The Abstract Art of Teaching

We currently have a handful of students training to become teachers.  One question I get is "how do you teach a student?"

Three things: patience, awareness and the color blue.

The color blue?  WTF?

I know you are wondering how I ever teach martial arts when talking about Blue.  Let me ask you what color blue you are now picturing; royal blue, sea blue, baby blue, or green?

Green?  Well it is yellow/blue right?   There you go.

As an instructor, it is not my duty to enforce the royal blue filter on students.  I need to see the information based on the student's blue filter.  At this point, I can upload information they can more readily digest.

Next step is awareness.  Being aware as instructor is be ready for the student's attention span.  Now attention spans run the gambit, anywhere from 2 hours to 2 seconds.  No need to discuss the 2 hour attention span...best students EVAR!  The 2 second attention span theater...well they present more of a challenge.  You are lucky to teach them something easy like punching with their right hand.  Then for the next 60 minutes you two run around punching things with your right hands.

My teachers-in-training have commented on my mantra when i do this, (Switch your hands, switch your hands, switch your hands.)

Well, that is part of teaching.  Teach technique and then reinforce it until it becomes muscle memory.  Then it is up to the student to drill it.

And now the first aspect of teaching...patience.  We all wish to teach the perfect technique the first time perfectly.  Never happens.  We have to be patience and be happy when the student flails the proper limb in the proper direction.  This is a good start and we can refine from there.

That is teaching in a nutshell, patience, awareness and blue.  Or if you prefer, a buddha wearing blue tinted sunglasses.

May the attention span be with you,

DarkArashi

pocket watch

“Never seem wiser, nor more learned, than the people you are with. Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket; and do not merely pull it out and strike it; merely to show that you have one.” ~Lord Chesterfield

This is a quote most martial artists live by.  All to often when folk learn about your martial art training they ask how dangerous you are?  They want you to whip out your watch and swing it around for the "Oooh!" factor.

There are lesser martial artists that like this kind of attention.  Always quick to whip out their gold watch and dazzle people with the flash. But consider this, the more you wave that gold watch around, the more unwanted attention you may garner.

There is no shortage of videos on the internet of someone focused on talking over their cellphone, walking through a door and getting sucker-punched.  Then a beat down of three more accomplices ensues.

As a martial artist trains, they develop a self awareness as well as a proximity awareness.  Nothing worse than trying to fight back after being on the receiving end of a blindside.  Imagine being aware enough, that you sense the attack and move without seeing it.  And then planting an elbow into the attacker's ribs.  Not only has this person appeared super fast, but has also decreased the odds against them.

Martial arts training will develop health and give the student slightly more strength and speed than their couch potato counterparts.  But the awareness it develops helps us stave off illness, avoid injury and most of all, allow us to keep our time when folk want to steal our pocketwatches.

Don't stop sweating (no one will see the tears),

DarkArashi