Teaching Karate


This is where I do most of my training now, the JX Fight Club in Shanghai.
As you can see, in the afternoons it is filled with lots of youngsters learning Taekwondo, which is a popular past-time in China, even sponsored by the government.

If you look closely you can see the Karate class in the background.
Not my class, though... 



Those Shorin Ryu guys working on their abs.

Well, back to the point.
Teaching Karate is a difficult thing.
It is difficult because first, you need to know Karate really well.

Then you need to learn some more.

Then, much much more.

Then, you realize that you didn't know that much before.
Oh, maybe it's time to realize that I still don't know that much?
Probably.

Anyway, as an instructor you need to know how to pass on the knowledge. How to demonstrate and transmit the skills you (think) you have?
That needs some skills that are completely different from Karate skills.

So, if Karate is difficult and teaching it is difficult, what happens when you try to teach it to people who don't want to learn Karate?

Ahhhhhhhh...

Can you find something that sparks their interest? Can you talk them into listening to your whole argumental arc? Can you keep their interest and attention till you can make a conclusion? Can you explain that the drills and exercises are just a way to improve individual skills that later will come together as a solid body of knowledge? 

On the other hand, why would you want to teach them in the first place if they don't want to learn?





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Comments

  1. Addisonf12 June 2017 at 12:49

    Love to see this nice Article awesome stuff. I want to know about any more clips of the actual training. I'm more interested and excited in 8 to 12 years little ninjas category.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Josep Claramonte12 June 2017 at 16:47

      Thanks for your comment!

      Regarding young (and old) classes, in my experience, structure is good.
      It is good to keep all the classes to the same structure.
      Let's say you decide to do: Warm up, kihon, kata, kumite, stretching. This is your structure.

      But is it necessary to add diversity within your structure.
      Let's say:
      Warm up: today you do running and sprints, tomorrow you do push-ups and crunches, next day games...
      Kihon: today you do hand attacks, tomorrow block, next day kicks...
      Kata: work on different kata, and in different ways to do kata, like: normal, start to the left, start to the side, start from the end, do it slow, do it as fast as you can...
      Kumite: use different rules: only one hand, no kicks, only tummy punches...
      Stretching: sometimes on your own, sometimes helping each other...

      This is just an example. Your class will be, of course, different.
      I am no expert in Karate education but kids love structure because they know what to expect, they know what comes next and that helps them to get mentally ready for it.

      And add games. Competitive games. A lot of them.
      And send me photos!!!

      Delete

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