The greats: instructors that I look up to

I have now been kick’n and punch’n in my white pjs for 31 years, well approximately, for a few of those years I was busy taking Judo and other martial arts, but the majority of my 31 years was spent with Dingman Sensei training in Karate. I have noticed two things about instructor, and I have had my fair share of training with different instructors….one, they all seem to have a different view of what Karate is and is not, and the second thing…they all teach differently..and often different things!

I was engaged in a rather funny conversation with a student about the actual way to do a side thrust kick, and it went something like this “but my sensei teaches me to kick this way…and you are saying that you kick this way…are you right or is he right”?...I said ”yes”. See we are all built differently, mentally and physically….. and our experiences are all different! For instance, thought I was one of the tougher instructors in the group, I have been stabbed three times and shot at, I worked the door at several bars and have had my fair share of real life street scraps when I was younger. But then I met an instructor from a different city that lived thru an actual war, saw her family killed and lived thru many of the worst horrors of war, and even was shot in the face….Yah, I am a woose!

It’s the difference in outlook, experiences and teaching styles that make this system of Karate so great. And the variety is HUGE, we have instructors that never think of grappling or Ki energy and instructors that incorporate or focus on these things, Its literally a plethora of skill sets and teaching ability…and a few that may lack in some of those as well. So, what makes a great instructor…seeing as we have our instructor mentoring program in full swing this may help a few of them…..”Curiosity and a passion for the art”. Pretty much that’s it! Go out and study, don’t stay in your own Dojo. Get out of your comfort zone and go explore. Read about different complementary subjects and push yourself to be a better instructor…and practice your public speaking.

Variety and diversity in training are the spice of life. Trust me, as good as Dingman Sensei is, getting a different point of view is important in developing your own style and also in building your own skills. If I had not had Yaguchi Sensei and all the others to mentor me when I was younger I would have lacked in some areas. Sensei encouraged me to train in different clubs and to go to train with others, I also spent time with an instructor outside the city when my family moved outside the city. An organization cannot exist if the instructors are all carbon copies of each other. It simply will not work. The lack of variety kills organizations. The life that Diversity brings will keep the pulse of a young group going and will re-energize a new group. Dojos often burn out when all that a instructor has to share is shared….and he feels like he is simply repeating himself and not growing as a person or instructor.

So, why then do some instructors want everything to be the same and why do they want us all to do things the same way….because they are scared and insecure in themselves and their skills. The change, the very act of wanting something different scares them. Watch as they scramble when changes happen in Kata, they also hate it when a new instructor starts to make a name for themselves, their juniors start to advance and it is at that point that insecure instructors begin losing students. Not because others have come along and shown them that there are other sides to Karate and Martial arts, but because that instructor becomes bitter…and everyone can see a bitter, insecure instructor for what they are….

Now, As I stated, I have been lucky enough to work with the person that I feel is the very bench mark of instructors in my training. Dingman Sensei, if he likes it or not, is the person that I look at and compare all others as instructors. His ability to teach basic movements and break them down is INCREDIBLE, his ability to coach the little things and to keep students enthralled in training is amazing and his passion….after 50 plus years of training….well its still burns brightly! He has a way with adults and kids and he enjoys teaching…but more importantly, even if he is pushing 70 he can still do it. He demonstrates the moves the way that normal humans can learn them and he understands as a teacher that he can not make some people move the way he can. He is quite and shy off the floor, but the man is simply the best instructor I have trained with. Nothing new or fancy just the very best basics I have ever seen in a person! And the best instructor I have had to train with…bar none…ever! From Dingman Sensei I try and take the passion and the individual attention he can give to each person, as well as trying to connect with students and show his passion for the art. He will always be the bench mark, yard stick and person that I compare all true Karate instructors to.

