Three weeks until the launch of the Davis Bay Karate Club. I will be pretty worked up about it by then. Not a minute of class will be wasted, as I want my old hands to progress two ranks in only a few months. I also want them to be motivated, and to love the experience.
Piece of cake.
Every class will start with basic technique. They all know the basics, so I don't teach right off the bat. They will do and I will watch. If they are correct, we move to the next technique. If not, I address the problem, and they drill in the correction. When the weakness is corrected, we move to the next.
We don't leave basics until either they complete the testing techniques to my satisfaction, or we run out of time.
We will work on Kata after the basics are done. It will be as precise as basics time was. We do not move on until the standard is test-ready, or we run out of time.
After Kata it will be Kumite, done to the same standard.
Some days we may not get to all three. Some days we will complete things before the final bell rings. On days like that I will have other activities ready to go.
I will keep notes on each student, their weaknesses and strengths. This will help me in planning outside of class time. It will also help me decide when each will test.
September will be different. The returning and new students will all 3.5 months to get ready for testing. I can go back to a more normal tempo. Some days will seem like I've described. Others might focus on tournament activities, or self-defense, or any of many other types of lesson.
Looking over the spreadsheet has been showing me that we might be able to afford another evening class on Wednesdays sometime. This will make progress much better for people who can't attend on both Saturday and Monday.
I've already been asked about kids classes. I'll call, "maybe" on that. I find that a lot more like work.
This is supposed to be fun, not work.
I am a 68 year old retired teacher living on the west coast of Canada. I spent over 30 years as a student of Karate until my knees stopped liking it. My current passionate activity is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which I've been at for about 13 years.
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Monday, 5 March 2012
Bruce Lee?
I hate people who think it's a good idea to follow what they think was Bruce Lee's philosophy. Let's see. He trained in Wing Chung for five years as a teenager in Hong Kong. After that he did his own thing until he died at age 32.
He had a total of 19 years in martial arts.
I'd rather follow people I find more impressive. Helio Gracie also started training as a young lad. He went on to modify what he learned into a new version. His art has spread around the world and is now one of the premier in terms of combat effectiveness. He continued to teach and refine his art until his death at age 95.
Which of these two impresses me more? It isn't even a contest.
What frustrates me the most is people who want to follow Lee's thinking believe it means that an unqualified person should pick and choose what makes sense to them. That's like saying a person who has never taken a science course, should figure out physics.
Lee had a base in Wing Chung. He did not just invent things, or gather from other arts willy-nilly.
Instead of the idea, "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it," why not follow, "Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there." Lee said both.
Or maybe just think it through. Martial arts are not a collection of tricks. Each art is quite complete unto itself. Each has been developed by true experts, who have dedicated collectively hundreds of years to fine tuning the art. You are going to show up, knowing nothing, and are going to design your own.
Feel insulted? Don't be. Think of professional football players. Can somebody walk in off the street and train them self into the NFL. Do Olympic gymnasts train themselves to a gold medal?
There are real experts in martial arts. The trick can be to avoid fakes, and from amongst the real ones find a good teacher.
Pay your dues, and learn your basics. Spend 5 years or so and get a foundation. If you want a broader base than one art seems to be giving you, find another and train in it, too. I said, too, not instead.
See how the top mma fighters do it. The best start with one area of expertise, and later add in the others. George St. Pierre started in Karate, and then added in the other parts of mma. Many start with significant wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu backgrounds, and branch from there.
Even those few who started in mma gyms from day one learned it as a coherent art. Never yet seen one who has invented their own.
Walk before you can run.
He had a total of 19 years in martial arts.
I'd rather follow people I find more impressive. Helio Gracie also started training as a young lad. He went on to modify what he learned into a new version. His art has spread around the world and is now one of the premier in terms of combat effectiveness. He continued to teach and refine his art until his death at age 95.
Which of these two impresses me more? It isn't even a contest.
What frustrates me the most is people who want to follow Lee's thinking believe it means that an unqualified person should pick and choose what makes sense to them. That's like saying a person who has never taken a science course, should figure out physics.
Lee had a base in Wing Chung. He did not just invent things, or gather from other arts willy-nilly.
