# As an instructor at a seminar what do you like to teach?



## Mark Lynn (Feb 27, 2015)

On another thread I had asked the question what to have an instructor teach at a seminar we are hosting?  Dieter had asked for input on what we would like for him to cover and I thought I'd open that up to the board to see what other people who are in the FMAs and Modern Arnis in particular, what they like to see at seminars.  However I was also thinking let's turn that around and ask the people on this forum that if you were teaching at a seminar what do you like to cover?

The easy answer is of course "whatever the host wants" and that is a given to a degree.  And if that is all anyone writes then this will be a very dead thread.  However I'd hope it be deeper than that because I think it would be interesting to see what people like to teach and in a sense what their style of teaching is.

Over the past year I have taught at 3 mini (afternoon) seminars along with other instructors at cross training events we call MAPA 1-4 (Metroplex Arnis Players Alliance) I've covered MAPA in another thread so I won't go into that here but suffice to say that we are given 1 hour to teach 20-30 students of different ages, skills, and abilities.

So I've taught pretty basic core type material for the first two seminars and then on the 3rd one I taught something a little more advanced.  All three though were subjects that I really enjoyed.

The first one was four double stick combative responses from Kombatan along with demoing then disarming principles using different weapons (stick, sai, kama, and tonfa) using these same responses as the set up.  I also tied in the empty hand application of these same responses to a defense against a punch and later as a self defense type of a response to a hand grab or restraint.

In the second one I taught stick releasing techniques from Kombatan and tied those into empty hand releases from grabs.

In the third one I taught empty hand flow drill in the block check counter drill or the empty hand Tapi Tapi drill (what we called it since it follows the right to right Tapi Tapi drills) using the flow drill as a base to teach obstruction removal from, locking, and countering skills.

So what do you like to cover when or if you would teach and why?


----------



## Kung Fu Wang (Feb 27, 2015)

Don't know Modern Arnis, but to teach "principle/principles" is always a good idea.


----------



## jks9199 (Feb 27, 2015)

If I'm asked to come in and teach somewhere, I often ask if there's a particular interest or something they've been working on lately that might dovetail.  Otherwise, I'll probably go by why they asked ME rather than someone else, and that's probably either basics or taking the basics into the real world.


----------



## Touch Of Death (Feb 27, 2015)

Teach the feet, and they will be hard to beat.


----------



## Mephisto (Feb 27, 2015)

It depends on who you're teaching. I'm new to the seminar format but I've led a handful of classes for other FMA groups as a guest instructor. Coincidentally, i'll be teaching at my first large seminar tomorrow. But i've been to many FMA seminars so i'll share my thoughts. First, there are three types of seminars as I see it: those for students within your system, seminars for FMA groups or mixed groups from FMA other systems (ex. Katipunan, Sama sama, multi school format), and seminars for non FMA people. If you're largely teaching to other groups outside of your system you can really showcase what makes your system unique. For non-FMA guys you'll have to keep it very basic and maybe highlight your specific style and discuss FMA as a whole. For FMA guys you can get more detailed and show more technical aspects of your system. For guys within your system it's wide open but I'd be good to focus on things students can take home with them rather than an onslaught of variations and advanced techniques. The same goes for those outside your system. I've been to many seminars FMA and non FMA where the host shows many techniques and variations. This format is interesting but I find I take little from it because I have my own system to train and I don't revisit these techniques. I've heard Dan Inosanto prefers to overload seminar participants and gives a lot of information and variation and guys will take in depth notes and work the techniques at home. But if you're not gonna follow up with Inosanto or the seminar instructor you may never "own" said techniques. 

What i've done for small FMA groups I special guest host. I've been fortunate to be familiar with drills from these systems, so I'll bring some aspects of my system to their drills or training format so they can get a better idea of the purpose behind moving or acting a certain way. But this isn't always possible.


----------



## Danny T (Feb 27, 2015)

Principles, movement, demo a couple of different techniques that apply the principles taught and then drills to develop the skill required to use the principles.


----------



## Mark Lynn (Mar 4, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> Teach the feet, and they will be hard to beat.



