Teaching Martial Arts:
Why I want to be an Instructor?
I started teaching and helping out the second I received my first-degree black belt. At my first school, it was required and expected. Also, I was a teenager, so aside from school, I really had no obligations. But for me teaching started even before that. When I was practicing it helped me to pretend that I was teaching and explain my movements as I went. This helped me practice better and to this day teach better. (At least I think so.)
I want to teach because I enjoy it. Sharing something that has helped me through some dark times is rewarding. It’s great knowing that my sharing this knowledge could help someone else too.
It's in my Soul...
I started martial arts in junior high as this nerdy, lanky, glasses-wearing girl. I was teased and bullied. Martial arts helped me survive this, find my voice, and grow into the person I am today. I want to share that experience if I can.
In addition, I tested for my first degree on my grandfather’s birthday. I was going to skip it. One, I was insanely nervous and two it was his birthday, but he told me to go. He has since passed away and training and teaching bring me closer to him.
Teaching martial arts has been in my heart since I got my black belt. I want to be an instructor to share this art with people and to help them through their lives. There are a lot of great instructors but also a lot of instructors out for money and not actually teaching. I have been lucky to have some great instructors but also a few questionable characters.
Martial arts, in my opinion, have been manipulated and strung out, because people have always been searching for the “best” one to the point where no one does taekwondo or karate it’s all MMA. While there is nothing wrong with MMA, it takes the best part of the fighting technique and, well, mixes it. However, I have felt that martial arts are so much more than just kicking and punching. The core ideology and philosophy that is taught in traditional martial arts are not always at the forefront. I don’t just want to teach how to kick and punch, but how to be a better person.
