Posted by Ex-Instructor on January 23, 2003 at 14:38:46:
In Reply to: Re: I hope nobody tells you to jump off a bridge. because listening to you, I think you just might do it posted by Nick on January 23, 2003 at 09:08:09:
No offense, but it's pretty difficult to authenticate one style of martial arts vs. another, especially when you are new to the style. You will not be able to judge a martial arts efficacy until you either get into a fight and defend yourself (successfully or unsuccessfully) or until you have amassed enough knowledge to do a proper comparison. The former can happen at any time, though it is rare (especially when your school forbids contact tournaments). The latter takes upwards of 5-10 years, at which point most people in the moo actually do leave. You cannot expect a white belt/first section to make a value judgement on what they are learning. Besides that, you do do a good job of marketing your 'true martial art' crap to those students (as this is the focus of your instructor training) which doubly dupes the students. You have all the angles covered until that 5-10 year mark, and then you only get to keep those that have no sense (e.g., Bob Sawinski).