KENPO COMES HOME PART 5
By Jeff Speakman

Similar to the metaphor in the martial arts that a good instructor gets his students to believe in him and a master instructor gets his students to believe in themselves, this path is not for the closed minded. I have always pursued my relationships with my students with the idea that discovering themselves through this art is far more important than any belt, trophy or self aggrandizement you can achieve. The Journey is the destination in this case and much of life as well. Of course the down side of this approach is that you need to have the courage to let your students go if they choose to do so, even if you disagree with their direction. Easier said than done, but this is the point.

The next day I gave my speech to the organizational committee and participants back at the hotel in Datong. I spoke of the embarrassment of the over commercialization of the martial arts in America, and the empty accomplishments of so many. I highlighted that in the over 25 years of studying and teaching coupled with the 11 movies I have starred in I could have hundreds of black belt student all over the world, but I have 37. And that there are some schools and teachers who prefer to keep to the old ways and pursue accomplishments in the arts through time-honored dedication and discipline. After the speech a monk from the Shoalin Temple came up to Mr. Sherman and myself and invited us to stay with them for a month and study. As you can guess, that will be another article in itself. Constantly amazed at how little most instructors demand of their students for their requirements for belt advancement I find myself continually clashing with the larger commercial martial arts community. This reality is especially true for those schools located outside of the USA and in popular vacation spots of the world. So many instructors use black belt promotions to pay for their chance to travel abroad and see the world, and the students know it.

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