09/10/2026
I have taught martial arts since 1988, and throughout those years I have attended thousands of hours of instructor courses covering Taekwon-Do including Chung Do Kwan, Oh Do Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Kukkiwon, the ITF and more as well as American/Tracey Kenpo, Hapkido, Judo, Tang Soo Do, Ninjutsu, Aikido and other systems.
My teaching style and philosophy have changed considerably over the years and they should have!
An instructor who teaches everything exactly as it was taught to them is not truly teaching. They are simply a record, replaying the same things they once heard and learned.
That does not mean the original instruction has no value. It certainly does. However, repeating the same teaching methods for decades without evaluating, adapting or improving them should raise questions.
General Choi Hong Hi is a perfect example. When I first learned from him in Michigan during the early 1980s, his teaching was different from what I experienced at the St. Louis instructors course when I attended as a third-degree black belt in the late 1980s. At every International Instructors Course and event I attended afterward right up until his passing in 2002 he continued changing things. Some changes were for the better, while others, in my opinion, were not. Nevertheless, he continued studying, evaluating and evolving.
Al Tracy of Tracy’s Kenpo was much the same. He constantly searched for ways to improve what and how he taught. I still regularly refer to his newsletters from the 1980s and 1990s because they remain excellent instructional resources today. The same was true of nearly every great instructor under whom I personally trained throughout the years. Ed Parker, his instructor also changed as he moved forward up until his death as well.
I am not talking about abandoning the traditions, principles or identity of the martial arts. I am talking about improving how we teach them.
Taekwon-Do was originally designed largely for military-aged men and women. That is why the Taekwon-Do of the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s was often extremely militaristic. I can walk into almost any dojang today and quickly recognize whether its instructors have evolved or whether they remain like those old vinyl records, playing the same lesson repeatedly.
It also amazes me when I enter a dojang or dojo and see nothing displayed except instructors’ rank certificates. Rank certificates certainly have value, but I often place even greater value on certificates showing continued education and instructor training.
A rank certificate shows what someone achieved.
Training certificates show they are still learning!
Instructors should also have a working library of reference books, curriculum guides and technical manuals. Every instructor makes mistakes I promise you that because every instructor is human.
My students and black belts know that when I have a doubt, I will go directly to our bookcase and verify the information. I especially do this when teaching material from a belt level we have not covered recently.
Currently, I have not taught much of our intermediate curriculum because we have had fewer students at those ranks. As more students are promoted into that level, I find myself referring to our technical manuals more frequently. I do not need them as often for our novice White and Yellow Belt curriculum or our Black Belt curriculum because I teach those so regularly that I could probably teach much of it in my sleep!
But experience does not mean pretending to know everything.
A knowledgeable instructor is not afraid to say, “Let me verify that.”
A great instructor continues studying, questioning, adapting and improving not because the traditions have no value, but because the students standing in front of us deserve the very best instruction we can provide today.
So, what kind of instructor are you?
Are you still learning, adapting and improving or are you simply pressing PLAY?
