One, you are 19. You don't have the life skills to teach someone like me, who is older and has different physiological issues you have no experience dealing with.
Next, you are not ranked. How will you instill a sense of achievement and goal setting in your students if you not only haven't done so yourself, but you haven't even established a baseline that the rest of the world has already expected of you? Belts and rank are important, but their use can be abused. When you use them properly, you will see that it will be important for you to achieve your certifications.
Next, you indicate no experience in self-defense - only point and regular sparring. You mention Taekwondo. This is a red flag because often, Taekwondo-in have no idea what forms are, or what self-defense is. Do you really know what you are doing in your forms? Do you have a grasp of self-defense concepts? Do you even know what the concepts are? With only 8 years of experience in Taekwondo, it is highly unlikely you've been taught anything you can teach others.
Next, I question your instructors whom you've "beaten". What does that mean, and what does that prove? Beating someone shows only skill, but not knowledge or wisdom. And beating a 4th dan tells me that the 4th dan was not very good or was going easy on you.
Your teaching endeavors should begin in your dojang. If you are instructor material, you will first have to prove your capability by taking on small groups. When that is done, you will gain more responsibility. But you have to earn that responsibility. You have to be the role model you expect of your students. And that includes working toward your rank. That shows initiative, and it provides a gauge for your students to evaluate you and take you seriously. Why would anyone want to receive instruction from someone who isn't even a black belt? The attitude you convey is like "Well, I couldn't make it as a student, so I'm gonna try as an instructor". What have you been doing for 8 years? If you've been practicing earnestly for several times a week, and at home, you should be demonstrating black-belt quality skills. If you haven't been practicing like that, or you have huge gaps in your attendance, then that is not something you should be proudly exemplifying to your students.
So, start by being serious, and meet the minimum bar. Get your black belt.
Next, expand your knowledge. Study your forms - that is the basis for your self-defense. If you can't do this at your current school, then your current school is doing you a disservice, and is disgraceful.
Next, begin by taking small groups of students in your school. You'll do this under qualified guidance. You'll make many mistakes, but, you'll do most of your learning in this phase.
Next, take on a class every now and then. After that, become a regular instructor capable of teaching on your own. To get to this stage, it should be at least another 4 years or more from where you're at right now.
As to your comment about others with no certifications and open up a shop, just know that they are laughing stocks of the MA world. Further, they are endangering the health and safety of their students, who probably don't know better.
Here's a perspective: When you teach someone self-defense skills, you are teaching them a skill that can save their life - an awesome responsibility. Do you have the skills to teach someone how to save their own (or their loved one's) life? If that doesn't sound like a huge responsibility and a scary prospect, then I don't think you know what you're getting into. Doing this incurs responsibility - often legal responsibility. What will you do when a student of yours batters the brains out of someone over something silly? What will you do when a student of yours gets killed because he got overpowered using a sparring maneuver on the street? Do you know your liability in these cases?
Yes, there are a lot of charlatans out there. That doesn't mean you should lump yourself in that crowd. Rise up and be better than them. Now is not your time to rescue the students who are being poorly taught. Let it be your incentive to do better, and to act now.
EDIT: I noticed your comments to other answerers. You seem argumentative and unable to handle critique. You need to break that mold. Accept criticism. You seemed particularly cross to a well-respected and knowledgeable contributor here. That shows you are close-minded, so I doubt my answer will be well-received either. But you are clearly not open-minded, and that is something else you need to change if you are going to be successful. You learn from your mistakes, not by arguing or justifying them. To be a good instructor, you have to be a leader. To be a leader means to accept humility.
EDIT2: You said "i've had training for looong time at TKD but what bothers me is the mma trainer has no experience and he can teach martial arts why can't i?"
My answer to you is this: the MMA trainer is likely teaching a sport, not self-defense. You indicate you want to teach self-defense. These are very different things. A loss in a sport means you get to try again another day. That's often not an option to a person who loses in self-defense.
You've just learned how to fight. You don't know how to share what you have learned with people of various ages, sizes, temperaments, and abilities. I suggest you go back and get your black belt either where you were, or from another school or source.
