I’ve been studying for about seven years now, and have reached what I believe is an impasse. Without overwhelming you with details, I’ve “caught up” to my teacher. (He is studying from the a master of our system.)
I now find myself in an unenviable position. Often I am learning a form and have to wait for my next moves until HE learns them from his sifu. Or, even worse, I’ll hear him on the phone asking one of his fellow teachers what the next moves are. It is hardly inspiring learning a form when you know your teacher just got the moves over the phone!!! And frustrating to learn a form and then get the “corrections” once he’s figured out that he’s been doing it wrong.
Also, I often ask about applications and he just doesn’t know them. I’m not disparraging (sp?) him… as I said, I’ve simply caught up to him, being something of a faster learner. He is in the tough spot of having to learn and teach the same material simultaneously.
So now I have a few choices to explore.
Stay there, take what I can get, and continue to be extremely frustrated.
2)Go look for another teacher in another style and start from scratch. That’s assuming I can even find a good teacher… in my location this is very unlikely, trust me.
Go to my teacher’s teacher (our master) and ask to be taken on as a student with him. This will undoubtedly hurt my current sifu, as well as causing him to lose face in his teacher’s eyes.
Go to one of my teacher’s teacher’s training brothers who also runs a school and ask to become a student there, which might cause my teacher’s teacher to lose face in the eyes of HIS teacher, the Grandmaster of our system.
I’m leaning towards option three, even though the driving time would be brutal. (like five hours) I’m hoping someone out there can help me think of a way to make this move without alienating my current teacher. He’s done wonderful things for me and I think the world of him as a person. And, on the selfish side, I would still want to stay active at his school since it would give me a local place to train. I don’t know what to do… my kung fu journey is at a stand still, and has been for almost two years. I’m looking for a way past this roadblock.
Challenge your Sifu. After you’ve beaten him up, take over the school and demand to study directly with the Grandmaster. If the latter objects, fight him to the death and take over the Grandmastership yourself. It’s the only way to get ahead in this dog-eat-dog world.
Seriously, as Merryprankster said, you need to have a private chat. If your Sifu is a reasonable man and sees things the same way as you regarding your relative abilities, he may welcome the chance to change your relationship to one of peers rather than master/student. I don’t know whether you’re teaching yourself (you’d better be if your claiming to be as proficient and knowledgeable as he) but you could offer to do more and take on more responsibility for running the kwoon, sort of a two heads better than one approach.
If you don’t teach and are not interested in teaching but only in your own progress, then leave it alone, be grateful that someone other than yourself is prepared to take on what is sometimes an onerous and frustrating responsibility. If you feel that way, he deserves to be the Sifu and you don’t.
If talking doesn’t work, at least you’ll know where you stand. If what you say is true, then you know everything this guy has to teach you, and so it makes no difference whether you stay or not. Or does it?
Heh - I keep learning, can’t say I ever had a student catch up to me in every area of study. But that’s because I choose to keep growing.
I would wonder about the nature of your practice. You should never be able to exceed your teacher in all matters.
I have students who have certain attributes stronger than me. I have students who have a greater refinement of study on certain aspects of the art than I do (They chose a specialty), but do I have students who know everything I do? Nope. I’d be slacking if they did.
I have one student in Singapore who graduated before he moved - but my understanding has changed since then, and so has his. You can’t help but keep learning in this stuff.
and if your sifu isn’t all that keen on what you have to say in your chat, talk to his sifu. he or she may be able to offer insight into the situation.
and if that doesn’t work, give it all up, join the circus and ask the bearded lady out (just make sure she is, in fact, a lady before you try any funny business, mister).
Starting over in a new style could be have rewards. It would allow you to explore a new art and give your sifu time to grow. After a few years you could return to your first sifu if you so desired. No chance to find another good school, huh?
It’s time for you to leave. This guy isn’t teaching you anything you don’t already know and info gleaned over the telephone isn’t the same as learning it from someone who actually knows what they’re doing. What I can’t understand is why you’re still there, unless you feel some loyalty to this guy–and if that’s the case then why are you complaining about what he’s doing for you?
You’re just spinning your wheels. Leave. That’s my advice.
What Budokan said. Time to find someone who knows more than you do.
"3) Go to my teacher’s teacher (our master) and ask to be taken on as a student with him. This will undoubtedly hurt my current sifu, as well as causing him to lose face in his teacher’s eyes. "
This is about your training, not your teacher’s feelings. And his teacher (your master) isn’t much of a teacher if he would either penalize his student for having his student pass him, or penalize you for learning well.
A real kungfu man would be proud that you had learned so well and were ready to move to a new level of mastery.
Well it seems you have two viable choices…one to approach the head sifu, and the other to move on to a new style.
You have done more than enough staying dedicated for the last two years of treading water.
Approaching the head sifu has drawbacks…one might be that you find out he’s no that much better than your current sifu (and therefore not much better than you). And it seems you are aware of the rest.
Since it seems you are patient, I would take a bit of time to meditate on why it is you began to study where you study in the first place. Does your training still satisfy these general concepts? The ones you had before the influence of your style?
There are many good places to train…poke you head out of the kwoon and see what elese is going on before you make an sudden proclaimation to your current set of instructors. It’s alot easier to leave if you can clearly see the back door, and you won’t have to worry about mending relationships if you decide there is no better place to train. (You can always get “sick” for a while and take some trial classes).
