Lineage is often something that mentioned in martial arts. People asking who your instructor was and who their instructor was etc. People querying where a particular technique in your art came from or why you something a particular way.

How important is lineage to you in your martial arts training?

Would you think less of your instructor if he taught a technique that he originally learned from a book or dvd or saw on tv?

Do you care where a technique comes from as long as it works?

Just wondering what your thoughts were.

My opinions on lineage swing wildly.

Ask me on one day, and I'll say lineage isn't worth a bean, as the name of your teachers teacher doesn't guarantee that your teacher is able to pass on what he knows, if he understood it himself when he learned.

Ask me another day, and I'll say lineage can be important. It can guarantee that what you are learning comes from a good source, and isn't a scam.

Generally, I tend to favour the first option. Just because what you're learning comes from an excellent background, it doesn't necessarily follow that the person who is passing it on to you is able to do so effectively.

I think that there is a natural lineage from wherever you learn you art from. Even from a DVD it would be a style being taught e.g. Tai Chi, and through history you could research where tai chi comes from. I agree that so long as you have quality in your practise and you practise with a full commitment and love for you art, people can feel if its right for them or not.

I think that knowing your roots is important, as we should respect our ancestors and previous masters but I don't think that knowing exactly where it all comes from has any effect on if the Art is in good spirits here in the present.

Ryusui_Ryu wrote:
I think that there is a natural lineage from wherever you learn you art from. Even from a DVD it would be a style being taught e.g. Tai Chi, and through history you could research where tai chi comes from.

I think a major point of lineage, is not so much being able to see who previous teachers were, as much as being able to trace your "family tree" back to the "source" of the art.

It's just nice to know who your family is. You can usually tell another's family by their technique and terminology. Some people can have a great family and they're still crap, while others can be brought up in an orphanage or just be locked in a dark room and still turn out good.

I know many people who became good despite their instructor!

I value my instructors because they all helped me a lot. It probably doesn't matter a jot to others tho'...

Steve Rowe wrote:
It's just nice to know who your family is. You can usually tell another's family by their technique and terminology. Some people can have a great family and they're still crap, while others can be brought up in an orphanage or just be locked in a dark room and still turn out good.

I know many people who became good despite their instructor!

I value my instructors because they all helped me a lot. It probably doesn't matter a jot to others tho'...

I like this answer a lot. For me I've met so many people that I rate and who have helped me over the years, but most of my students couldn't care less about where I learned a particular technique or concept from as long as it works for them.