Below Dingman Sensei is Yaguchi sensei, Now Dingman Sensei would slap me for saying this and for putting his instructor bellow him, but there are a few small differences that in my mind make Dingman Sensei a tad bit better an instructor than Yaguchi…but trust me…this man is still AWSOME. As an instructor the man is firm, fair and has a great style for his teaching. He is one of the best coaches if you want to learn Kumite and to be frank….at 60 years of age he beat me soundly in kumite…played with me like I was a baby…and I was 20! The mans timing is off the chain! He also has a unique way of presenting information that allows you to not forget. Off the floor, he is a jokester. His ability to crack me up was crazy, never had I met a Japanese instructor who was so funny and liked to play jokes on people…and eat their lunch! From Yaguchi Sensei I took a lot of the old world spirit in his training. I trained with him when I was younger and the politics that got in the way of our training, I think, did me no service…but I have reams of notes from this man and I cherish every note.

I don’t think that I was ready for a class with Tanaka Sensei. He had been an idol of mine for years and I was star struck till the class finished warm ups…then I was gutted, beaten and tired…and that was just the basics. He runs classes that may actually kill you….even before you get to the Kumite. His style of teaching was to drive us into the ground with drills and push us past our limits…then just a tiny bit more…Stop and explain something in a way that was funny, interesting and had us learn..then drive us back to the brink of passing out…which a few did. While he had his “white knuckle” training of 50 step power speed attacks up and down a gym with fresh partners each trip to and frow….he had this pause in the middle that stopped us all, huffing and puffing, and explained that we were thinking to much…punching is simply straightening your arm. From Tanaka I try and take my hard core training cue. I take the drill sergeant with something to teach….and from him I also take the fact that sometimes simplicity in volume is still a great work out!

I only trained with Koyama Sensei Twice, but he is a zen machine. His training is basic as well, but he is very detailed in his mechanics of a technique and he tended to be very “spiritual” compared to Tanaka Senseis pure power style. I liked training with him and he seemed to have a very calm effect on all the students. A very good instructor, all I can say is I made the mistake of saying he looked like a bird…hey I was young…and got slapped upside the head for it from a black belt…I was a Kyu at the time. From Koyama I had to read my notes, which I have kept for many years, to appreciate his style and ideas. He is a unique instructor and someone I want to train with again someday.

A few summers ago I got the chance to train with the new JKA chief instructor, Ueki Sensei. At first I was a bit underwhelmed. He taught a very basic class, nothing fancy. But as he started to wind down the class I saw that he had just polished so many basic techniques and pin pointed many errors that we have in our techniques and had done so smoothly without insulting us, telling us we had done it different or wrong….he showed me two things, much like Dingman Sensei Basics in Karate are GOD and that being a gentleman when teaching is one of the best ways to influence others.

Now one instructor that is highly underrated in Canada is Del Phillips. Not only is he the student of My instructor but he was one of the marquee instructors at our summer camps. His take on Karate is truly unique and his ability is crazy. For a guy that looks like a bag of bones in a gi, he could toss guys around that were 50-70 pounds heavy than him and his ability to work mechanics of the body was crazy. He also had a unique take on stand up grappling that has affected my training and teaching for years. I remember after one class talking to him about a particular throw he had been teaching. It was weird that when I pointed out I learned that as the four direction throw when I took Aikido…he said he had never taken a class of Aikido in his life. He also had a great feel to his teaching, he was much like Sensei Dingman in his enthusiasm, but he was more like a kid in a candy shop than a passionate coach! His classes took me hours to write notes on because of his drills and stand up grappling that he took out of the Kata!

Another instructor I trained with whom I respect a great deal is Terry Proctor. He was my instructor when I moved out of the city, and I trained with him for several years and then again at summer camps when I moved back to the city. His techniques were not pretty, but they had lots of power. His timing was not great, but he was one of the best at foot sweeps that I have met to date. Also, and most importantly, he taught without ego. He did not care who you were, he showed up…taught you and never once said anything that suggested he was better than you. He was a bowlegged tough fire fighter that was great at Kumite and one of my instructors top students. The sad part is he left my instructor and followed politics and the flow of power. From Terry I try and take the lessons he passed on from Dingman Sensei in the old days, the lack of Ego in dealing with student and the fact that being human and training is more important than being a demi-god and having others serve you. He was a true egoless warrior!

