The Burden of Teachers

Recently, I had a patient come through my clinic who ended up having a spirited conversation with me.  He grew up in a very conventional “Western” demographic, playing football in high school, joining a fraternity in college, and entering the “rat race” as an adult.  Yet he practices Qigong and looks to Eastern Medicine when he is feeling unwell.  As many people in his familial and social circles are highly educated and very successful in the fields of academia and biomedicine, he often finds himself having to justify or defend what to his loved ones are “unusual” or “unproven” methods.  There’s a whole other conversation about cognitive bias and cultural prejudice there, but the sticking point for today was when he noted that some of his medical doctor friends were arrogant or narrow minded as it gave me pause.

Not because I feel animosity towards Western Medicine; in fact I believe there is only Medicine, and every culture has contributions to the corpus of knowledge.  However, I recognized the unfortunate human tendency towards arrogance and egotism that can bedevil us when we feel we’ve reached an apogee in our chosen field.  In the martial arts, it is quite common for a newly minted black belt or instructor to feel proud.  They should!  If they studied under any school with standards, the achievement of a senior rank should have taken lots of hard work and time (Kung Fu!).  However, when the new instructor is called upon to share what they know, that pride can lead to classes that are more about “showing off” what they can do than properly assessing what the students need and how best to create skill and understanding for them.  I certainly have been guilty of this as a young man, and I’m sure most instructors have been at some point.  We are all human!

However, whether you are a Guru of martial arts or a Doctor of medicine, it is vital not to forget that these leadership roles are really burdens of service!  Any “expert” is being given a great deal of trust by other people to honestly provide the best knowledge and application of skill they can.  The word “doctor” comes from a Greek root for “teacher.”  It is not enough to heal others, we must empower them to take charge of their own health.  Likewise, a martial arts teacher does not just “show” impressive techniques, they must always strive to find better ways to recreate that skill in others.  Civilization can exist because we have a division of labor; not everyone can be able to do everything.  That is why “renaissance men” are often so admired: having high levels of ability at many things is a difficult and unusual situation.

Hence, if you are a practice leader or Guru, you are really a servant of your students.  They admire your skill and respect your authority, but in turn you must hold yourself to the highest standard of ethics and ability and continue trying to improve yourself while bringing others up with you.  Ever notice in his videos how Pak Steve leaves in the instances during sticky hands when someone manages to tag him or affect his balance?  He laughs it off, praises them, and keeps playing.  How many “Gurus” out there would edit their videos to hide any mistake or imperfection?  Yet that is why we can see that Pak Steve is a real Master:  he can recreate his skill in his students and then applauds them for being able to use it.  The highly regarded self defense instructor and author Rory Miller (whose works I cannot recommend enough) once made a statement to the effect that if your students can’t start to challenge you within a year of your instruction, you are a terrible teacher.  You want your students to be empowered, and in turn their growth stimulates you to a higher apogee of skill and ability.  It should be a win-win all around.

So whether it is in your martial arts life, your professional life, or your personal life, never forget that when you take on a leadership or authority role, you are now in service to others!

Happy training,
Dr Jon