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 What
is Your Role in the Martial Arts Family?
Part II: The Instructor or
the Parent
By Mr Mahlon Hallam
TMA Martial Arts Director
In the first installment of this
series, we discussed the Martial Arts family and how it resembles our natural
families with Grandparent and parent roles, older sibling and younger sibling
relationships.
In this analogy, the Instructor is the Parent, the father or mother whichever
the case. As we know, the parent has many responsibilities today. One of the key
roles of the parent today is to guide or teach their children. In my mind, this
is perhaps the most important
parental role.
While much has been written about this role, for me the Confucian Classics
pretty well define the role for both the natural and Martial Arts parental
responsibilities.
According to Confucian Classics, an Instructor teaches in five ways*;
· The first is by a transforming influence like that of a timely rain
· Second, by helping the student to realize his/her virtue to the full
· Next, by helping the student to develop their talent
· By answering the students questions
· Lastly, by setting an example others not in contact with him/her can emulate.
As Instructors, we must accept the responsibility for our student's learning. I
read somewhere, "If learning is not taking place, teaching is not taking place."
We must examine our teaching methods, tailor them to the individual student
needs, and accept their failures as ours.
We must also always remember that as parents, we too had parents and we should
always honor and respect our parents. In our Martial Arts family, we all have
had instructors, who had instructors etc. We must always remember that someone
took the time and patience to teach us when we first stepped on to the mat. And
believe me, we all were just as two footed as any of our students today.
I encourage each of you to read the History section that Mr. Guyer has written.
It will give you an understanding of your Martial Arts Family Tree, back several
hundred years. Good Stuff.
*Source quoted from Shotokan Karate, A Precise
History, Harry Cook.
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