# Verbalizing your art



## theletch1 (Feb 20, 2008)

This isn't another of the mental tai sabaki or tongue fu threads.  It's more about being able to verbalize what you need to in order to be able to teach a technique.  I'm sure that most of us prefer to demo a technique and have our students feel and see what's going on but there are times when that just isn't feasible.  I've had injuries that precluded training for awhile and it's looking like my instructor may have to have knee surgery which will put him out for awhile.  I, and other senior students, will be available to him to demo technique as needed but he will still have to verbalize what's going on. He has a real talent for finding the right words for each student and I have found that over time I am getting better able at "talking" someone through a technique as well.  Is this something that just happens over time or is there a way to teach this skill?  I have found that my techniques have a tendency to really "click" for me when I'm trying to explain them to another student.


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## morph4me (Feb 20, 2008)

Alot of it comes from experience. It's a matter of really understanding your technique, telling a student just what he needs to know at the time, not too much information and not too little. Relating it to something they already know is a big help. Then stand back and watch and make adjustments. 

Shihan is so clear in what he wants you to do that I believe you can learn from him over the phone.


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## theletch1 (Feb 20, 2008)

morph4me said:


> Alot of it comes from experience. It's a matter of really understanding your technique, telling a student just what he needs to know at the time, not too much information and not too little. Relating it to something they already know is a big help. Then stand back and watch and make adjustments.
> 
> *Shihan is so clear in what he wants you to do that I believe you can learn from him over the phone*.


Ha!  I can believe that.  Sensei MacEwen is the same sometimes.  Sensei McCraw is great at drawing analogies for how energy is moving and relaying that verbally.  Verbalizing is a push/pull thing for me.  The better I understand the tech the better able I am to verbalize differently to different students.  The more I try to verbalize differently the better I begin to understand the technique.  Erica is beginning to teach a little more often now and is having difficulty building the confidence in her ability to verbalize a technique.  She does much better than she gives herself credit for, though.


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## Sukerkin (Feb 20, 2008)

It is a knack that, like any skill, some people are better at than others but a lot can be achieved with experience both in your art and in general speaking in public.

I've been told that I have a way of making the intent of a technique very clear and I put that down almost entirely to having to give lectures and seminars during my various forays into University-land.  That's where I learned to lay out what I was addressing and how I was going to elaborate on it.

A willingness to make myself look a fool with comically bad examples of what not to do helps too :lol:.


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## theletch1 (Feb 20, 2008)

Self depricating humor goes a long way to making a painful class go alot easier.  I can well imagine that you, Mark, are very capable of verbalizing what it is that you are attempting to get across from reading your posts here.  I've never been the most eloquent of people and have, quite honestly, shunned others to a great extent.  Having to teach (it's part of the curriculum) has really opened me up to communication outside of the dojo and enabled me to become a much more extroverted person.


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## Sukerkin (Feb 20, 2008)

I actually like passing on what I have learned too, which probably assists a bit.  

I have to watch myself actually, as I find myself adding my tuppence in to what sensei is saying .  My intent is that my saying what *I* do wrong with such and such a technique is helping sensei make his point but I do worry that he must think I'm getting too big for my boots sometimes :hides:.


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## morph4me (Feb 20, 2008)

Sukerkin said:


> It is a knack that, like any skill, some people are better at than others but a lot can be achieved with experience both in your art and in general speaking in public.
> 
> I've been told that I have a way of making the intent of a technique very clear and I put that down almost entirely to having to give lectures and seminars during my various forays into University-land. That's where I learned to lay out what I was addressing and how I was going to elaborate on it.
> 
> *A willingness to make myself look a fool with comically bad examples of what not to do helps too* :lol:.


 
Yep, you can't take yourself too seriously, being willing to admit that you don't know something is also helpful.


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## cstanley (Feb 21, 2008)

The Okinawans and Japanese generally spoke very little while teaching. Generally, the instructor performed the technique with the student following and trying to copy exactly. There was lots of hands on correcting and placing of the students' hands, feet, etc. in the right position. Westerners tend to talk more than the Japanese and Okinawans, and we rely on more analysis. This is fine until it gets out of hand. I have been to some dojo where it sounded more like a college lecture than a martial arts class. Also,the Japanese were not as interested in "why" something worked as they were in "that" it worked. This alone leads to less talking.


