What is the proper time to begin teaching?

Greetings. I've been doing TKD for the majority of my life, but as a kid things just kept happening to delay my progress in rank. Teachers left, for different towns, I moved away, or my parents ran into money trouble and cut TKD from the bills. After a four year break from it I graduated from high school, and found the time and money to do it agian. Only I had to start over at white belt. So anyway this time around I am pretty sure I can get my BB, because I am in charge of getting to classes instead of my parents/instructor. Eventually I'd like to start teaching TKD in a school of my own. (This probably won't be until at least ten years from now.) I'd like to start up a TKD school that focuses mostly in self defense (because there are so few around now).

Funny thing is I've noticed that in certian areas of the country there are these mega-schools with seventh dan BBs as owners. Would starting a school up as a third or fourth dan BB be disrespectful in anyway? On one side I don't want to have to wait until I'm an old geezer to teach, but on the other I don't want to look like a Mcdojo reject with no respect for his superiors.

Many associations consider 3rd -5th degree to be acceptable instructor levels to start their own schools. You may want to try to "wet your feet" by teaching at a community center or YMCA, on a smaller scale.

Ya. I'll definatly do some volunteer stuff for a few years.

As a first step, you might try talking with your instructor about assisting with his classes. This will give you the opportunity to start learning how to teach. Its not as easy as it looks. It takes a great deal of skill to be able to figure out what you are going to teach on the fly, how you are going to teach it, demonstrate it, keep students interested, and keep the chaos from getting out of control.

In the past few months, I have been assisting with several of the kids classes as part of my training. By the time I receive my black belt (end of november if all goes well), I expect to be running one or two of those classes on a regular basis, and I have a lot to learn before then, primarily in the chaos management area. My instructors biggest complaint, I'm too nice!

While I absolutely love teaching, I don't think I would ever want to run my own school. Remember, its not just teaching, but the business side of running the school, advertising, billing, paper work, paper work and more paper work. Plus, my instructor has spent years of time and effort in training me, it would be very rude of me to turn around and say thanks, I'm off to go start my own school. Mind if I take a few students?

Laura

Hello MrBerzerker:

The issue in NOT one of respect, it is a question of knowledge. You must not rerespect somone's rank, you respect the person who wears it only. You could be a raw beginner or a grand poo-bah and it makes no difference. I don't know who you are (anyone is), so I cannot know what your particular ranking represents. Unless we do know, the worship of rank is a horrible thing...

A basic politeness is sufficent. Rank requires time to understand at anyplace other than where you train. All of this aside, 10 years training would certainly have some good insights to offer. Half as many as those with twice the experience, if, IF they teach.... As a beginner you can provide new ideas to someone too, but to have skill at presenting information, and to be effecient at it demands practice. Learn to teach others, and you will be well skilled...

J

With regards to Teaching, I know quite a few organisations that accept 1st Kyu and upwards as instructors. and plenty acknowledge Shodans as Sensei's, Its down to the individual.
The individual needs to do is speak to their instructor, as they have been doing it for years and will know if you have what it takes. In the UK you need to look at getting a CRB check, Liability insurance etc. also if you stay with the organisation or NGB as a satalite club it could be beneficial to you and your instructor

just a thought

I tend to go with MattJ on this one... Sandan is a teaching rank... everything up to that is "helper" rank, and should be supervised by someone from Sandan up.

A lot of schools use underbelts as teachers, and it shows in the quality of their players. Maybe you'd like your doctor to be trained by somebody that's got 1 year of medical training, but I doubt it... so why accept somebody that has limited knowledge of karate (or whatever art) to teach you? I'd rather have somebody closer to having mastered an art teaching me basic skills, than somebody still learning them.

A lot of organisations these days have coaching courses for people who wish to begin teaching. I think this is a good idea because just knowing your MA doesn't mean you know how to coach people. However, regardless of whether you attend such a course or not, you need to gain sufficient experience in both teaching and in MA before you should teach. This is one thing which certainly improves over time.

I do not believe that there is a certain rank at which one is qualified to teach. Making the rank of Sandan doesn't mean one can teach. It means one can perform at the level of Sandan. I hold less than Sandan rank. I have reasonably good teaching experience and that counts for a lot. I prefer to teach with a senior instructor present because their skills are better and they see more than I do. These are important factors for teaching, but not the only ones. I think there is a place for me as a teacher with my Nidan rank. I agree that it is less than ideal for me to teach without a higher rank running the class, but I do a good job when I must teach as the senior rank present, by sticking to what I am good at and keeping things simple. So, I guess I agree with the Sandan teacher proposal for the best of all possible worlds, but where that is not always possible, cultivate those Nidans.