Touch of Death

So I take it you like teaching footwork?


----------



## Mark Lynn (Mar 4, 2015)

Mephisto said:


> It depends on who you're teaching. I'm new to the seminar format but I've led a handful of classes for other FMA groups as a guest instructor.



I've done the same in the past, helped out at a FMA class as a guest instructor occansionaly, in fact this past year with the MAPA seminars is really the first year I taught in a "seminar" format to other FMAers and that is a whole different ball game.



Mephisto said:


> Coincidentally, i'll be teaching at my first large seminar tomorrow. But i've been to many FMA seminars so i'll share my thoughts.



I appreciate your input on this thread.  BTW how did your seminar go?  What did you cover if you don't mind me asking?



Mephisto said:


> First, there are three types of seminars as I see it: those for students within your system, seminars for FMA groups or mixed groups from FMA other systems (ex. Katipunan, Sama sama, multi school format), and seminars for non FMA people.



Over the past 15 or so years I've taught several basic type mini seminars or classes for the AKATO (which is the parent American Karate/TKD organization I belong to), which your 3rd type listed.  This was different animal than teaching over FMAers.  In fact I'll be teaching another one for them in a couple of weeks.



Mephisto said:


> If you're largely teaching to other groups outside of your system you can really showcase what makes your system unique. For non-FMA guys you'll have to keep it very basic and maybe highlight your specific style and discuss FMA as a whole.



Yeah I've done this, but I find I have better results really by focusing on a core drill/techniques or something that they can relate to.  For instance at the second seminar (2-4 hrs long, I can't remember) I did more of the over all general thing, people enjoyed it but....   I think the next one I did for them a few years later was more successful in that I taught real basic two handed blocking drills (both hands holding on to the stick).  I explained that this is really poor stick fighting but I related it to holding onto a briefcase, a back pack, a walking cane, a broom etc. etc. something that took two hands and then blocked the attacks.  This they could see and "get".



Mephisto said:


> For FMA guys you can get more detailed and show more technical aspects of your system. For guys within your system it's wide open but I'd be good to focus on things students can take home with them rather than an onslaught of variations and advanced techniques. The same goes for those outside your system.



Once again I agree, at the 1st MAPA seminar I taught on the double stick and I selected the defensive responses 1-4.  I did this so that maybe the attendees would be able to take away something simple but different from what they do.  Actually it isn't "different", we all do these responses it's just they aren't taught in the same manner as what I presented.  In fact that was the reason I then taught (as part of my segment) the empty hand translation of the techniques, and then demo'd the kobudo weapons translations of these same techniques to help educate some of my friends from the AKATO group that attended.  So hopefully everyone got something out of it.



Mephisto said:


> I've been to many seminars FMA and non FMA where the host shows many techniques and variations. This format is interesting but I find I take little from it because I have my own system to train and I don't revisit these techniques. I've heard Dan Inosanto prefers to overload seminar participants and gives a lot of information and variation and guys will take in depth notes and work the techniques at home. But if you're not gonna follow up with Inosanto or the seminar instructor you may never "own" said techniques.



Been there and done that with Guro Dan.  However I started taking notes at his seminars 20+ yrs ago and over time got use to it, so I capture more of the material now.  In fact he was Dan that really inspired me to take notes in the first place and then over time I just kept at it and developed it.   I still go over his material today (notes wise) and I find it helps to give me greater insight into techniques, concepts, drills etc. etc. that I might have learned from other instructors such as GM Remy.  I don't do Guro Dan's JKDC kali, I do more Presas Arnis (Modern Arnis and Kombatan), but I do find that his empty hand material does compliment Remy's Sinawali Boxing drills, Guro Dan's pad work or FM drills help give me inspiration for training the empty hand drills in Modern Arnis.  So while I don't "own" the techniques per say, I do make use of them.



Mephisto said:


> What i've done for small FMA groups I special guest host. I've been fortunate to be familiar with drills from these systems, so I'll bring some aspects of my system to their drills or training format so they can get a better idea of the purpose behind moving or acting a certain way. But this isn't always possible.



