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What's Your Philosophy of
"That"? Teaching in the Martial Arts
Students
learn in spite of their teachers.
I learned that sad, yet
sometimes consoling, fact while I was a high school teacher.
There were, and probably still are, some very bad teachers in the
school system.
You would think that students couldn't
possibly learn from them. But the kids do. They learn 'in spite
of the teacher.'
A corollary of this is that students
'take in' more information about a subject than the teacher's
active teaching goal.
For example:
If you were a foreign language teacher, your goal
of a particular lesson might be to have your students learn and
practice their colors in the target language. So, you ask a
number of questions in the language -- "What's your favorite
color? Which color doesn't appeal to you? Where in this room do
you see the color blue?"
You ask a ton of questions
about colors. At the end of the lesson, most students can say
their colors in the language. But guess what! Your students will
have gleaned a number of other benefits from your teaching:
* Some finally feel comfortable with their interrogatives (who,
what, where, when, why, etc.)
* Some students have
better listening comprehension from hearing you ask the questions
at a faster than comfortable speed?
* Some students
picked up new vocabulary -- objects around the room, articles of
clothing
So, students learn beyond what you are teaching
... even in the martial arts.
Since you can't be with
your pupils at all times, and can't monitor each tactic and
technique that they may choose to add to their repertoire, your
students are bound to pick up some ... OK, let's say it ...
useless, if not downright harmful information.
Since you
can't control this inevitable acquisition of new material, you
need to guide your students in some way.
My suggestion is
to provide your students with philosophies. Give them principles
that they can generalize to different situations.
Now,
there is an inherent obstacle to this idea. You have to know your
own philosophies and principles. In order to teach principles,
you have to have explored the ideas in your own head.
Let
me give you an example:
On which side of the camp do you
sit? Do you help your students to mastery by having them
practice, katas, forms, and lengthy patterns? Or are you a
progressive martial artist who has 'abandoned the classical
mess?'
I bet you think the answer to the above questions
are easy?
Guess again ...
Bruce Lee said, "If
you follow the classical pattern, you're understanding the
routine, the tradition, the shadow -- you are not understanding
yourself." (Page 332)
He also said, "An
intelligent mind is one that is constantly learning, never
concluding -- styles and patterns have come to conclusion,
therefore they cease to be intelligent." (Page 335)
And
one more from Bruce -- "Inward freedom, rather than
mechanical efficiency." (Page 336)
I could provide
many more quotes condemning forms and patterns from "Bruce
Lee, Jeet Kune Do, Vol. 3, Edited by John Little."
You
understand why he was anti-kata, right?
He felt that if
you practice a specific pattern over and over again, then that's
the way you will react. We strive for the precision of a
replicable response -- block, punch, turn, block, kick. It's so
beautiful -- and so predictable.
So, forms are out,
agreed?
No, no, no.
Remember the point of this
discussion is to learn your own philosophy. We are using katas
and forms as an example, only.
Let's keep going...
Bruce Lee himself learned a lot of patterns and katas.
(Huh? I thought you implied that he hated them.)
Bruce
Lee knew that you had to build technique, at a beginning stage of
martial arts. But he also felt that at a certain point, you had
to shed the constraints of the pattern. Adhering to a pattern,
keeps you at a plateau in the martial arts. You just can't go
beyond a certain point, unless you truly learn to respond to your
opponent, rather than go through a preset series of techniques.
(Argue with me on this one, and you prove that
you haven't gone beyond this 'intermediate' stage. Most seasoned
instructors know what I am talking about.)
So, patterns
"are" important.
Would you like to know how, I
handle the dichotomy of thought in this battle between "classical
mess" and "free spirit, no precision"?
I
use the "Spoking" principle that I outline in "Secrets
of Teaching Martial Arts More Effectively."
In a
nutshell, I have my students practice a practical application,
with a patterned follow-up. They practice it over and over.
Then I add in the variation, based on the principles of
Spoking. My students practice both the original and the
variation.
Keep adding spokes -- branches off from the
original response to an attack.
At some point, the
students will start to "react with their favorites."
Now is the time to teach them principles. Why should the
respond with one spoke vs. the other? Does it have to do with
body position? Are the variations based on whether your opponent
punches across your centerline?
You have to spend
considerable time, knowing your opinions about every aspect of
the martial arts. Facing your own philosophies or lack thereof
could be a painful process for some.
Once you believe a
principle to be true, have tested the theory -- give this
principle to your students. They will beat it to death, mangle
it, and apply it where you don't think it's applicable -- but ...
your students will learn.
And you won't have to be with
them night and day, and time they consider new techniques in the
martial arts.
End note for the students Just because this
is a teacher discussion, doesn't mean you can't start collecting
your own principles.
You may have to allow your teacher
to make big decisions about whether or not forms are useful. Take
notes on your teacher's stand on these issues.
Do you
keep a notebook of ideas?
Are there more basic principles
you could record in your notebook?
Of course, practice
based on your notes. Don't just be a note taker. Apply what you
think about. Practice to mastery ... practice those patterns ...
know when to leave them. and progress to a new level.
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