What constitutes a good martial arts teacher?

[wiesiek]

[willywrong]

gzregorz wrote:

A teacher who wants you to be better than they are.

In all the balderdash back-and-forth, almost everyone missed this simple statement. This is the prime attribute of a good teacher.

No. A good teacher is one who passes on a good method for learning. The onus is on the student weather they achieve a higher level than their teacher.

[MaartenSFS]

Different types of teachers are good for different types of people. Perhaps a better question is; "Which teacher is good for me?"

My best teachers have been those that I got on with well and that guided me into creating my own training system/regime that works for me and kept pushing me to improve upon my weak points, both in solo training and sparring. I trained what I was told to and questioned everything. The violent answers I got in return were the best lessons I could ever have. Then I put it all together in sparring, both with my master and Gongfu brothers - hard lessons there as well. The onus is indeed on the student.



For a young man like me, the father/son-like relationship I have with my master is great, as he has a lot of non-MA-related wisdom to share with me. His experience in Gongfu and life in general is a gold mine. This is how the master/disciple relationship has always been in China. It's much more than just paying your monthly fee and getting what you paid for. That's why finding the right master is so important. For people of a similar age it is more like brotherhood. And God damn does the man cook a good soup!

For me, my teacher being a man of good character is important as well. It creates a good training environment without the ego-driven, cultish or aggressive behaviour that often plagues training halls and allows us to have fun and improve ourselves and each other. I really love how I've got a place to hang out and spar it out with friends. The seeds that the master sows are as important as his own actions. I feel like this training environment has really allowed me to make great strides during the last year and I see it in my peers as well.

[wiesiek]

work Maarten , work, for God sake !
and
bring the fruits to the Europe

@willy ..." A good teacher is one who passes on a good method for learning..."
NO, willy, no, really -
you may get nice ladder and comfortably go up to the celling,
then,
you may only guess where the higher entry is, until somebody with the key, give you the lift.