How can i tell between good/bad instructor?

Nei Jia: the Qigong and Taijiquan Forum Taijiquan and the Internal Martial Arts
1

My kungfu instructor teaches the class some qigong every now and then, but i want to do it more regulary, the are several tai chi classes around me and i was wondering how i can tell a good teacher from a bad one or doesn’t it matter?

when i was deciding what kungfu teacher to go with it was easy, i sparred them, looked at their forms, concepts, and how i got along with them.

but with tai chi, for me it seems harder because a tai chi/ chi kung(qigong) technique is designed to work for you internaly, rather than externaly on an opponant.

any suggestions?

thanks in advance.
stubbs

“satisfaction loses,and humility gains”

2

It’s the same

It’s the same in internal gung fu.

Provided that your humble…If an instructor won’t cross hands/sparr with you, walk away…most of the time they are not teaching the martial side.

This could be good or bad, depending on what your looking for.

Paul

3

Hi stubbs,

RE: “…but with tai chi, for me it seems harder because a tai chi/ chi kung(qigong) technique is designed to work for you internaly, rather than externaly on an opponant.” That’s partly incorrect. Internal “techniques”, postures, etc. are certainly designed to work internally on you, promoting qi flow, balancing the meridians, increasing reserves, etc. However, Taiji’s movements do not ONLY have qigong applications. They are designed to work quite well as combat applications against an opponent. So it’s not really a case of “either/or”, but rather “both/and”.

At the VERY least, ask to see a demonstration of the combat applications of several Taiji postures. If the instructor is unable or unwilling to provide such a demonstration, I suggest you look elsewhere. Normally, it is quite common for legitimate instructors of various Kung Fu styles to refuse giving a demo of their stuff to people who aren’t yet students, perhaps even the norm in some places. Taijiquan is somewhat of a special case in this regard, though. Even with millions of daily practitioners of Taiji worldwide, relatively few know or even know about the combat applications of the art.

In my experience, the few instructors with legitimate knowledge of Taijiquan as a fighting art are usually more than happy to demonstrate it to you, since they are aware that they are “competing”, in a sense, with the multitude of watered-down instructors out there. Best of luck! :slight_smile:

[This message was edited by Chris McKinley on 09-09-01 at 12:00 PM.]

4

"Provided that your humble…If an instructor won’t cross hands/sparr with you, walk away…most of the time they are not teaching the martial side. "

What a BS generalization of any art.

Why should anyone cross hands with a person who just walks in off the street?

I have visitors come to my class - my teacher’s class as well and ask such questions.

When I am in MY class, my time belongs to me or to my students. To take away from that to try to impress or convince some prospective new student who has made NO committment to me is a waste of my time and cheating my students.

Should a visitor press this point, I may show them something but I would probably never accept them as a student. More rude people without patience I do NOT need.

In my teacher’s class, it would be the same. they may get their a$$ handed to them on a platter..but they would never be allowed back in the door as well.

Watch a class, ask questions, but remember you are a guest and visitor. As a guest, I extend hospitality to you. As a visitor, you do not abuse it.

5

I would have to agree with GLW, If a person walks in off the street and asks to spar or play hands with the sifu, they are looking for nothing more than their ego to attepmt to be inflated. further more is shows great dissrepect to challenge some one with whom you are looking to teach you. Try walking into a resturant and tell the chef you want to see how good he cooks, you would have a better chance.
One way to tell is by his posture , fluidity of movement and his creditability or teacher! I would be more persuaded to learn from a chinese or a person with a chinese teacher! please do not take this the wrong way but closer to the source is always better!

http://www.kungfuUSA.net

6

knowing some “fighting application” is not the true test if the instructor knows anything. Many people that knows “fighting applications” do it externally. So you have to find someone that will “show fighting applications” with internal strenght not external strength.

7

In finding a good teacher, you shouldn’t concern yourself with their abilities. What they can do with their skill has nothing to do with their ability to empower others with the skill.

I don’t think you’ll be able to discern much from their showing techniques found in the postures anyway. That’s just crazy.

