Whats the deal with Tommy Carruthers?

[jkd786]

TC charges £50 an hour now, i think this is too much to charge someone who wants to learn JKD. In my opinion there are other talented JKD instructors in the UK who offer private lessons half the price compared to TC and are equally as good as him, just my opinion nothing against the guy.

[Prof Vic 20]

Hey

First post on here, I found the forum by accident and really liked the input on threads like this so I've signed up.

So here's my hat in the arena, so to speak.

I prefer not to judge anyone's skill unless I've trained with them - and that's their skill as a teacher AND martial artist. Let's not forget those skills go way beyond what happens on the mats and their chosen system of combat. Pedigree, personality, experience, and dare I say it? - customer service - are all factors for me. Also, do they walk the walk? I don't necessarily mean do they get into brawls or enter illegal competitions in Hong Kong. I mean are they of a black belt martial artists but white belt role models.

I do not think having bits on YouTube makes you a bad martial artist, in the same way being featured in magazines doesn't make you a good one. An instructor may give a good enough impression in print or film to motivate me to train with him, but if I don't like what I see I deselect the instructor from my training programme. This in itself is the most powerful way you can voice your opinion about a coach, and you offend nobody.

For the people working very hard to flame a man who's not around to defend himself, you need to remember all you're doing is working very hard to give people around the world that you've never met a really bad impression of you. You may not care about that, and that's up to you. But then again you might. You'll change more minds and make more points with constructive, reasoned, rational debate. "He's a tool" is just an opinion and not one to stop me training with anyone, though it tells me a lot about the person posting it. Likewise, "He's a good teacher, though a little expensive and I'd question his experience." is much more useful. If you have an axe to grind, may I suggest a forum for blacksmiths? I'm sure we all expect martial artists to operate on a higher level. So nyah! :P

I mean all this with respect, guys. Sorry for going on and making my first post a preach, I promise I'm usually a lot less mature.

[jm1978]

he looks fast and he has some practical experience as a bar bouncer, so if I lived in the area I would investigate. Many people exaggerate credentials and certifications, so if he did do taht (not established) then that does not mean he is necessarily unqualified.

[pbear]

Originally Posted by Prof Vic 20

Hey

First post on here, I found the forum by accident and really liked the input on threads like this so I've signed up.

So here's my hat in the arena, so to speak.

I prefer not to judge anyone's skill unless I've trained with them - and that's their skill as a teacher AND martial artist. Let's not forget those skills go way beyond what happens on the mats and their chosen system of combat. Pedigree, personality, experience, and dare I say it? - customer service - are all factors for me. Also, do they walk the walk? I don't necessarily mean do they get into brawls or enter illegal competitions in Hong Kong. I mean are they of a black belt martial artists but white belt role models.

I do not think having bits on YouTube makes you a bad martial artist, in the same way being featured in magazines doesn't make you a good one. An instructor may give a good enough impression in print or film to motivate me to train with him, but if I don't like what I see I deselect the instructor from my training programme. This in itself is the most powerful way you can voice your opinion about a coach, and you offend nobody.

For the people working very hard to flame a man who's not around to defend himself, you need to remember all you're doing is working very hard to give people around the world that you've never met a really bad impression of you. You may not care about that, and that's up to you. But then again you might. You'll change more minds and make more points with constructive, reasoned, rational debate. "He's a tool" is just an opinion and not one to stop me training with anyone, though it tells me a lot about the person posting it. Likewise, "He's a good teacher, though a little expensive and I'd question his experience." is much more useful. If you have an axe to grind, may I suggest a forum for blacksmiths? I'm sure we all expect martial artists to operate on a higher level. So nyah! :P

I mean all this with respect, guys. Sorry for going on and making my first post a preach, I promise I'm usually a lot less mature.

excellent post a very good read especially the "forum for blacksmiths" bit

[Michael Wright]

Originally Posted by Prof Vic 20

Hey

I prefer not to judge anyone's skill unless I've trained with them

For the people working very hard to flame a man who's not around to defend himself, you need to remember all you're doing is working very hard to give people around the world that you've never met a really bad impression of you. You may not care about that, and that's up to you. But then again you might. You'll change more minds and make more points with constructive, reasoned, rational debate.

Sorry for going on and making my first post a preach, I promise I'm usually a lot less mature.