If they are telling you that you should be a black belt, they are also wondering why you have not done what you need to do to become one. Sounds like everyone is waiting on you.
Most people who know anything about martial arts will not train under someone who is not at least a 1st degree black belt, no matter how good that person may actually be as an instructor. The only exception I know about is BJJ. In BJJ, a purple belt can be an instructor, last time I checked. But, that purple belt instructor may have at least 10 years of experience in that art.
To be able to spar well doesn't make someone qualified to teach. That is a misconception. If it was like that....people that grew up fighting and got barely hit should be considered master of all arts. Not only they are not masters of all arts but I they are no masters of any art.
You need to have a 3rd to 4th dan to teach in most of the styles that have rankings and belts. Being able to teach means that you can pass knowledge of a certain style in a safe both mentally and physical way to others. It means that you can communicate with others and be able to motivate them and convince them to follow your lead, with out unhealthy and unsafe mentalities ans practices. It means that you can keep them interested.
Sparring, or even good self-defense skills are not qualifications. Like that...many of the people that I know with no martial arts background on what so ever, have much more proven self-defense skills than the average martial artists. They don't go and teach TKD or something else because of them. Think about it and you will see.
Having a black belt doesn't mean you are qualified to teach. Not having a black belt mean you are even less qualified to teach. Winning in some sports point sparring or other sparring doesn't not qualified anyone to teach. That is not even closely or remotely related to self defense. Therefore based upon your statements I would say that you should;t be teaching any martial arts right now. You need to learn more before you are qualified to teach on your own. You may be okay to help out in class, but not to have your one students and no one to guide you.
Boy you are totally out of touch with the real world. Of course you are not qualified to teach there is a good reason why you are not a black belt. And by the way a black belt does not qualify anyone to teach. A qualified instructor is several ranks above the first level black belt. And, for the record either the instructors were going easy on you when sparring, OR they were really terrible in the first place.
...
Can you? Yes. Should you? No. And based on everything you've written here, I wouldn't take lessons from you for free. You come off as conceited and if you can't even stay dedicated enough to keep training and go through the steps to actually earn your black belt, why are you qualified to teach anyone? And winning some sparring matches does not equal qualification.
So yes, please, go get a building and open your own school. Have fun losing all your money. I'm sure you'll find someone else to blame it on other than yourself.
Being good at something and being able to teach something are two very different skill sets. I suggest that you start off by teaching one of your friends and seeing what you both make of it before you start with strangers.
You will also need to get some real world experience first before you start teaching "self defence". Martial arts, especially sportified arts like TKD and MMA, are NOT the same as self defence. You'd need to learn a style that trains against weapons, particularly knives. Ninjutsu would be best for this.
Any respectable self defence instructor already has their share of scars.
yeah I agree with others here besides...with Mr. K and the violence part about martial arts.. humans are violent not martial arts.. actions done are by humans not by the actual art being done.. in any sport there is violence its a human action caused by emotions. self defence and violence are two different things, true martial artist can use non violence to handle them selves, this is self defence at its true nature.. violence is done when someone is normally angry or want to prove something or for revenge this done with emotions and not in a clear mind..
No you need a level 1 coaching degree or equivalent in your country to really teach anything. That's the only way to get insured. I stick to teaching when I'm requested to.
Hello, i' am 19 years old i live in michigan and I have done taekwondo for like 8 years now i should of already had my black belt but i stopped testing to get my next belts. I' am really good at sparring and when i went to my taekwondo class, if we sparred . We had like 4 instructors 2nd degree to 4th degree black belts and i could beat them in point sparring matches or just regular sparring. They even have said i should be a black belt by now and should start testing. Well i haven't went to my class in like months now i just practice with myself i have a kicking bag outside and stuff so when i get bored i do that. My real question is. Can i teach martial arts for money or no money doesn't matter which i just want to teach people how to defend themselves. Despite me being certified with a black belt. I know people that do mma some of them don't have certifications they just open up a building and teach mma and they don't even know what they are doing. Hope to have an answer soon! Thanks