The only way to know if someone has good teaching skill is to spend the time and gain the experience of having them give you regular lessons. It’s a win-win situation as long as you keep an open mind.

If you’re looking for combative skills in the art, look for a teacher who claims to have that covered in their curriculum. They should be able to show you something right there, on the first day. It should be simple and effective and not require weeks or months to have proficiency with. If what they show is a complicated sequence with any kind of set-up, then they’re teaching combat on a theoretical level.

As advised by a number of respected TCMAs teachers, if there isn’t a bin full of well worn gloves, head-gear, etc, somewhere in the kwoon, if there isn’t a heavy bag and some kind of training mat, then the likelihood of learning practical fighting skill is minimal. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be gained though.

Ultimately, Tai Chi is a hand-to-hand fighting art. Real H2H can’t be demonstrated in a sterile environment. The training might include lessons outside in a park, parking lot, alleyway, anywhere. Lessons should also cover ‘eclectic’ weapons recognition, acquisition, and retention, as well as countering the attacker’s weapon/s.

A big plus is if the training addresses the emotional stressing involved in all violent encounters and covers post-event strategies to help relieve the stresses one inevitably is left to deal with after such an encounter.

That isn’t to say that the instructor should have a PHD in some branch of psych-science. They should however have a practical knowledge of what’s involved with the mental processes of pre and post-fight stress.

We don’t live in a perfect world though. You have to make the best of what’s available. Good luck.

8

You are not in a position to judge anything.
With out some basic knowledge you won’t understand what you are really seeing.
Many people talk of fighting, this to me is very funny, as most people cannot even meet the basic requirements of really relaxing to play TC.

As for internal strength again most people haven’t felt it to really know the difference.
There are much more basic requirements to meet before you could even address this.

My advice would be to see how you feel about the teacher and the class. Talk with the students and see how they like it. If your overly concerned about fighting you probably won’t get it anyway and will not be able to learn it because your to filled with the idea of opposition. (fighting)

When you stop thinking of fighting then maybe you will meet some one who can wants to teach you.

I occasionally have people ask me about my TC in the parks; some want to learn and ask to try different things with me. Usually I push them out or make them fall. Even if I wanted to teach them which at this point I wouldn’t they wouldn’t be able to learn anything because their mind has to much in it all ready.

A famous teacher (linage) is not always good either as you might not have the skill to learn the things that he/she is teaching. Being Chinese is no guarantee of anything.

So again I would look for something that felt good, wait a couple of years or until you have a basis’s for understanding then decide if the teacher / class meets your expectations.

enjoy life

bamboo leaf

9

GLW What’s BS?

Provided that your humble…If an instructor won’t cross hands/sparr with you, walk away…most of the time they are not teaching the martial side. "

What a BS generalization of any art.

Why should anyone cross hands with a person who just walks in off the street?

I have visitors come to my class - my teacher’s class as well and ask such questions.

When I am in MY class, my time belongs to me or to my students. To take away from that to try to impress or convince some prospective new student who has made NO committment to me is a waste of my time and cheating my students.

Should a visitor press this point, I may show them something but I would probably never accept them as a student. More rude people without patience I do NOT need.

In my teacher’s class, it would be the same. they may get their a$$ handed to them on a platter..but they would never be allowed back in the door as well.

Watch a class, ask questions, but remember you are a guest and visitor. As a guest, I extend hospitality to you. As a visitor, you do not abuse it.

End quote…From GLW

Sorry, I don’t buy the car without a test drive!!!

And I don’t recomend anyone else do either.

Including my students !!!

Please… In my twenty years of doing martial arts…If I had a dime for every fake, drunk, wannabe with no actual experience in a real fight, that I’d seen teaching martial arts, I’d be rich!

The only time I would ask to cross hands with an instructor is if I questioned their martial prowess in the first place. Second, I’d approach in the most humble manner(yes, I’ve have walked into a place and requested a match, but it was after a class) I was refused, I figured I was right in my original assuption and departed with no bad feelings by all.

Please… I think your taking to much offense in my original post. I can only assume someone came into your school questioned someone (maybe you or your students) and did ask for a demo which you probably refused and figured you some how lost face.