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## Jade Tigress (Feb 21, 2008)

theletch1 said:


> I have found that my techniques have a tendency to really "click" for me when I'm trying to explain them to another student.



This is definitely true. In my other school, we were always asked to work with new students on something no matter what rank we were. It's alot harder to teach someone else than to do it yourself and it definitely helps solidify your own techniques. 

Teaching is a skill, and some are better at it than others. When I was teaching therapeutic horseback riding, I found using visual descriptions helped alot. For instance, in order to get students to keep their hands in the right position while holding the reins, I'd tell them to think of holding a glass of each water in each hand and they can't tip their hands or the water will spill, as opposed to, "keep your hands straight". In my current martial arts class one of the instructors recently used a visual explanation that helped me alot. It could just be my learning style but I find those teaching techniques very effective. 

Keep in mind different learning styles, what helps something click for one student might not help it click for another. You may have to physically guide the student through a technique too. There are so many aspects to teaching, it's not easy to teach and I have the utmost respect for those who do. The best thing you can do is just start doing it. You will find your own methods. Don't compare yourself to your instructor, he's been doing this a lot longer than you.

So, in answer to your other question, it is something that comes with time. Once you start teaching on a more regular basis you may be surprised at some of the things you can come up with.


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## theletch1 (Feb 21, 2008)

JADE!!  Welcome to the aikido sub:wink2:.  I've been teaching for about a year and a half now and still find myself refining my teaching skill a little more every class.  I hope I never get to the point where I "settle" so firmly into one style of teaching that I stagnate.  Visual analogies like your glass of water one work well for me.  I had the chance to train with Tom (Morph) during a visit to New York early last year and was very pleased with his teaching style.  BTW, Tom, your analogy for "Come along" is working great and I've stolen it for when I teach it.  When I was working with Tom he explained a technique a little differently than what I'd heard before and another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.  I mentioned this and he responded that you really can't teach the same technique the same way to two different people.  I've come to realize the wisdom in those words over these past months and am constantly trying to get into the heads of my students to figure out exactly what they need to hear/do to help the fit the puzzle pieces together.


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## morph4me (Feb 21, 2008)

Thank you , now if only I could remember what the analogy was LOL. I tend to "wing it" when I teach, if I'm covering a class for someone I have the students warm up with a self defense line and see what stands out as a common thread and we work on that. You end up developing different ways to say the same thing and eventually you hit upon something and see the lightbulb go on.


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## Yari (Feb 22, 2008)

theletch1 said:


> Is this something that just happens over time or is there a way to teach this skill?


 
Yes, of course. One way is the "no talking" aproach were nothing is said but you are trying to do the samething.

Another is coaching.

Another is "how to make sure you are understood" course..

Another is "How to talk to in a conference"

And so on.... it's a way. Not necessarylly the best way, but a way.

I think you have to like to teach and really want your pupils to excel. And have there best interest. And trying always to "get to the point" and then ensurring that you got it right, and if not try something "new". You will learn along the way. Course will help excel, just like gogin to camps to pratice certain techniques and so on.




> I have found that my techniques have a tendency to really "click" for me when I'm trying to explain them to another student.


 

Yeah... happens alot, troublesom sound in my head (click, click, click......)... ;-)

/Yari


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## theletch1 (Feb 22, 2008)

morph4me said:


> Thank you , now if only I could remember what the analogy was LOL. I tend to "wing it" when I teach, if I'm covering a class for someone I have the students warm up with a self defense line and see what stands out as a common thread and we work on that. You end up developing different ways to say the same thing and eventually you hit upon something and see the lightbulb go on.


Erica and I were working together on the classic technique.  You suggested seeing the initial movement of the base arm as simply stepping in to place my arm around her waist as if we were going to walk along together.  That tightened the technique up very nicely.