Instead of the idea, "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it," why not follow, "Do not deny the classical approach, simply as a reaction, or you will have created another pattern and trapped yourself there." Lee said both.
Or maybe just think it through. Martial arts are not a collection of tricks. Each art is quite complete unto itself. Each has been developed by true experts, who have dedicated collectively hundreds of years to fine tuning the art. You are going to show up, knowing nothing, and are going to design your own.
Feel insulted? Don't be. Think of professional football players. Can somebody walk in off the street and train them self into the NFL. Do Olympic gymnasts train themselves to a gold medal?
There are real experts in martial arts. The trick can be to avoid fakes, and from amongst the real ones find a good teacher.
Pay your dues, and learn your basics. Spend 5 years or so and get a foundation. If you want a broader base than one art seems to be giving you, find another and train in it, too. I said, too, not instead.
See how the top mma fighters do it. The best start with one area of expertise, and later add in the others. George St. Pierre started in Karate, and then added in the other parts of mma. Many start with significant wrestling or Jiu-Jitsu backgrounds, and branch from there.
Even those few who started in mma gyms from day one learned it as a coherent art. Never yet seen one who has invented their own.
Walk before you can run.
Sunday, 4 March 2012
My Kinda Fun
The Japan Karate Association is the largest single-style martial arts group in the world.
My new club will be a teensy branch of that massive body. In this province we will be one of seven dojos.
The style is Shotokan. In Japan it is by far the most practised style. It is taught to millions of public school kids, and has become a major part of the university system.
It is a beautiful art. If it were a part of the dance world, it would be ballet. Tall posture, long movements, and extreme precision. No tutus, though.
We wear white, bound with snazzy belts. The colour denotes the rank. Mine is boring old black.
Now that I'll be called Sensei again I'll stop trying to blend in with the other Black Belts. I shall put my shiny rookie belt aside, and wear my old beat up one. A significant percentage of the black has worn away to frazzles.
My club will emphasize precise Shotokan appropriate to the person's physical condition. Several of us are not spring chickens, and some have injuries that would not fare well in a traditional class. We shall modify, and move more slowly, but also with more precision.
We will welcome outsiders, and I will encourage students to train outside of Shotokan if they wish. I will support weapons training, and tournament participation for those so inclined.
I have some coloured belts who need to test soon, and will we address that. There will also be a Brown Belt who has been way for years. She has a health issue or two, and I'm sure she will be content for a while to work on recovering her skills. We will address this, too.
Beginners are critical to any healthy club, but they normally throw a monkey wrench into the progress of their seniors. I think I've figured out ways around this. We might have none, but if we do we shall handle it. I certainly want new people to come and feel welcome.
It should be fun.
My new club will be a teensy branch of that massive body. In this province we will be one of seven dojos.
The style is Shotokan. In Japan it is by far the most practised style. It is taught to millions of public school kids, and has become a major part of the university system.
It is a beautiful art. If it were a part of the dance world, it would be ballet. Tall posture, long movements, and extreme precision. No tutus, though.
We wear white, bound with snazzy belts. The colour denotes the rank. Mine is boring old black.
Now that I'll be called Sensei again I'll stop trying to blend in with the other Black Belts. I shall put my shiny rookie belt aside, and wear my old beat up one. A significant percentage of the black has worn away to frazzles.
My club will emphasize precise Shotokan appropriate to the person's physical condition. Several of us are not spring chickens, and some have injuries that would not fare well in a traditional class. We shall modify, and move more slowly, but also with more precision.
We will welcome outsiders, and I will encourage students to train outside of Shotokan if they wish. I will support weapons training, and tournament participation for those so inclined.
I have some coloured belts who need to test soon, and will we address that. There will also be a Brown Belt who has been way for years. She has a health issue or two, and I'm sure she will be content for a while to work on recovering her skills. We will address this, too.
Beginners are critical to any healthy club, but they normally throw a monkey wrench into the progress of their seniors. I think I've figured out ways around this. We might have none, but if we do we shall handle it. I certainly want new people to come and feel welcome.
It should be fun.
Rank correction
I've been thinking about the students that I know will be joining my new Karate Club.