If you feel that way fine, However…

The particular time I asked to cross hands, I wasn’t even refering to the head instructor, I said anyone would do. This would help me gauge
the skill of the school

I’m not going to go into how to tell a legit school when you see one, that’s for another post and another day.

However…

It doesn’t take long in the world of martial arts for someone to be able to tell an alpha male from a beta male…

If you suspect an instructor’s prowess, I can’t think of a better way of finding out if your assumptions are correct other than by crossing hands with him or one of his top students.

What’s the worst that can happen? You get your butt stomped, oooooh like that hasn’t happened to us all before in some way or fashion. (if you haven’t had your ass stomped before, don’t bother responding to the post, it would speak volumes of your training!!!)

If you get stomped, then you get in line with everyone else, fully confident that your new instructor is legit.

Now if the reverse happens! You will think you did right in asking to see the goods prior to payment.

By the way, I do teach and I give time to people who questions my methods or my prowess.

I got nothin to hide…

That doesn’t mean they get an immediate one on one. I tell them stand down till the end of class then will talk.

I figure I don’t know it all and if someone walks through my doors and can hand my ass to me on a silver platter then I better be in his class the next day! Come hell or High water!!!

“This is my perspective on the matter, doesn’t mean it’s right, it’s just my perspective.”

Paul
Michigan

10

Read Nigel Sutton’s book “Applied Tai Chi”, stubbs.

11

“Please… In my twenty years of doing martial arts…If I had a dime for every fake, drunk, wannabe with no actual experience in a real fight, that I’d seen teaching martial arts, I’d be rich!”

And challenging a teacher when you are a guest prevents this HOW?

“The only time I would ask to cross hands with an instructor is if I questioned their martial prowess in the first place. Second, I’d approach in the most humble manner(yes, I’ve have walked into a place and requested a match, but it was after a class) I was refused, I figured I was right in my original assuption and departed with no bad feelings by all.”

A begginner is in no position to know what to ask. If you question their prowess, why bother in the first place. Move on and find someone else. You will be a lot happier and you WILL have applied a basic principle of Taijiquan in the process.

“Please… I think your taking to much offense in my original post. I can only assume someone came into your school questioned someone (maybe you or your students) and did ask for a demo which you probably refused and figured you some how lost face.”

Talk about a ladder of inference…

Not at all. I have had students who disrupted my class with such attitudes and had to almost hurt them. It is a waste of my time, unnecessary, and disruptinve to everyone else.

I have also had friends who met such challenges only to have their school subjected to arson, drive bys, their car vandalized…all because they won. For the teacher, it is a total no win situation.

Such students are also almost always approaching with a full rather than an empty cup.

In Taijiquan, I have had such people come in, I have also had them come in and want me to teach them advanced things from the start. To date, NONE have had even the start of decent basics.

Again, I view it as a waste of my time. I don’t need to sell what I do. I will answer any questions but beyond that, I can’t be bothered. NO SINGLE STUDENT is worth the hassle just off the street. Once I know a student, I will bend over backward for them…that is like family…but not just in the door. Face doesn’t enter into it. It is just a waste of time and energy.

“I’m not going to go into how to tell a legit school when you see one, that’s for another post and another day.”

Yet, that was his original question.

"However…

If you suspect an instructor’s prowess, I can’t think of a better way of finding out if your assumptions are correct other than by crossing hands with him or one of his top students."

Why bother. If you have such suspicions, move on. It is faster and probably more correct 80% of the time. To cross hands in such an instance is like saying “This food tastes like it is spoiled. Let me take another bite and see”

"What’s the worst that can happen? You get your butt stomped, oooooh like that hasn’t happened to us all before in some way or fashion. (if you haven’t had your ass stomped before, don’t bother responding to the post, it would speak volumes of your training!!!) "

Been thrown across the room on my ass, picked up and trown back six feet from a punch…etc…all it told me was that I needed to train…it told me nothing about the teacher except that they knew more than me. That is a far cry than telling me what depth their knowledge really was.

