What to look for in a MA instructor?

pma-ire

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=2292265&postcount=141

Not to rob dabhals idea. But I could'int wait to see this running

I don't have time to put on my checklist.

But will do tomorrow

dabhal

Ouch, you stole my thunder boo hoo poor me,

Anyway,
Things to avoid first:
Closed club (Won't let you view training sessions even after personal request)

Registration Fees (I'm understand they may be necessary but I think they should only be applied after a few months when you have made a commitment)

No proof of insurance (I'll bring it in next week or it has to be sent from England)

No proof of grade (it was lost in a house fire or I’m the last living sifu of this art are classics)

Attitude/feel of a club (When you enter a club you should feel welcome and accepted, If some Black Belt is strutting around like he’s god trying to make you feel small, get out or kick his ass in sparring )

Unwilling to train (If your instructor won't train, leave)

Have Fun (no point otherwise, unless you a sado masochist)

Things to look for:

The opposites of all the above plus:
You should get on with your instructor.
Clean hall dojo.
Ability to adapt training if called for.
Should be able to demonstrate what they preach. (The days of the old wise man are gone)
Should have a healthy outlook on self-defence and should teach you to run in the event of a fight. (If possible)
Should explain the risks of training to you.
Should make sure that you are not overpowered by themselves or other students.
Should be taking steps to ensure your safety in class. (Proper safety gear, keeping training within your limits)

Can't think of any more right now but I'm sure everyone has ideas.

Dabhal

dudara

Dabhal pretty much covers everything there.

columok

Heres some I think are pretty important warning signs for an instructor!


1) You should be allowed to train with whoever you like regardless of styles or clubs. The instructor doesnt feel threatened by other MAs and doesnt restrict you accordingly!

2) You should be treated as an equal by your instructor.

3) You respecting your instructor shouldnt be based on their grade or title but on their performance and on their behaviour.

more to come!

columok

Sorry to get all copy and pastey here lads but this is from the SBG Florida website. The myths of MA instruction. I think it covers a lot of what to avoid in an instructor.

from www.onedragon.com (some excellent articles there btw!)

Commonly held myths and illusions about teaching martial arts

Myth 1: You must use honoring titles such as Sifu, Guru, Sensei,.... in order to maintain the proper sense of respect in school. This is one of the most pervasive habits in the martial arts, and goes back to the military style of training we will discuss later.Your students should be quiet and respectful when you are teaching because they are there to learn and genuinely respect you, not because they have to refer to you by a title from a different language. The kind of students who are impressed or motivated by these types of titles are not the kind of students we want at the gym.

Myth 2: You must teach your classes by having your students line up and grunt acknowledgments in unison. This myth long associated with the more traditional martial arts (and is worming its way into the JKD family) steams from teaching methods derived from military. What most traditional Japanese martial arts consider to be Budo training methods, are nothing but. During the era of Samurai and warrior class of Japan, men and women trained in a very efficient, aggressive, and by today's standards what would be considered "informal" way. When World War II broke out Japan no longer had an exclusive military class. What they were in need of was a large military force. In order to create such a force soldiers would have to be drawn from all segments of society. The Samurai who never needed to be yielded at or prodded to train for combat, were replaced by merchants, farmers and tradesmen. Budo (the warrior way) was replaced by drill sergeants, straight lines of soldiers repeating the same moves in unison, yelling, titles of rank and a military style of teaching designed for people who were thought as too inept to learn the traditional way. It is time to throw all this away! There are better ways to teach!

Myth 3: You must not give your students too much information, too fast, because "if you sell all the merchandise on your shelves no one will come back to the store". This is perhaps the stupidest myth associated with "martial" arts. It may apply to a teacher of forms and techniques, but should never be a concern to a Fighter. If it is then you lack the most valuable commodity a JKD man and woman can have, Imagination. How can you run out of an art that has no limitations?! If you believe this asinine myth, quit JKD now. You are in a wrong occupation!

