Considerations on selecting a Martial Art School

[mr. jai]

Just read SiFu Allan Lee's new article Considerations on selecting a Martial Art school (http://wingchunnyc.com/html/articles/selecting_a_school.htm). SiFu Lee gives some insightful thoughts. What do you gals/guys think? :D

[lawrenceofidaho]

Ernie posted this gem (about 18 months ago?), and I saved it on my hard drive.......This seems like an appropriate place to re-post it. -Lawrence

p.s.- Ernie, if you're reading this, I did some "word nerd" editing on it (grammar, spelling, and punctuation). I hope you don't mind. :)


What makes a good coach?

First, I would want the guy to have professional, or at least amateur, fight experience. I find that guys that have gone through this process and been coached for fights, conditioned for fights, and actually fought & been successful (applied their skill to drop another skilled, conditioned fighter) just have a deeper understanding of; their art, combat, and how to prepare for combat. Talking is easy, doing is something else.

This is something I [personally] don't have (not on a professional level), so I wouldn't be my first choice =) -But I have trained with people at pro and amateur levels, and definitely worked out with them as far as preparation and conditioning (yet I still lack in actually going in the ring and getting the job done).

Next thing is, can the guy coach? Not all fighters can teach, and not all teachers can fight. So was he just a race horse that did what he was told and just imitates that? -Or does he really understand how to connect with people, and care enough to break the individual down, looking at their strengths, weaknesses, & personality [ mind,body,spirit ], and does he have, or seek out the tools and ideas to improve these areas? This is where it gets tricky..... Not everyone coming to your door is going to be a fighter, and some people are trying to sort out issues (emotional or physical), so a good coach has to take the time to understand what this person is looking for, and then help them get there .

This is the part that excites me, -connecting with people and helping them to improve on whatever level. I get more out of watching someone smile after they pull something off that they thought was beyond them than when I do something myself. -To me that's what [coaching] is really all about, taking people places were they didn't think they could go........

Another real important thing I would look for is actual results. Have the coaching methods produced anything? -In me, definitely. In a relatively short time (compared to some people), I have advanced allot. Why? Solid coaching methods, and I test everything. Wong was a great fighter and a fantastic coach he produced top notch fighters. Gary was a great fighter and a professional coach and in china trained many top notch fighters ( mainly Thai style at the time). Those same methods have been passed to me, and beyond that, I have also trained with; boxing, kickboxing, savate, and Filipino system coaches . I have had allot of exposure to [different] training approaches and I am fairly proficient in these arts (meaning, I can simulate real energy, -not your buddy playing around and throwing a jab in class, but the real snappy/ripping/ broken-rhythm/quick footwork stuff that happens when you face those types of fighters).

Basically I understand how the other guy thinks and what he needs. This is what I mean by "live energy", and the cool thing is, I can turn it up in increments which will allow a person to grow through progression.

So to sum it up:

Has the person actually fought?
Has the person trained fighters and are the methods proven?
Does the person care about the individual and not just push the cookie cutter method?
Can the person feed the right energy to draw out the desired results?
Is the person honest? (No ego monster or little emperor syndrome......)

-Ernie

[Ernie]

Ernie posted this gem (about 18 months ago?), and I saved it on my hard drive.......This seems like an appropriate place to re-post it. -Lawrence

p.s.- Ernie, if you're reading this, I did some "word nerd" editing on it (grammar, spelling, and punctuation). I hope you don't mind. :)




No prob L-boogie :D
it just trips me out that you saved something I wrote :eek:
Your more then welcome to [word-nerdify] anything I post , my girl always gives me crap for being the king of the run on sentence ;)

hope all is well my brother ,
E.