Life lessons from the dojo
Sep. 26th, 2013 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eveglassSo many take-aways from today's lesson. I decided to try out a new memory technique to remember all the things I want to write down, and it apparently worked quite well, as witnessed by the number of lessons I've got for last night's class.
#58: Keeping things secret increases their mystique... and scariness
One of the more experienced white belts had an exam last night to pass to yellow belt. However, unlike most dojos I've attended, where exams are done in public, this time the white belt was drawn away to a separate room, with the sensei and three other brown and black belts, for the half-hour exam. I'm not sure why it's done this way, whether it's for valid reasons (not taking up the class's time for the benefit of just one person) or less-valid reasons (wanting it to remain secret). Sure, once you've done your first exam, the rest are less scary because you know what's coming. But that first step... it's a doozy.
#59: You cannot 'go at your own pace' if the count is too fast
While the exam was going on, the class was being led by one of the brown belts. He had us going through chains of relatively simple movements, such as step-block-punch-punch. Because the class had a wide range of student levels, everything from new white belts to high-intermediate green belts, he told us to "go at our own pace." Which is great, and something I appreciate: the higher level students can go quickly, while the while belts can take their time and make sure they're doing things right. Sadly, though, when he started counting, he did it very fast. Most of the white belts were barely done the step before he was counting the next step-block-punch-punch. If it had been me, I might have separated out the colored belts and the white belts, had the colored belts going at a faster pace (perhaps counted out by the green belt) and gone more slowly for the white belts. But, again, it's not my class to teach.
#60: Know your audience's ability level
You know how I said just before that the movement chains the brown belt was introducing were 'relatively simple'? I lied. Sure, for someone like me, with eight years of experience, step-block-punch-punch is simple enough that I can do it without thinking. But most of the white belts -- who made up half the class -- were struggling. They don't know the blocks well enough to do them quickly, and some don't know them well enough to do slowly. Now, the brown belt had no way of knowing this before we started, but we were working in front of a mirror. It should have been pretty plain after the first few moves that half his class was struggling. Maybe he didn't care, maybe he wasn't an experienced enough instructor to tell, or maybe he was too focused on teaching to pay attention to the level of his students. (It happens. I've been there.) For whatever reason, he kept going, adding even more moves to the chain, and just let the white belts flounder. I hope none of them were too discouraged.
#61: Don't change your requirements midway through a project
So, to compound the problems of the movement chains, there was one more wrinkle. Sometimes, after he'd demonstrate a movement and we'd already started, he'd realize a tweak he could do to make it easier or faster and just throw that in. Things like adding an extra punch at the end so that the correct arm was in front, or changing the stance. I happened to be standing right behind him and I have the benefit of many years of experience, so I could both see what he was doing and smoothly incorporate it into my own movements. For people who didn't have both these benefits, the result was disaster. If you're asking people, especially beginners, to do a movement, you have to be absolutely crystal clear when you're starting, because there's only so much they can be expected to improvise.
#62: Appreciate what you already know
As a follow-up to all these critiques about the brown belt's instruction (I'm sorry, Mr. Brown Belt! I do this to everyone, especially myself!), the sensei had a bit of a monologue at the end of class in which he reminded everyone to take some time to appreciate what they already know. Some of the white belts have only been coming to class for a week or two, but they've actually done quite a bit of work in that time. They've learned the proper way to stand and walk, the proper way to throw a punch, the four basic blocks, and quite a number of other things. They know quite a bit more than when they started. No, they might not have the speed, fluidity, and depth of knowledge of a black belt, but that comes with time. For now, the important thing to remember is that they're already improving.
#63: Breathe appropriately
When the main sensei rejoined the class, we did some more basic-level katas, but this time he had us focus in particular on our breathing: breathe in as you're preparing a movement, breathe out as you're executing. If you don't do this, you'll become winded quite quickly. Try to do three or four katas in a row with strength and power but bad breath control, and you'll be panting by the end of it. (And not have any strength or power.) I think this is important for so much more than karate. When someone's in distress, emotionally or physically, one of the first things we tell them is to breathe. It is only when you've got control of your breathing that you can do anything else. Without breath, the rest is nothing. (And as an asthmatic, this strikes home even more for me.)
#64: When learning to fall, do it gently
I had a great time at the end of class as we were learning how to fall down. The sensei had piled up all the exercise mats from the corner into a big pile in the middle of the room, and we took turns falling onto it. First we did a pretty basic "falling" technique: squat down so your butt almost touches your feet, cross your arms across your chest, and when someone pushes you down onto the mats, fling open your arms and slap the mats with them. Then we moved up to slightly more difficult falling techniques, including a roll-over-your-shoulder break fall. Again, we started on the huge pile of mats, so even if we did it wrong (as most of us novices did, including me), it didn't really hurt very much. Then the sensei pulled out a single mat and asked if anyone wanted to try on that, and then if anyone wanted to try on the bare ground. These last two exercises were mostly done by more experienced students who'd had some practice with break-falls already. I think it was really smart to start with all the mats. It gave a safe space to practice without real risk of getting hurt. And if you're in a situation where you think failure is likely, it's very useful to protect yourself for when it inevitably happens.