Myth 4: You must teach a lot of information at once or your students will get bored. This myth is true if you are teaching a crop of students who measure their progress by the accumulation of techniques and the size of their note books. "I was taught movements and concepts from Rickson Gracie in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu two years ago that I am just beginning to apply and use now. Imagine if I logged those movements in my notebook and then said to Rickson 'OK, I know these now .... show me more'. I am sure he would just laugh. However, with arts such as Kali and Jun Fan students learn a double stick pattern, or trapping combination, and then quickly request more variations and techniques to add to their notebook. The attitude of 'I have 27 double stick patterns and you only have 12' becomes common. The thought 'can I apply any of this?' does not seem to even occur." Matt Thornton. When teaching people who are interested in learning how to fight, it is not necessary to teach a million techniques. teaching the basic well and showing drills for their application will always be greeted with enthusiasm. The seminars of Rickson Gracie prove this point.

Myth 5: You must not associate with your students in an informal way or they will lose their respect for you. The kind of students who would lose interest in training because they realize that their instructor is a mortal human being, is not the kind of students we want at the Straight Blast Gym. You must know your students well in order to motivate them well.

Myth 6: You should refer to people differently depending on whether they are "senior" or "junior" in your art. This myth demonstrates the dramatic difference between the beggars humility and warriors humility. The beggar will bow down and scrape the floor for any man he deems to be greater than him; but at the same time he will demand that any man he deems to be lesser, bow down and scrape the floor for him. The warrior bows down before no man, and allows no man to bow down before him. At this gym we must strive for the humility of warrior and shun the humility of a beggar.

Myth 7: In martial arts men's and women's classes must be separated. There is nothing more away from the truth than this! The primary goal for training the martial arts for most women is not competition, it is self-defense. They want to be able to stop or divert a potential aggressor (usually man) in "street-fighting" situation. Training with women might be a nice social or athletic event and gives good fitness conditioning, too, but from the point of view of self-defense against an aggressor - man, it is useless. Why? Simply because men are usually larger than women and they don't fight the same way as women do. So, to develop skills useful in real "street-fighting" situation, women have to train in similar conditions - with men. There is also an important factor of psychological conditioning. Women training with men are not going to panic or be impressed by a larger size and aggressiveness of the male aggressor. They have seen this many times before!

Myth 8: Women should not grapple, especially not with men. Well, this is more a question of a personal choice, first of all. In martial ats there are many men as much as women who enjoy the long-range combat (punching, kicking...) but who don't like to be in close (trapping or grappling) range with their opponents. That's fine. But there is one thing which makes it different for women. As said before, most women do martial arts in order to gain some experience in self-defense. Attacked by a man, there is much higher probability for a woman to be taken to the ground than there is for a man. That's a simple question of size and strength. And in that situation it is of crucial importance for a woman to know how to defend herself. When fighting with a larger and stronger male on the ground, the use of proper technique is her only chance to escape or even save her life. The technique does not come by itself, it must be learned during the realistic training. So, grappling with larger male partners has its important place in women's MA training. Many women realize that and would like to learn some basic ground fighting. However, there is something else to stop them. The society. The common view of any closer contact between two opposite sexes as something which should not be encouraged. Well, grappling is a close contact, there is no doubt about that! Any woman (and, by the way, any man, too) can feel uncomfortable in such a close range the first few times. But, as she (or he) progresses, she finds very quickly that in martial arts people are not divided to men and women. All of them consider themselves "only" as human beings on their way to find and improve themselves. The martial arts way is the way of respect for each other.

"In the long history of martial arts, the instinct to follow and imitate seems to be inherent in most martial artists, instructors and students alike. This is partly due to human tendency and partly because of the steep traditions behind multiple patters of styles. Consequently, to find a refreshing, original, master teacher is a rarity. The need for a pointer of the way echoes. " -Bruce Lee

Colm_OReilly

Colum, You're training with someone behind my back! :eek:

He's right in the sense you should be allowed train anywhere, regardless of style. It can only be a learning experience.

Should explain the risks of training to you.

This is actually a legal requirement. Also, instructors shoud screen to make sure the applicant is able to take part in any sort of exercise.

