There was a story I read once in a book called 'Steal My Art' written by Tai Chi Teacher T.T. Liang in which he talks about a student who constantly pushed to receive an Instructor's Certificate.
T.T. Liang gave him the Certificate and wished him luck, but he did this just to make the guy go away, not because the guy actually knew anything as he was more interested in making a name for himself than he was in learning what T.T. Liang had to teach.
This is a sad state of affairs in the Martial Arts and Self Defense Community throughout the world today, although in my view it is nothing new.
You get the guy that trains a couple months in one thing, moves on to another thing, trains maybe a month, then decides they know enough to formulate their own system, not because they actually have any understanding of what they have studied, but because they want what they perceive as recognition, they are drawn to the power and position that go with it... Or at least what they perceive as power and position... They want to stroke their own ego.
The more I train, the more I realize I need more training. The more I discover, the more I realize I don't know anything at all.
Maybe I have no business teaching, but people do ask, and my Teacher had always told me to pass on what I know, not because I wanted to, but because I had the responsibility to do so; being a Teacher is so much more than standing around telling people what to do while counting.
I distinguish between a Teacher and an Instructor, or a Coach. I am not an Instructor or a Coach. I am not going to be standing on the sidelines coaching my Students on how to take another point, those days are gone and, while there is some benefit there, there is far more benefit in being an actual Teacher.
A Teacher is not someone that chooses to be in that position, a Teacher is recognized naturally and sought out, or not, and a Teacher has enough sense to know what they do not know along with enough humility to help their student seek out those answers they do not know elsewhere.
This is not a good business model, indeed, it was never meant to be.
Making money is fine, but helping a person discover and manifest their own inner power and truly transform themselves, those around them, and their lives is far greater a calling. Sometimes the two can go hand-in-hand, and it is a good thing to Teach a business mindset because that is the world we live in, but when it comes to Teaching, even Teaching this mindset, there is a line. You have Clients and you have Students, sometimes a Client may become a Student, but that is their choice.
My Teacher was never a big fan of the business side of things, he would always lament on how much more than a business this was, for him it was a calling, because we kept calling and kept coming around, despite how much effort he expended in trying to make us go away.
I cleaned a wall, then cleaned it again, cleaned the Dojo in order to Train, and I was expected to be at each of the classes, so I would do my Homework at the Dojo; for a long time I basically lived there, besides sleeping, although sometimes we even slept there.
My Teacher's Teacher, John Roseberry Shihan, had refused to Teach him for a while, and when he finally did he would devise some really extreme workouts to completely exhaust my Teacher, both mind and body, in order to make him go away, but my Teacher kept coming back.
Because of my Teacher's persistence, and the persistence of two other Students, John Roseberry Shihan created an International Organization that has outlived him, that continues to carry on his legacy and produce Teachers rather than Instructors, many have only ever heard of it by word of mouth, and that is the way he would have wanted it.
As Teachers we have a responsibility to set our egos aside, sometimes Students stay, sometimes Students go, but my Teacher always said it is not the Teacher who leaves the Student, but the Student who leaves the Teacher, like a bird leaving the nest.
They may continue in the path of Budo, they may end up taking those lessons and manifesting them in other ways, but they will always remember the core of what they are doing, and the core, ultimately, has nothing to do with you or me, as Teachers, it has to do with their manifestation of that inner power... You only showed them the way, you did not give them anything, you did not take anything, you were a stepping stone, nothing more, but that is good enough.
Ego should never enter the picture... If you enter a school and are met by a plethora of self-inflating statements and displays, you can bet you have only encountered a Professional Instructor, not a Teacher.
If they have a cult following surrounding their personality and do not EVER question, then you can bet you have joined a cult, you have NOT found a Teacher... Run.
These are Ego factories that serve to stroke the Ego of the person at the top... Buyer beware.
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