Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 16

Thread: Researching instructors

  1. 10-16-2003, 10:50 AM #1
    Ground Dragon
    Ground Dragon is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ky
    Posts
    73

    Researching instructors

    Anyone here gone to the trouble of researching their instructor when you first started to find out if they had a criminal background? The reason I ask is there are open records laws where I live and I would guess most states and cities have them also, but I don't really know. But here, any run-ins with the police you've had are open to anyone. In fact, the police department of the city where I live has a website with everyone's mugshots on it. Could be a good tool for potential students. Not to mention researching old newspaper articles (ours has an online search engine) or other open records (voter registration, property records etc). Some of it wouldn't be applicable, but I was just curious if anyone had gone to that length to research their instructor or instructors in their area.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  2. 10-16-2003, 07:35 PM #2
    Radhnoti
    Radhnoti is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    842
    Actually...I knew an instructor that bragged of his criminal contacts and the problems the local police had with him. He would (apparently...I never saw it) go fight in "underground full contact" matches that only ended when someone was unconscious or surrendered. The police had the lowdown on it, but never came upon the fighting. Guy would come in with broken arms...black eyes...swollen knuckles...and he'd either be dead broke or packing a roll of hundreds.

    I never took classes from the guy, but he did show me some cool knife stuff.

    I think it would be an excellent idea though GD...especially if you picked the guy cold from the phonebook.
    Keep it simple, stupid.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  3. 10-16-2003, 07:50 PM #3
    T'ai Ji Monkey
    T'ai Ji Monkey is offline Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Right here!
    Posts
    555
    GD.

    Bassically not a bad idea.

    Question that open itself naturally.

    Will it still work for out of state and out of the country People?

    Like a Korean(example) guy coming to town and opening a school or similar.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  4. 10-16-2003, 08:04 PM #4
    shaolinarab's Avatar
    shaolinarab
    shaolinarab is offline ****,where the hell is it
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Posts
    134
    i only researched mine when he researched me b/c i was arab.

    j/k!
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  5. 10-17-2003, 06:50 AM #5
    Ground Dragon
    Ground Dragon is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ky
    Posts
    73
    Originally posted by T'ai Ji Monkey
    GD.

    Bassically not a bad idea.

    Question that open itself naturally.

    Will it still work for out of state and out of the country People?

    Like a Korean(example) guy coming to town and opening a school or similar.
    Well it depends on if they've done anything where you live. If they have, it's on record. If they come from another state, it should be possible, but with a little more work. Depending of course on what types of resources the police dept from their former home city has online. But I would imagine any sort of criminal activity would be an open record. If they come from another country, like Korea from your example, it would become even harder, if not impossible. At least to do quickly and cheap.

    I think if you're going to be spending a lot of $$ and time with a particular school/person, it isn't a bad idea to even spend a little money to do a background check if you have to. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. But if I had kids, I wouldn't be happy with myself if I had inadvertantly sent them to one particular instructor in town.

    I'm by no means an expert, I'm just using free resources that I'm lucky to have available to me
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  6. 10-17-2003, 06:53 AM #6
    Shaolin-Do's Avatar
    Shaolin-Do
    Shaolin-Do is offline I crush things.
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    3,380
    I could care less what happened to them in the past. People are in different places at different times in their lives, and make poor choices often times. We hope that these people learn from their mistakes, and a good majority of them do. IMO it would be better to meet the person and see what they are about. I have enough confidence in my compitence to martial arts to be able to tell wheather or not its hogwash.

    "Could be a good tool for potential students"

    You mean researching people who come to you wanting to learn?
    An invasion of privacy IMO. As I said before, people make mistakes. Its your duty as a teacher to help point them in the right direction.
    Last edited by Shaolin-Do; 10-17-2003 at 06:58 AM.
    "In choosing your dwelling, know how to keep to the ground.
    In cultivating your mind, know how to dive in the hidden depths.
    In dealing with others, know how to be gentle and kind.
    In speaking, know how to keep your words.
    In governing, know how to maintain order.
    In transacting business, know how to be efficient.
    In making a move, know how to choose the right moment.
    If you do not strive with others, you will be free from blame."
    -Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching
    An eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  7. 10-17-2003, 07:56 AM #7
    Ground Dragon
    Ground Dragon is offline Registered User
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Ky
    Posts
    73
    Originally posted by Shaolin-Do
    I could care less what happened to them in the past. People are in different places at different times in their lives, and make poor choices often times. We hope that these people learn from their mistakes, and a good majority of them do. IMO it would be better to meet the person and see what they are about. I have enough confidence in my compitence to martial arts to be able to tell wheather or not its hogwash.

    "Could be a good tool for potential students"

    You mean researching people who come to you wanting to learn?
    An invasion of privacy IMO. As I said before, people make mistakes. Its your duty as a teacher to help point them in the right direction.
    I didn't mean researching students, I was talking about researching someone you would potentially study with. These things are open records, and there are reasons they are open records. I could care less if someone had a public intoxication charge 10 years ago. What I'm talking about are those people who are violent felons or whatever. Are you so confident in your abilities that you can tell the good people from the bad people? People put on a show all the time to hide their past. And their past shouldn't always be a deciding factor, but to be honest, if I know someone has been a persistent felon, and the person I'm thinking of was in trouble as little as a year ago and is back teaching, I don't think I would want to study with them. I certainly wouldn't want my kids going to them.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  8. 10-17-2003, 07:58 AM #8
    Judge Pen's Avatar
    Judge Pen
    Judge Pen is offline Daper Dan Man
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Knoxville Tennessee
    Posts
    5,520
    Originally posted by shaolinarab
    i only researched mine when he researched me b/c i was arab.

    j/k!


