There was a question about school charters and instructor
licenses. I'll try to clear up some of the confusion.
A school charter is what a particular school / dojo is recognized
by a larger / parent organization. It allows the dojo to use
certain items such as patches that are owned / copyrighted by the
parent organization.
An instructor license allows the instructor to use the material he
or she learned and be able to use all symbols, patches, etc that
belong to the school where he / she trained.
Confused yet? The sound the same but they are slightly
different. For example if someone becomes a black belt at the dojo
here in Aberdeen and the want to become an instructor they can do so
without either of the above mentioned items. Now if they move
somewhere else and want to open up their own kenpo dojo and develop
their own school requirements yet want to be tied or affiliated to a
larger organization they would need a school charter. Now if that
same person wanted to teach the exact same thing that is taught here
at the Aberdeen dojo and be able to use the same training material
(techniques, patches, etc) he or she would need an instructor's
license. You can get a school charter without getting an
instructor's license. If you get an instructor's license you
automatically get a school charter. This allows you to use
copyrighted materials developed by this dojo. One you are an
instructor you're always an instructor. An instructor's license is
just that, a license to teach outside the head dojo. It can be
revoked by the head dojo at anytime. If you just want to teach at
the head dojo then you don't need a charter or license. They only
apply if you want to open up your own dojo.
Now I'm sure the next question is do we have a charter with any
other organization? Right now the answer is now. The one style of
kenpo that I studied shut down. They did issue school charters only
but now they are all void since the parent organization no longer
exists. Also our curriculum has been modified and some of the
techniques changed for student safety and liability concerns. Also
certain techniques that are not practical and would never work
outside of the dojo's controlled environment have been eliminated.
Several other techniques from different styles of kenpo have also
been added. Additionally some jeet kune do concepts and wing chun
principals have also been added. One of the dojos where I plan on
testing for my 3rd Dan doesn't teach any weaponry. They view kobudo
as something only for karate traditionalists. Each school is
slightly different. I am researching several different
organizations regarding school charters. I'm trying to find one
that would benefit our dojo the best rather than just waste money.