I'm a little lost as to who you are addressing your issues to. If you read this thread properly, from the outset, you will see it is largely positive and supportive of Mr Carruthers.

All of my points are about my experiences in my training with him, and positive experiences they were too. Everyone else's input, like Mike B's, is very much "constructive, reasoned, rational debate". Someone from Scotland, clearly with an alternate agenda, pitched in with all the negatives and we soon took him to task.

So yes, your post was preachy, and it was also misjudged. Maybe stick around the forum a little longer before you share your wisdom how to hold debate.

[Prof Vic 20]

Originally Posted by Michael Wright

I'm a little lost as to who you are addressing your issues to. If you read this thread properly, from the outset, you will see it is largely positive and supportive of Mr Carruthers.

All of my points are about my experiences in my training with him, and positive experiences they were too. Everyone else's input, like Mike B's, is very much "constructive, reasoned, rational debate". Someone from Scotland, clearly with an alternate agenda, pitched in with all the negatives and we soon took him to task.

So yes, your post was preachy, and it was also misjudged. Maybe stick around the forum a little longer before you share your wisdom how to hold debate.

Michael, I read this thread from end to end before posting and I wasn't aiming any of my comments at you. Sorry if you got that impression. It's in fact your posts and those from the other Mike that I found the most engaging and what made me want to subscribe. And I totally agree that your posts were constructive, reasoned and rational.

You also rightly pointed out that someone from Scotland clearly has an alternate agenda and pitched in with the negatives. Hence my post.

So yes, I was preachy. Not sure I'd say it was misjudged. And I wish I had wisdom to share! :P For now, I was just pitching in with the debate and I would hope to be around a lot longer.

[Tant01]

Greetings and welcome Prof Vic 20. I look forward to reading more from you!

Regards,

~RG.

[Prof Vic 20]

Originally Posted by Tant01

Greetings and welcome Prof Vic 20. I look forward to reading more from you!

Regards,

~RG.

Thank you! I read more than I post, so I'm probably a little quiet, but I think the standard here is very high. I can tell there's some knowledgeable martial artists here and I'm learning a lot.

[Michael Wright]

Originally Posted by Prof Vic 20

Michael, I read this thread from end to end before posting and I wasn't aiming any of my comments at you. Sorry if you got that impression. It's in fact your posts and those from the other Mike that I found the most engaging and what made me want to subscribe. And I totally agree that your posts were constructive, reasoned and rational.

You also rightly pointed out that someone from Scotland clearly has an alternate agenda and pitched in with the negatives. Hence my post.

So yes, I was preachy. Not sure I'd say it was misjudged. And I wish I had wisdom to share! :P For now, I was just pitching in with the debate and I would hope to be around a lot longer.

OK, understood. Your post didn't seem to suggest a specific audience, therefore it came across as if you were telling all and sundry how to debate. If I have misunderstood it then fair enough, no hard feelings.

Welcome.

[drdavidhicks]

I certainly hope that "child molester" tag was not directed at Roy Harris, who IS an instructor of Vunak's, as well as Guro Dan's and a black belt in BJJ under Joe Moreira. He is an excellent instructor, a class act, and a first rate human being.

[Larsson]

Just came across this thread thought I'd give my 2cents.

Those who are so quick to say he is crap, really do need to do some better research.

1. Actually go and look up Gary Dill's credentials even better ask any of the OBLS, he is a big fraud he did not spend long enough with Lee to learn anything. There were videos of him on youtube teaching the straight blast, funny funny video.

2. Paul Vunak, probably my first introduction into JKD after seeing Bruce Lee. But there are so many fake instructors under him eg. Sifu Lopez sells JKD intructor certificates on Ebay, you never need to train with him just buy the DVD, get a certificate and start up your school! (couldnt find the ebay page but here Jeet Kune Do, Kali Silat, OFT DVD Certification).. this is an example of instructors under Lopez now YouTube - kuliena's BOOM BOOM JKD Channel

3. Tommy never claims to be the best or the next bruce lee. But its evident from his training and the way he talks about JKD that he strives to be the best he can. As for Shamrock calling out Tommy, it never happened you can ask Shamrock yourself.

Last point those that saw Tommy at Seni will have seen how different he is now compared to the youtube videos that were recorded some 7years ago, he has really modified his JKD to become extremly effiecient and effective.