I have become involved in a situation that I have been trying to avoid, and at tis point I can likely still stay out of it. There is a person in my area, (whom shall remain nameless) that I originally talked to and pointed him in the direction of 2 teacher I know that are very good for what he seemed to be looking for; one was Wing Chun the other JKD. I later found out he came form another WC school run by a friend of mine and he was persona non grata there. Also I was on the receiving end of several e-mails from the JKD school, that were not hostile, but left me feeling really really bad for telling this guy to go there. Also had a conversation with a guy from the same lineage of the WC school I pointed him to (both the sifu of the school and this guy had the same teacher) and things went horribly bad there to...again...I could not apologies enough. Tried to discuss this with the sifu, but he is an incredibly nice guy and I could see he did not want to get into it so I let it go...and that is what I did up till now. This person has been told by virtually everyone he trained with, no matter how briefly, not to post things on the internet as his (and he was doing that) and even been told by the teacher, of one of the guys he trained with briefly, to stop. He is now teaching and I have been told by all involved he is really not that good and should not be teaching at all. He will likely get someone hurt. Still, I just let it go.... Well now he appears to have an association with the Aikido school my youngest goes to and may also be linked to the head sifu of the place I go for push hands. I almost said something to my daughters sensei the last time I saw him and I am considering talking with the head of the guan I go to for push hands fun. Usually in these situation I go with my gut, but at the moment even my gut is conflicted on this. Any thoughts?
It can't hurt to give your honest opinion, you have a legitimate reason for offering it since he's going to be part of the set up at your daughter's school. So long as you don't mind bumping into him and calling him out on whether he should be teaching or not. Though sometimes a quiet life is easier - let him come unstuck on his own.
If there is a chance that he may be teaching your daughter, then you have an obligation as a parent to step up and intervene. Otherwise, you have to let other people make their own decisions and run their own lives. If you go to your push hands sifu and tell him everything you've just told us about this fellow, then you're simply gossiping. Not that gossip is necessarily a bad thing, I've sat around and gossiped with other martial artists over beer any number of times, but you should acknowledge it for what it is. As for his past transgressions, unless you personally vouched for him, you should have no guilt for him not working out in someone else's school. If you recommended to the instructor that they accept him, then you are partially to blame for your poor judgement. If you simply told him about the schools, then you've no reason for guilt. Just my thoughts ...
You pointed him to other schools because you thought they were a good fit for him, so what they actually owe you is a, "thank you but he didn't work out" message, nothing else. You should feel no guilt for that. If he is teaching, have nothing to do with him and there needn't be an issue. Your post mentions, "having an association," with your daughters Aikido class, and that could be anything, so may not be worth mentioning. However, if he is teaching at your daughter's club and you have concerns, raise them with the sensei. Same with the push hands. Is there no certification, insurance etc involved? Surely this person cannot be teaching Aikido?
Thank You he is not teaching at my daughter's dojo, if he was there wold be no question as to what I would do. He is not Aikido, he is also not JKD and Wing Chun, but he does claim to be a JKD and a Wing Chun teacher. I have decided that I am going to let most of it go, I may talk with the senior blackbelt at my daughters Aikido Dojo to basically give them a heads up and if he wants more info, I will give it to him. Other than that, I think it is best to not get involved any further. However, if anyone asks me, that's a different situation, then I will let them know what I know. Again Thank You
I think as you have concerns about this person and knowing that they have an assocication with your daughters school you should do some investigation. If possible try and find out why things didn't work out with the recommendations you made as this could just have been a clash of personalities ? Also I would want to know how much involvement, if any, they will have with your daughters school and based on that and what the other schools say about him should make your decision for you. But as Ned has said you have to be prepared to confront him at some point on the issue as it may get around that you are looking into him, all be it for legitimate reasons.