“That doesn’t mean they get an immediate one on one. I tell them stand down till the end of class then will talk.”

I don’t care to waste my time there. I teach till late and have a day job. I am not willing to give up my personal time on matters of someone else wanting to test me. I simply tell them…“Oh, you may be right, look elsewhere” Of course, this is a far cry from them starting trouble. In that case, the end result for them is not pleasant.

12

It usually only takes about 6 months before an instructor is comfortable responding to pretty much whatever martial request you have. Usually they want to make sure you are commited, and willing to learn and practice the methods they show you. Honestly, if you find a teacher you think has what you are looking for, but you are lets say, 80% sure, give them 6 months to show you that 20% thats lacking, and by then you should also be able to ask them to show you what you want to see, if of course you are ready for it. It is pointless in the internal arts though for a teacher to explain things that will go right over your head, especially if you are not serious about the art enough to practice it as they once had to/do now.

  • Nexus

<font size=“1”>“Time, space, the whole universe - just an illusion! Often said, philosophically verifiable, even scientifically explainable. It’s the <font color=“blue”>‘just’</font> which makes the honest mind go crazy and the <font color=“blue”>ego</font> go berserk.” - Hans Taeger</font>

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GlW where do you find the time?

I just gotta ask…

With around a 1000 posts to your name and being on-line for around 24 months, making the average number of posts per month to be around 41, how do you do it.

I’m sorry, just gotta ask!

Where do you find the time to teach, let alone part your deep wisdom onto your students?

With 41 posts a month, “hell that’s alot time spent at a desk”

You must have a day job at a computer, “Yes, it must be how you do it.”

Hmmmmmm Hmmmmmmmmm Hmmmmmmmmm Hmmmmmmmmmmm???

Somehow I got the feeling your going to tell me you pratice and teach Yang style taijiquan.

Not that I think there’s anything wrong with that.

And…

Not that I think somethings not right with you either, but since your wisdom is so heavy (heavy enouph to say that my comments were BS)

You must be a somebody!

You should have let me know just how important you are from the start. he he he he he

I bet all your students know just how important you are? right?

Then I could of hung my head in shame right from the start.

"I need to learn better time management, then I could post more often like you.

Got any advise on managing time?

I’m having trouble working and teaching and training myself, oh yea, I left out occasional tournaments I and my students do on the week-ends.

14

Spanky or is it NOT TO CALL YOU,

your tone is one of accusation. You obviously have not thought much about how to ask a question to get a valid response.

"With around a 1000 posts to your name and being on-line for around 24 months, making the average number of posts per month to be around 41, how do you do it.

I’m sorry, just gotta ask!"

I use this board to turn my work off a bit. I report to my job at 7 AM, I work 11 hour days, I then report to my classes at 7 PM and drag my butt home around 11 PM every day.

I have Friday afternoon off for personal time.

I teach 3 days a week and I train with my teacher 3. In my classes, I am in the front line doing the drill first and then checking out my students. It IS about time management.

I TRAIN with my students. When they do Tan Tui, I do Tan Tui. When they stand in horse, I stand in horse…except for a few moments of correction.

I answer at times that are lulls. For example, when developing software, you have to design first…so I consider the design…then I browse a bit while it solidifies, then I write it down. It is NOT at all uncommon for my computer to have a minimum of 5 or 6 windows open in which I am doing REAL work. I manage a team of 10 developers and am responsible for the design, testing, implementation, and support for all of the software for a small (350 people) company.

You can’t do that unless you think fast, type fast, manage your time, and KNOW what you are doing.

I have degrees in Engineering, Psychology, and a minor in English… I would pursue the MS and PHD in engineering but it would require me to give up training. I also teach Taijiquan at my office to around 15 people twice a week at lunch - then I pick up my sandwich and eat while I work at my PC or in meetings with my staff. That is an hour of basics and leg work for me…and an hour of learning for those in the class.

“Where do you find the time to teach, let alone part your deep wisdom onto your students?”

This is a tactless thing to say. How long have you been involved in CMA and such? I have been doing this stuff since 1974.

