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Thread: Will you ever be as good as your teacher?

  1. #1
    Guest

    Will you ever be as good as your teacher?

    Will you ever be as good as your teacher?


    My teacher is a very tough guy, but I think I can become as good as him one day - if not better.

    When I first met him, he pushed me around like I wasn't there. Now that I've trained for a while, I can resist him to some extent. Once I do specialized weight training, I'll resist even more.

    As far as technical details of doing forms, my teacher doesn't have it all together anymore because he doesn't practice his forms as fanatically as he needs to. Yet he can still do the correct fundamentals when the spirit moves him, and he's making sure that I get my form correct.

    Still, it'll take me a very long time before I can even begin to compete with my sifu.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    What if you already are?

    But, you know, it's that respect thing.
    So you honor him and listen to what he has to say.
    Honest Neutral Clarity

  3. #3
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    Your supposed to surpass your teacher. If you dont become better than your teacher then the BOTH of you failed. Its his job to teach you everything he knows and it's yours to make improvements if needed or atleast pass on the info as good as he did to you.
    "If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is p00ntang."-Animal Mother

  4. #4
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    Thank you Leonidas!!! That is my feelings exactly!!!

    ~Wen~
    The greatest thing about me is that I know that I am the ONLY one that knows the truth about all! Damo lives within me, and me ONLY - for there is nobody that knows the truth more - so stick that in your pipe and smoke it sparky's!!!

  5. #5
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    Just doing my part..............
    "If I'm gonna get my balls blown off for a word, my word is p00ntang."-Animal Mother

  6. #6

    dont'know

    My teacher told me, that it is the purpose of the teacher to make his/her students better than they are.

    I strive to be better than my teacher and I pull no punches in doin so. It really doesn't matter if I ever become better than him, just that I try too. There is no Test or persievable goal that will determine this.

    Also what is better? that you can beat your teacher in a match? Or that you understand the material better? Or that you have better teaching skills? Or that you embody the spirit of the system being studied?

    I think it is all of these things, and that is what I strive for.

    I think the question is a lagitimate one.
    Last edited by reemul; 01-06-2002 at 01:17 AM.

  7. #7
    Braden Guest
    I don't think the point is to become 'better' version of your teacher, but rather to become a skillfull practitioner in your own right, which is likely to be a very different thing.

  8. #8
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    I really don't know. One day I will certainly be as good as he is now, but by then he'll be much better! Every teacher hopes that his/her students will surpass them at some point, but it's hard if they're still progressing too.
    And how do you measure if you're better than your Sifu? Is it just that after 10 years you can occasionally beat him in a fight, or is it that your form is better than his, or is it that your understanding and personal study of the art becomes superior? It's not one that I'd like to call...

    But it is good to have a goal to work towards...
    In combat you sink to the level of your training. You do not rise to the occasion

  9. #9
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    It doesn't matter.

    This is a question of ego. "better"?
    Your teacher opened a door for you that led onto a path.
    Your teacher guided you along the path.

    Because you have become intimate and familiar with the path has nothing to do with "better".
    If your teacher showed you the correct path, then just keep walking it, that's all you need to do.


    Remember if you don't empty your cup, you cannot fill it.

    peace
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  10. #10
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    Both my Si-Fu and my Si-Gung told me the exact same thing : Don't try to imitate! Be as good as you can in your own way!

  11. #11
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    Austin TX
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    No

    My teacher has devoted his life to martial arts. For me it's a hobby and a way to stay in shape.

    Does this mean both of us have failed, because I have different life priorities? Go fu(k youself, please.
    All my fight strategy is based on deliberately injuring my opponents. -
    Crippled Avenger

    "It is the same in all wars; the soldiers do the fighting, the journalists do the shouting, and no true patriot ever get near a front-line trench, except on the briefest of propoganda visits...Perhaps when the next great war comes we may see that sight unprecendented in all history, a jingo with a bullet-hole in him."

    First you get good, then you get fast, then you get good and fast.

  12. #12
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    I wish!!
    killer kung fu commando streetfighter who has used his devastating fighting system to defeat hordes of attackers in countless combat situations

  13. #13
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    Impossible, because teachers skills are allways getting better, even after they die

  14. #14
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    Real civilized. Go f*ck yourself......... Ok, anyways it all depends on your goals. If you dont dedicate yourself to Martial Arts then you cant really expect to become skilled. Thats all i'm saying. I suppose that goes for people not going twice a week just to break a sweat. A good teacher will be happy his student surpassed him. What kind of teacher would want the quality of his art to fall. Then people whine about them withholding information .

  15. #15
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    the responsibilities of a teacher are to provide of themselves to help improve the lives of their students. mine is amazing at wing tsun, and so i get better with it. he knows way too much about nutrition, and thus i learn that, too. he knows a gread deal about nlp, so i pick up that, too. educational theory? ditto, and the same for lots of other things. i doubt he could rebuild the carburetor on my honda, much less teach me, so i don't expect that of him. rather, he simply offers what he has and it's my job to learn what i can or want.
    " i wonder how many people take their post bone marrow transplant antibiotics with amberbock" -- GDA

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