Instructor training program

The Pred · Green Belt

Hi everyone,

We all know I order for our particular Martial Arts to survive knowledge has to be pass down. With that being said, how does one school pick students to be an instructor?

Fat Cobra · Blue Belt

In our schools, the student has to meet specific belt rank criteria PLUS be able to demonstrate certain requisite skills (like mirror imaging exercises and kata in front of the class, say all commands in Japanese, etc.) PLUS have the confidence of the Sensei (which is subjective). All of these criteria must be met.
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Yondan in Ryukyu Kempo
Head of the Shubu Kan Dojo in Carthage, NY
(United Ryukyu Kempo Alliance)

The Pred · Green Belt

bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

The Pred · Green Belt

Yeah at my dojo we usually start them off as helpers, if their technique is good enough. Then we might have them take a new student to the side to help them out.

Fat Cobra · Blue Belt

The Pred · Green Belt

Nidan Melbourne · KF Sempai

90% of the time we have students come up to us wanting to teach. So we take them under our wings for a few lessons, and given them various amounts of responsibility.

The other 10% we go to particular students, and invite them to teach.

But our minimums are 13 years old and 2nd Kyu. But the younger they are, the less responsibility they have.

aurik · KF Sempai

At our school, everyone is expected to be able to teach to a certain degree. As a requirement for ranks above 6th kyu, a student must be able to lead the class in warmups and accessory exercises a certain number of times. Requirements for 3rd kyu and up include using the Japanese terms for these exercises.

Furthermore, he tends to identify students that have natural abilities to teach. After our opening warmups/accessory exercises/sanchin, he generally breaks students up by rank groups, and he'll often assign one of these identified students to each rank to help them work their techniques required for rank. Also, when students are learning new material, he'll tend to ask these students to help teach the new material to them, and later in class he'll do spot checks to see how the students are learning and to answer any questions and provide corrections.

He also has a formal assistant instructor/instructor program. A student can ask to be named an assistant instructor for any class for their rank or below, and then they'll be responsible to assist in the class. They'll also be given a log book and have additional training as part of the program. Dan level students can opt to pursue their Shidoin certification, which (I believe) is also one of the requirements for 5th dan and shihan license. Once a student has earned a Shidoin certification, he/she can start teaching at one of our satellite schools or look at opening their own satellite school.
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My Journey (So Far)
Shuri-Ryu 1996-1997 - Gokyu
Judo 1996-1997 - Yonkyu
Uechi-Ryu 2018-Present - Shodan
ABS Bladesmith 2021-Present - Apprentice

Spartacus Maximus · Black Belt

Having a specific instructor training programme or curriculum is not as common as it would seem to be. There are a lot of schools where everyone is expected to do some instructing when they reach shodan or whatever level/experience determined by the main instructor. Becoming an instructor and running a school is often simply a matter of getting explicit permission and approval from one’s own instructor.

The traditional process in Japan/Okinawa is to show a willingness to help teach when asked. From 4th or 5th dan, one might be asked to take over some teaching duties under the guidance of the main instructor. This is where one may have a teaching title. One must have a godan to be a shihan(teaching title), but not all godan teach. Opening a dojo requires permission and approval from one’s sensei and the head of the organization/association to which one belongs.

Exceptions may be made, but they are very rare and depend on each individual dojo. For example a new dojo in an area far from the main dojo and any other school.

So far at my dojo there are four, maybe five people who are at that dan level and only two regularly teach as assistant/substitute within the dojo. Nobody as far as I know has opened a school, except for foreign students.

The dojo is so small in number that the regulars each have known each other for two years or more. The dan holders have their own loose association(more like a counsel where they meet and discuss finer points before going to the grandmaster to settle any doubts or disagreements. These meetings are usually casual and are open to anyone sandan and above); and have mostly been acquainted since they’ve earned their shodan.

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