"With 41 posts a month, “hell that’s alot time spent at a desk”

And how much time did you spend researching me to make such a point over a difference of opinion? 41 per month…hmmm…that is about 1.3 posts a day. I write more documentation than that for software in a morning. I only read those posts that interest me. A T-1 line helps too.

"You must have a day job at a computer, “Yes, it must be how you do it.”

Yes it is… It pays the bills nicely. I use the web to clear my mind while solving tech problems. If I were to do Qi Gong, it would be misconstrued as something else - like sleeping - my predecessor was narcoleptic and slept at his PC.

“Somehow I got the feeling your going to tell me you pratice and teach Yang style taijiquan.”

Zha Quan, Wing Chun, Northern shaolin Long Fist, 24, 32, 42, 48 Taijiquan, Yang style, Sun Style, other Taiji weapons. Long weapons - The Ma Dao is my favorite…two handed straight sword, etc… and lots of basics. I DO NOT do wimpy Taijiquan…if you don’t have leg strength and good body alignment in my class or my teacher’s you do not last long.

“Not that I think there’s anything wrong with that.”

BUT YOU OBVIOUSLY DO. If you can’t argue the point of a post without attacking the person posting, then you have nothing to say anyway. As I said, I do not waste my time in class…other places…maybe…but not in class.

“I need to learn better time management, then I could post more often like you.”

A bit of self respect and respect for others wouldn’t hurt either. Your original idea of crossing hands with a teacher was BAD advice if the teacher is a traditional Chinese teacher. That is what I said was BS.

"Got any advise on managing time?

I’m having trouble working and teaching and training myself, oh yea, I left out occasional tournaments I and my students do on the week-ends. "

Try working, teaching, training, JUDGING at competitions, and being active in trying to make the CMA community grow. Try my schedule and then add in things like showing up to be a head judge at a national level tournamnt an hour before the competitors and leaving 2 hours after the event is over. If you have competed using USAWKF rules, you have seen some of the things I have helped write over the years. Doing with around 5.5 hours of sleep a night helps too.

Excuse me if I stepped on your toes but You have NOT exactly displayed an open mind. I don’t know where you live but where I am, some of the things you advised can get you shot, sued, or both.

I have known many traditional Chinese masters both in the US and met many in China. NONE of them would accept a student who came in the way you suggested. If the student were in the class for a while, as someone else suggested, that is a different story.

Time management…first lesson is if you have doubts, go with them and walk. It saves time and you are right 80% of the time. An 80-20 solution in engineering is quite good.

To go furhter on this is a waste of my time… Saijin

15

a note and a suggestion

I don’t think ‘Don’t-c-m-Spanky’ meant:
“challange a teacher” WHILE their teaching a class. That would be arrogant and rude.

And if you’re not willing to do a little friendly sparring with someone- you’ve got no business teaching a MARTIAL ART. (and if you can’t handle yourself when a jerk comes in to do some non-friendly sparring… you’re in the wrong line of work, chum.

Observe a class.
Take note of how students respond to a teacher.
Take note of how/what the teacher teaches.
Does he/she have something you’d like to learn.
(if an IMA class has mats and teaches applications for the form’s movements- that’s a good sign.)

It’s all a progression.. you may find one teacher you are certain is great… you learn alot, then you stumble across another teacher and realize the frist teacher was just mediocre etc. etc. etc. The most important thing is that you build on your own knowledge/skill in the process.

it’s that simple.
Good teachers are patient, through, affordable and kind.

Peace, Love and AppleJacks.
Sum Guye

16

Thank you Sum Guye

That is exactly what I meant and he knows it!

GLW, What do you mean by me not being open minded?

Are you not the one who put my words in quotes and then commented on them?

