Attributes of a good coach

yomchi

I'd be interested to hear views from you guys on this.

What in your opinion defines a good coach?

Is it someone with vast experience in their said art? Is it someone who has won several fights and titles? Someone who stays in shape all year round and leads by example?

Or something completely different?

Khannie

I was about to answer, but I would probably sound like a big lick (my coach reads these boards) so I've decided not to inflate his ego.

What's your own take on it?

cowzerp

Khannie wrote: »

I was about to answer, but I would probably sound like a big lick (my coach reads these boards) so I've decided not to inflate his ego.

What's your own take on it?

Although the fact you mentioned him means you where going to say stuff about him so you've already done the licking!!

roneythetube

One attribute my coach has is that he can tell me something that I KNOW he has already told me previously - yet the way he puts it, it is like the first time he has told me. I suppose patience is a key teaching attribute. I reckon it is just one of his many wonderful teaching skills.

yomchi

Khannie wrote: »

I was about to answer, but I would probably sound like a big lick (my coach reads these boards) so I've decided not to inflate his ego.

What's your own take on it?

I suppose being a good communicator is essential to getting the best out of an athlete. You do also need to be scientific in your approach to training as opposed to being out of date or old school.

Most importantly however you need to put your competitors first, people who are in amateur coaching positions for a quick buck quite frankly piss me off. You need to have integrity above all things.

Martin25

A good coach will make you work very hard and demand the best from you!

Niall Keane

Youtube:
Sayama Satoru
There's a video of him training his students, (he started Shooto).

Personally I believe that to train fighters one has to be harsh. Fitness clubbers and posers are a different matter. Of course from my experience the two types cannot be mixed. Clubbers will not last in a purely fighter gym, and very few serious fighters actually exist, far too few for any commercial enterprise. Most gyms that produce fighters and are running as a commercial outfit also have watered down classes for the masses.
A student of mine also trains at Vos, he told me about the public and fighter classes there, and how the fighter classes were very small, a handful with a hell a lot of full contact heavy sparring, and remarked on how similar the mentality and toughness was to the Wudang class here in Ireland. We visited another top Sanda gym in Switzerland another time, and again he remarked on how similar the spartan nature of the set up was, and how fighters were seperated from those of a more delicate disposition.
Of course my student at the time was pretty new to all this, I've seen this same situation play out over 14-15 years of competing at international level, the number of serious individuals is very small in any dicipline.

So the question has to be asked a coach of what exactly?

I'm not Satoru, and don't walk about the training area with a stick, but I have heard the odd remark within earshot that I am harsh??? I have only a handful of students, all of them have won internationals save one guy who debuts this year.
I would consider my method far gentler than my own coach, we trained on concrete, often without gloves. The head of Wudang Dan Docherty (1980 SE Asian open Weight Champion of Chinese Boxing) once told me of his introduction to his teacher Cheng Tin Hung. Cheng told him to punch him as hard as he could to demonstrate Nei Gung, after which he began a class. when they started sparing Dan was partnered with another student who knocked Dan down with a punch and cracked his nose, the beating continued, Dan appealed with a look to Cheng who shrugged his shoulders and let it continue. Leson learned - this was fighting not play!
I always tell my students that I am training them to be better than me, because I am going to teach them everything I know and I expect they have some tricks of their own, so my knowledge conbined with theirs should surpass mine? When I spar new guys, I take it easy obviously, sometimes throwing slower kicks and letting them hang a bit, so the new guys can catch it and throw me, you know, learn the dynamics of the art. As they get better the speed and power of my attacks increases until they can spar freely with the not so careful other students.
As I train my fighters, I likewise adjust my sparing. They sometimes look at new guys and wonder if someone can be that bad, when I tell them that they once were, they don't believe me. I find this interesting. When they spar me they do their best to try to knock me out. I take this as a job well done. A fighter should have unbreakable intent.

I have absolutely no interest in training people for fittness or handing out belts and being bowed to, but this gives some teachers and their students a sence of achievement. Life is short, each to their own and all. In otherwords I would be a disasterous commercial coach, losing students by the bucketful?

I was told that Cheng Tin Hung always refered to the martial arts as "the world of truth and lies", this is so true on so many levels!

yomchi

Personally I believe that to train fighters one has to be harsh

I gave up reading it after after this opening.

foams

you need a deep understanding of your sport and the ability to spot a weakness in your students technique that would not be obivious to most, and the ability to get your point across, sounds quite basic but its a skill in itself.

Martin25

Niall
Very interesting post,I read about Sifu Dan years ago and he seems to have done a lot in his lifetime.
happy training
Martin

Niall Keane

Quote:
Personally I believe that to train fighters one has to be harsh

I gave up reading it after after this opening.

Yomchi your original post asks:

What in your opinion defines a good coach?

Why dismiss me, were you genuinely posting this question, or should it read:

"Please confirm my opinion of what a good coach is?"

yomchi

Niall Keane wrote: »

Quote:
Personally I believe that to train fighters one has to be harsh




Yomchi your original post asks:



Why dismiss me, were you genuinely posting this question, or should it read:

"Please confirm my opinion of what a good coach is?"

Forgive me, the way you opened your post it made it look like you were quoting Sayama Sotoru.

I did ask for your opinion, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it

just-joe

I think a deep technical understanding of the discipline/sport is very important ( as mentioned before, and not having outdated.old-school training methods), and also the ability to judge the level of each individual student's strengths and weaknesses. Lastly being a good motivator is obviously important when it comes to fitness work.

One thing that annoys me about coaches is that alot of them are on a big ego-trip and are there for themselves rather than to teach. eg Teaching a technique by "look at how I do this/look what I can to do" rather than using explanations and adapting it to the individual.

Niall Keane

Forgive me, the way you opened your post it made it look like you were quoting Sayama Sotoru.

I did ask for your opinion, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it

No prob Yomchi, it would be a pretty boring world if everyone did!

arybvtcw0eolkf

yomchi wrote: »

What in your opinion defines a good coach?

Is it someone with vast experience in their said art? Is it someone who has won several fights and titles? Someone who stays in shape all year round and leads by example?

Or something completely different?

Well as you know I've recently done a level one course in coaching with the IJA & Coaching Ireland so whatever I'd post here would be just rehashed stuff from the course.

But taking this part of your question..

"Is it someone with vast experience in their said art? Is it someone who has won several fights and titles?"

I'll give you an example of the worse.

I train in various clubs so no use trying to read between the lines with this one!.

Recently I was training under a coach who ticks all those boxes, but has little or no people skills (IMO).

During practice I was countered while attempting a certain technique (Osoto Gari) by the very same technique. My Osoto Gari would be one of my stronger throw's so I couldn't figure where I'd gone wrong.

So I asked my coach!.. And boy did I regret that.

"[Name] where did I go wrong with that Osoto Gari?"...

"Your Osoto Gari is sh*t" (stupid laugh, playing to an audience)..

(me) "Seriously I'm asking you a straight question. How was my Osoto Gari countered"..

[COACH looks around to his audience] "yea, your Osoto Gari is sh*t".

And thats from a coach who people would expect to be an authority on coaching if 'experience', titles' & fights at the very highest level counted for anything.

And unfortunetly I think if we looked around we'd see more examples of bad coaching than good.