I thought I would write my first personal post on a subject that gets me very... motivated - simply because there is a great deal of nonsense spoken about it within karate circles. Is it best to teach karate as a full-time instructor, part-time or just as a hobby (something you do 2 or 3 nights a week after work and presumably unpaid).
Let me come at it from the opposite angle and ask how much time do you need to invest in order to teach karate?
I am afraid that I have attended far too many classes where the instructor has simply turned up and 'made it up' as he goes along. This is poor teaching as the class has no focus, no structure, no overall aim and no direction. If this is the extent of the planning for every class then you really are flying blind and if you happen to learn everything you need to pass shodan then it is more down to fortune than planning. Classes do not need to be micro-planned to the very minute but there must be a structure per class that fits into an overarching structure per grade that fits into a general structure for the whole syllabus. Planning, then, is at the heart of good teaching but it takes time. You also require time to review and reflect on each lesson.
Running a club is something that cannot be done by just 'turning up' twice a week to the dojo. The time required to build and maintain websites, reach out to the local community through schools and other establishments, and also providing sufficient opportunities for your members to train (everyone lives a hectic lifestyle and is looking for what fits their life, not what fits your life) requires you to provide many classes and work hard outside of the dojo.
In a nutshell, to run a well oiled club you need time. Now yes, if you have a club of only 30 members and you have no intention of ever expanding beyond this, you can run an amateur, make-do club and probably find a way to get by. You may even produce one or two excellent karate-ka and everyone who attends may have fun. But... is this the best system?
Now, I am not saying that there are not problems with full-time instructors too but I do think that full-time instructors can offer more to their students in principle. They have the time to spend on their own training, be it attending courses, visiting other clubs to train and thinking about, reading and watching karate. They can also spend their time planning their classes, thinking about their student development and offer more of their time to their students. They can also use their time to prepare websites, materials, videos and other 'out of dojo' resources that can enhance their student's training and improve the overall functioning of the club. Also, this is a big one, they can turn up to class refreshed and full of energy, not drained after a hard day's work.
Of course, as I say, there are problems. For example, just because a full-time instructor does have the time to do all of the above, it does not mean that they do. In addition, there is the thorny issue of money! An instructor I much admire said to me once 'behind every argument in karate ultimately lies the issue of money.' I think he is on to something with this although I would also add power/ego.
The full-time instructor, if they own the business/club, will always have the pressure of revenue and cost to deal with. The problem, however, is profit. There are things you can do to increase profit and reduce the standard and credibility of your club (e.g. giving away black belts too easily, quickly or cheaply). The allure of money can corrupt the full-time instructor if profit comes before their training and karate principles.
Part-time is, in my opinion, the worst of both and the best of none.
The answer - it depends entirely on the individual. There are good instructors who do their teaching as a hobby and there are good full-time instructors who are not out to rip you off!
There is one thing for sure - no one can claim that one way is better than the other.
Simon
(I should declare that I am a full-time instructor.)