Here in metro Detroit, most schools have open nights. Let me give you a few off the top of my head (these are mostly the ones I have visited in some way or another)

Kronk’s Boxing:

(Many champions found here)

Tripp Academy;

(Best jujitsu and Judo in the Midwest, Dan “the Beast” Sevrens trained out of here for his return trip to the UFC, which he won)

Detroit San Shou:

This gym houses some of the best San Shou and Muai tai fighters in the mid-west. Plenty of champions here also…

Any Issinryu Karate in the metro Detroit area

"Hell they will drag you off the street because they love to spar so much…

Any Koi-kan Karate Dojo:

Sensei Frost and Co: Bogo amour or no Bogo amour…“nuff said here”

Berkley Kook Soul Won (Korean jujitsu): home of some very fine fighters like Mike Fox and Co..

Woodward Shaolin Kung Fu:
Nice!..

Sterling Hts Aiki-jujitsu: I can sum up them in two words…“be prepared!!!”

My list could go on and on and on,

All have open nights…

Any of these places you could go in and in a respectful friendly manner ask to spar after class or come back on their open night. This is done for a couple of reasons.

Just as you said Sum Guye “it’s part of the business and comes with the territory”

No, I wasn’t talking about going in a starting a fight. GLW you couldn’t have thought I was saying that. If you did, you should have asked to me explain my statement further, instead of shooting off like I’m some kind of troll.

To see if a school is legit, you go down and get on the deck and mix it up with some of the students or the instructors on open night etc

Common knowledge…after all it is martial arts were talking about isn’t it?

GLW if you have been around as long as your bio say’s you knows this.

Why are you so tick off at this notion?

I teach my Xingyiquan with the same intensity of most external schools listed above: I can’t say that I’m a better teacher than those listed above because there are some great teachers at these schools!!! Nor do I dare put myself in the same league with some of them either.

But…

I can say that the local Yang or Wu style Taijiquan schools are not of the same caliber of the schools listed above, nor do they have an open night. And they suffer greatly from their lack of compitition

It’s like they are oblivious to what is actually out there! (And most of their students are of like mind i.e. blind following the blind)

My Xingyiquan instructor would walk away from them saying whatever… whatever… "Have a nice day… As did I, after experiencing what they had to offer.

That isn’t saying they are bad (as I said in my original post) But if you want to know if a school is legit (in a martial sense, not in a health sense) and you can’t tell, then I recommend you cross hands with someone before spending money or worst yet valuable time on that school! Money people usually have or can get…it’s time that is truly valuable…

Yes, some others have stated it is better to stick around for a while before you make up you mind about an instructor. These opinions have real merit.

Since the original post was about an internal art, and I feel differntly about how to tell if an instructor is legit, I figured my first post was saving that guy some valuable time!!!

And GLW!

No! My first post wasn’t BS and no I didn’t give bad advice.

But, I might have given advice that is bad for a few teachers out there that I know…

We are just going to have to agree that we disagree and move on. (at least I am)

17

dear sum guye

hang on a second you posted this?
And if you’re not willing to do a little friendly sparring with someone- you’ve got no business teaching a MARTIAL ART. (and if you can’t handle yourself when a jerk comes in to do some non-friendly sparring… you’re in the wrong line of work, chum.
I have been a sifu of ba bu tang lang and shyun tai chi chuan for over 7 years now and never has someone walked in to my kwon and disspresected me by asking me to spar them to see if I was a good teacher! that is a horrible thing you said that if teachers dont do this they have no business teaching martial arts! I would think that a teacher that stoops to the level of sparring a person off the street has no business teaching! what kind of sifu would accept an obvious no win situation simply to impress a young eagar not yet student! I find that teachers like that are just showing off to inflate their own egos and nothing more! and again martial arts is about discipline and respect, what kind of role model teaches those theories but does not live by them?

http://www.kungfuUSA.net

18

Ok ya right…Whatever…

Earth Dragon

I can’t believe you think Yang Lu-chan sucked!

He welcomed anyone into his Kwoon that wanted a match!

I can’t believe you think Chen Fa-ke sucks.
Heck, by all accounts he went looking for matches at other Kwoons

Wang Shu Jin: he would accept a challenge just about anytime…in class out out of class, it didn’t matter..

I guess you think he sucked also!

How about Chen man-ching? Didn’t Robert Smith write about Master Chen accepting a sparring match from a Karateka? on a moments notice.

