17/07/2026
Being a Sensei means...it is never about you...
Many years ago, when I decided to open my own dojo, I was given some of the best advice about being a "Sensei" from the man who would become my actual Sensei several years later.
Eddie Bethea Kyoshi was someone I had known since I was a little kid going to tournaments. Over the years he became a mentor first, and eventually my own Sensei. Not a day goes by that I don't appreciate that our paths crossed again and that I eventually joined the ranks of his amazing students.
He told me, "When you teach others, they don't care about you, your background, or your greatness. All they care about is how much you help them learn, improve, and become great at their Karate. It is always about what they can do, never about what you can do."
Sound advice? Absolutely.
What Sensei meant was that no matter how many titles I may have won, no matter what rank I have earned, and no matter what I can demonstrate...the student is the entire focus when you teach, never you.
Some years later, while attending a rather large seminar, I noticed that very few of the instructors were actually teaching. How so? Most of them were talking about their backgrounds and accomplishments. They were, in a nutshell, trying to impress the people who had paid to learn from them.
Almost immediately my mind went back to what Sensei had told me, and I realized that, in some ways, many people who teach martial arts may have missed that lesson entirely.
The way I see it, once I accept someone as a student, nothing about me is important anymore. Everything is about teaching them.
It isn't about how well I can perform a Kata...it is about making them great at it. It doesn't matter how good I am at fighting...it is about teaching them to become better than I ever was. It doesn't matter how solid my self-defense ability is...it is about making sure I teach them properly so they can use those skills if they are ever needed.
When I would go on vacation, I often found a local school to visit and, if permitted, participate in class. Many times, the instructor was putting on a show. Everything was about them and how great they were. It always reminded me that those things don't matter.
What does matter is keeping the focus entirely on the students, helping them improve, and helping them grow.
Even today, when I am invited to teach a seminar, I talk very little. We get right into training. It is never about how good I am at doing something...it is about making them better while I am teaching them.
I have never liked being a show-off, which is one reason competing has always been difficult for me. I would rather be teaching than out there trying to prove how good I am. Yes, I still compete to this day, but even then, I am the guy cheering on my fellow competitors and clapping for them when they finish.
Quite simply, I believe the best example I can set is not in what I perform at that moment, but in how I treat other people.
The only thing that matters to me as a Sensei is the students. I don't care how well I can do something...I care about how well I can help them do it. I don't need accolades for what I accomplish, but I make sure my students receive them when they achieve something.
The Sensei is the teacher. The students are always the priority.
Teaching them is not about me...it is, and always will be, about them.
