How much schooling do you need to be a martial art teacher?

Answer 1

Technically, in this day and age, anyone could open a martial arts school and teach. Sadly, this is the case in many places. However, in the Okinawan Style that I study, Shorin-Ryu, and many other Okinawan styles I'm familiar with, most suggest that you can open a school after you reach 3rd degree black belt. Then you become a "Sensei" in your own right. I imagine many other styles also technically have requirements before you can open a school and be a legit teacher of that art.

Answer 2

It is generally prefered that you hold a Bachelor's degree in something if you are from America, or any industrialized country; one of the main selling points of Martial Arts schools is that "this is good for your kids; they will learn discipline and determination, which will transfer to other areas of life such as academics, and later on, the world of work." If a guy with a black belt around his waist did not even have the discipline and moral fiber to graduate from college, well, its "bad for business." Now, one of the most successful martial arts schools in the country, is the Shaolin Temple of America in New York HOWEVER, the head instructor, the master of the school Shi Yang Ming is a Shaolin monk. The modern Shaolin temple sees to it, that the kids get the equivalent of a High School education, additionally they also engage in a lot of Buddhist studies so although not officially a holder of a bachelor's degree, monk Shi Yang Ming is nevertheless well-educated. Buddhist scripture, I think has a library of 500 texts, maybe more, and study is not enough; according to Buddhist cannon, strict Buddhist cannon if you are serious about Buddhism, you are supposed to MEMORIZE it. All of it. I'm not joking around here, I'm serious; the Dalai Lama is the Dalai Lama because he knows, from Memory, I believe a good half of all Buddhist scripture. He has, memorized, the equivalent of roughly 4 doctorates. Many people interested in Kung Fu tend to be nerds, so before jumping into Shi Yang Ming's Kung Fu school, they do their homework. Although the Shaolin temple of New York has students from every educational background, there are people who hold Master's degrees studying there. The reason PhD holders listen to the Dalai Lama's opinions on things, has nothing to do with him being a political figure, so much as the awareness of the fact of what he had to endure in terms of education. The Dalai Lama received a strictly Buddhist education, and he knows very little in terms of science and math BUT, the volumes of the stuff he had to learn are so vast, it is respectable enough even for a college profesor to show a degree of deference. Because of that Beijing Olympics fiasco, the Dalai Lama isn't popular anymore; in attempting to use the attention focused on China, he miscalculated, if he was out to try to garner sympathy for Tibet. Overly long point made short; if you hold a black belt your life has to "demonstrate" the benefits of martial arts. Not saying people expect you to be a saint floating around on a Lotus leaf, but people do expect you to be more disciplined, self controlled, poised and yes, educated. If you make it all the way to PhD, all the while advancing in your belt ranking AND winning tournaments, even better. That will require much hard work though, if you wish to become a "scholar warrior." No Video Games, no television, no movies, and for the duration of your schooling, even, no girlfriend, so, better take a trip to Japan, or Latin America, find a high class hotie, have a woman before jumping into a long celibacy stretch and, while in college, focus only on your school work, martial arts, and meditation. After ten years of that, you should be a calm individual with a PhD, who has won several tournaments, in addition to, possibly, holding a 4th degree or higher black belt. With that kind of credentials under you, your school is guaranteed to have more success than most. Now, its not REQUIRED, BUT, the more education you have, the better, because people more or less expect the head instructor of a martial arts school to both effectively be able to defend themselves in a fight as well as have a degree of "wisdom" and intellectual authority. If you are serious though the path will not be easy; you are looking at an extremely boring life lacking in 21st century entertainment, composed of almost nothing except hard studying, hard training, and in ALL your spare moments, meditation. If you wish to be an ideal instructor, a respectable instructor, one that stands out, you will need to meet those requirements and because you will not see a woman for a long time, again I strongly suggest you visit a foreign country where hot women are common place and, pardon the vulgarity but, you need to get laid, as you are not going to see a woman for a long time during the duration of your academic years. Not if you are planning on working hard in becoming an ideal instructor. Again you don't need it, its not required, but if you wish to stand out, if you wish to be well thought of, well respected and more importantly, train students that will have a high survival rate when attacked in bars or on the streets, you will need to make those sacrifices. Only so many years to a man's life, and not enough hours in the day; that is a sad fact. After 10 years of pursuing your bachelor's, master's, PhD, and through it all, training hard in martial arts, and engaging in meditation, who knows you may even become a true master. good luck.