Should I agree to teach this kids class?

**TheRuss** · Posted On: 2/28/2010 11:27pm

Originally Posted by Beorn

the kids i saw grappling during my interview were ****.

Originally Posted by Beorn

i should note that the kids I will be teaching will be from 4-12.

Do these statements refer to the same group? And if so, do you think they might be related? I mean, I was a holy terror on the mat in Grade 7, but not everyone's as awesome as I am.

Edit: Also, coaching kids kicks all sorts of ass.

**omoplatypus** · Posted On: 2/28/2010 11:49pm

looks the same as the group i work for. i train kids 3 nights a week, and they are actually learning with aliveness for the first time ever. turns out the good instructors that come into these orgs don't last long. they can't handle the bullshit.

i say take the job, and put the kids on the right track. you can't lose on it.

**Beorn** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 1:18am

Originally Posted by TheRuss

Do these statements refer to the same group? And if so, do you think they might be related? I mean, I was a holy terror on the mat in Grade 7, but not everyone's as awesome as I am.

Edit: Also, coaching kids kicks all sorts of ass.

No, the kids in question were about 15, and i was highly disapointed in the skill level involved, also with the adive of the 17-18 year old "instructor". It was disheartening

So I went and visited the class today, it was basically what I expected. I was greated by an overweight but good spirited man who claims a senior red belt in shorin-ryu. This is the guy I will have to instruct with until they decide I am ready to teach on my own. They went through the standard krotty stuff; chambered punches, highblock, lowblock, middle block, front kick, palm strike =(. No partner drills, no hitting pads, nothing. I asked and was told i would be able to borrow pads from the main school for use as targets. I was also told I could get mats as soon as we figure out the storage situation. This is important because they have jumped on the MMA bandwagon and have incorporated some judo/bjj into their grading curriculum. Not a bad thing, but based on the people they recruit to be instructors I am afraid there is a lot of crappling going on.

All in all, the kids have only been there for four classes, so there wont be much in the way for me to undo by the time I take over. I have also been told that all belt testings are done internally until red belt, so I will basically have these kids to my self for several years. I can teach them whatever I feel they need as long as by red belt they learn all the dumb **** that is involved with the suggested grading (seriously, who uses a palm strike?) by then I will have had 2 years to teach them stuff that works. I was also offered two more days/4 more classes after I get comfortable with this group, so i might even make decent money out of the deal.

BTW, i decided to take the class in case the implication wasn't clear enough

**Meson** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 10:26am

Originally Posted by asland

Dude, are you serious?

If i owned that school and read this thread ,i would not let you within 10 miles of my school.

Teaching kids isnt for you, its for them.Going to another mans school who has offered you a job, with the intent of taking his students is bullshit.

Considering yourself the white night to this school is bullshit, when you are only doing it for yourself.

You are taking this approach that, you are better than this place,so you will take the job, go in there and change everything to suit you.

These kids are already without a person they can count on,so why go in there with a piss poor attitude that will probably get you fired in a month.

I think you need to take a step back and understand why they kids need you and stop thinking about yourself so much.

Lastly, keep one thing in mind,he isnt coming to work for you.you are going to work for him.therefore he is your employer and worthy of the respect any other employer is due.

You need to pull those horns in a little and keep learning.
teaching kids should never be for selfish reasons.At no time in your op did i see any true consideration for them,only whats in it for you.

just my opinion

Dude, calm down. Selfishness is not a crime, nor much of a fault as long as its honest. IMO the OP seems to be genuinely interesting in helping the kids not fall into the pitfalls of other McDojos. Getting paid to help people isn't selfish.

**Beorn** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 11:14am

Originally Posted by asland

Dude, are you serious?

If i owned that school and read this thread ,i would not let you within 10 miles of my school.

then the fact that you dont is both good for me, and good for all prospective martial artists that won't fall for your bullshit.

Teaching kids isnt for you, its for them.Going to another mans school who has offered you a job, with the intent of taking his students is bullshit.

Its actually what I was hired on for. The man teaching these classes has to drive over an hour to get there, he is doing it soley as a favor to his instructor. He neither wants nor needs these classes, and is more than happy to give them to me.

Considering yourself the white night to this school is bullshit, when you are only doing it for yourself.