I would be remiss if I did not mention Saeki Sensei from Ottawa, not only have I been out to Ottawa four times and trained at 5 Koyo camps with him, Tanaka Sensei and a variety of instructors, but we have hosted him twice in Winnipeg. The thing with Saeki Sensei is he is a very friendly, easy going and off the hip kind of instructor. On the floor he shows a modern and technical outlook and tries to introduce fundamentals and principles that are cutting edge and advanced, even to white belts…and he makes it easy to understand for all levels. Off the floor he is very forthright, tells you how it is and does not hold back. He also once gave me the shirt off his back…literally! I have been his demo dummy on occasion and his timing is amazing. From Saeki Sensei I hope to take his ability to introduce advanced theory to anyone and show my passion for the art!

Speaking of Koyo Camp, one of the most dynamic instructors that I got to train with at a camp was Imura Sensei, a true Kata GOD! The man moves like he is in silk pajamas and he is made of smoke! He broke down 6 katas for me (as part of a class) over the visits I trained with him and he had something interesting to show on each. Now for a man with limited, but still very good English, he had us all rolling in laughter thru his class and at the social events after the training as well. His good nature and sense of humor proved to me that even if you are seen as a Kata GOD that you are still human!

One instructor that had a big influence with all of us in Manitoba was Sensei Tammy…and not Tammy Dingman as I have been corrected many times…Tammy Heibert. Growing up she was one of the few Female athletes in Karate, and she blew most of the competition away…female…and male. Her skills were so good that she was often called upon to do demos in Japan when the Japanese wanted to show good form. Her ability and her skill did not lead to an ego when training, more of a persistence in her wanting others to develop. She is an easy going instructor who is more concerned with making sure you benefit from the class than worrying about how she is treated by her students. However, I have never seen anyone disrespect her and almost everyone saw her as a mentor. I remember her saying to me that I was to technical for the Kata I was working on, not big enough for the other one and would never suit the third one I tried…she suggested Kanku Dai. That is still my Kata, even if I train in Nijushiho right now.

I have had many other seniors that have taught me, from Jarvis Kohut to the many other junior instructors. They all brought things to the table that influenced my teaching. I watched closely and learned their techniques, mannerisms and watched them outside the club. My suggestion is always to find those that you respect and that have a style of teaching you agree with and that helps you and try to pick up from them not just your karate skills, but also your teaching skills.

I never stop looking to learn from instructors, even my juniors. Lately I have watched Steve Burch and Rhonda Raback teaching and I can tell you they are both very talented instructors…especially with kids. Steve shows his love for the art and his long time training everytime he teaches, and most importantly he has NO EGO. You see him making fun of himself and cracking jokes when he trains and his students love him. The other night Dingman Sensei and I were talking and I brought up Steve…right away Sensei told me he would be a success and his students love him because he does not take Karate too serious, he treats training as it should be, fun but serious….not serious only. And Rhonda is one of the best instructors with kids. This is a skill I have never really managed for long periods of time. I hope that I can show the kind of care that she does with the kids, and not be such a drill sergeant. She also shows the love she has for Karate as well.

With instructors like Steve and Rhonda the new bread of instructors in Manitoba is getting good. But with the good you need the bad I guess. I am not going to mention names…but I will point out a few Bad instructors I have trained with as a way of avoiding their follies……Most bad instructors are not bad on purpose, its problems with their ego and personality that make them very ineffective. Most, not all but most, love Karate, but they get “bent” in the process of learning. They think that Ego feeding students love them and they forget the reasons they entered into training, they forget the many lessons they learned in Karate and they become horrible to be around as they often fail and or don’t reach the expectations they have.

