It still amazes me to see the kids at a progress check training class. I am in awe of the fact that they are accomplishing something that even some adults can’t manage. I’ve seen so many adults start MA’s with the intention of getting a black belt, and quitting halfway through. These kids are special because they are learning perseverance so early in life. They will undoubtedly be successful in many aspects of their lives.
Admiration
June 1st, 20091st Degree
May 10th, 2009It’s been quite a while since my last post. A lot has changed and improved since that time. I’ve received my first degree on my Black Belt and also decided that I’d like to open my own studio. My sensei is very supportive and we’re now working towards making that happen. It is such a joy to see the students blossom and grow. A lot of the one’s who started with me are now in the advanced children and adult classes. My middle daughter has started training at the school and I am overjoyed! I can’t wait till my baby girl starts when she turns five. Till next time…
New Students
November 17th, 2008New students are refreshing. They are so wide-eyed and excited when they start training. They soak up everything that you teach them like sponges. It reminds me of when I started and also when I received my Black Belt. My instructor says that his best students are those who have the experience of a Black Belt and the enthusiasm of a white belt. Even after more than 10 years, I still get excited to go to class and see what things are happening that day. The only drawback I can see from the new students is that they are so hard on themselves. They have a tendency to make their mistakes personal like something is wrong with them. My hope is that they will soon see that mistakes are nothing to get worked up about. It’s okay to cut yourself some slack; especially keeping in mind that martial arts is very difficult to begin with. You’re teaching your body and brain a new set of rules and it takes time to adjust. Mistakes are sometimes the best way to learn and as such, should be appreciated.
Black Belt
November 8th, 2008The Black Belt worn is just a piece of cloth. That alone does not make someone a Martial Artist anymore than putting on a Fireman’s uniform makes someone able to put out fires. Neither of them can do anything without the person that wears them. These outward symbols are representation’s of the person’s core, of who they are.
Caring
October 12th, 2008I am amazed at how my sensei can maintain a high level of enthusiasm day in and day out. He holds weekly training sessions for all his instructors and at each one, he emphasizes the need to be “caring”. He says that in order to be a good instructor, we have to care about our students. With that as our foundation, we can unsure that each student will end each and every class with a sense of accomplishment. He stresses that this is what keeps them coming back for years! He couples his love for his art, with sound psychological aspects and caring. It makes sense.
New students
October 11th, 2008We just had 12 new children begin training with us this week. It is interesting to see the different levels of excitement from the kids. They ranged from completely excited to bored to absolutely freaked out. This is the exciting part for me as an instructor: there’s no telling which one’s of them will not stay with us very long and which one’s will be around for a long time. There is no way to determine any of that on their first day and kids have a remarkable way of surprising you. I’m looking forward to being part of their development.
This week:
October 1st, 2008This week I find myself recognizing another change in my perspective. Some of my reasons for continuing to teach are different from the reasons that I started with. Here are the current ones:
- I’m challenged each and every time I teach
- Despite years of training, my personal expectations keep going up
- I am constantly impressed by my sensei
- More and more people are impressed by me
- I am impressed by the students
- There is still unlimited potential for me as a student, and instructor
Learning curve
September 7th, 2008I’ve noticed something lately about the adult students that I teach. It seems as though most of the adults that get into martial arts are very exacting and demanding on themselves. They are exacting in the fact that they have entered into a sport/hobby that requires specific movements to be successful in certain situations. This is a tremendous amount of pressure to put on themselves on a daily and weekly basis. Most people would not dream of making their lives more difficult by participating in such a venture, but the MA does. Also, due to their detailed natures, the adult students on not very forgiving of themselves when they make a mistake. While whatever specific move they are doing at the moment is very simple, they need to keep in mind that they know thousands of such small moves. The overlooking or improper execution of one of those is miniscule when taken as a whole. I guess that all us practitioners suffer from the same drive to better ourselves.
Leading and Teaching
August 19th, 2008I’ve recently found that my perspective as an instructor has changed. I have gotten to the point where I’m very comfortable with most teaching situations that come up. This has allowed me to be extremely focused on the needs of each student that I’m teaching. On any given day, I will find myself instructing one-on-one as well as leading groups of students. The one-on-ones are currently very easy for me. With regard to the groups, I am now able to utilize the school’s mirrors to oversee that groups as I lead them. This is exceptionally challenging due to the fact that all activity is reversed from my perspective. Additionally, the larger the group, the farther away the students in the back row are and the more difficult for me to observe. My focus while leading is to ensure the group is following properly and to identify when one or more students are having problems. I need to alter the pace as needed while ensuring that the more capable students are still adequately engaged and interested. I’ve learned from my sensei that the key to successful teaching is making each class interesting for all and not leaving anyone feeling left behind. It is a balancing act that I am becoming more at ease with. My new goal is to help the other instructors attain this level of comfort with their teaching.