No proof of insurance (I'll bring it in next week or it has to be sent from England)

I've only ever had about two or three parents (never any adults) question my insurance. They've only ever asked whats-the-story type questions, and never asked to see the cert.

I've been thinking lately about ma's compared to other sports and how they view instructors/coaches. To me it seems that in every other sport no-one asks what level the coach is at (and there are coaching levels), where he competed, who he learnt from or anything like that. The questions and comments that arise are more along the lines of "what can he show me?" "Can he improve my performance/help with this area of my game", "he can really get the most out of you", "he makes you feel relaxed in competition" etc.

Strange? No?
Colm

Roper

Theres a saying: "Some coaches can't play the game"

I could walk into a gym or school tomorrow and be impressed wih cert after cert hanging on the wall, or lineage that goes back years. But at the end of the day, if he can't show me what to do..... whats the point?

If I had a kid who wanted to join say, soccer, I wouldn't look at the coach and see what he looks like as a player, I'd look at the rest of the kids and see what their skill level was, were they having fun etc. I know that martial arts is a different kettle of fish, but why shouldn't the same principles apply? My mates boxing coach is 50+. He can't fight, and he didn't really when he was younger, but he's the business. I know, I've worked with him.

That said, martial arts are a real grey area. There are so many cowboys out there that you probably need some of the excellent checks the lads listed above to be sure. I'd like to think I' pass!!!

By the way, off topic, did you know you and I met this morning Colm?

memphis

Dadhal sums up pretty well above, but I just wanna add, I would always recommend that you try a few training sessions with am instructor first, at least that way you can decide whether he is the business, and worth training under.

dudara

Right, I don't know if this is going to provoke an argument, but those myths are a load of codswollop. Any instructors I've trained with in TKD treat you as equals. One of my best friends actually happens to be my instructor who's 10-15 years older than me. He's also a very sound man.

I hate seing those myths posted around the place because they give the impression that all traditional based martial arts are like that. Yes we line up at the start of the class, and at the end, but that's it. Yes we have lines according to grade, but there has to be some order. After that we all intermingle.

Old-fashioned instructors who behave like that don't have students anymore, thanks be to God. As my instructor told me one me "When we were learning TKD, we went through badly organised systems with powermad instructors, and that's why we don't run our classes like that."

the_syco

dudara, columok was saying the myths are a load of "codswollop", me thinks.

Its like a PC. You wouldn't buy a PC for €2000 unless it was brand new, state of the art spec. But there are still mom & pop business's who sell outdated PC's.
What I'm saying is, unless you know, you may think "this is the way things are done", and not question it, unless someone else shows you otherwise, and that the "old way" is a really old way...!

=-=

That said, I did a small (3 weeks) bit of training in my locality (Leixlip). Trainer dude was very good. Did warm-up, then split into two groups. Little people (primary schoolers, I'd say), and big people (teenagers and adults). Trainer dude would then show us the move, and then let us do it. Monkey see's, monkey does. He'd walk around, and maybe give another example, or give constuctive critism (instead of Y, do X) to the beginners (me & a few others). Was nevr bored, as he'd do a different one each week, but with the same basic's at the start, which was still cool.

Me thinks the trainer dude was good, because he taught a few of the best (ie; people who went to, and won, compo's). Forget his name. He did/does training in the Amenities (in Leixlip)on Saturday's.

paul moran

Hey Colm

"in every other sport no-one asks what level the coach is at (and there are coaching levels)"

I think this is down to the fact that anybody can hire a hall for €10 an hour and set up a club! No coaching certs, no government recognition, no standards what-so-ever neccesary.

Even the Eastern Europeans require all their sporting coaches to hold a coaching qualification in an Olympic sport. The MA Coaches I know from over there mostly qualify as boxing coaches before they can teach Martial Arts, unless they are teaching Judo, TKD etc (ie Olympic sports!)

IMAC are running Coaching courses through the Sports Council and I recon this will be the thing to set IMAC affiliated clubs (as well as AKAI and those organisations who have their own RGB!) apart in the future and will help to alleviate the concerns of those looking to get involved or get their kids involved in the Martial Arts. Something all of us out in the cold at this time should think about!?!?

btw. Angelo Dundee had very little "fighting" experienced but is probably the best ever boxing coach the world has ever known?!?!?