    Yeah, I'm sure you loved the reports that some of the 9-11 terrorists had taken martial arts in the states. "And just why do you wnt to learn SD?"

    Too funny Yazen.
    Quote Originally Posted by Oso View Post
    AND, yea, a good bit of it is about whether you can fight with what you know...kinda all of it is about that.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  9. 10-17-2003, 08:00 AM #9
    Shaolin-Do's Avatar
    Shaolin-Do
    Shaolin-Do is offline I crush things.
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    3,380
    I dont have kids so I cant really reason with you with any ground on that issue. But for myself.. I will make a judge of their character. I read people like a book...

    One year ago I was sitting around getting high and arrested, not going to school, had just gotten a job, hadnt been training for a while...
    Ive kinda U-turned since then.
    "In choosing your dwelling, know how to keep to the ground.
    In cultivating your mind, know how to dive in the hidden depths.
    In dealing with others, know how to be gentle and kind.
    In speaking, know how to keep your words.
    In governing, know how to maintain order.
    In transacting business, know how to be efficient.
    In making a move, know how to choose the right moment.
    If you do not strive with others, you will be free from blame."
    -Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching
    An eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  10. 10-17-2003, 08:17 AM #10
    shaolinarab's Avatar
    shaolinarab
    shaolinarab is offline ****,where the hell is it
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Posts
    134
    Originally posted by Judge Pen




    Yeah, I'm sure you loved the reports that some of the 9-11 terrorists had taken martial arts in the states. "And just why do you wnt to learn SD?"

    Too funny Yazen.
    what i loved was the inside kung fu article (or was it another mag) about investigating a potential student's motives and criminal background. that was all fair, but what i thought was a little too much was the little ****pit scenario where they show a passenger jump into the aisle and smash a coke can on the terrorist's forehead. that might have been a separate article, but while i respect the idea of being fully prepared and ready to use anything at your disposal as a weapon (the ninjitsu way ), the brief examples they displayed just seemed too contrived



    EDIT: daamn, i can't even type cokkpit! i agree SD about having to use whatever is necessary, i was just saying that pictures (and the 'actors') looked a little awkward from what i remember...
    Last edited by shaolinarab; 10-17-2003 at 08:29 AM.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  11. 10-17-2003, 08:24 AM #11
    Shaolin-Do's Avatar
    Shaolin-Do
    Shaolin-Do is offline I crush things.
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    3,380
    sh!t, if terrorists hijack your plane, may as well do what you can to stop them. You're pretty much as good as dead already anyhoo.
    "In choosing your dwelling, know how to keep to the ground.
    In cultivating your mind, know how to dive in the hidden depths.
    In dealing with others, know how to be gentle and kind.
    In speaking, know how to keep your words.
    In governing, know how to maintain order.
    In transacting business, know how to be efficient.
    In making a move, know how to choose the right moment.
    If you do not strive with others, you will be free from blame."
    -Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching
    An eye for an eye leaves the world blind.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  12. 10-17-2003, 08:55 AM #12
    Judge Pen's Avatar
    Judge Pen
    Judge Pen is offline Daper Dan Man
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Knoxville Tennessee
    Posts
    5,520
    Yazen, I think that was BB mag with James Wagner, their resident "reality training" guy. Some good ideas, but I alwyas thought the application pics in any mag seemed contrived. but, I digress. . . .

    SD, you're right, but before 9/11 people didn't think that way. Everyone was told to be complient and let the powers that be negotiate a release and your chances of survival would increase. Now, the rules have changed.
    Quote Originally Posted by Oso View Post
    AND, yea, a good bit of it is about whether you can fight with what you know...kinda all of it is about that.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  13. 10-17-2003, 12:58 PM #13
    Tak's Avatar
    Tak
    Tak is offline As felt in Braille Weekly
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    FL, US
    Posts
    587
    Originally posted by Shaolin-Do
    I could care less what happened to them in the past. People are in different places at different times in their lives, and make poor choices often times. We hope that these people learn from their mistakes, and a good majority of them do. IMO it would be better to meet the person and see what they are about. I have enough confidence in my compitence to martial arts to be able to tell wheather or not its hogwash.
    ...until you find out your instructor has been convicted multiple times of drugging and molesting his male, college-age Shaolin-do students.
    Cut the tiny testicles off of both of these rich, out-of-touch sumbiches, crush kill and destroy the Electoral College, wipe clean from the Earth the stain of our corrupt politicians, and elect me as the new president. --Vash
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  14. 10-17-2003, 01:24 PM #14
    fa_jing
    fa_jing is offline a computer program
    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Location
    Chicago, IL
    Posts
    4,033
    With all of the scammers out there, it is easy to lose your money! I was studying with an ex-con briefly (supposedly reformed) and he ended up bilking me and others out of a few hundred bucks!
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  15. 10-17-2003, 10:50 PM #15
    Bluesman
    Bluesman is offline Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
    Location
    in a state of constant confusion
    Posts
    120
    Originally posted by Tak

    ...until you find out your instructor has been convicted multiple times of drugging and molesting his male, college-age Shaolin-do students.
    Tak,
    If you feel you were violated by your SD instructor then by all means report it to the local police. He is likely not a real SD instructor anyway.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Forum Rules