Mudo Knowledge
On Loyalty to Instructors
By John A. Johnson, Ph.D.
I believe firmly in loyalty to one
instructor. Yet, exposure to other
instructors and styles can reinforce,
expand, and deepen our knowledge
of Tae Kwon Do fundamentals.
After all, it should never be forgotten that
Tae Kwon Do’s pedagogy begins with
fundamental techniques and ends with our
highest goal: moral self-cultivation. The
more ideas students are exposed to, the
more they can comprehend and grow as
individuals, but we cannot do this alone.
Training with different Tae Kwon Do (or
other martial art) instructors periodically
should not be considered unfaithful.
Doing so only becomes unfaithful when
students fail to inform their instructors
of their additional training. As General
Choi states, it is disrespectful to practice
a technique learned at another school
without permission from one’s primary
instructor. He moreover advices students
to discuss conflicting ideas with their
instructors outside of class, and I would
strongly suggest doing the same with new
techniques or ideas learned elsewhere.
There is an inherent danger for Tae
Kwon Do instructors who allow students
to train elsewhere. Namely, students
may find another instructor who
teaches Tae Kwon Do in a way better
suited for them. Instructors fear if this
happens they will lose students. This
is not, however, the Way of Taekwon.
Instructors who avoid problems because
of fear are in actuality ignoring one of
the most important aspects of martial
art training: learning to overcome fear.
Instead, instructors need to worry more
about guiding those under their tutorage.
Students do possess the right to leave
their instructors for any reason. One of
the best reasons to leave is when a student
finds an instructor who teaches something
they need for their personal growth that
their current instructor cannot provide.
While instructors should be competent
to provide whatever type of education
the student needs, that is not always the
case. Sometimes the student needs to find
the right instructor, and—it should be
acknowledged—that sometimes what they
deem to be “right” may be inexplicable.If one of my students ever leaves me under
those circumstances, I will be happy to
see them go. Their new instructor will
be able to give them what they need,
and the development of students is the
foremost objective in my mind when
teaching. Yes, instructors are typically
paid for their services, but they do not
need to do so at the expense of their
students’ education. That would be an
affront to the integrity of their school.Students, nevertheless, should not flip
repeatedly from one master to another.
We must stay under the guidance of one
primary teacher, but not for the sake of
loyalty alone. The bond we develop with
our instructors is very strong. After suchtaekwondotimes.com / January 2018 39