Those Who Cannot Do…Teach?

There was a recent inquiry into one of my basic rubrics, that if someone disagrees with me about something I’m doing, unless they can establish expertise in that arena, their opinion is just one of thousands of opinions I hear every day and I can safely ignore it. If they establish more expertise than I possess, I pay close attention. If they possess greater expertise in multiple arenas of life, I empty my cup and pay VERY close attention.

Let’s get a little closer. Is it true that I don’t pay much attention to people unless they’ve accomplished in that arena OR I agree with their observations? Yes, it is. Are there people without expertise, who might have a negative opinion I would profit by listening to? Well…yes. But I DON’T find it likely that such people have observations that people who DO have expertise would miss. As I have created relationships with experts in every arena that matters to me, I think I can afford not to automatically be swayed just because someone thinks they have a good idea. How in the world would I survive an SF convention? EVERYONE has a great idea!

Sheesh. So…let’s look at some of the different kinds of people I’d like to study, model, or follow, and why. We’ll use both martial arts and writing as examples.

The cream of the cream would be the person who can BOTH “do” it and “teach” it. Sijo Muhammad is simply superb on this level: he can do it, teach it, explain it. Has produced streetfighters, point fighters, contact fighters, MMA fighters. So many champions. Has survived countless…