Belief in your style.

Discussion in 'General Martial Arts Discussion' started by Tseek Choi, Apr 14, 2002.

  1. Tseek Choi

    Tseek Choi Banned Banned

    I was wondering how people really felt about the Martial arts that they practice?

    Do many of you firmly believe in what you have, & are being taught in your respective styles? or do you feel that there is a better system out there for you if only it was closer at hand?

    How do you feel regarding your respective instructors and senior instructors/master?
    Do you look at them in awe, wishing you could be that good?

    Do you see them as ordinary people that have worked very hard to achieve, so giving you the belief in your own potential?

    Or do you see them as business people only in it for the money?

    Many i'm sure might see more than one aspect within their group.
     
  2. Joseki

    Joseki Valued Member

    This is a good one and in cases a hard one to answer.

    to me if i had found a better MA i'd try my hardest to get there some how but its done to going out there and given any martial art a go to see what suits you and want you can sit down and look at one of the lessons and say say i like that.
    As for Instructors i do have a great one that is a Kancho and yes i look up to him but not for the respect, but that although he is a master how many can you go up to and talk to them like you would your best mate, if you can do that then they are great.
    i dont see him as a business person for he says to every one if you cant afford it still come to train, plus he says he is not worred about money for he has a full time job.
    so thats my answer.
     
  3. waya

    waya Valued Member

    I don't think there is a "better" system, only another that is different. I do believe in what I train even though I am contantly looking for the next art at the same time.

    My current instructor is very talented, he works and trains hard to be good and has a natural ability that helps, but all the same he is no different than I.

    Rob
     
  4. Tseek Choi

    Tseek Choi Banned Banned

    Excellent answer!
    I agree to a point with the familiarity aspect. It is good that you feel comfortable enough to talk to your Kancho, provided the mutual respect ( teacher/student, student/teacher ) is maintained.
    The money point also is good to here.
    Obviously if he has a full time job, then this helps, because like so many of us we make very little profit from teaching, but do it instead for the pleasure.

    If you feel that your style has all that you need, and you like & respect your Kancho, then you are a very lucky person.

    I remember the first time I ever saw my Master. I had this image of him being some sort of God-like being.
    Yet now many years later, now that we know each other much better, I see him as a great man who has dedicated his life to his belief in his kung fu.
    I accept completly that he needs to make money to live, and therefore am happy to pay for my training. Yet also understand that money alone could not be the reason for all the work that he has put in.
    There are i'm sure much easier ways of making money!
     
  5. Melanie

    Melanie Bend the rules somewhat.. Supporter

    Hello TC

    Nice thread btw :)

    I listen to every word my Sensei says, fortunately he says that this is his take on things and that we should look around other styles or dojos to develop our own and make it our own. I realise there are many styles out there and I hope to investigate as many as possible. I would like to have a solid grounding in one though (thats just what I want though).

    I believe I am being taught what is relevant to me at this time and when I am ready, I will go elsewhere.

    I will admit I do look up to most Sensei, but not because they are a Sensei, but because I can respect what it took for most of them to get there. I say most to cover my back - I'm clever like that :D

    Do you see them as ordinary people that have worked very hard to achieve, so giving you the belief in your own potential?

    Yes :)

    With respect to the business side of MA - I have been fortunate so far to have not met anyone that is like that but no doubt I will in the future. There's one of every kind out there :)

    Melanie
     
  6. Pablo

    Pablo New Member

    The answers to this question could be as revealing about the students as about the teachers. As a general rule of thumb, students who are looking for something will gravitate toward teachers who provide that something.

    If a student is into tradition, it wouldn't surprise me to see that student in a school that wears ornate historical costumes, and works with visually appealing archaic weapons forms, accompanied by exotic terminology.

    There may be a school down the street that wears T-shirts and sweats, uses no titles or honorific ceremonies, and proclaims themselves to be pragmatic. I would expect that the students in this school were NOT looking for what the first school offered, else they would probably make the walk.