All of those who have trained recently have one similar characteristic. They all hold rank below what they should.
One has been a Karate person for about a year, one a few months less than that, and another a few months more.
They should be wearing belts from Green to Blue. None are.
They do have rough spots I'd like to polish up. They all have well above average potential. I plan on pushing them intensely for a month.
I will be wearing my laser-powered teacher eyes. They will be ridden for every flaw. In one month or less, they will test for promotion. They will pass.
No rest for them, as they will test again before the end of June.
Only the presence of beginners could interfere with this intense training time. Likely we won't have any. If we do, they become a training tool. Does that sound painful?
It isn't. While I take the old folks through their paces, students will be expected to show the newbies the ropes until they can join the line. This helps the experienced students as they have to figure out how to verbalize what they know. If you want to learn; teach. I see no difficulty in having any new rookies ready to be Yellow Belts by July.
The club will shut down for July and August. Back at it for September. We have to get new people for autumn. Fall is good. It is the longest term by several weeks. Moving everybody up one more belt is no sweat for either them or for me.
This all must sound pretty driven. It isn't. I'm sure there will be time for more diverse learning than just pursuing rank. I am going to get Ogawa Sensei there sometimes. He is fabulous, and when present he is the boss.
The instructor from the neighbouring Shitu-ryu club wants to visit us, too.
I bet I could get the head of the JKA in the province to show up. Might save that for later.
Testing focus, with changes of pace.
I think that can work.
All of those who have trained recently have one similar characteristic. They all hold rank below what they should.
One has been a Karate person for about a year, one a few months less than that, and another a few months more.
They should be wearing belts from Green to Blue. None are.
They do have rough spots I'd like to polish up. They all have well above average potential. I plan on pushing them intensely for a month.
I will be wearing my laser-powered teacher eyes. They will be ridden for every flaw. In one month or less, they will test for promotion. They will pass.
No rest for them, as they will test again before the end of June.
Only the presence of beginners could interfere with this intense training time. Likely we won't have any. If we do, they become a training tool. Does that sound painful?
It isn't. While I take the old folks through their paces, students will be expected to show the newbies the ropes until they can join the line. This helps the experienced students as they have to figure out how to verbalize what they know. If you want to learn; teach. I see no difficulty in having any new rookies ready to be Yellow Belts by July.
The club will shut down for July and August. Back at it for September. We have to get new people for autumn. Fall is good. It is the longest term by several weeks. Moving everybody up one more belt is no sweat for either them or for me.
This all must sound pretty driven. It isn't. I'm sure there will be time for more diverse learning than just pursuing rank. I am going to get Ogawa Sensei there sometimes. He is fabulous, and when present he is the boss.
The instructor from the neighbouring Shitu-ryu club wants to visit us, too.
I bet I could get the head of the JKA in the province to show up. Might save that for later.
Testing focus, with changes of pace.
I think that can work.
Saturday, 3 March 2012
Gold watch
I'll soon have the new Karate club up and running, and shortly after that I'll earn my Jiu-Jitsu Blue Belt.
My week will start filling right up.
Saturday is the Queen of the week. I'll have a Jiu-Jitsu reflex class at 9:00am, and then a Blue Belt test from 10:00-11:00. There will be a half hour drive home, and time for lunch and then an hour of Karate.
Sunday will be restful.
Monday contains an hour and a quarter of Karate.
Tuesday two, one-hour Jiu-Jitsu classes
Wednesday is free.
Thursday two hours of Jiu-Jitsu, just like Tuesday.
Friday is free.
That adds up to 8 classes a week.
This might be quite a lot while I'm still holding down my high-school teaching job. The cool thing is it's my last year before retirement.
Retired people need lots of fun to fill their time.
Starting a new Karate club now is also clever timing another way. It gives me a year and a half to get the students all ready for my retirement, too.
I'll be starting out with a couple of Yellow Belts, and a Brown Belt who has been off for a decade or so.
Let's just look at the Yellows for a minute. By summer, they will be Orange Belts. By Christmas, Greens. By next year at this time, Blue. By the time I'm retired they will be Purple Belts.
If I go away for some sweet vacation after that, can they take over for a month or so? You betcha, and that's not even considering the Brown Belt.
