There is a huge difference between being a teacher or instructor and being a coach. In this video lesson I talk about that difference, and it matters whichever side of the mat you stand on.

If you are a student, you have to decide whether you want to be taught or coached. If you are a teacher, you have to decide whether you want to become a coach. Both are honest choices, but they lead to very different results.

What A Teacher Does

A teacher passes on information. Here is the technique, here is the kata, here is the syllabus for your next grade. The class follows the same plan whoever turns up. That is not a bad thing. Plenty of good martial artists learned that way, and a structured syllabus has real value.

The limit is that the information goes one way. The teacher shows, the students copy, and whether the technique actually works for that particular person is often left to chance.

What A Coach Does

A coach starts with the person in front of them. What is their body like? What are they good at? What are they afraid of? What do they actually need the skill for? Then the coach shapes the training around the answers.

As a boxing coach I cannot just show a fighter a hook and walk away. I have to watch how they throw it, see where the power leaks out, fix their feet, and then put them under pressure to see if it holds up. That is coaching. It is ongoing, it is personal, and it is measured by what the student can do, not by what the coach knows.

Which Do You Want?

For students, ask yourself honestly:

  • Do I want a grading path and a club to belong to?
  • Or do I want someone to make me as good as I can be, as fast as possible?

For instructors, the questions are harder. Coaching takes more time, more attention and more honesty. You have to tell people what they are doing wrong and then help them fix it. You also have to keep learning yourself, because every student brings a new problem.

My view is simple. The best instructors are coaches first. They still have a syllabus, but they never hide behind it.

Take It Further

If you teach and want to coach pressure point fighting properly, look at the PPDT International Instructor Course. If you want to be coached one to one, my Private Mentoring is built around exactly that.