I guess he was a man of low integrity also…

I could go on and on…with examples like this

Here is a modern example:

We wouldn’t know about Gracie BJJ if they didn’t accept people comming into the dojo and asking to sample the goods ("granted… I think they took this to the extreme…but Gracie BJJ!!! nuff said)

If anything, the Chinese masters I listed above had that same mentality that the Gracie’s have.

This is the mentality I was talking about, this is the mentality of a good teacher.

Chances are if an instructor or one of his senior students will spar with you (being new to a school) they got something you want and they have nothing to hide.

Most of the time you know right when you walk through the door if an instructor is legit. Most of the time you can tell by his/hers students (because they are a direct reflection of the instructor) However, we are talking about internal arts and sometimes it hard to tell who knows what.

Lots and lots of fakes and frauds abound in the internal arts.

It seems to me that this fighting mentality is the same mentality towards martial arts you and GLW put down as low integrity teaching or “BS”

I personnaly (as with a few other instructors) don’t have a problem answering a question in a physical nature to people new to my methods.

There is nothing wrong with this, nor is it somehow ego inflation either…

If anything it’s enlightenment!

As with GLW we also are going to have to agree to disagree on this matter…

19

dear spanky

first: never did I ever say that anyone sucks! so lets get that clear!
second: the master and people that you posted are not living in todays soceity! if you want to get technical in the olden days one could not open a kwon with out fighting every scool owner in the surronding area first! they would burn a candle in the window to tell of a match the next day of a new sifu/new school and a old sifu/established school. If his fighting was worthy he was allowed to open!
this is modern day and with law suits and insurance claims, (that one has when they are a school owner) it is hard legally to strike a person off the street that has not signed a silly waiver, how ever without the obvious leagal problems you have more to lose than just money! to be a school owner you are asking for trouble to hit some person that walks in to your place of business just to show them how tough you are!
your point of view is not from a point of owning a business so please be a little more liberal in you comments! also If someone feels that they need to prove something by challenging me then my school is not the place to show them my abilities, but out back in the alley I would lock, break, rip, pull and tear.

http://www.kungfuUSA.net

20

quoted?

Earth Dragon, you type very well for having such an extreme mental disability. You quoted what I said verbatim- but then ranted on about something I never said… it’s kinda funny. (D-C-M-Spanky
seems to suffer a similar affliction… reads one
thing, takes it to a ridiculous extreme).

What I said was… “if you’re not WILLING to do a little friendly sparring you’ve got no business
teaching a MARTIAL ART.” (I’m not suggesting every teacher should FIGHT every student, nor that
every student should FIGHT every teacher at all.
‘Willing’ and ‘Martial’ are the opperative terms
in my sentence).

When I first got into Martial arts… I wouldn’t
have asked anyone to spar. But now, I would not bother to study with someone who couldn’t surpass me in skill. (by ‘friendly sparring’ I didn’t imply doing serious damage to anyone nor threatening anyone). Someone with MARTIAL skill understands that… too bad for your students you do not. (in 7 years you’ve never felt good enough to do a little sparring with someone you
don’t know… wow… are you sure you’re doing ‘martial arts’?)

If someone states they teach ‘Tai Ji forms and Chi Kung’ then you know what to expect… forms and breathing skill lessons. But if someone states they teach Internal Martial Arts… then they are calling themselves martial artists and should be WILLING and able to spar IF asked.

If I went to your school (or Kwon, I’m American so I use English terminology like ‘school’ and ‘teacher’ rather than Chinese or Japanese terms)… and I watched you teach a class, and thought ‘hmmmm this guy seems pretty good’. I would speak with you after the class and ask if you’d mind if we could do a little push hands for a few minutes to see if you can throw me.

If you said “no I don’t spar” I wouldn’t mind.
I but wouldn’t return to learn from you.

If you said “okay” and couldn’t pull off a clean throw. I wouldn’t mind… I wouldn’t return to learn from you.

I don’t understand how you can see that as disrespectful. I wouldn’t embarrass you in front of your students.. you would do that yourself.

Peace, love and good grub
Sum Guye