Paul Moran

PJG

Hi the_syco,

Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like your talking about the bushido club in leixlip. Having trained in a few places the bushido clubs are all run very well. One of the sure signs of a good club is the numbers that turn up every week. On one Monday night (juniors and seniors on at the same time) I counted 50+ kids and 30+ adults all working hard and having fun. You can train to keep fit or train to compete with no pressure. They run similar clubs in clondalkin, celbridge, lucan and cork all with the same ethic.

So if you want to check out an instructure go check out a few sessions and make an informed decision yourself.

Cheers
Paul G

pma-ire

PJG wrote:

They run similar clubs in clondalkin, celbridge, lucan and CORK all with the same ethic.

Is this Liams place in Cork or is it someone else??

pma-ire

PJG wrote:

They run similar clubs in clondalkin, celbridge, lucan and CORK all with the same ethic.

Is this Liams place in Cork or is it someone else??

pma-ire

pma-ire wrote:

I don't have time to put on my checklist.

But will do tomorrow

Due to the Board not being available, and a few personal issues I had to handle. I did'int get to do this. But I agree with what has been posted so far

pma-ire

paul moran wrote:

I think this is down to the fact that anybody can hire a hall for €10 an hour and set up a club!

Interesting :eek:

Where is this hall ??

And do they have any slots free at the moment ??

dabhal

pma-ire wrote:

Interesting :eek:

Where is this hall ??

And do they have any slots free at the moment ??

Most community based halls don't charge very much.
Paul Moran's point about no certs etc is right on the money and explains why I don't recommend using an instructor who can't perform themselves.
I know in boxing it works but there are just too many cowboys out there in the MA world.

Dabhal

Roper

Like I said before, the students would be the ideal selling point in an ideal world. Obviously there are a lot of cowboys out there trying to make a buck, so you're right Dabhal, performance is probably the best indicator a prospective "buyer" (for want of a better term!) has.

As Colm alluded to, certs and qualifications hanging off the walls might be impresive to look at, but theres really very little you can do to verify them. I know of a "master" who bought said title after training a few months in the given art.

paul moran

Hi,

When I talk about qualifications, I don't mean a bunch of certs or badges which only refers to the style being taught at that school, I'm talking about coaching badges that transcend all styles and sports. IE how to get the members/stylists/fighters into the best shape possible in a safe a stuctured manner. How to measure performance? How to manage injuries? etc etc etc. These are achievable if the work is put in, but most MA clubs don't talk to one another and not all organisations are prejudice free, so these courses are not always available as an option to all clubs!

The skills of the sport or the style should be a given if the instructor can back-up the concepts of the style.

Paul Moran

Roper

I'm talking about coaching badges that transcend all styles and sports. IE how to get the members/stylists/fighters into the best shape possible in a safe a stuctured manner. How to measure performance? How to manage injuries? etc etc etc. These are achievable if the work is put in, but most MA clubs don't talk to one another and not all organisations are prejudice free, so these courses are not always available as an option to all clubs!

Ta Da! The problem in a nutshell! I don't see it as solvable anytime soon either. The IMAC body started out on that line, got government recognition and then............... nothing. Plus, they were representative of a segment and others were unwilling to get on board.

Tim_Murphy

Roper,
You're talking about IMAC as if it's a thing of the past, I didn't think that was the case?
Incidently, who are the TKD representatives in it?

dabhal

Roper wrote:

I know of a "master" who bought said title after training a few months in the given art.

Amazing, he was stupid enough to train for a few months
I could have printed one off for him

Roper

http://www.taekwondo.ie/ (IATA I think) are the TKD reps as far as I know Tim. I didn't mean it was a thing of the past, but nothings been heard from them for a while and from what I know they are unwilling to consider things like MMA as part of martial arts in Ireland.

Damn, Dabhal, can you get me a Master... eh.....hood? I'm already a minister of my own religion and I could do with something impressive to hang on the wall.

