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These alleged myths came from proponents of fighting systems that are "different" and "better suited for self-defense" than traditional martial arts. These debunkers probably have been "different" their entire lives, and their schools seem attract others who are "different." Since most potential students are not "different," these school are usually local, small, and not commercially viable.When you are a full-time school owner whose only income is from students, you will find you cannot survive if you only accept "different" students or you use tactics that scare students away.

Alleged Myth 1

You must use honoring titles such as sifu, sensei, sabum, etc. to maintain a proper sense of respect in school.

Debunker Says

Your students should be quiet and respectful when you are teaching because they are there to learn and genuinely respect you, not because they have to refer to you by a title from a different language.

Debunker Says

Debunkers seem to think it the military that fosters this social tradition of respecting different classes of people.

Rebuttal

If this type of thinking has validity, you would think other areas of society would think the same way. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Which came first the class structure in society or the military? Humans, as well as other animals, have a class structure. Examples in the animal world are the pecking order in chickens and the pack structure of wolves. Class structure helps people understand the world around them and how they relate to it. Just look around you and you see other instances in society where titles are used and where it is considered disrespectful to use first names. For examples: your doctor, your pastor, your parents, grandparents, etc., your teacher, professor, etc., a police officer, and a government official

When respect is not shown when addressing people, they lose respect for you. If you permit your child to address you by your first name, the child will no longer view you as the person in authority who sets standards and enforces them. Instead, you will be viewed as a friend who is expected to support everything the child does without criticism.

Alleged Myth 2

You must teach classes by having students line up and grunt acknowledgments in unison.

Debunker Says

This myth is associated with the traditional martial arts and stems from teaching methods derived from military. It is not the way that ancient Samurai or Hwarang warriors trained and it is not the way we should train today.

Rebuttal

Again, the military! I would dare say that people, who accuse the military way as bad, probably have problems accepting authority from any part of society. Controlling a class of five or six students if not too difficult, since when you tell a student to do or not to do something, eye contact will usually suffice to ensure the order was understood. In a large class of martial arts students where safety is an even greater concern and instructor must ensure every student hears, understands, and compiles with all instructions, each student must acknowledge all orders. Go to an aerobics class or a pep rally. How does the leader increase interest and energy levels? They get the people to be vocal. Also, how do we know how the Samurai taught classes?

Alleged Myth 3

You must not give your students too much information, too fast, because "if you sell all the merchandise on your shelves no one will come back to the store."

Debunker Says

This is perhaps the stupidest myth associated with martial arts. It may apply to a teacher of forms and techniques, but should never be a concern to a fighter. If it is, then you lack the most valuable commodity a fighter can have—imagination. How can you run out of an art that has no limitations?

Rebuttal

You may give any type of student to much information, too fast. In a mental educational environment, teachers must always be mindful of presenting too much information too quickly, so that students will remember the information and, most of all, comprehend the information. In a physical educational environment, such as a martial arts class, students must understand and comprehend how to perform technique but they must also physically perform the technique in an effective manner. Knowing many techniques will not make you a better fighter. Bill Wallace was a world champion full-contact fighter, basically using only one leg. To train for a self-defense situation, you only need to practice using a few techniques under many different circumstances, such as the Koga Method of police tactics. When you learn too many techniques superficially, when self-defense is required, you have to decide which one to use in a given situation.

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