“Master” Versus “Teacher”

In traditional martial arts, the terms “master” and “teacher” are usually used interchangeably. But for the sake of this post, I make the following distinction:

• A master is someone whose own martial skill level is (or was) high
• A teacher is someone who has students whose martial skill level is high because of him/her

This is the same distinction that is often made in sports: a (good) player versus a (good) coach. Good players don’t necessarily make good coaches. And good coaches weren’t necessarily good players. The skills and methods to be a good player or master are not exactly the same as those to be a good coach or teacher.

Note that I emphasized above that a teacher is someone whose students are good because of him/her. Why the emphasis? Because sometimes students (of a bad teacher) were already good from having studied with a different (and good) teacher. And sometimes students become good despite having a bad teacher (note that this is not the same as students becoming better than their teacher, which I’ll discuss in another post). And then, of course, some people are just freaks/naturals and would be good almost no matter what.

So in the world of martial arts, a master has his/her own martial skill. And a teacher might have his/her own martial skill, but for sure his/her students (depending on their own abilities and other factors) should have martial skill from having studied with him/her.

Turns out some people are masters, while others are teachers. And occasionally—but not that often—people are both. Unfortunately, quite a few are neither.

So what’s most important for you to find? A master? A teacher? Both? (More on this in an upcoming post.)