…..It seems to be all the rage. I mean almost everyone has started doing it from some people that I really respect to some others that I do not.  So what am I talking about?  Well it really seems that our culture is fast food oriented and the martial sciences are becoming that way as well.  Meaning that more and more systems are allowing people to become an instructor, assistant instructor, associate, etc. in as little as a weekend of training. 🙁  That means then that the person can go and teach and propagate more people into that system.  However does the person teaching who went through a weekend course really have any depth of training?  I would think not.  Brazilian Jiujitsu to date has always had a very, very hard training regimen and maintained there standards very well.  However now there are more people teaching it so they need to come up with something to differentiate themselves and walla train a weekend and become a blue belt and go and teach at your school.  It is happening not just in this system but in many others that I personally have witnessed ie. Silat, KM, Police Defensive Tactics, etc.  I can understand this temptation to teach this way as your student base will expand exponentially in a rapid manner but what about quality and making sure that instructors have a true depth of understanding.  I can remember one time a long, long, long time ago attending a Defensive Tactics and PPCT course where the instructor had just become an instructor over a weekend course.  He was teaching to a group of people who all had been through the academy and each one of us had been through the course probably a dozen or so times.  His training and teaching skill was mediocre at best so it was fortunate that most of us knew what we were doing so that in the end we did get something out of the class.  That was then this is now.  I was also recently at a seminar where I know someone was training for their first time in a system.  Well several months later they are now the sole representative of that system in their State. 🙁   This person is highly talented but how can he really disseminate this new system in a knowledgeable fashion?  Bad proliferation is when you try to expand so fast that you allow people who are just starting to train with you to become recognized as a teacher in your system.  Good proliferation in my opinion is when you let someone come along at a reasonable pace to achieve that recognized teacher position.  The martial sciences and our skill sets are not something that can be totally learned in a weekend nor should we be trying to create an atmosphere of fast food martial arts.  In the end all that happens is the students lose out and inexperienced people teach some thing that they just don’t have the depth to do!

Just One Person’s Opinion!

Brian R. VanCise

Note: This Blog is opinion only and Instinctive Response Training LLC nor Brian R. VanCise is responsible for any third party actions taken.

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