I have trained with one instructor, we will call her the Ego! She walked around like she was the best ever and Gods gift to Karate! But in truth she was just full of herself. Her students never met her expectations and she was never happy with them, but because they fed her rather large ego…they could stay. Training with her tested my patience all the time. When we finally got away from the organization she was in, well it was not soon enough. The horrible part was that her teaching was more “let me show off and make you feel horrible” and when she met someone that could take her in Kumite, she fought dirty and when she was scored on it was “why would you hit a woman”. Sorry, no genders in Kumite! The Ego based instructors feel like the world owes them, they are often not to bright as well because they don’t get that we are not laughing with them…..you understand the rest. We are also more often than not, not totally enamored of them, but fear them. And fear…that aint respect.

The next “bad instructor” is actually really two people with the same bad habit….The “PACER”! the Pacer is the guy that walks back and forth…normally mumbling to himself about how you suck or how no one respects him or maybe even saying what he wants you to do….put him in “street clothing” and people may actually think he suffers from a mental disorder! This instructor normally does not make eye contact with anyone and he wrings his hands and often does not throw a single Karate technique all class. One of the two would teach, if you called it that…he would bark out orders and count in Japanese while he mumbled under his breath. Once and a while…when the moon was BLUE…he would actually teach a techniques…but then you realized his ability to do Karate had long since fallen away to the ability to pace…not don’t get me wrong…that takes a lot of endurance…but this is not a speed waling class!

The next “Bad instructor” that I ran into is a weird Fellow I like to call…DISMISSIVE DAN! He is a bit like the Ego issues previous and a bit like a few of the following instructors but Dan has a problem…he thinks that NO ONE exists other than him. The few times I trained with him he did not care about 95% of the class, just the 5% he wanted to..and normally they were of the young female variety. The other issue was that if you asked Dan a direct question…he showed you “the hand” as he walked by. Now I can take being put off for a different persons question, but this was after class and he basically felt to darn good to be bothered by a lowly shodan he never met before. Hell if I was approached by a black belt asking me a question I would perk right up…but not this guy, nope this dope on a rope just walked by…and not just me…several others.

The next guy even almost graduated the instructor mentoring program in Japan. He was seen as possibly the first Canadian to have done this….if he had. But he got the boot right at the end, and after meeting this Jerk…I kind of know why. His whole class was “why Japan is better” and “why we suck” and “why the Japanese do this and that better” and….well you get the point. He was never happy with us and he was never happy with his own students, and his stories were always about how he was better and things he saw in Japan blew us away…..Yah, that would have been something else but near the end of the class…he began putting down the Japanese!!!! Lesson learned…don’t put down your students or people you train with….focus on making them better and building them up!

At one time my instructor opened his door to a visiting instructor. One such instructor was a Japanese instructor from a different organization. His whole group came thru and stopped off in Winnipeg and gave us a class. I still have a tone of pictures of them because the students were so nice. But the instructor did some stuff that I did not agree with…..like repeatedly striking his students. He did a demo were he showed off a bit, kind of like the Ego feeding instructors I know, but when he did a hook kick….it landed every time on the back of his students head…THUNK! Then he would show a Gyaku zuki and “Thunk” it went into his student like a piston and his student, even though he seemed ready…sunk around the fist. It was horrible. And the instructor did not seem to let up thru the whole class. His young student looked very ragged by the end of class. After class we talked to the students and apparently, just because he was nice, the instructor picked a different student to “Demonstrate” on every class because he was afraid of putting one in the hospital…..again!

The point is that variety is good, we have lots of representatives of what a bad instructor is, as Karate students we need to find our own path and try to remember why we do what we do. Karate won’t make you a millionaire, but it will help you live longer and enjoy your time here….if you can’t figure that part out…take up hop scotch!