As they age I think most martial art teachers wonder what will happen to their club and teachings when they pass.

Legacy has changed as martial arts have moved from east to west and integrated. No longer do we have a style passed through family or club as the idea of ‘family’ and ‘secrets’ has largely been shown to be false and not work.

It’s rare that sons and daughters carry the talent of an originator and even if they do, for it to go down through more generations is almost impossible. There are no secrets, as the formula for talent is written into the basics of every system and only good coaching, hard work, blood sweat and tears will allow them to unfold. Each generation will be different and find their own way.

When teachers get frustrated because they fear all their knowledge won’t get passed on that’s their ego talking, because they want clones but if they’ve taught well they’ve planted the seeds that will probably flower in a different hybrid long after they’re gone. That is the ‘way’.

These days students can train in different arts with different coaches until they find their way. If they develop an internal locus of power and the skill of intelligent discrimination they will forge their own path that meets their needs and their true talent will unfold rather than following an incestuous path of limited information and bullying control.

This has happened in the past of course and if you look at the founding fathers of any art or style it’s how they will have learned. Today’s teachers have to realise that instead of founding a dynasty, they are a part of a much larger jigsaw puzzle and it’s not wrong that whatever they’ve built breaks up when they pass because everyone they’ve ever taught carries their teachings in their DNA and it will be passed on in one way or another.