This is kind of what I was saying about teaching the non FMAers as well.  Having a background in karate and TKD (and I still teach the American TKD (karate)), I can translate the empty hand blocks into the arm bars or locks of Modern Arnis, the double stick disarms of Kombatan or the double stick defensive responses to kobudo and so on.

Now a days I find that for the most part I can find commonality with just about anything except really Kung Fu only cause I have NO background in it whatsoever.  But to other FMAers, to karate ka, or TKD players I find some common ground.

Thanks for your response


----------



## Touch Of Death (Mar 4, 2015)

Mark Lynn said:


> Touch of Death
> 
> So I take it you like teaching footwork?


Everything else is secondary.  The foot work moves you out of the way; the block helps.


----------



## Mark Lynn (Mar 5, 2015)

Danny T said:


> Principles, movement, demo a couple of different techniques that apply the principles taught and then drills to develop the skill required to use the principles.



Agreed, although generally I find that I tend to teach the techniques first, then as I teach talk about the principles, if I can identify them that is, and then the drills to use the techniques.

I kind of get this from the FMA instructors who've taught at the seminars I attended.  Many times the principles weren't taught but were learned in a sense through application.

GM Remy would demonstrate several techniques and they might be looking similar or different and in the middle of it he'd exclaim "see you are there already" or "He's already cut!" "You've already learned that" etc. etc. meaning you are there because you learned it before, or the motion is the same.  Of course it wasn't explained as such but we got it through practice of the given techniques.


----------



## Mark Lynn (Mar 5, 2015)

Touch Of Death said:


> Everything else is secondary.  The foot work moves you out of the way; the block helps.



I get what your saying.


----------



## Mark Lynn (Mar 5, 2015)

Kung Fu Wang said:


> Don't know Modern Arnis, but to teach "principle/principles" is always a good idea.



I agree, in fact if I can put in a plug for Dan Anderson here, this is why I have always liked his seminars.  Dan more so than many of the Modern Arnis instructors that I have seen, breaks down the material teaching principles, teaching really good basic type drills to reinforce those principles.  

Sadly GM Remy didn't really teach or instruct at least in the camps I went to in that deep of a format.  Remy I think taught from a much higher view.


----------



## Kung Fu Wang (Mar 5, 2015)

No matter what style that one may train, the following principles will always be interested for workshop.

- How many different "set ups" can you apply to a particular "finish move" (many set ups -> single finish move)?
- How many different "finish moves" can you apply after a particular "set up" (single set up -> many finish moves)?


----------



## Buka (Mar 10, 2015)

It depends on your class, what your class (the paying instructor) wants, what you were contracted to do, what you like to do and how much free reign you have.Teaching is easy. Seminars are easy. If either of those statements aren't true....maybe do something else?


----------



## Mark Lynn (Mar 14, 2015)

Buka said:


> It depends on your class, what your class (the paying instructor) wants, what you were contracted to do, what you like to do and how much free reign you have.Teaching is easy. Seminars are easy. If either of those statements aren't true....maybe do something else?



Buka

I get that, I was just wondering what other instructors like to teach if given free reign.  For instance I will be teaching at a American Karate/TKD annual seminar (our parent organization) next weekend on Arnis.  I was given free reign to teach what I wanted.  So I chose to teach an empty hand flow drill. With that in mind what I was trying to see what other FMA instructors liked to teach, and why.

I chose to teach this particular empty hand drill because I believe the karate group needs more flow, it's fun, it is an easy platform for the instructors, who could take it back to their schools could and then apply it to teach locking, take downs etc. etc. in another format in their classes.  It can also help the student to learn to lead their partner, to set up their partner etc. etc.  Both kids and adults can learn it and have fun with it.

I was hoping in this forum that people would get away from the pat answers such as I teach what I'm being paid for, or what the host wants, and get more into why they would teach the material and what the material is (subject matter), or how they would teach it.  Such as getting down to the nitty gritty, the minute details of a principle or a technique, or the 30,000 foot flyover view.


----------