Tim_Murphy

they are unwilling to consider things like MMA as part of martial arts in Ireland.

Thats the no rules cage fighting thing isn't it? No wonder they won't consider it. Does anyone know, have people tried to get it accepted into IMAC?

Originally Posted by PJG
They run similar clubs in clondalkin, celbridge, lucan and CORK all with the same ethic.


Is this Liams place in Cork or is it someone else??

The bushido clubs are point fighting and probably some light contact as well. I think the club in cork is run by Colin O Shaugnessy (sp?)

PJG

pma-ire wrote:

Is this Liams place in Cork or is it someone else??

Hi,

No, the instructor is Colin.

Roper

I think there may well be some confusion here between Bushido Kickboxing www.bushido.ie , as run by Roy Baker et al., and Bushido-Rings www.bushidoireland.com the MMA event taking place in March in the point.

Though I'm probably confused too.......

Tim_Murphy

There's also Bushido Gendi run by Mick Dunleavy and Pat Lynch

pma-ire

Tim_Murphy wrote:

Thats the no rules cage fighting thing isn't it? No wonder they won't consider it. Does anyone know, have people tried to get it accepted into IMAC?




The bushido clubs are point fighting and probably some light contact as well. I think the club in cork is run by Colin O Shaugnessy (sp?)

Ah Sh*t ya !

I know Shauks !!

We used to work in the Keg nightclub yonks ago together.

I've seen his promos around the city. One ended up in work one time! Don't where it came from. Another TKD guy, he was always into full contact kickboxing and the likes. Hav'int seen him in ages though.

pma-ire

Just looking back over this thread. I notice a mention about coaching training for MA instructors. Mainly from a sports council side of things.

In my experience, the type of training allowed by these type of groups are low impact stretching and the likes and are not really benifical to the Martial Artist in any code. It would be good if the sporting MA's got together and developed a safe code of practice in this regard and presented it to the Sports Council. If they got it passed then it would be a better option for MA'ist to go as it would be done with them in mind.

Another thing that I have seen over the years. Is MA clubs really pushing the sport or under age parts of the club to qualify for a grant or the likes. Selling there soul for a few bucks. :mad: Wrecks my head :mad:

dabhal

pma-ire wrote:

Another thing that I have seen over the years. Is MA clubs really pushing the sport or under age parts of the club to qualify for a grant or the likes. Selling there soul for a few bucks. :mad: Wrecks my head :mad:

I know of such a club, but I consider it a kids community group rather than MA. there are no real ma guys there just a few posers. It keeps the kids amused, only problem is these guys think they know what they are doing and are putting childrens health and safety at risk. I won't go into the parents wasting money, like I said it keeps the kids amused.
They seem to be more of a cubs group than anything else.

Roper

I'm not too sure about this lads. To qualify for a grant from the sports council or any Government body you have to have certain requirements in place. One of these would almost certainly be a formal coaching qualification. (not an internet one!)

Theres more of a danger from somebody selling real awesome martial arts with guarunteed self defence and packing their school that way.

pma-ire

It's not htat hard to go on a course and get a formal coaching qualification.

You might have to give up time from work and stuff. But I have known people who have done it.

Again it don't mean that your any good at teaching (coaching ) MA's !

Roper

Fair point, but a formal qualification has to count for something. I might be a fantastic bridge builder, but unless I'm chartered nobody is going to let me build one for them! I think its the way we should be heading.

The fact of the matter is that there is no real way of regulating. Take yourself for example at PMA, what you guys do might well be related to what I do, but we train and believe different things. Equally Mark is opposed to many of your training methods.
You would think the only way to go is to create governing bodies for each individual discipline. But again, thats impossible as I've been told twice by two different ITF people that what I do "isn't really Tae Kwon Do".

pma-ire

Thats all down to ego :rolleyes:

It's the open minded guys (many of which seem to be on this Borad ) that get put down the most by those in the "Traditional" form of the base art.

If they say your not doing TKD as it is defined by them, then your probably better off (I'd love to get along to see it sometime ??).

