Is Your Martial Art Instructor Legit?
How to tell if your martial art instructor is a genuine master
Author : Steve Hanafi (Silat Sharaf Practitioner, Malaysia)
Sensei, guru, teacher, sifu, Instructor, proffesseur, instructor, tuhon and all the names that you can call a teacher. A teacher is one who dedicates their time to teach the student, to educate and ensure that their student learns from them.
Anyone can learn anything that they want to. But not everyone can teach. Example, cooking. If one wants to learn cooking, they can look it up on the web and start learning how to cook. But to teach someone to cook the right way, is no easy job. Sometimes, even the best in their field are not as good when it comes to teaching. Logic would dictate that the most experienced would make the best teachers in their field – this, however, is not necessarily true. While an expert may have all the technical knowledge in their given crafts, they may not necessarily guarantee a great education for their students.
A good football player doesn’t guarantee they would make a great football coach.
With the number of martial art school and teachers expanding, some are taking advantage of this by trying to make the most money out of the opportunity by opening up martial art schools or classes that teach crap – McDojo. I don’t know how it feels but I’m sure it sucks to be in one. It is crucial that you find yourself a good martial art instructor since they play a major role and have a huge impact on your journey in learning the art. Simply put, your progress relies heavily on their ability to teach and train you. It’s not just their knowledge that you are seeking for, but also the qualities that they have.
McDojos - continuously feeding you with crap so they can rob your money
That being said, it is easy to find one who can learn, but not one who can teach. Finding one who is well-versed in their craft is one thing, finding a good instructor is another. You might be asking yourself, what are the signs that I should look for?
Behold!
5 Signs of a Real Martial Art Instructor :
If you’re really looking for a martial art instructor that can teach you the real self-defense, self-protection aspect, these are the 5 telltale signs you should look for.
1. Technical Combative Skill.
They have a wide knowledge of combative skills and a deeper understanding of it. They understand the concepts and principles, the when and why to use a particular technique. Just because they have never entered the ring or fought in the streets, doesn’t mean that the techniques taught aren’t applicable in real life or as what most warriors - I mean, Keyboard Warriors would call “Fake”. Although it is a bonus point if one has experienced any of those mentioned or both – since then they would have a better understanding of what works and what not, also understanding how speed, intent, and violence works in real-life situations.
A good sign that your instructor has good technical skills is that they aren’t afraid to roll with you. They aren’t just watching from afar and avoiding every chance to get on the mat since they are too scared to make any mistakes. Here’s a thing, someone who has good technical knowledge aren’t afraid to make mistakes, they know how to adapt and improvise according to the situation regardless of when they’re simply demonstrating or having light sparring sessions.
One good example in history is Ustaz Hanafi Ahmad, the founder of Silat Cekak Hanafi one of the more famous Silat in Malaysia, well known for its simple moves and deadly strikes and locks. Ustaz Hanafi learnt more than 3 styles of different Silat before picking up Silat Cekak from his teacher, Pak Yahya. It was noted that he would always be at the “Gelanggang” to train his students and weren’t afraid to accept challenges from those who wanted to test his skills.
The founder of Silat Cekak Hanafi, demonstrating a buah during his class in the mid 70s
2. Knowledge of strategy and tactics
Real martial art isn’t like Hollywood movies; prolonged fights, fancy moves, cheering crowds, you name it. A good instructor knows very well the difference between reality and fantasy, thus they should have good knowledge of tactics that can be employed in fights. Winning with minimal resources and minimal damage or casualty on your side should be the main priority. An unfair fight. Your opponents are never going to play fair anyways, so you better use dirty tactics before they do.
It’s not just limited to fight tactics though, they should have a good grasp on strategies to navigate through daily life and crisis (check out our Warrior Mind Combat module for more on those). They are able to teach real-life strategies to use against people who are trying to take advantage of you, trying to fool you or use your resources for their good. Strategies and mindset to outsmart those who try to do harm to you.
Fights aren’t just won with brute strength and force- good strategies and fight tactics are also essential
3. Knowledge of (contemporary) weapons
In this age, one who does not teach the use of contemporary weapons are either just focusing on the sport aspect or are teaching meticulous bs. It is essential to have knowledge on how to use a weapon in fighting, drawing the weapon under stress, use it to one’s advantage, as a force multiplier and leverage against multiple opponents or those who are better armed.
We did mention contemporary weapon. While it is great to learn how to use the long sword or staff, it is far crucial that you can access those weapons when you need to. Thus, weapons like a gun, a fixed blade, folding knife, Karambit, and punch dagger are among few weapons that have a practical sense to it to be used for self-defense by the modern warrior. These weapons are concealable and can be carried daily. Whatever it is, if you can’t carry it and use it when you need one, we consider it as useless. Nuff said.
It is crucial that modern weapons are taught to the learners
4. Respect and love for human life
Even though they are literally teaching you the art of violence (the art of protecting yourself and beating someone really bad if needed), a good instructor will instil the good value of respect and love for human life. Teaching their students that each human life is valuable, regardless of who the person is, because each person means something to someone else. Whew, we’re getting quite philosophical, are we?
The instructor won’t be telling you to go around and kill people just because you “need to”, because in some cases in can be avoided and human life is precious (Trust me, I’ve seen instructors like this where they promote the students to “try” their fighting art to other people. You can tell if they are driven by love and compassion or other things, such as money and hate.
Love and compassion should stand above everything else
5. Accept death for one’s self and adversary
A good instructor will not shy away when asked about death, they would respond and tell you the truth about it. The possibility of death for both sides, yours and the opponent. In a violent ambush where someone’s aim is to send you to sleep (forever), you either fight to survive or you die. And sometimes surviving means, sending the other person to sleep. They won’t cover the truth by sweeping it under the mat, telling you how beautiful the world is, that you can live happily ever after by winning with no consequence, no, if they’re good, they will be honest and upfront.
The instructor will teach the mindset that is needed to deal with the situation. They know very well that taking someone’s life comes with a cost, and it’s one that the students have to live on with. However, in the face of a killer who will not stop until you’re dead, you must become a killer if you wish to defeat one.
To prepare to war is to prepare to die
A good teacher will impart not just good tactics and knowledge, but also good values. A good instructor is not just an instructor, but a teacher, a mentor, a friend and one who will help you progress in your journey of learning the art.
For instructors who are reading this, we hope that you possess these qualities among many others that make one a great instructor, that helps in creating better individual and teaching them knowledge that they can use to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. Students will always respect and appreciate a good instructor.