Okay, that's a different interpretation, but quite valid. I was thinking of "have to defend" as that moment where the choice is no longer in my hands - meaning they've made it physical. There is sometimes that space between, as you point out.
Questions and then some
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donald1
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i got 2 questions, both opinion questions
i like asking questions a lot. sometimes ill ask them during class or after depending on the question. obviously i don't ask while he is talking or while were going over something. however i'm curious though whats your opinion on questions during class. do you prefer to wait until the end of class or ask during class after he/she stops talking?
personally i don't think much about children in MA. i rarely see them but I've seen enough to be skeptical but, I've also seen a couple good ones too. adults can be just as troublesome too, but i'm curious what your general opinion of children in MA is?
i like asking questions a lot. sometimes ill ask them during class or after depending on the question. obviously i don't ask while he is talking or while were going over something. however i'm curious though whats your opinion on questions during class. do you prefer to wait until the end of class or ask during class after he/she stops talking?
personally i don't think much about children in MA. i rarely see them but I've seen enough to be skeptical but, I've also seen a couple good ones too. adults can be just as troublesome too, but i'm curious what your general opinion of children in MA is?
Depends. If it's a question about the application of a movement or why a movement is taught a certain way, then I'm good with asking while we're working on that movement.
Kids and martial arts are a great match, if your expectations are reasonable.
I like the questions either way. Some students prefer to ask during class. Some prefer to ask after. I'm easily distracted and will go down the rabbit hole on a question, so I prefer questions that are on-topic during class, only because the off-topic ones usually lead me to change my topic.
This.
JR 137
Grandmaster
I generally ask directly related questions during transitions in class, ie about a movement in a kata after that kata is done. Other questions can usually wait until after class.
Questions are good. When I ask a question, often enough others have the same question or didn’t realize they were doing something wrong too.
Questions are good. When I ask a question, often enough others have the same question or didn’t realize they were doing something wrong too.
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donald1
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I got a question but before I ask I wanna start off by saying for the past two months I've been helping my instructor with an after school program and I have been assisting for almost 2 months now. Apparently the school was looking for an after school program and just happened to have a bullying problem. Now they have a karate after school program. The first time I went I was a bit overelmed though all and all the experience is interesting. I get that some of these kids are young and just getting out of school but some of these kids just don't know how to act. Can be a real nuisance when some students want to learn while a small few can sometimes cause problems. I've already asked my instructor and got some advice from him and got some good advice but i also wanna ask here to see if anyone here has any tips.
My first question, what tips would you have for teaching kids?
Lastly, when a student acts up how do you respond? Do you take there belt? Remove a stripe? ask them to sit down? Also, how many warnings do you give the student beforehand?
My first question, what tips would you have for teaching kids?
Lastly, when a student acts up how do you respond? Do you take there belt? Remove a stripe? ask them to sit down? Also, how many warnings do you give the student beforehand?
Yokozuna514
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Teaching kids is an art in itself
. Before giving an answer, I would ask you how old the kids are. Generally, the younger the kids the lower the attention span can be. Not always the case but I have found this to be true more often then not. Also what is the focus of the program ? If it is considered an 'activity' for the kids that can be very different than kids that are signing up to learn karate specifically. The difference being, kids that sign up for 'activities' in school are being signed up so that the child is 'entertained' for the time they are in class. Kids that sign up because they are genuinely interested in learning karate are more willing to be disciplined.
Finally, it is important to know what teaching philosophy your head instructor subscribes to. If they are from a school of thought that does not want to 'coddle' the kids then the way you will discipline will be different than an instructor that will use humour or calisthenics to get the kids attention.
Xue Sheng
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Never taught children but I can tell you two things I have noticed watching my youngest train over the years
The TKD school kept thing relatively simply and taught in short burst when teaching young children. THey did not get into complicated techniques, and did thing is shorter burst due to attention span of young children. Also had a paper that they sent home with kids that had to be filled out that had lists of things kids should do around the house, clean room, do homework, etc. and this had to be filled out and signed by the parents. It also had a direct relation to getting a belt (This part I did not agree with at all by the way)
The Aikido school, don't listen, or be disruptive, you are asked to leave the mat. After sitting there for a bit the sempai talks to the child about his or her behavior and they are let back on the mat. If they act up again, they are asked to leave the mat and not allowed back on. If it continues the parents are talked to, if it continues they are ask to leave the dojo. Once saw the head instructor and owner of the dojo kick his own grandchild off the mat for acting up and not listening the Sempai.
My approach was much like what you describe from the Aikido school. I never had to kick a kid out - that wasn't my role there - but I was quick to sit one down if they started causing problems, or not following directions. It seemed to work pretty well with the troublesome kids.
Dealing with kids, especially after school, can be a problem. The thing that worked best for me through my own two as well as a great many Scouts, is that they need some control. In my experience, a great part of kids acting out is because they are constantly told what to do and how to do it. After a full day of this in school, many will rebel even though they aren't meaning to be disruptive. By giving these kids a choice, and so a chance to make their own decisions, you enlist them into what you're teaching rather than simply becoming another in a long list of people telling them what to do.
The choices don't have to be complex or particularly important, they just have to be something for the kids to own. For example, when one starts acting up, you can ask them personally if they'd rather perform warmup exercises, work on their kata, or help the other students to learn what you're attempting to teach them. Make sure you have a part of the mat designated for those that are working on other things, and you can circle around and check in on them periodically. Make sure they are aware that they can join back into what the rest of the class is learning by letting you know they're ready.