As I mentioned earilier, the sports council needs to have a MA'ist on it. Not groups affiliated on the side. So that a proper integrated format for MA training (integrated: with the basic guides of the Sports Council. But also taking into account the requirements for MA training) can be drafted.

Again back to ego though. Because we all come at the MA's from different angles (though sometimes parallel) what could be set out as offical guides may still not be suitable.

A complicated mess

Tim_Murphy

I've been told twice by two different ITF people that what I do "isn't really Tae Kwon Do".

I had a guy tell me that about Philips club here in UL as well. Being in the ITF is hugely important to many ITF people and they believe the propaganda they are told. It's sad really, esp considering the state of the ITF anyway, 3 different world championships in the last year all under the same name! I also had an ITF red belt training with me for a while who told me that his instructor would probably freak out if he told him that he was training with me.
If you ever start getting compliments from those guys, i'd be worried!!

I don't think that there will ever be any true governing body for MAs here, way to many egos and agendas. Anyway, I'd say that most association heads are happy in their own ponds.

dabhal

Tim_Murphy wrote:

I don't think that there will ever be any true governing body for MAs here, way to many egos and agendas. Anyway, I'd say that most association heads are happy in their own ponds.

IMHO we badly need one, Basic ground rules on health and safety thats all.
You can't tell an art how to work or train thats pointless but not just anyone should be allowed to put themselves forward as an instructor. If you go to a gym you expect the instructor to know what hes doing. Most people assume that MA instructors are qualified somehow but we all know the sad truth.

Dabhal

Musashi

If you ever start getting compliments from those guys, i'd be worried!!

I'm a Dan grade under the ITF originally and I think Roper is just swell
Why isn't there a puking smiley??

Whatever about teaching different MA instructors how to run their clubs,there should be a basic phys. Ed. standard.I remember reading in Tom Kurz book about not making kids stretch too much when they are going through growth spurts as the tendons and ligaments are already under pressure,hence "Growing Pains"
Just basic information like this on safe training and stretching methods are needed to prevent people being injured by the crazy training methods some people use.
It's not just the MA's though,I've seen GAA Players made do some nutso stuff and the amount of injuries some of them pick up is madness.
I know the local TKD Instructor has been sent on a coaching course and doesn't use a lot of the stretches and stuff we used to do years ago as they are "contra-indicated".Of course being able to kick above waist high is also contra-indicated but if you're doing TKD then not a lot of choice there
I was sent on a basic first aid course as part of my Instructors course years ago,and am an occupational first aider at work.We've recently been given a mobile Defibrillator just in case!!

Clive

Just to address the points raised about IMAC:

Brendan Dowling: We are not interested in representing makey-uppey jitsu or beat them up better merchants.

That's nearly a direct quote from a published interview.

I still have the notes from the IMAC meeting where it was discussed that anyone who took part in "cage fighting" was "bringing the martial arts into disrepute".

I posted a very respectful question on IMAC's forum about this - it was deleted.
I posted the exact same wording again - IMAC's forum was removed and has not reappeared.

The first point of IMACs overall mission is "To provide the public with a clearly identifiable and Trustworthy Quality Mark for the Martial Arts - where
Safety, Standards and Answerability are ensured."

I can name about twenty IMAC instructors off the top of my head who teach absolute tripe. IMAC is a failed institution.

As for the coaching qualifications, they have nothing to do with the ISC, they come from the NCTC, but mean very little due to the range of arts under the IMAC umbrella.

I've been an IMAC member in one form or another for about 13 years, and I can honestly say that they have never done one thing for me.

columok

Isnt the IMAC Jiu Jitsu representitive Joe Carslake the very man who had such a great opinion about MMA in the article that Colm O'R posted up. I think that was indicative of their opinion of us. Let them have their exclusive club. Meanwhile we'll be improving ourselves and living happy lives while they cockfight over meaningless politics!

Ive never seen a single useful thing that IMAC have done! Im still waiting!

dabhal

Clive wrote:

Just to address the points raised about IMAC:

Brendan Dowling: We are not interested in representing makey-uppey jitsu or beat them up better merchants.

