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Adam Huss · 03-29-2014, 04:39 PM

Just came back from a quick visit to each school's website. Obviously armchair QBing this from the internet but, given lack of other information, here are my thoughts:

Both instructors seem skilled.

The younger instructor has a more obvious direct lineage, meaning, he trained with a particular person for a particular set of time. This consistency is very important for an instructor as it grants them a depth of knowledge (assuming their teacher knew what he or she was talking about) and can actually instruct others how and why things work. This is all assumption, no clue if its manifested in the dojo you are looking at.

The 6th dan guy seems to have a lifetime devoted to training. It's a full time dojo, meaning training and teaching is likely all this guy does. It seems like he seeks out training under many individuals, but does not list what his consistent training was. Did he have a disagreement with his organization around nidan level then split away and been solo for the last 30 years? Hard to tell. One important aspect of looking at an independent instructor is if he maintains ties with other practitioners outside of his own group, and does he seek to better himself or has running his own organization made him stagnate? HIs movements are reminiscent of older styles of aikido. His organization has a religious association (Christian Martial Arts Federation) and he is a pastor. Seems like he teaches several forms of budo...all taught within his seemingly own organization. So if you are looking for more exposure to different forms there's that to consider.

So really, it all comes down to you making a decision. Most importantly you need to audit classes at both locations. Observe the instructor's teaching style, atmosphere, student body and attitude. Then look at class schedule, what's offered, and how active they are (regularly host or travel to seminars, etc).

I would recommend caution in being too swayed by a website page. I have good friends whose dojo I would never visit based on their webpage alone, and they are great instructors.

03-29-2014, 04:39 PM	#15
Adam Huss Location: Ohio Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 710 Offline	Re: The Validity of an Instructor Just came back from a quick visit to each school's website. Obviously armchair QBing this from the internet but, given lack of other information, here are my thoughts: Both instructors seem skilled. The younger instructor has a more obvious direct lineage, meaning, he trained with a particular person for a particular set of time. This consistency is very important for an instructor as it grants them a depth of knowledge (assuming their teacher knew what he or she was talking about) and can actually instruct others how and why things work. This is all assumption, no clue if its manifested in the dojo you are looking at. The 6th dan guy seems to have a lifetime devoted to training. It's a full time dojo, meaning training and teaching is likely all this guy does. It seems like he seeks out training under many individuals, but does not list what his consistent training was. Did he have a disagreement with his organization around nidan level then split away and been solo for the last 30 years? Hard to tell. One important aspect of looking at an independent instructor is if he maintains ties with other practitioners outside of his own group, and does he seek to better himself or has running his own organization made him stagnate? HIs movements are reminiscent of older styles of aikido. His organization has a religious association (Christian Martial Arts Federation) and he is a pastor. Seems like he teaches several forms of budo...all taught within his seemingly own organization. So if you are looking for more exposure to different forms there's that to consider. So really, it all comes down to you making a decision. Most importantly you need to audit classes at both locations. Observe the instructor's teaching style, atmosphere, student body and attitude. Then look at class schedule, what's offered, and how active they are (regularly host or travel to seminars, etc). I would recommend caution in being too swayed by a website page. I have good friends whose dojo I would never visit based on their webpage alone, and they are great instructors.
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