By the time I retire there will be a club with a fabulous instructor (me) that contains plenty of people able to take over short-term.
I am also toying with the idea of having weekday daytime classes for retired people. Of course, this will occur after I'm retired as well.
I'm going to be one busy, kicking, punching and rasslin' fool.
My week will start filling right up.
Saturday is the Queen of the week. I'll have a Jiu-Jitsu reflex class at 9:00am, and then a Blue Belt test from 10:00-11:00. There will be a half hour drive home, and time for lunch and then an hour of Karate.
Sunday will be restful.
Monday contains an hour and a quarter of Karate.
Tuesday two, one-hour Jiu-Jitsu classes
Wednesday is free.
Thursday two hours of Jiu-Jitsu, just like Tuesday.
Friday is free.
That adds up to 8 classes a week.
This might be quite a lot while I'm still holding down my high-school teaching job. The cool thing is it's my last year before retirement.
Retired people need lots of fun to fill their time.
Starting a new Karate club now is also clever timing another way. It gives me a year and a half to get the students all ready for my retirement, too.
I'll be starting out with a couple of Yellow Belts, and a Brown Belt who has been off for a decade or so.
Let's just look at the Yellows for a minute. By summer, they will be Orange Belts. By Christmas, Greens. By next year at this time, Blue. By the time I'm retired they will be Purple Belts.
If I go away for some sweet vacation after that, can they take over for a month or so? You betcha, and that's not even considering the Brown Belt.
By the time I retire there will be a club with a fabulous instructor (me) that contains plenty of people able to take over short-term.
I am also toying with the idea of having weekday daytime classes for retired people. Of course, this will occur after I'm retired as well.
I'm going to be one busy, kicking, punching and rasslin' fool.
Nuts
I declare it to be a verified fact; people are nuts.
On Thursday, a whole bunch of people reached the point in their training where they are permitted to join the illustrious Saturday morning Jiu-Jitsu class. They all seemed very pumped about it on Thursday.
This brings to about ten the number of White Belts who can attend the Saturday class.
Here's the kicker. You need to attend 12 of these classes or you'll never, ever get promoted to Blue Belt and therefore never be allowed into the advanced class.
So how many of us were there for the Saturday class? Exactly two of us. That's nuts.
This was my sixth Saturday class. Since I've been coming only three other White Belts have attended at all. One guy has been there twice, and two guys once each.
I guess they don't want to get to the really cool advanced class.
On Thursday, a whole bunch of people reached the point in their training where they are permitted to join the illustrious Saturday morning Jiu-Jitsu class. They all seemed very pumped about it on Thursday.
This brings to about ten the number of White Belts who can attend the Saturday class.
Here's the kicker. You need to attend 12 of these classes or you'll never, ever get promoted to Blue Belt and therefore never be allowed into the advanced class.
So how many of us were there for the Saturday class? Exactly two of us. That's nuts.
This was my sixth Saturday class. Since I've been coming only three other White Belts have attended at all. One guy has been there twice, and two guys once each.
I guess they don't want to get to the really cool advanced class.
Friday, 2 March 2012
New
The die is cast, and the Rubicon has been crossed.
I am a Karate teacher again. The new club starts up at the end of this month in Davis Bay.
The three people who have already expressed an interest all sound pretty excited. I'm excited, too.
There is often energy in new things. I have a good feeling about this one.
I'm trying to think of all the organizational details that will make things as smooth as possible. Might invite everybody to lunch or something to discuss any ideas or feelings they might want to share.
About a week ago I notified the head of the Japan Karate Association in the province about the possibility of a new club. He was very supportive. Things should be smooth in that direction.
It is all good.
I am a Karate teacher again. The new club starts up at the end of this month in Davis Bay.
The three people who have already expressed an interest all sound pretty excited. I'm excited, too.
There is often energy in new things. I have a good feeling about this one.
I'm trying to think of all the organizational details that will make things as smooth as possible. Might invite everybody to lunch or something to discuss any ideas or feelings they might want to share.
About a week ago I notified the head of the Japan Karate Association in the province about the possibility of a new club. He was very supportive. Things should be smooth in that direction.
It is all good.
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