PhDs & Physical Training

I've been thinking a lot about physical training and PhD work lately. Shock, I know. For the past couple years, I've trained at several different schools, and the teachers at all the schools were highly competent. The difference came with their students. At one school, the students never seemed to progress past a certain point. At another school, the students seemed to make regular progress--and some even excelled.

It may sound naive, but training under a guru or master or black belt who can't teach is pointless. What they can do is impressive, but I want to make sure that I can do it as well. If I just want to watch quality moves, I can turn on YouTube. So, at this point in my life, if I'm looking for training from teachers or buying materials, I am not just interested in what the guru or primary instructor can do. There are lots of gifted people who can do incredible things. As a student, I want to see how his lower level instructors are doing, I want to see how his students are doing, and I'd like to get a sense of the progress they make. If a teacher has students that regularly progress and improve, yes! I'm there. And I think the teacher should emphasize those students' achievements, for they are also demonstrations of the instructor's teaching abilities. And, that helps sell me.

One of the reasons I applied to TTU, and didn't think I would get in, was the placement record of their graduates and the publication records of their faculty. It was obvious that faculty remained engaged, and it was clear that the graduates were obtaining consistent and quality places in the market. To me, that is an indication that the faculty are not just good at research and good at what they do, but that they are also capable of training quality tech comm folks for the market and for academia.

Regardless of intellectual or physical training, I want to learn from people who can not just do things, and do them well, but can train others to exactly the same high level of quality of thinking, writing, and moving. This demonstrates a commitment to the tradition and development of the intellect and body.