymour]

So I'm not allowed to teach anyone below 4th Dan????? That seems harsh...

Or do I get around this rule by just having people call me Mark?

I thought the implication was that "grandmaster" implies you're qualified to teach masters and all those below.

 

[Hot Lunch]

I'm guessing - just a wild guess here - that people are more likely to have higher rank as they age, and are also more likely to put on weight as they age and as they go from personal training to teaching.

Your second comment assumes people always were the level of fitness they are now, which is ridiculous. I'll also mention that I can think of at least two distance athletes (one a triathlete, the other an extreme distance runner) who you and I would both consider overweight. Both are probably fitter than me, aside from that weight.

Certainly, if they attained all of those ornaments while they were physically fit, then that means there should be fit people who have all that ornamentation just prior to putting on that old man weight. Where are they?

By the way, you're speaking as if you're giving the benefit of the doubt to the legitimacy of those ornaments.

 

[skribs]

So I'm not allowed to teach anyone below 4th Dan????? That seems harsh...

Or do I get around this rule by just having people call me Mark?

You can teach by example.

 

[Xue Sheng]

To that last part, many of these terms have become loan words, and changed meaning somewhat from their meaning in the original tongue. It's my understanding that "sensei" is not something a Japanese person would use to identify themselves, but an honorif used to identify that someone is ahead of you on the topic at hand.

Sigong, Shigong means Teacher's teacher in Chinese, not Grandmaster so it is just plain wrong, and a complete misunderstanding of the language. It is not in anyway honorary, Tung Ying Chieh is my Shigong.

 

[Bujingodai]

Firstly, I still don't see what the humor was supposed to be.

The difficulty some people have because of their genetics and/or endocrine issues is more common than just including like Cushing's and hypothyrodism. It's almost certain there are epigenetic issues involved, too, though I've forgotten what the research says about that. I do recall that both previous personal and parental dietary habits have been shown to have an epigenetic effect that causes the body to store fat more readily (and use those reserves less readily).

What worked for you will absolutely not work for everyone. I'm genetically lucky that I'm able to maintain my weight with little effort (I just have to avoid extreme overeating). Where my genetics make it easy, others do the opposite.

As for the other part, I wholly agree. It's odd that so many in the MA community tend to expect the instructor to be the best fighter in the room. I certainly had at least one student who could keep up with me in strikes-only sparring (he had prior experience), and if I'd managed to keep the program going, I'd have hoped that by now I'd have students who could best me in other areas. The best fighter is unlikely to be the best teacher - they are different skillsets. It's pretty rare to find someone who excells in both.

100% to my experience

Technologist vs technician I like to explain it as
I'm in my 50's 5'5" and have a family history of largeness. I'm 182 which at my height is robust. 29 years of martial arts. So I do teach. My best students have exceeded my fighting ability. Younger, etc. My students now are 20-30 years younger.
I have no personal want to scrap. It's not in me. I however can explain and instruct well. I'm not a fighter. I am OK with my students being better physical practitioners than me. That is how things survive. By constant improvement. I also believe a teacher should have wisdom, practical knowledge and real life experience. These are not always part and parcel with being a fantastic specimen.
To add, I honestly don't know a lot of Sensei, Sifu etc etc that are in the best shape of the people in the room.

However the best scrappers in my classes are much more wrapped up in their performance to show someone else how to do it. Those who can't teach I guess HAHA.

I certainly didn't put it as well as you lot. I just wanted to comment

 

[Dirty Dog]

I thought the implication was that "grandmaster" implies you're qualified to teach masters and all those below.

I know, it was a joke.

You can teach by example.

With the damage done to my body by twelve years of chemo and radiation, that's actually about all I can do. It's really difficult to teach kicks when your feet are numb. So I'm retired from active teaching. The closest I get to teaching these days is testing the instructors at schools in the area, and overseeing their Dan tests.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Firstly, I still don't see what the humor was supposed to be.

The difficulty some people have because of their genetics and/or endocrine issues is more common than just including like Cushing's and hypothyrodism. It's almost certain there are epigenetic issues involved, too, though I've forgotten what the research says about that. I do recall that both previous personal and parental dietary habits have been shown to have an epigenetic effect that causes the body to store fat more readily (and use those reserves less readily).

What worked for you will absolutely not work for everyone. I'm genetically lucky that I'm able to maintain my weight with little effort (I just have to avoid extreme overeating). Where my genetics make it easy, others do the opposite.

As for the other part, I wholly agree. It's odd that so many in the MA community tend to expect the instructor to be the best fighter in the room. I certainly had at least one student who could keep up with me in strikes-only sparring (he had prior experience), and if I'd managed to keep the program going, I'd have hoped that by now I'd have students who could best me in other areas. The best fighter is unlikely to be the best teacher - they are different skillsets. It's pretty rare to find someone who excells in both.

My goal is always to produce students who are better than me at some point.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Certainly, if they attained all of those ornaments while they were physically fit, then that means there should be fit people who have all that ornamentation just prior to putting on that old man weight. Where are they?

By the way, you're speaking as if you're giving the benefit of the doubt to the legitimacy of those ornaments.

I’m simply not assuming that ornamentation is necessarily a sign of someone who is inept.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I’m simply not assuming that ornamentation is necessarily a sign of someone who is inept.

