Here's a question for you...with swording becoming more and more popular, has anyone run into people claiming to be qualified instructors but really having no skill?

I have run into a couple myself. With the availability of affordable swords, there seems to be a growing interest in swordsmanship. I fear that there is now a rush of so-called masters coming out of the wordwork. Teaching sport sword with poor understanding is one thing. Being sloppy with a bamboo or foam sword and typically the worst that will happen is a nasty bruise. With the ever growing interest in live blade, one mistake and someone dies.

To see what I mean just go on youtube.com and see the morons (and I really do mean morons) cutting water bottles off people's heads while dressed like their favorite anime character. To me, this is the equivelant to playing cowboys and indians with real guns and arrows.

At the Battle of Atlanta, several people came up to me and said that they study both competition sword (XMA) and "traditional" sword. When I asked them what school (ryu, kwan, etc.), they didn't know. How can you be training in a martial art for 2 years and not know the its name !

OK...my rant is over. Anyway, I am curious if others have run into these people.

Thank you

I sympathize with you.

Of course, you know the first arguments (not necessarily on this forum) will be "What standards make a person 'qualified?'"; define "skill;" and, "Who made you the keeper of the standards?"

I'd like to say that it'll (unfortunately) take a senseless, accidental loss of life by one of the idiots you speak of to turn those same people around, but who would I be kidding? Nasty accidents have already occurred and I dare say that just about the only people who have benefitted from the misfortunes of those applying for the Darwin club are those already in the sword community and those smart enough to shop around with at least a vague understanding of what to look for.

That ilk has been around for a long time and will be here for a long time to come, though its membership may sustain some turnover. The most we can do is make ourselves available for education and represent something better.

Casey:

I totally understand that you identify with my concern, but I would like to address the questions you posed so I don't just sound like a jerk .

1. "What standards make a person 'qualified?'"
-If you are teaching under an organization, your dan certificates would be the standard. Believe me, I know how easy it is to forge those documents (remember, I'm a graphic designer) and I have caught so-called masters red-handed in their forgery. However, at least a teaching certificate is something tangible.

If one is totally self taught, well that opens a huge can of worms. Let me just say this point, if a person has no one else to determine thier qualifications or in the least judge thier performance (instructors, competitions, peers, etc.), how can you know if you are qualified?

2. "...define "skill;"
-Skill can sometimes be subjective. I have taught people who in thier first month have surpased others who have trained for years. I define skill as a fundamental proficiency and basic knowledge of the weapon. If one doesn't know why your hands are placed here and your feet are placed there, how can you teach it?


3. "...Who made you the keeper of the standards?"
- Obviously, I am not the keeper of standards for everyone, but I am at my school. Being an instructor, I feel a certain responsibilty to ensure safety among practioners and to help propagate the arts. I have trained with many people over my many years and have seen things that I liked and thing I didn't. Every school, regardless if they are in the same organization or an entirely different art, has thier own way of doing things. A stance that may be OK in one art, may be wrong to another. However, I believe that all arts share the common understanding that safety is extremely important and can not be put aside. Common sense can not be abandoned simply because this "trick" would look cool or to better line my pockets.

In conlusion, I have made it a point to help foster friendship and comradery between different arts and schools. With this aspect, I have had to many times hold my tongue so as not to accidentally offend someone. I feel that my concern here goes beyond the risk of offending; it is a matter of right and wrong. Whenever I hear someone tell me that they do very dangerous things with a sharp weapon, I politely advise them not to. If that person wants to win the Darwin Award, there really isn't too much one can do but I feel I should at least warn them. What offends me is imposters teaching these very dangerous habits to students who don't know any better. A teacher with no sense of responsibilty is not a martial artist but a con artist.

Thank you

I didn't think you sounded like a jerk at all, Tom. And I'm in line with your thoughts on "qualified" and "skilled." I was simply playing the role of the devil's advocate. This is one of those issues where we tend to hear the same responses.

I've had a run in with him. He makes me look tactful and polite.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=HonGyakku

I've seen on Cheness water bottle testing and it is cool (to me ). I guess because I am young I like the little expoltion, but the guy is an idiot. I have been luckly in having a great intructor. Its a great question and does make you think. P.S. We need more rants.

Funny hat. What I find curious about this guy's videos isn't necessarily his target holders. This is actually a somewhat traditional practice as far as I'm aware, akin to the cucumber on the throat or the belly, which is also an extremely dangerous exercise. What I found so odd here was the "self defense" techniques illustrated in the guy's second video, where he uses his sword on an unarmed opponent, who initiates the confrontation with a punch. Uh...what?

I didn't find anything necessarily "dangerous" in those videos. (At least no more dangerous than chingum kyukgum .) He was using a short sword on a fairly large target (water bottles) and wasn't moving at blinding speed.

I've never heard of the guy (although he lives only a few miles away) but the dojang looked like the old Combat Academy of Martial Arts in Austin. I have trained with Bujinkan (ninjutsu) people in the past and, by and large, they seemed to be dedicated martial artists with good sword technique.

Anyone who places a video on the web can probably expect the worst. I'll take Charles' word that the guy is a jerk.

Speaking of whom, it seems that Charles is becoming quite the Haedong Kumdo diplomat I've run across Charles on other boards and have observed him to be very polite and motivational. Even the above mentioned individual had fairly nice things to say about him. It seems that our Charlie is all grown up ! It's nice to see Haedong Kumdo people not being *&%^&^%&^@## in public (or private). Makes one proud to be associated with this group.

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later regardless of how much he fought it.

Is the Haedong Kumdo forum open to non-members of that branch? If so, what's the link?