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Have any of you ever had an instructor contradict what other instructors have taught you? In my level 2 class, the instructor made us do push-ups because he said our fighting stance was wrong. He went on to demostrate that we should have the back foot raised off the floor and the front flat. I was taught from the very begining that we should be on the balls of our feet on both feet. He said that some of use had our arms to close to our bodies. I was also taught that the elbows should be tight against the body….what gives? During his demostrations on inside defenses he had both feet flat on the floor.
We were practicing inside defenses with a punch counter. My partner was throwing the punches at a medium speed, and I was doing my best to counter. The instructor came over to us and said “In my class you don’t goof around…take it seriously.” I can assure you that I as well as the guy that I partnered with take KM very seriously. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
This is the first time in my many months of KM that I had this kind of problem. Every other instructor has been excellent. Sorry for the rant.
This is a very good post. Often during the course of training, you will find that instructors do things slightly different. Every instructor brings their life and martial arts experiences with them, so this is to be expected. I hold my back heel high of the ground while my front heel is much closer to the ground. One of my instructors had both heels just slightly off of the ground. To the untrained eye, it looks vastly different, but in reality they both follow the principal of weight on the balls of the feet.
Based on the tone of the post and some of the instructors own contradictions, I’m wondering if this may be a new instructor. Maybe he just needs to grow into his position a little bit. In any case, you should bring your concerns to the head instructor at the school. At the very least he or she could keep an eye on one of the classes just to insure consistancy amongst the staff. just remember to be tactful and to keep it private and respectful. I know that as a licensee, I’d hate to have an instructor alienate a student to the point where they had to vent on a forum.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice Jeremy. I was very quiet about. Although the “goofing off” comment angered me and my partner, we didn’t voice our frustrations and continued with the class out of respect for the instructor.
I also keep my front heel close to the ground, but still have my weight on the balls of my feet. It just seemed wrong for him to instruct the class to keep the front foot flat on the ground.
I don’t think I’ll make anymore of the incident. I’m just going to avoid going to his classes as much as I can. All the other instructors there are excellent!
He could of just been having a bad day, in regards to your “goofing off” comment. I think the best thing to do would be to confront him about the contradictions at your school. This happens a lot in another martial art that I’m high level in, and sometimes the details get changed from person to person. When they ask me why I do it differently, sometimes I think “whoops, yea, your right, I did do that wrong” or sometimes I’m very sure and think “Nope, so-and-so specifically told me this way because of this”. It’s always a welcomed exchange, and helps me think about my techniques.
There are also slightly different stances, for different fighting sports. Boxers, for example, seem to almost keep their front and back leg in one line, while kickboxers may have a wider stance. But I think keeping the weight on the balls of the foot would be the same for all. The back heel should be further of the ground than the front heel. That’s how I learned it.
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GiantkillerAs long as the weight is on the balls of the feet, why would it matter if the back heel was higher? A principal is a principal. When you assign unnecessary absolutes, it steers the system away from principals and towards dogma. I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but I hate dogma for the sake of dogma. As an instructor, I really don’t give a shit about how high the students heel is as long as they follow the principal.
It makes a difference. Try this. Stand on the balls of your feet as high as you can, and try to jump forward. Now stand on the balls of your feet as low as you can, and try to jump forward. Feels different don’t it?
Who knows which one is better, or if it REALLY matters.
And hey, I just thought of something. He said SOME of you had your arms too close. Might not have been you. And he might have meant that say… your hands were too close. If your hands are too close, then certainly your arms are too.
everyone should keep in mind that everybody is different. their size, how they move, how they stand, how they poop…etc. Principle is what really matters. “weight on the balls of your feet, weight forward” etc..
If you can be more explosive, quick, etc with your front foot flat..than that is what works for him. it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his weight on the front part/balls of the foot. Unless he specifically said NOT to put your weight on the balls of your feet….maybe he just forgot to say, “even though your front foot is flat, remember to always keep your weight forward and on the balls of your feet….”
James
Don’t take it to heart. The instructor has an obligation to get you to a point where you will be able to save your own life. While some instructors have better people skills than others, I’m sure they all have a common goal of providing you with quality instruction as they see best. Slight variations in technique are to be expected and could be beneficial in you finding a more comfortable stance even if it’s not “textbook” accurate to every instructor.
For those of you who spent some time in the military, “stop goofing off” probably would have sounded more like “get your head out of your ass, you should know this already”.
He’d be the instructor I’d make sure not to miss.
quote vwr32:Don’t take it to heart. The instructor has an obligation to get you to a point where you will be able to save your own life. While some instructors have better people skills than others, I’m sure they all have a common goal of providing you with quality instruction as they see best. Slight variations in technique are to be expected and could be beneficial in you finding a more comfortable stance even if it’s not “textbook” accurate to every instructor.For those of you who spent some time in the military, “stop goofing off” probably would have sounded more like “get your head out of your ass, you should know this already”.
He’d be the instructor I’d make sure not to miss.
