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If I become a member or take a course do I need to resign from my own style? |
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No, The International Budo Institute was formed to act either as a primary and/or secondary resource center for martial artists.
It is the primary source if the student solely follows courses at The Institute, either inside one of our dojos or through the home study program. It becomes a secondary source if the student supplements his or her own style studies with knowledge found here. No one is asked to resign from any other school in order to become a member of The International Budo Institute. Often, students are placed in a difficult position as some teachers require them to be only their student and thus if they follow courses elsewhere they are often asked to choose between the two schools or teachers.
The above mentality is considered to be ego-based and selfish on the part of these instructors. Students should be allowed to follow whichever teacher they want and should be able to obtain materials wherever they want. Otherwise stated, education in the martial arts needs to be open and universal - a founding principle of The International Budo Institute. It is my belief as the founder that this is the way Budo was in the early days. Students would study from several different teachers and travel distances to do so. Of course, they may have had one primary teacher, however, that didn't stop them from finding information elsewhere to broaden their horizons. |
