| We have to know what we teach | |||||||
| by BUDDY AMATO | |||||||
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We as instructors, and some, unfortunately, wannabe instructors, have to start reevaluating what we are teaching. It is almost an every day occurrence, any more, when I run into people, who claim to have been training in the martial arts, who have not a clue of what they claim to have been taught. For the most part, I blame the so-called instructor because he or she was patient enough to have the poor, unknowing student sign that ridiculous contract for lessons, but after the student signed at the bottom line, forgot that he or she was supposed to be taught properly, or at least corrected during these so-called classed on the improper technic. I have had people come to me from certain schools that cannot even tie their belt properly after being there for over three years. this is just plain and simple laziness, on the instructor's part, for not helping the student. I have also had more than I care to admit, students come in, withe their parents, that were supposed to have trained for a year or more. When I watch them on the mat, they cannot even properly make a fist, let alone get into a good stance. These are things that a student must be corrected in every class, and in most cases, every other minute. these are the basics, and if they are not taught correctly in the beginning, it will be almost impossible to correct later. In a class situation, a parent must watch to see if their child is being stopped and shown the right way to make a fist and that it is wrong to place the thumb inside the hand when punching. This is something that is very common for kids to do. The stance, for the most part, in the beginning, is always going to be wrong, or the instructor is just ignoring the child and watching the clock! A student in the martial arts should know what he or she is performing. Is is Korean, Japanese, or Chinese, or just some made-up "Who-flung-dung" system. I have had students come in, again from other systems, who are clueless to what style, if any, they were training in. There is something seriously wrong with that, especially when some poor, misled parent has paid god-knows what for the so-called lessions Some schools actually advertise that they do not teach! There is one school, right in my area, that advertises that they teach Karate, and the word "Karate" is even in their school name, but they are teaching Taekwondo! Let's get it right, is is pizza or hamburger? The two, yes are foods, but they are not the same! Taekwondo and Karate are from two totally different countries of origin, period. The two countries do not even like one another, and the arts are not the same. If you are teaching Taekwondo, then be honest enough to advertise it that way, and stop lying about what you are about! I do not advertise Taekwondo because I DO NOT want my students to be confused, and the most important thing, I do not want someone who knows something about the arts to be able to question me, and prove me wrong about what I claim to be an expert at. We, as martial artists have to be on the money on what we are about, it is not like 40 years ago when people could B.S, people about the mystical arts of the Orient, everyone now a days knows something about Karate/Taekwondo/Whatever! These people, that advertise what they do not teach are the same ones who probably go to the procologist to have their cavities filled. To them, a doctor is a doctor! To make people understand the difference between Karate and Taekwondo is fairly simple, the hand chambers are at different areas of the body and the kicks are stiffer. In Taekwondo and in the Japanese Karate, they are snapped back and not as pronounced. The Taekwondo,arts prefer more legs than hands, and the Karate arts are 50/50. The Katas, or forms, are totally different. Taekwondo forms are more robotic than the Karate katas, which are more fluid. They are, plain and simple, different. The reason I know, other than the fact that I am a tenth degree black belt, is that I studied the are of Hapkido, and it was on of the first styles I won my black belt in. As a matter of fact, I ran a Hapkido school when I was eighteen years old. Hapkido is a Korean art form, and it was totally different from the Japanese art for of Karate. Oh, by the way, my old instructor advertised it the way is was supposed to be advertised, as Korean Hapkido, not Korean Karate, that would be like saying I drive a car,truck! Grandmaster Buddy Amato operates Amato's Karate and Weapons Academy, 589 Palmer Avenue, West Keansburg and is the author of Buddys Animal Kingdom. For more information, call (732) 671-9555.
Copyright Buddy Amato Amato's Goju-ryu Karate, Nunchaku, Bo-staff, Aikido, Sword, Kendo, Sais, Kick-boxing, Tai-Chi and more 589 Palmer Ave, Keansburg and is the author of Buddys Animal Kingdom, NJ 07734 (732) 671-9555 |
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