Nothing wrong with that

Clive wrote:

I still have the notes from the IMAC meeting where it was discussed that anyone who took part in "cage fighting" was "bringing the martial arts into disrepute".

hmmmmm not very helpful or constructive. I can only guess that they are only interested in very traditional arts, in which case then yes they have failed.

Dabhal

mark.leonard

dabhal wrote:

Nothing wrong with that

It sounded derogatory to me and demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the sport, surprising for someone supposed to be a spokesman for sports in general.

dabhal

mark.leonard wrote:

It sounded derogatory to me and demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the sport, surprising for someone supposed to be a spokesman for sports in general.

I'm confused here, that comment does not mention any style or club rather I understood it to mean the cowboys who make up thier own arts with japenese sounding names etc. What am I missing?

Clive

Based on the climate and context, I personally think that he was talking about MMA, but regardless, he's conveniently forgotten that Aikido was "made up" about fifty years ago.

From [url]www.martialarts.ie:[/url]

THE OVERALL MISSION OF THE IRISH MARTIAL ARTS COMMISSION

A To provide the public with a clearly identifiable and Trustworthy Quality Mark for the Martial Arts - where Safety, Standards and Answerability are ensured.

B. To promote and encourage the development of the subtle and less publicized aspects of Martial Arts training and make them more accessible by the general public . (e.g.).......The potential for the nurturing and development of focus, cognitive skills, responsible citizenship, confidence building and personal development. The exploration of conflict resolution techniques and processes. The building of community participation and social interaction within and without the Dojo

C. To provide Martial Arts organizations and clubs with a structure through which they can be fairly represented and through which they can democratically express their ambitions and concerns.

D. To provide the Irish Sports Council with a reliable and trustworthy structure through which they can be advised on matters relating to Martial Arts and through which they can channel advice, encouragement, restrictions, safety regulations, development procedures, and funding to the various Governing Bodies / Advisory Boards.

A is clearly a failure. Leaving aside the rubbish many IMAC instructors teach, the ISC's code of ethics and good practice for dealing with children is not adhered to, anti-doping education and testing are non-existant, and in thie past ten years I can think of one seminar IMAC has organised - on spinal or neck injuries if I recall.

B is bizarre, but then again, IMAC is the only sports body I know of that has regulations about people starting rumours in it's constitution. The use of the word dojo betrays Nipponocentricity.

C IMAC doesn't even represent it's members, never mind the vast numbers of martial artists that aren't a part of it.

D they may provide the ISC with all that, but none of the information they get from the ISC is filtering down to the members on the ground.

If AKAI ever split off from IMAC and go it alone, then it will effectively be an aikido organisation. End of rant!

pma-ire

Clive wrote:

End of rant!

But a good rant

As Bob Hoskins said "It's good to talk"

dabhal

Clive wrote:

Based on the climate and context, I personally think that he was talking about MMA, but regardless, he's conveniently forgotten that Aikido was "made up" about fifty years ago.

Well only Mr.Dowling could clear that up, but Like I said thats not the way I understood that comment. There are plenty of clubs out there that are just complete rubbish, run by absolute morans(I heard about one on saturday).
These guys generally make up a name and stick the word Jitsu or do at the end of it. I do believe that is what he was taking a stab at.
BTW I'm sure Mr. Dowling is well aware of the history of Aikido.

On the progress of IMAC, I posted a question about them a few weeks ago and it does seem that since 2001 they have not done anything. (at least no-one posting here seems to know about it )

Dabhal

Roper

These guys generally make up a name and stick the word Jitsu or do at the end of it. I do believe that is what he was taking a stab at.

Do you know him?

columok

Dabhal,

unless you have prior experience with Brendan and/or Whitefriars Aikido people its best to leave speculation out of this.

My understanding of his attitudes would be similar to Clive's. To the best of my knowledge derisory comments were directed at brazilian jiu jitsu/MMA.

Colum

logic1

dabhal wrote:

There are plenty of clubs out there that are just complete rubbish, run by absolute morans

Dabhal

Mrs. Moran is a lovely woman.

.logic.