Who makes a better teacher?

[imperialtaichi]

Assuming both have utmost integrity and as the students' well being at heart;

But one is a Sifu who believes he knows his art very well (and he does) and never changes;

And the other who sees himself as a trainer, and continues to attend all kinds of martial arts courses and forever evolving his art...

Who would make a better teacher you reckon?

[xiao yao]

both have their place; one keeps alive tradition, another innovates and develops

[imperialtaichi]

Originally Posted by xiao yao

both have their place; one keeps alive tradition, another innovates and develops

Yes. But who would you rather learn from if you can only pick one?

[xiao yao]

haha, thats a difficult question.

i would probably go for the traditional approach, as i think there are no shortage of innovators out there nowadays, so it is important to keep the old ways alive too

that is just my opinion, i have trained with both kinds of teacher, and i suppose it depends on your goals. i like the feeling of knowing i am doing my kung fu the same way the ancestors did it

[hulkout]

It all depends on how he tries to evolve the art. Wing Chun is a principle based system, not technique based. If someone is able to add things while keeping the principles, then I'd say he'd be the better teacher. Also he should take time and really learn it properly. But if he's the kind of guy who dabbles here and there and never really learns anything in depth properly, then he would not be very good. For example, I know of a Wing Chun sifu who supposedly like to combine Muay Thai with Wing Chun. Well his Muay Thai is garbage. His roundhouse kicks are horrible as are his other techniques. His Wing Chun is decent. But if you're going to add other stuff to your art and especially if you intend to teach it to others, you'd better make sure that you learn it properly first. It's like watching most JKD guys do boxing drills. Go to a boxing gym and show them that stuff and they'll laugh you out the door. Some JKD guys are good. Most of them aren't. If you want to cross train and learn other arts, fine. Learn them properly from a qualified teacher. Then you can add things to Wing Chun as your base art. But if you watch a couple of videos or attend a seminar or two and then feel qualified to create your own modified Wing Chun, you'll be in for a rude awakening.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Originally Posted by imperialtaichi

Assuming both have utmost integrity and as the students' well being at heart;

But one is a Sifu who believes he knows his art very well (and he does) and never changes;

And the other who sees himself as a trainer, and continues to attend all kinds of martial arts courses and forever evolving his art...

Who would make a better teacher you reckon?

Teacher of WHAT?

[Vajramusti]

Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin

Teacher of WHAT?

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Right question.

joy

[Lee Chiang Po]

Not everyone can teach. Teaching requires a great deal of focus and patience, and it requires a great deal of organization. It doesn't matter if he can fight, don't matter how good he might be, if he does not have the teaching skills he will only empart chaos and misunderstanding.