#58: Keeping things secret increases their mystique... and scariness
One of the more experienced white belts had an exam last night to pass to yellow belt. However, unlike most dojos I've attended, where exams are done in public, this time the white belt was drawn away to a separate room, with the sensei and three other brown and black belts, for the half-hour exam. I'm not sure why it's done this way, whether it's for valid reasons (not taking up the class's time for the benefit of just one person) or less-valid reasons (wanting it to remain secret). Sure, once you've done your first exam, the rest are less scary because you know what's coming. But that first step... it's a doozy.
#59: You cannot 'go at your own pace' if the count is too fast
While the exam was going on, the class was being led by one of the brown belts. He had us going through chains of relatively simple movements, such as step-block-punch-punch. Because the class had a wide range of student levels, everything from new white belts to high-intermediate green belts, he told us to "go at our own pace." Which is great, and something I appreciate: the higher level students can go quickly, while the while belts can take their time and make sure they're doing things right. Sadly, though, when he started counting, he did it very fast. Most of the white belts were barely done the step before he was counting the next step-block-punch-punch. If it had been me, I might have separated out the colored belts and the white belts, had the colored belts going at a faster pace (perhaps counted out by the green belt) and gone more slowly for the white belts. But, again, it's not my class to teach.
#60: Know your audience's ability level
You know how I said just before that the movement chains the brown belt was introducing were 'relatively simple'? I lied. Sure, for someone like me, with eight years of experience, step-block-punch-punch is simple enough that I can do it without thinking. But most of the white belts -- who made up half the class -- were struggling. They don't know the blocks well enough to do them quickly, and some don't know them well enough to do slowly. Now, the brown belt had no way of knowing this before we started, but we were working in front of a mirror. It should have been pretty plain after the first few moves that half his class was struggling. Maybe he didn't care, maybe he wasn't an experienced enough instructor to tell, or maybe he was too focused on teaching to pay attention to the level of his students. (It happens. I've been there.) For whatever reason, he kept going, adding even more moves to the chain, and just let the white belts flounder. I hope none of them were too discouraged.
#61: Don't change your requirements midway through a project
So, to compound the problems of the movement chains, there was one more wrinkle. Sometimes, after he'd demonstrate a movement and we'd already started, he'd realize a tweak he could do to make it easier or faster and just throw that in. Things like adding an extra punch at the end so that the correct arm was in front, or changing the stance. I happened to be standing right behind him and I have the benefit of many years of experience, so I could both see what he was doing and smoothly incorporate it into my own movements. For people who didn't have both these benefits, the result was disaster. If you're asking people, especially beginners, to do a movement, you have to be absolutely crystal clear when you're starting, because there's only so much they can be expected to improvise.
#62: Appreciate what you already know
As a follow-up to all these critiques about the brown belt's instruction (I'm sorry, Mr. Brown Belt! I do this to everyone, especially myself!), the sensei had a bit of a monologue at the end of class in which he reminded everyone to take some time to appreciate what they already know. Some of the white belts have only been coming to class for a week or two, but they've actually done quite a bit of work in that time. They've learned the proper way to stand and walk, the proper way to throw a punch, the four basic blocks, and quite a number of other things. They know quite a bit more than when they started. No, they might not have the speed, fluidity, and depth of knowledge of a black belt, but that comes with time. For now, the important thing to remember is that they're already improving.
#63: Breathe appropriately
When the main sensei rejoined the class, we did some more basic-level katas, but this time he had us focus in particular on our breathing: breathe in as you're preparing a movement, breathe out as you're executing. If you don't do this, you'll become winded quite quickly. Try to do three or four katas in a row with strength and power but bad breath control, and you'll be panting by the end of it. (And not have any strength or power.) I think this is important for so much more than karate. When someone's in distress, emotionally or physically, one of the first things we tell them is to breathe. It is only when you've got control of your breathing that you can do anything else. Without breath, the rest is nothing. (And as an asthmatic, this strikes home even more for me.)
#64: When learning to fall, do it gently
I had a great time at the end of class as we were learning how to fall down. The sensei had piled up all the exercise mats from the corner into a big pile in the middle of the room, and we took turns falling onto it. First we did a pretty basic "falling" technique: squat down so your butt almost touches your feet, cross your arms across your chest, and when someone pushes you down onto the mats, fling open your arms and slap the mats with them. Then we moved up to slightly more difficult falling techniques, including a roll-over-your-shoulder break fall. Again, we started on the huge pile of mats, so even if we did it wrong (as most of us novices did, including me), it didn't really hurt very much. Then the sensei pulled out a single mat and asked if anyone wanted to try on that, and then if anyone wanted to try on the bare ground. These last two exercises were mostly done by more experienced students who'd had some practice with break-falls already. I think it was really smart to start with all the mats. It gave a safe space to practice without real risk of getting hurt. And if you're in a situation where you think failure is likely, it's very useful to protect yourself for when it inevitably happens.