    There will also be schools that either 'develop discipline and loyalty from thousands of students around the world', or 'foster a cult of personality', depending on one's viewpoint. Likewise for schools with 'an open mind to ancient traditions,' AKA 'mystical mumbo jumbo', or one that 'promotes a family atmosphere', AKA known as 'Kiddy Fu', or one that 'focuses on health and fitness', AKA as 'muscular shoving', or 'combat reality' AKA 'macho bullying', and so on. Two sides to every coin, and at least two viewpoints per school.

    I cannot see where it is useful to call one school better than the other. I can see where it is useful to define one school as more suitable than the other.

    Having said that, I would ask everyone what need/want is their current school providing?

    I will answer first by saying that I need/want a style that allows me to have exactly the same protective effect as carrying a firearm.
    I am not interested in winning anything, I am not interested in making bad guys give up, I am not interested in knocking the knife out of their hands, I AM interested in the unarmed equivalent of shooting center mass. I also am interested in NEVER having to use ANY of what I practice.
    Therefor, I myself do not want a school that offers rank, or costumes, or an opportunity to be a master, or a sense of camraderie. I do want a school where I can practice really unpleasant things on other students, without anyone's ego leading to injuries. At this time, my needs seem to be best met by the practice of neijia, as those arts are most narrowly defined.

    So what are the rest of you looking for, and how does your school provide it?

    :D

    paul
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2002
  7. Saz

    Saz Nerd Admin

    I'm looking to get a black belt in a fortnight so I can show it off to all my mates... ;)

    lol...Only kidding

    My school provides everything I want. I have tried others, but leftf because they just didn't suit me. The main thing I look for in a dojo is natural disicpline among the students and instructors. To me to shows that the class is well run and the students are taking it seriously, but not disicplined to the point of bullying. Also a friendly instrustor is a bonus, and one that tries to cover all of the students syllabus/training program.

    Most of all though, I train for enjoyment. To me, a school like this would be pretty suitable. Like you said Pablo, there's two sides to every coin and its highly likely that another student might hate it, and prefer another dojo. That doesn't mean my style is bad, or that theirs is better, its just personal preferences. Problem's only occur with the 'my styles better than yours' arguement when you get the sort of students who won't admit there are flaws and pluses in everything they do.

    Osu
     
  8. LilBunnyRabbit

    LilBunnyRabbit Old One

    {/B]

    Firm belief in my current system, mainly because I've been forced to use it and seen that it works for me.

    There's actually only a handful of people senior to me in my school, and I can see why they are every time I partner them.

    Absolutely. Mainly because I've graded and worked alongside them.

    My current chief instructor has only just managed to rent a house, before that he has lived out of vans, garden sheds, and student's houses since he pours all of the money he receives straight back into the schools. I think that vouches for him not being particularly interested in the money.
     
  9. Freeform

    Freeform Fully operational War-Pig Supporter

    I firmly believe in my base style (all proper cross-trainers have a base style from which they build upon) as I grew up in a pretty rough town, I had moved there from the country when I was young and was instantly singled out (the majority of people there were tossers anyway), so I know for a fact that what I have works (I work the doors in Edinburgh now).

    I did look up to my first Sensei as being some kind of superhero, but over the years we've actually become mates and drinking buddies, and now know that he's just a man who dedicated a lot of time and effort into his training. He encouraged me to 'spread my wings' and practice other styles when I was considered 'advanced enough'.

    So over the past 3/4 years I have spread my wings into other styles (I'm a little harder to impress now though ;) ). I have a world class Judo Instructor who's developed my grappling skills (I'm a very physical person and I just love my Judo), a highly skilled Karate Instructor who's given me a deft pair of legs (and he's one of the few karateka I've met who knows his bunkai!) and I train in Aikido with another doorman and an Aberdeen football supporter so you can't get much more realistic than that (only kidding Tintin, hey no get away from me with that bokken, ah, no.....)

    So basically I still consider myself as a Tai Jitsu practitioner, I've just gone out an added a few more abilities to my C.V (besides Tai Jitsu's all about developing the person, not a style).

    So to TC's points, I feel good about what I do, if I've seen a weakness I've strengthend it (ALL styles have a weakness!), I've only had one Instructor I considered a business man (and I left soon after I realised this, no diss to people who have to earn a living but this guy was a tosser).

    Thanx (if you got this far).
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2002

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