Warning this post certainly will not make some people happy!

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Instructorship in a weekend or two of martial training?  WTF…  This is a growing trend in the martial arts world and has been for awhile.  It is really prevalent in Krav Maga and some Combative systems.  Unfortunately, it is really pathetic.  Basically here is the gist.  You go train for a weekend and walla you are an instructor in that system.  Even if you are no good!  So why are people doing this?  It is all about making money.  You pay a little extra for this instructorship, the instructor teaching it has little time invested after all it is just one weekend.  So they make some good green backs with little effort and go on their way.  They don’t care if you know the skills or are any good at teaching them they are all about building their empire at this point.  They are what we call in the Martial world a sell out.  Just cashing in on some unsuspecting dope.  I was on a board the other day when someone who does this mentioned that the way he teaches his weekend instructor course he can condense three years of material into a short period of time.  Well guess what this is what every instructor does.  I do this all the time after over thirty five years of training and teaching I would hope that I give my IRT practitioners a short cut to get better.  Yet, there is only so far they can go in a weekend!  Promoting someone in a weekend?  I have to call bullshit when I see it!  It is all about the money when people do this.

Now, you as a martial practitioner should be looking out for this.  I mean if you go to train with someone and they only had a weekend to become an instructor they simply will have no depth to what they know.  Heck they might not even be as good as you!  So investigate who you are training with so that you know if they are qualified and have skill sets that have depth and understanding!  Learn from someone who has put in the time to not only learn their systems skill sets but also to understand them and then be able to relate them to you in several different ways so that you can learn them.  In other words investigate, get some references and know that all training out there is not the same.  Not all training is equal!  Heck just here in Vegas I can point out six instructors alone who received instructorship in a system from a weekend seminar and quite frankly it shows.  They and their students are horrible.  So investigate who you train with!

Now, before the screaming begins.  There are always exceptions to any rule or opinion.  There probably is a phenom or two out there.  However, they should be rare and not the norm in martial science training.   If someone is learning a couple of simple finite skills such as the combat reload, tactical reload, basic firearm rules and they come to the table with years of firearm practice and training then yeah they can probably learn them assimilate them and potentially teach them after a weekend.  Particularly if they knew them already and just needed a little coaching.  Still, I would rather go to someone who has years of teaching under their belt.  Similar example is if it was a right cross weekend instructorship course.  Someone with experience could learn the method, apply it and probably teach it.  Yet again, I would want someone with a lot more experience and thousands of repetitions and experience having actually used it with full resistance.  Just like if it was an armbar seminar whether on the ground or standing.  I wouldn’t want to learn from someone who only had a weekend to learn it with thirty to fifty reps in.  It could be done if they were a phenom, but…  Not who I would want to learn from.  However, if that same person wanted to learn a larger system with greater substance with little to no martial training then frankly it is just bullshit to give someone an instructorship in a weekend.  Unfortunately that is what is being done!   No one will ever get an IRT, BJJ, Judo, etc. instructorship in a weekend.  That just isn’t going to happen!  I wouldn’t stoop to that level or cheapen the system!

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See You On The Mats!

Brian R. VanCise

Note: This blog is opinion only and neither Instinctive Response Training LLC or Brian R. VanCise are responsible for any third party actions.

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