How important is lineage to you when picking a school/inst.

[neit]

for me lineage is only about legitimacy. i dont want to learn from a liar or fraud. otherwise the lesson speaks for itself.

[brothernumber9]

When I first decided to join the school where I am at, lineage had zero to do with my choice. I never studied any martial arts before that time, outside of some Thompkins Karate as a kid, and some JKD stuff through a friend.

Now that I have studied for a fair while, hypothetically, If I were to look for a new place to train as a result of whatever circumstance, then I would have to say that lineage would factor into my decision, but not as much as checking a place, or places, out and verifying if they offered what I was looking for. But I would use my knowledge of lineages as a sort of fraud finder if my "cheesy gung" sense was tingling.

[bodhitree]

It can be a good thing, or a not so important thing. No matter how good someone's lineage is, that does not make that person a good teacher. I like that Judo has the USJF/ other governing bodies, a governing organization that gives you some idea as to where a person/instructor is. There are also people who can't perform well but know the in s and out s and make excellent teachers.

[TenTigers]

Lineage will only get you so far. You can have the worst student under the best teacher. What is lineage worth then?
You may be the founder, or second generation-such as I Liq Ch'uan's Sam Chin-who is held in high esteem in Mo-Lum.
It is all about the teacher's hand, character, and ability to teach.

[Fu-Pow]

2 important things when looking for a place to train:

1) good teacher

2) correct method

Lineage has nothing to say about #1. Lineage means that you MIGHT have the right method of training. But even
that is no guarantee as the teacher may have totally screwed things up from
the time he learned from his teacher.

FP

[xcakid]

I guess I have a follow up question: How far would you go into checking the validity of lineage?

I mean I could say, I studied under Yip Man himself.

[Water-quan]

I guess I have a follow up question: How far would you go into checking the validity of lineage?

I mean I could say, I studied under Yip Man himself.

Some great teachers have poor students... and some teachers produce students who surpass them. For me, personally, lineage means nothign beyond a historical interest. if a person completely made up their art, but clearly had a profound skill and depth of knowledge, that is all that would matter.

Another aspect of all of this is the practice of "leeching" off other people's reputations - like saying "such a bod in our system was great, or could use trad kung fu, therefore I... we... are great" and so on. Look how shamelessly Bruce Lee's name is used.

[Water-quan]

for me lineage is only about legitimacy. i dont want to learn from a liar or fraud. otherwise the lesson speaks for itself.

I can understand that, and if someone wants to learn a genuine art, then they want to find someone who knows it. But, obviously some famous teachers have a lot of students, and legitimacy is no indication of skill level, of course.

There is another aspect - when people really ask themselves the most important question: "why do I want to learn kung fu", then part of it is often the feeling of belonging to something - quite a natural desire, i think... which makes lineage more important to some than others.