I really enjoy seeing legitimate teachers wear their gear proudly. If they earned it, why not? We dont have uniforms per se, but im all for other people showing their stuff, as long as it’s not hokey or over the top.

 

[Hot Lunch]

I really enjoy seeing legitimate teachers wear their gear proudly. If they earned it, why not? We dont have uniforms per se, but im all for other people showing their stuff, as long as it’s not hokey or over the top.

"Over the top" is what we're talking about.

There's another photo out there of this person that's zoomed out, to where you can see the legs. I wasn't able to use it, because it's a type of file that this forum doesn't take. Definitely looks like someone you'd see riding the scooter at Walmart. This person isn't merely "overweight." This person likely has a handicapped placard on their rearview mirror, due to not taking care of their health. Do you want to learn from this "grandmaster?" And why are the sleeves rolled up? Certainly, when the patches were sewn on, the sleeves could have been hemmed?

And then there's this guy. I can't see his belt, but I bet he's got so many gold stripes on it, that the only way to continue adding more is to put them on his sleeves. He's even got a grandmaster patch AND the word "grandmaster" directly embroidered onto his uniform. Because he wants to make sure that, no what angle you're looking at him from, you know he's a grandmaster!

This one is the least "over the top," in my opinion. His belt might catch my attention, but it's not so bad that I'd dismiss it as "fake." But, in combination with his title of "grandmaster," his weight and the fact that he's wearing camouflage has "McDojo" (and possibly even "bullshido") written all over him. He doesn't look old enough for his age to be an excuse for his weight. Possibly mid-40's. And another case of sleeves being rolled up. I'm sure his pants are also too long. He's probably stepping all over them when his legs are down. You'd think that a legit instructor would present themselves with a neater appearance than that.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

"Over the top" is what we're talking about.

There's another photo out there of this person that's zoomed out, to where you can see the legs. I wasn't able to use it, because it's a type of file that this forum doesn't take. Definitely looks like someone you'd see riding the scooter at Walmart. This person isn't merely "overweight." This person likely has a handicapped placard on their rearview mirror, due to not taking care of their health. Do you want to learn from this "grandmaster?" And why are the sleeves rolled up? Certainly, when the patches were sewn on, the sleeves could have been hemmed?

View attachment 30630

And then there's this guy. I can't see his belt, but I bet he's got so many gold stripes on it, that the only way to continue adding more is to put them on his sleeves. He's even got a grandmaster patch AND the word "grandmaster" directly embroidered onto his uniform. Because he wants to make sure that, no what angle you're looking at him from, you know he's a grandmaster!
View attachment 30631

This one is the least "over the top," in my opinion. His belt might catch my attention, but it's not so bad that I'd dismiss it as "fake." But, in combination with his title of "grandmaster," his weight and the fact that he's wearing camouflage has "McDojo" (and possibly even "bullshido") written all over him. He doesn't look old enough for his age to be an excuse for his weight. Possibly mid-40's. And another case of sleeves being rolled up. I'm sure his pants are also too long. He's probably stepping all over them when his legs are down. You'd think that a legit instructor would present themselves with a neater appearance than that.
View attachment 30632

Ok you got me there. I can’t argue with you on any of this.

 

[Hot Lunch]

Ok you got me there. I can’t argue with you on any of this.

One thing I forgot to mention about the first person - the fact that a ballcap is being worn. I can't see exactly what's on the ballcap due to the low quality of the image, but it does look like one of those military veteran ball caps (but why would anyone wear a ballcap on with a martial arts uniform?).

Might just be me, but when a martial arts instructor advertises their military service as a credential, it doesn't mean a thing to me, unless they're teaching military combatives such as MCMAP. But, apparently, some people see it as a credential, because they keep advertising it. Hell, John Kreese even had a picture of himself as a Green Beret in Vietnam on the wall of his dojo in the first Karate Kid.

 

[Dirty Dog]

One thing I forgot to mention about the first person - the fact that a ballcap is being worn. I can't see exactly what's on the ballcap due to the low quality of the image, but it does look like one of those military veteran ball caps (but why would anyone wear a ballcap on with a martial arts uniform?).

Might just be me, but when a martial arts instructor advertises their military service as a credential, it doesn't mean a thing to me, unless they're teaching military combatives such as MCMAP. But, apparently, some people see it as a credential, because they keep advertising it. Hell, John Kreese even had a picture of himself as a Green Beret in Vietnam on the wall of his dojo in the first Karate Kid.

So what rank do YOU hold? Not in martial arts, I mean what rank in the Fashion Police? I'm guessing at least Sgt, but probably Lt.

 

[Hot Lunch]

So what rank do YOU hold? Not in martial arts, I mean what rank in the Fashion Police? I'm guessing at least Sgt, but probably Lt.

Is a hit dog hollering? Looks like it to me.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Is a hit dog hollering? Looks like it to me.

I wear one MDK patch, that's it. That's all any of us wear in our schools.
But don't let that stop you from making unwarranted, unjustified, and bigoted judgements based on no actual information at all.

 

[Hot Lunch]

Now I gotta admit, this one is pretty cool looking. But only respectable if either all students can wear this, or all black belts can wear it. If you have to be a grandmaster to wear this (and I'll bet money that you do), then it's pure megalomaniacal wear.