Yari said:


> *I think you have to like to teach and really want your pupils to excel. And have there best interest.* And trying always to "get to the point" and then ensurring that you got it right, and if not try something "new". You will learn along the way. Course will help excel, just like gogin to camps to pratice certain techniques and so on.
> 
> /Yari


The best instructors I've ever encountered were the ones that you could really feel their passion, not just for the art, but for teaching the art as well.  Having your students best interest in mind really makes things more enjoyable as well.  I get so excited when a student has something click that I can't help but get a big grin on my face.  I think that excitement really carries over to most of them, although, a couple of them get really self conscious about it so I try to tone it down with them and bring them out of their shell little by little.


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## morph4me (Feb 23, 2008)

theletch1 said:


> Erica and I were working together on the classic technique. You suggested seeing the initial movement of the base arm as simply stepping in to place my arm around her waist as if we were going to walk along together. That tightened the technique up very nicely.


 
I remember that. It's interesting that you're using it with other students, because I only used that analogy with you and Erica because you're married and happened to be working together. I probably would never have even thought of it if you were working with someone else. I'm glad it's working for you.


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## Jade Tigress (Feb 23, 2008)

theletch1 said:


> The best instructors I've ever encountered were the ones that you could really feel their passion, not just for the art, but for teaching the art as well.  Having your students best interest in mind really makes things more enjoyable as well.  I get so excited when a student has something click that I can't help but get a big grin on my face.  I think that excitement really carries over to most of them, although, a couple of them get really self conscious about it so I try to tone it down with them and bring them out of their shell little by little.



I couldn't agree more. You sound like a very good teacher Jeff. :asian:


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## theletch1 (Feb 23, 2008)

Thank ye, kindly, ma'am.:ubercool:


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## Sukerkin (Feb 23, 2008)

An important aspect of this topic came to light today during training.  

I mentioned that we'd been chatting about what makes a teaching experience work or not and that I thought that one of the problems people teaching martial arts especially ran into was the "Look how great *I* am" syndrome.

A teacher, no matter how junior or inexperienced, is there to pass on knowledge, not to impress upon those 'lower' a vision of how magnificent their tutor is.

This small aside produced such a positive response in class that I thought it worthwhile to add in here.

It would certainly seem that students, who get the impression that those teaching them are seeking mainly to aggrandise themselves, will be actively hindered from learning because of that.

The trick would seem to be to attempt to get the student to see the technique not how good you are at it .


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## theletch1 (Feb 23, 2008)

Sukerkin said:


> An important aspect of this topic came to light today during training.
> 
> I mentioned that we'd been chatting about what makes a teaching experience work or not and that I thought that one of the problems people teaching martial arts especially ran into was the "Look how great *I* am" syndrome.
> 
> ...


 
It's trying to avoid the old adage: "Those that can, do.  Those that can't, teach".  In the martial arts world it's very important that you both "can" and "teach".  I commented in another thread recently that the worst demo one could do is one that makes the audience think to themselves that "there's no way in hell I could do that."  The self aggrandizement in which some instructors indulge is very much like that demo.  You must be able to explain and demonstrate the technique so that it appears simple enough to the student that they believe that they can do it.  If you allow your ego to affect how you verbalize a technique so that the student thinks you are more than you truly are then you aren't teaching at all.  You're stroking your own ego.  I have no problem goofing up during class.  I'm human, everyone else in the dojo knows it.  Being on a pedestal is dangerous place to sit.


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## Yari (Feb 25, 2008)

theletch1 said:


> It's trying to avoid the old adage: "Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach". In the martial arts world it's very important that you both "can" and "teach". I commented in another thread recently that the worst demo one could do is one that makes the audience think to themselves that "there's no way in hell I could do that." The self aggrandizement in which some instructors indulge is very much like that demo. You must be able to explain and demonstrate the technique so that it appears simple enough to the student that they believe that they can do it. If you allow your ego to affect how you verbalize a technique so that the student thinks you are more than you truly are then you aren't teaching at all. You're stroking your own ego. I have no problem goofing up during class.


 
I do agree. 



> Being on a pedestal is dangerous place to sit.


 
Nope, falling down is... ;-) 

/Yari


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