The stop goofing off comment was made as my partner and I were doing exactly as we were instructed. I had several issues with what had happened. First, he doesn’t teach very often. I’ve been going to class about 3-4 times a week for about 7 months now. I’ve had him twice. The comment wasn’t a “get your head out of your ass” motivational comment…it was a “in my class you don’t mess around” comment. As if he wanted to flex his “I’m an instructor and you’re not” muscles. Every other instructor I’ve had knows that we take the training seriously. Respect the classes and the instructors. And don’t goof off, complain, or slack off.
Everyone here seems to agree that you should stand with your weight on the balls of both feet, no matter how high your heel is. My problem with his instruction was that he said we should have our front foot FLAT on the ground. Which in my opinion is just plain wrong. Even the owner of the facility/head instructor taught us that we should balance our weight on the balls of the feet.
I’ve had the instructors that work you to death to prepare you for real life situations. The ones that push you to your limit and bring out the best in you. There are a few of those at the facility and I try to never miss a class. This guy was far from that.
quote sevenor11:The stop goofing off comment was made as my partner and I were doing exactly as we were instructed. I had several issues with what had happened. First, he doesn’t teach very often. I’ve been going to class about 3-4 times a week for about 7 months now. I’ve had him twice. The comment wasn’t a “get your head out of your ass” motivational comment…it was a “in my class you don’t mess around” comment. As if he wanted to flex his “I’m an instructor and you’re not” muscles. Every other instructor I’ve had knows that we take the training seriously. Respect the classes and the instructors. And don’t goof off, complain, or slack off.Everyone here seems to agree that you should stand with your weight on the balls of both feet, no matter how high your heel is. My problem with his instruction was that he said we should have our front foot FLAT on the ground. Which in my opinion is just plain wrong. Even the owner of the facility/head instructor taught us that we should balance our weight on the balls of the feet.
I’ve had the instructors that work you to death to prepare you for real life situations. The ones that push you to your limit and bring out the best in you. There are a few of those at the facility and I try to never miss a class. This guy was far from that.
not trying to be offensive, but why the big fuss? It’s not like the instructor is constantly hounding you…I just let it pass. =)
quote KravMaga-ism:not trying to be offensive, but why the big fuss? It’s not like the instructor is constantly hounding you…I just let it pass. =)i second that. like you said, he doesn’t teach much…so avoid him if you don’t like the way he teaches. maybe he is a new instructor….everyone has a learning curve. If anything, i would just mention your problem with the senior instructor or the owner of the school. We all as instructors need feed back in order to become better at what we do. If he is a good instructor or at the least WANT to become the best instructor he can be, he should be open to criticism and feedback. If not, you can’t control him…but you can control which classes you attend. avoid him.
James
OK… I’m gonna chime in here. If you have a problem with an instructor, I think the best way to deal with it is to bring it directly to the instructor in a professional and tactful manner. This way you’re not jumping over his head and going to his boss if it was a misunderstanding or he was just having a bad day. Additionally, if it wasn’t a misunderstanding, there are probably other students in the class who felt the same way you did. If not one person is willing to speak up when someone is, in the students’ opinion, teaching ineffectively or acting inappropriately, there is a problem somewhere in the chain. If the instructor is completely unapproachable, someone higher up NEEDS to be notified so that his actions don’t cause further problems. If he just has an aggressive teaching style, but is approachable about it, you should dig deep and ask if he has a minute to talk to you about it. Those approaches will get results. Posting it on a message board and stating you’re just going to avoid his classes just sets you up for a “not my problem” mentality.
J-
P.S. Just a bit of constructive criticism… I’m open to it to if you think I’m way off base. 🙂
quote sevenor11:The stop goofing off comment was made as my partner and I were doing exactly as we were instructed. I had several issues with what had happened. First, he doesn’t teach very often. I’ve been going to class about 3-4 times a week for about 7 months now. I’ve had him twice. The comment wasn’t a “get your head out of your ass” motivational comment…it was a “in my class you don’t mess around” comment. As if he wanted to flex his “I’m an instructor and you’re not” muscles. Every other instructor I’ve had knows that we take the training seriously. Respect the classes and the instructors. And don’t goof off, complain, or slack off.Everyone here seems to agree that you should stand with your weight on the balls of both feet, no matter how high your heel is. My problem with his instruction was that he said we should have our front foot FLAT on the ground. Which in my opinion is just plain wrong. Even the owner of the facility/head instructor taught us that we should balance our weight on the balls of the feet.
I’ve had the instructors that work you to death to prepare you for real life situations. The ones that push you to your limit and bring out the best in you. There are a few of those at the facility and I try to never miss a class. This guy was far from that.
You know the situation better than anyone here.
Maybe he reads the forums.
If it helps, the Complete Krav Maga (Official Guide of Krav Maga Worldwide) says to “Keep your weight on the balls (not the heels) of your feet.” The picture shows trailing foot with heel off the ground maybe an inch, front foot looks flat. I don’t raise the heel of my forward foot, but still have weight on the ball. In addition to making you move faster, it helps me shift weight quicker left to right for kicks. Flat footed seems to take longer for me.In the pic, the guy’s back is completely straight, he has his chin tucked downward. It’s a very upright stance compared to what we do in class. I just do what they tell me. 🙂
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