Pissed off Instructors

[Smith Adams]

Have any of yall ever pissed off an instructor/school owner by leaving to train in a different style?
I trained for ten years with one organization and thought I had made some pretty good friends there.
When I left to train JKD/Thai/Jujitsu they eventuaully turned their back on me. Now I can't get them on the phone or a email response... I finally got an email about me being insulting that I would support someone els's program and no not thier's..
It seems whom I thought were my friends were just business associates( them making money off me)
How did you guys resolve the relationship or did you just cut all ties??

[lssanjose]

mend if you can. But if all comes short ..then walk on...

[tkdkid]

Who cares as long as you got what you needed.

[rruffian]

They Need To Get Over It!

If your previous instructor gets mad at you because you want to expand you skills, that's his/her problem not yours.

[kengar]

I haven't had this happen to me, but some people I know have had instructors act like you just divorced them. My current instructor believes you can get every thing you want there, but has no problems if you want to train else where because he believes in personal growth. That attitude must come from an ego and insecurity.

[Szczepankiewicz]

For entry level students, we are discouraged from cross-training in other arts. As intermediate students, it is permissable. As advanced students, it is mandatory.

If someone is upset simply because you left to pursue other goals that is a problem that they have and they need to deal with it.

If you parted on good terms and with open intentions.... it sounds like your instructor needs to mature or he will lose more students.

Turnover is common, advanced students seeking different types of training is common.

There is either more to the story or you have a pathetic individual on your hands.

[doubleouch]

I used to belong to a gym that had an explicit rule against belonging to or training at any other gym. In fact, we had to ask permission to enter any tournaments etc. I thought at the time that this was all about loyalty and respect. I realize now that it was about paranoia and money. Any instructor who prohibits you from training anywhere you want is engaging in cult like behavior. I wouldn't dream of having anyone tell me where I can and cannot spend my time! This is America dammit and I can spend my dough and time anywhere I wish!
Some arts that are still heavily influenced by Asian culture still harbour this idea. It is a holdout from another culture. I do believe that there are instructors who think that they do it out of respect for their art and the people who came before them.
They might have a case for doing what they do if you were going out and teaching everything they taught you to someone else and undercutting their business.

[Great Sage]

When I was an assistant instructor in TKD, I would teach low kicks, boxing mechanics along with knees and elbows. I also occasionally incorporated Sanshou tactics I had learned from my older brother in his sanda days. At first, my Master didn't care because he thought I was just messing around, but later he got very upset since he was an 8th degree Korean Black Belt and very traditional. He forbade me to teach outside techniques.

One friday night, my Master's wife stopped at the dojan and observed me teaching street tactics. That was the last time I set foot in the there. No big loss, I'm a better fighter because of my open mindedness.

[Lizard]

What did the other students think about you teaching street tactics? If they liked them then you could have perhaps started doing your own classes. Did your insturctor say why he didn't want you to teach "outside techniques"?

[doubleouch]

Sage,
In that case I agree with your instructor. His technique might have sucked, but he has every right to determine what instructors in his own gym are teaching. Besides he has liability etc. to worry about. What if someone had gotten hurt learning street moves etc.

[Szczepankiewicz]

DO makes a good point. When in TKD class you train and teach TKD. You may know (or simply think you know) some external techniques to teach. You have no business teaching beyond the curriculum when in someone elses dojo.

I'm all for training in things that work well and new things, in fact our instructor guides us and participates in our adventures.

However, you probably don't fully understand all the nuances and possible dangers of teaching someone poor technique.

And yes, it is a liability to the school and you deserved to get evicted in my opinion.

F'n newbies teachin' newbies.....

[Great Sage]

To answer your question, Lizard...

Yes, my students enjoyed what I was teaching because it broke up the monotony of TKD patterns and combinations. We would work on multiple assailant drills, escape drills and basic grappling strategies. Also, lots and lots of sparring. Unfortunately, many of my students had too much invested in TKD to follow me out. Some wanted the Black Belt status and others had conflicting loyalties. The result was a few students trained with me in my backyard for a few years.

When I think back, I do agree with doubleouch... Although my intentions were good, I did not respect my Master enough to honor his teachings, nor did I think about the legal ramifications. My Master and I had a closed door discussion on all of this. In traditional martial arts, a student can never introduce a technique outside the school. The reason is that it indicates that your school is inferior and needed to steal another art. Furthermore, outside techniques will only divide the school. As angry as I was then, I accept that my Master was merely acting on his beliefs, just as I did.

[Great Sage]

Originally posted by Szczepankiewicz
DO makes a good point. When in TKD class you train and teach TKD. You may know (or simply think you know) some external techniques to teach. You have no business teaching beyond the curriculum when in someone elses dojo.

I'm all for training in things that work well and new things, in fact our instructor guides us and participates in our adventures.

However, you probably don't fully understand all the nuances and possible dangers of teaching someone poor technique.

And yes, it is a liability to the school and you deserved to get evicted in my opinion.

F'n newbies teachin' newbies.....

I'll be the first to admit that what I did was perhaps not right. But you don't know enough about me to judge me on my character or credibility. I've been training since age 7 and at the point I was an assistant instructor, I was 20, won 2 national titles, fought in 3 kickboxing bouts and ran my own branch dojan. I believe my right to teach was well-earned.

You want to talk about poor technique... Stick a TKD guy in a kickboxing match. He'll get killed without boxing knowledge. You want nuance... When ISKA and PKA incorporated international rules, I was sent to Texas to learn from Chuck Norris on the different nuances like elbows, knees and so forth.

[thekuntawman]

greatsage,

in a traditional school, and thats why they call it traditional, that tae kwon do teacher probably is convinced that his art is all that is needed for a foundation in fighitng using his style. or maybe he doesnt want his students to focus on something else until they have developed a good foundation in what he is teaching. or maybe he didnt want students saying, okay tae kwon do sucks i'm doing this new streetfighting style from now on. there could be plenty of reasons. i am shocked that after studying with this master and your skill got so good you won championships, that after all that you can bring yourself to say you dont respect him?

in the school he has to have rules. espcially in tae kwon do, where it is his income we are talking about, and there is already so many misconceptions about tae kwon do, that he needs to protect his students from being confused, and to protect his income and reputation. especialy from a student that he trained! at twenty years old, you are still learning, but you already had a good foundation to be able to make some techniques work, even some of those "streetfighting" techniques, that a beginner might not be able to apply. so those students could been hurt by taking there focus off what they were working on, to do something totally different. you should have kept those things to yourself, and friends and classmates outside the school. if you wanted to open a class of your own, the best thing would be to do it away from your teacher, so you dont compete against the man who taught you.

he might even liked the techniques you were doing, but he has to make sure the beginners dont lost their focus and give up on what he is already teaching. remember, he is the teacher, and you should teach what he instructs you to teach, or start your own class.

[brokenelbow]

Great Sage, WTF or ITF?