When I
hear the word “expert,” I immediately think of individuals who have spent a
large amount of time learning and working on a specific subject. Typically, I think of individuals who have
taught me different lessons or skills.
So to me I would define an expert as someone who has a great deal of
knowledge about their field and who have earned the right to teach others what
they have learned. I know that this is
different from the definitions given by dictionaries, but I feel that overall
it has the same message. For me I feel
as though a person cannot be an expert until they have a solid enough
understand of their subject or skill that they can successfully pass it on to
others. After all, what is the point of
being an expert of something and compiling all of that knowledge on the subject
if you are not willing to pass it on to the next generation and to hopefully
keep the subject improving and evolving.
At my
martial arts school it was common for certain black belts to help teach some of
the lower ranking members of the school before the more advanced class
started. Fortunately for me, I was
offered this opportunity even though I was a few years younger than those whom
I taught. I am not going to lie,
originally I felt that I did not deserve to teach others because I would not
have the respect of those whom I was trying to teach because of my age and that
I would be an unfit teacher because I was still learning myself. When I expressed to my head instructor that I
was no expert on martial arts and how I felt that I had a long way to go before
I could teach anyone, he told me some famous
quotes by martial arts expert Bruce Lee which I still value today (the
quotes can be found at the end of this post).
The first quote was a message that even a martial artist as good as
Bruce Lee never considered himself a master and that he was constantly learning
and improving as he worked. The second
was about how knowing about yourself will help you interact with other people and
that by putting in the effort and constantly improving, it is possible to earn
other people’s respect and admiration.
After hearing these lessons, I felt much more comfortable about teaching
others and I must say that I am extremely glad I did because I feel that I
learned more by teaching others and helping them out than I did by practicing
by myself. It felt good to see that
those whom I was teaching saw me as someone who had the knowledge to help them
improve their skills – to them I was the expert.
I have
to be honest and say that I am nowhere near an expert in martial arts. I am merely someone who is slightly above
average. Yet, to my students I was
someone whom they respected and trusted enough that they were willing to learn
from me. This was an experience that I
really valued, not only for the chance to help out my fellow students, but for
the opportunity to learn what it was like to teach someone about something I
had knowledge about.
“I'm not a master,
I'm a student-master, meaning that I have the knowledge of a master and the
expertise of a master, but I'm still learning, so I'm a student-master. I don't
believe in the word master, I consider the master as such when they close the
casket.” - Bruce Lee
“Self-knowledge involves relationship. To know oneself is to
study oneself in action with another person. Relationship is a process of self
evaluation and self revelation. Relationship is the mirror in which you
discover yourself – to be is to be related” - Bruce Lee
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