Many of our Martial Arts Mind conversations touch on the essential topic of the relationship between the student and the teacher, since it's one of the things that really defines a great martial arts experience.
But when it comes to choosing a model during the early stages of practice, there is another relationship that comes to the fore: the complex interplay between the master and the monster.
The raging, me-victorious "monster" can triumph in the short-term but is it enough to see real success over a long arc of training? And what are the sacrifices for the student who chooses the path of the calmer, inconspicuous "master"?
We discuss these and more with Kyoshi Matthew Fremon - a 5th-degree black belt instructor and 25-year student of Ken Shi Kai (a branch of Kyokoshin karate), and a brown belt pursuing his black belt at Brooklyn Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
