How to Find the Right Teacher

For someone who wants to begin practicing martial arts, there are many options and few certainties. A good piece of advice is not to easily believe everything you read in specialized magazines or on the internet, as much of that information serves purely commercial purposes.

The best way to find a suitable school and teacher is to search patiently and thoroughly. Only after visiting several schools and researching them can you make a proper decision.

Once you’ve chosen, you should focus all your energy on following the method of the selected school for a reasonable period of time, so it can produce observable results.

It may sound exaggerated, but in China it is said:

" A good student

searches for a teacher for three years,

and a good teacher

tests a student for three years."

Below are some useful ideas and tips for when you are looking for a qualified teacher to learn from.

The Importance of Practice

Talking never replaces practice, no matter how informative, accurate, or entertaining it may be. Since this is a highly practical activity, look for teachers who personally demonstrate what needs to be done—and whom you can actually see practicing (sweating, ideally).

Martial arts are fundamentally practical disciplines and produce major changes in all aspects of a person, especially physically.

If a teacher does not have the physical appearance of an average athlete, it likely means they have not trained enough. Even if they possess a great deal of intellectual knowledge, their real level cannot be high. Reasoning is important—very much so—but it always requires direct experience repeated thousands or millions of times to achieve mastery of movement.

Physical Interaction

Teachers must physically interact with their students; instruction cannot be transmitted purely on an intellectual level.

Look for teachers who regularly “cross hands” with their students for the students’ benefit—not for their own ego.

Be wary of those who justify their worth as kung fu teachers by telling stories about masters of the past.

A martial artist’s value is demonstrated through their own actions, in the present moment.

Living off others’ achievements—or even one’s own past glory—is not healthy for the human spirit. It prevents progress toward new goals.

Myths in the Art

Teachers who talk about “secrets of the art” are intentionally misleading students in order to keep them dependent with promises of future revelation.

The only real secret to success in martial arts is hard, consistent, methodical, conscious, and intelligent work on fundamental principles. These should be clearly explained by the teacher from the very first day.

" There Are No Better Styles

There are only better practitioners."

In modern times, martial artists no longer need to prove their fighting ability to be recognized.

Titles such as shifu, master, or grandmaster have largely lost their original meaning and are no longer reliable indicators of real skill.

Flight Time

A large number of years spent practicing or teaching does not necessarily mean a teacher has trained extensively or is good at teaching. What truly matters is the quality and quantity of training during those years.

We can compare this to an airplane pilot:

It is not the same to say, “I’ve been flying planes since 1985,” as it is to say, “I have logged 500 flight hours.” The latter does not guarantee quality, but it does reflect real experience.

Unfortunately, we will rarely know how many “flight hours” most teachers actually have. Even more unfortunately, if we cannot see them in action directly, we may never know their true qualitative level.

Thanks for reading!