If you ask most martial arts instructors out there are you a Jedi master or Sith Lord it is most probable that all of them would answer, “why Jedi Master of course.”
No one in their right mind would say, well of course I am a Sith Lord. This makes complete sense, after all as martial artists are suppose to be about honor and respect, love and compassion, right from wrong. However when I look around at most schools and many of the styles what I see is models that resemble something more akin to Sith Lord’s.
This may seem rather strange but let me explain.
In order to become a Jedi master you must simply prove yourself worthy. It is the hope that all Jedi padawans become Jedi Knights and when of course ready Jedi Masters. A teacher expects their student to become the same level as them if not surpass them. As such there is a Jedi master council of masters who are equal and all have valid opinions.
In the Sith model there is usually only one Sith Master. In this model the only way to become a master is by the death of your current master usually at your own hands as this “proves” you are better. If a Sith master dies of natural causes than those below fight it out to find out to be the next master. Quite the waste if you ask me.
Any ideas yet why I consider most martial arts instructors to be Sith lords?
At Urban Tactics it is our hope and or goal that all of our students meet or exceed our abilities in Krav Maga. This choice is rather easy for us as the purpose is to teach self defense not artistic mastery. We want all our students to be able to defend themselves to the best of their abilities. If those abilities happen to be better than ours then we know we have done our job.
If I look at a traditional style, there is often a master or grand master or some equivalent title. Usually there is only ever another master if they die. While this could be due to respect and honor it seems rather silly as if a student is better then should they not be the master? or rather should they not now be equals happy to continue to teach their respective style to everyone who wants to learn?
While I cannot pretend to understand the details around the last few years of Imi’s death it is clear there was a power struggle, much like the sith lords. Now, there are many Krav Maga organizations with heads all claiming to be the head of Krav Maga. Instead of perfecting the system they diverged and keep their moves and ideologies secret, as if teaching people the most optimal way to defend themselves should be a secret. To me this is selfish and accomplishes nothing.
The result has been that everyone and their son thinks they are a Krav Maga expert. When I look around North America I continue to see sub par schools with sub par instructors all teaching different things and calling it Krav Maga. This does nothing for those who truly wish to defend themselves and gives many the false sense of security as they “know” Krav maga but can barely throw a punch let alone know the history of Krav Maga.
For comparison, lets also look at karate. When the modern founder died and named his successor a Korean the other masters were offended as karate is suppose to be Japanese, even though its origins can be traced to China. Now there are at least 5 major types of Karate and numerous offshoots all claiming to be the true form.
The reality is all this bickering and continuous splitting once an original master dies has nothing to do which style is better it has to do with ego plain and simple. If you have your students bowing down to you and running around calling you master, creating a cult like environment this is ego driven and more akin to the Sith than the Jedi.
Not to mention that all humans have a brain, two legs and two arms so how can there realistically more than one style that is truly effective. We are after all fundamentally the same. Shouldn’t all the so called masters and grand masters come together to devise one system that works plain and simple?
I mean is it not the point of martial arts to learn to defend oneself from harm? Shouldn’t we all want a perfect system and curriculum that keeps it simple and covers all types of attacks from the root of all attacks which is of course the brain?
So I ask you to really consider, as an instructor are you a Jedi Master or really a Sith lord?
If you are doing anything other than sharing information and making people better physically and mentally then I suggest that you might in fact be a Sith lord. Please, dispel your ego, dispel the theatrics and focus on what its all really about, making the world a better place one student at a time.
Written by: Jonathan Fader