You have to look at the actual definition of the words;
Coach: (Sports) A person who trains or directs athletes or athletic teams.
Instructor: n : a person whose occupation is teaching [syn: teacher]
So a coach is not an instructor, they are very similar roles but a coach does not have to be able to perform what he coaches. He only needs to be able to acurately create visualization of what he intends. Of course a coach who can teach is the best kind of coach. It is not a requirement. Many jymnastics coaches cannot do a backhand spring or a back flip, but they can coach you with verbal explanations as to how you can achieve your goals. Often coaches will use a physical example steming from a more experienced practitioner.
Lamaz (spelling) coaches can be men. Even though a man will never actually be personally involved in bearing a child, they can however coach you through the labor process.
But they cannot teach you how to breast feed. They are physically incapable of teaching this skill through experience.
Main Entry: 1coach
Pronunciation: 'kOch
Function: noun
Usage: often attributive
b : one who instructs or trains a performer or a team of performers; specifically : one who instructs players in the fundamentals of a competitive sport and directs team strategy <football coach>
Main Entry: in·struc·tor
Pronunciation: in-'str&k-t&r
Function: noun
: one that instructs : TEACHER;
Main Entry: teach·er
Pronunciation: 'tE-ch&r
Function: noun
1 : one that teaches; especially : one whose occupation is to instruct
But they cannot teach you how to breast feed. They are physically incapable of teaching this skill through experience.
Bullsh1t. Are you saying a male doctor cannot teach a woman how to breastfeed? :rolleyes:
Ok so there seems to be a few different reference points available to us. This is a very broad term used for coach.
I guess there are different uses of this word. I have met coaches who cant play the game but can develop winning teams. How can one explain this? They cannot perform the sport but can coach it.
No where does it specify in any deffinition that a coach MUST be able to perform what is being taught. So this would imply that coach has a very long list of sub-catigories.
hehe, not through actual physical experience, no. Through coaching yes. but not through experienced based Instruction. Thus my stipulation of “through experience”
I’ve had some time to think about this and I’ve decided that I’m going to do a complete 180°. An overweight or even obese instructor/teacher/coach could be a great teacher. Technically they wouldn’t have to demonstrate at all if their teaching methods were strong enough. So maybe I’m a little pedjudice against overweight people. For that I apologize. Just one more thing for me to work on.
My instructor isnt obese…he just has a few extra pounds. He reminds me of a bear, actually. Something I wouldnt want to get in the way of.
He can perform what he teaches
In the rare case that he cant (acrobatics…hes a big guy, so he has more trouble making a flashy technique look nice.) he can still explain it so that I can. He can adjust if I do it wrong, etc.
I do the same things. We had a very overweight guest sifu in from out of town a while back for a seminar. Once I saw him, I decided to skip the seminar. My first thought was that he was one of those guys who is ‘all show and no go’. Might have been that he had a disease or injury and just got overweight. I doubt his being overweight affected his ability to teach, but I’m the type of person who prefers to learn from people who will ‘get dirty’ with you. But that’s a personal preference and not a judgement of whether it is right or wrong.
I don’t know about you guys but my teacher’s muscular body was the main reason to attract me toward him. He never had any body fat on him until the day he died in his 70th.
He always told me that, “CMA is one way street that you can never turn back. You won’t know when and where someone would knock on your door and request a match. So you have to be in good body shape at all time to face the unknown future”.
I don’t necessarily see it as a bad thing - if he no longer competes or trains as seriously, he will likely have put on weight. However, that doesn’t discount his ability to teach you and relay his experience to you. Now, if the guy is fairly young, I may question it, as I’d wonder if he ever did any serious training or competing.
If you have trained TCMA all your life and you don’t want to get beaten up by a 20 years old guys during your old age then you had better keep your body in good shape.
If someone chassing you with gun and if you can out run him then that mean life and death. I have never seen any overweight guy who can run fast yet.
In my openion, the day that you have put on weight is the day that your CMA ability starts to go down hill.
There are many highly proficient martial artists who are heavy.
Slovenly? No. Heavy? Yes. There’s a difference for me.
Having said that, none of my teachers and training partners have been ‘fat’.
Most of them are either in really good muscular condition or a little on the lean side.
But then, there’s sumo. lol, those guys crush other peeps.
consider that the heavy folk are also carrying a lot of weight all the time and the muscles though not defined are very strong.
Heavy and obese folk that are slovenly are just that. Up in teh northern climes a few extra pounds is a good thing to have. Winter is hard and long… like me.
I was never “attracted” to a teachers physical appearence, what was most important to me was their ability to teach and produce results in their students. This is something that my parents taught me early on.
I knew a few teachers that were not in “good body shape” and could take any and all comers at any time. This was mostly due to their attitude and confidence, had little to do with what shape they were in.
I’ve seen people of all ages and sizes get and give he!! in fights, it’s what they have inside that drives them to be who they are, good or bad.
Since someone already beat me to the Sammo Hung reference I’ll defer in an opposite direction. My sifu looks every bit of sixteen years old (well, maybe early twenties) but is actually thirty-six. He’s a plastic surgeon by trade and also a member of the reserves. He is a madman, working doctor’s hours and still finds time to support and nurture his school. He is by far one of the most skilled martial artists I have ever had the honor to meet. Yet, no one would suspect that given his mild mannered, school boy appearance.
I, on the other hand, am six foot three, 250 lbs, sport a six inch goatee and resemble more of a landlocked pirate than anything else. Based on appearance a match between me and sifu would look unfair. No one would understand why I ran quaking with fear, completely oblivious to the yellow and brown stains forming on my uniform.
Another case in point is one of my co-workers at the gym. Rachel is a BodyPump instructor. Sweet, petite curvy brunette. Maybe 5’4" in heels. BodyPump is a muscle endurance based class, so weights are relatively low and reps are high. She regularly squats half again as much weight as I do (and ooh how I hate her for it too…if only she weren’t so ****ed cute.)
So my point is size means nothing. I’ve seen plenty of fat kungfu guys with superior flexibility and speed. I think the only thing a lower body weight offers (speaking as one of the big guys) is a lighter frame that makes performing some of the more athletic moves easier. My sishung is also a little guy (150 lbs.) if I set the gravitron where I’m performing pull ups at 150 lbs I can match him, but I still struggle with more than one or two pull ups at my natural body weight of 250.
I’m looking for an instructor who likes long walks on the beaches, going to movies or curling up on the sofa and cuddling. They have to be intelligent and have a job too, I’m not gold digger but I know what I like and I like to be treated right.