You are taking this approach that, you are better than this place,so you will take the job, go in there and change everything to suit you.

Not to suit me per se, but my core beliefs that any person who teaches martial arts should teach simple and effective techniques in an alive manner so his students can defend themselves in the real world.

These kids are already without a person they can count on,so why go in there with a piss poor attitude that will probably get you fired in a month.

I think you need to take a step back and understand why they kids need you and stop thinking about yourself so much.

Lastly, keep one thing in mind,he isnt coming to work for you.you are going to work for him.therefore he is your employer and worthy of the respect any other employer is due.

Where is my piss poor attitude? I have stated that I see this as an opportuninty for both my growth and the growth of these kids. If I didn't think I could help these kids I wouldn't be doing it. I dont really need the money.

As to my employer, I should probably mention that he encouraged me to make the system my own, and tweak it as I saw necessary. They recruit people from all styles to teach a homogonized version of karate, with some judo/bjj thrown in to be hip for the MMA crowd. Well guess what? I am a TKD BB who has spent a decent part of my adult life learning Judo, wrestling, sub grappling, and muay thai because MMA is a real interest of mine. They see me as someone who can legitimately teach everything they want taught, and expand the curriculum as I see fit, because I am not a fifty year old krotty BB who believes the deadly.

You need to pull those horns in a little and keep learning.
teaching kids should never be for selfish reasons.At no time in your op did i see any true consideration for them,only whats in it for you.

just my opinion

well as I just spent about five minutes of my morning proving you are an idiot who isn't entitiled to an opinion, I will consider it for all it is worth. Which is to say, I hope you can never post here again because you break your wrists in a tragic aikido wrist grab accident.

**baby_cart** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 11:21am

meson and beorn, don't mind him, he's just an idiot, as you said:

Originally Posted by Beorn

well as I just spent about five minutes of my morning proving you are an idiot who isn't entitiled to an opinion, I will consider it for all it is worth. Which is to say, I hope you can never post here again because you break your wrists in a tragic aikido wrist grab accident.

wanna see more proof of him being a sandy bumhoo(I don't dare call him vagoo)? :lol: see here:

(WARNING: EXTREME HILLARITY AND STUPIDITY INBOUND)

Master Ben - No BS MMA and Martial Arts

**crawford** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 11:26am

hey, the one thing I would say about the situation is we're talking kids. Make sure you have a say on how many 4 year olds you're going to have to deal with while dealing with a mess of 12 year olds. Especially if you're going to get into grappling, controlling the number of kids, and maintaining their attention can be problematic. Are you going to be allowed to bring in assistants or have some help with the supervision? It's great fun with a small group, but if that group grows a lot, you could have a lot of trouble. Best to plan ahead.

**Snake Plissken** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 1:32pm

Originally Posted by asland

Dude, are you serious?

If i owned that school and read this thread ,i would not let you within 10 miles of my school.

Teaching kids isnt for you, its for them.Going to another mans school who has offered you a job, with the intent of taking his students is bullshit.

Considering yourself the white night to this school is bullshit, when you are only doing it for yourself.

You are taking this approach that, you are better than this place,so you will take the job, go in there and change everything to suit you.

These kids are already without a person they can count on,so why go in there with a piss poor attitude that will probably get you fired in a month.

I think you need to take a step back and understand why they kids need you and stop thinking about yourself so much.

Lastly, keep one thing in mind,he isnt coming to work for you.you are going to work for him.therefore he is your employer and worthy of the respect any other employer is due.

You need to pull those horns in a little and keep learning.
teaching kids should never be for selfish reasons.At no time in your op did i see any true consideration for them,only whats in it for you.

just my opinion

Troll POAST

**Sley** · Posted On: 3/02/2010 10:14pm

On the plam strike thingy, I had an Pro Grade MMA coach teach me this funny little hook slap thingy, not that its the deadly its just suposed to egg people on into street fights or somthing, It involved a story of a guy using it to start a fight with a pizza man. The moral, **** you Pizza man...

Oh teach them the good eye gouges, (I also learned them off the MMA guy) you know the grab the face and stick the thumbs in the eyes kind.

Moral, despite training for sport, MMA has T3h D34dly, make sure you kids have some too.