An alternative is to devise two separate programs for each class such as one program that works on particular kata, and one program that works on particular techniques. Then you can very briefly describe what each program will be at the start of each class, and allow the kids to decide which they'll work on. Given the fact that it is their decision to work on a particular thing, they'll tend to work harder and take more responsibility for themselves.
It has been my experience that the less opportunities kids have to make their own decisions in life, the more they tend to act disruptively trying to take back some control, and the less developed their decision making skills are when they need them later in life.
The choices don't have to be complex or particularly important, they just have to be something for the kids to own. For example, when one starts acting up, you can ask them personally if they'd rather perform warmup exercises, work on their kata, or help the other students to learn what you're attempting to teach them. Make sure you have a part of the mat designated for those that are working on other things, and you can circle around and check in on them periodically. Make sure they are aware that they can join back into what the rest of the class is learning by letting you know they're ready.
An alternative is to devise two separate programs for each class such as one program that works on particular kata, and one program that works on particular techniques. Then you can very briefly describe what each program will be at the start of each class, and allow the kids to decide which they'll work on. Given the fact that it is their decision to work on a particular thing, they'll tend to work harder and take more responsibility for themselves.
It has been my experience that the less opportunities kids have to make their own decisions in life, the more they tend to act disruptively trying to take back some control, and the less developed their decision making skills are when they need them later in life.
JR 137
Grandmaster
I’m a school teacher, and my students range from 3 years old to 13 years old, depending on the subject. My physical education classes are 3 year old pre-k through kindergarten (I’ve taught that in a high school too).
Your comment is an excellent one that I haven’t heard before, and is dead on. I wish I heard it put that way when I first started out.
The opposite is also true, however - the kids who are allowed to make every decision can be equally disruptive for basically the same reason - they want to keep that control.
2 kids, for the opposite reasons immediately stand out while I type this. I know both sets of parents outside of school, so I’ve got a good understanding of their background:
1. Kid who needs to take back some control:
6th grader. His mother is CONSTANTLY telling him what to do. Did I emphasize constantly? And when he doesn’t do what she expects, he’s immediately grounded for a minimum of a week, even for the littlest things. Most often 2-3 weeks. I HATE telling her he did something wrong in my class because I know the consequences will be way out of proportion. How does he act? He tells EVERYONE around him what to do. He tries to tell me how to run my class, and points out every mistake he thinks I’ve made. When he’s proven wrong, he implodes; crying, calling himself stupid, etc. He’s easily the most disruptive kid I have at his grade. Every teacher who has him or has had him agrees. Nothing any teacher has tried has made any difference because everything gets undone by his mother. Being nice, being “mean,” sitting him down and talking privately, consequences, et al have all failed.
2. Currently in kindergarten. I’ve had him for 3 years now in PE. He’s the oldest of 2 kids, and parents let him do whatever he wants. They always ask him what he wants to do rather than tell him he’s doing something. Everything we do in class, he wants to do something else. And he disrupts everything until he gets his way. Example: yesterday we were playing “zombie tag.” When I told the class this, he raises his hand and says “I don’t like zombie tag. I want to play regular tag.” I tell him nicely that we’re playing zombie tag today. He’s eyes water up, he crosses his arms in front of his chest and sits down right in the middle of the gym. I ignore this (as it’s every time) and tell everyone to run away and start, and he starts screaming and crying. I use my talking to a 5 year old voice and mannerisms and explain why we can’t always play what we want to play to deaf ears. I pick him up and move him to the wall so he doesn’t get run over, and explain that we’re all playing something else today and if he’d like to play he can get up and play whenever he’s ready. He screamed and cried the entire remaining 35 minutes, saying he wants to play regular tag. It’s similar with every game he doesn’t want to play. And when we’re coincidentally playing what he wants to play, there’s still issues - he wants a different ball, different color ball, more than one, etc. He acts this way because he’s never told what to do at home. His father will say “let’s do this” and he’ll say “I want to do that” and his father will do whatever the kid wants. Practically every time. If his father say no, outright no or trying to redirect, he’ll do what he does in my class and get his way within a few minutes. Same for his mother, only it typically takes a bit longer, but not much longer to break her. Me? His tantrums have no effect on me. I got used to it within the first month of having him in my class. It’s like living next to train tracks - you don’t hear the trains go by after a few weeks.
Both kids are at the extreme opposite, yet for all intents and purposes, the end result is the same. And both kids are the most extreme example of it; most kids fall somewhere in between.
hoshin1600
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the one thing i found in teaching kids is that in most children, every problem the child has is a direct result of the parents. i do not like teaching kids because it breaks my heart to see wonderful potential being soured and destroyed by horrible parents. for every questionable trait the child has i can look at the parent and say..yup thats where that comes from...
while this may not be the exact answer your looking for, i would work on "fixing" the parents. if i were to teach kids in a dojo setting again, i think i would insist from the beginning that parents know that they are part of the childs program and education. they would be instructed on THEIR responsibilities if their child is to take classes,, wash the childs uniform, fold it and not allow it to be worn to bed as PJ's or stuffed under their pillow....show up on time......insure both they and their child address me in a respectable way (sensei or some such thing)....
basically i would explain to them my plan for their child's education in martial arts and make sure they are on the same page. consistent signals are important between both parents but also need to include the sensei if they are putting the child under his tutelage. we can only instill the advertised "confidence, self esteem ect " if the parents are on board as well.
while this may not be the exact answer your looking for, i would work on "fixing" the parents. if i were to teach kids in a dojo setting again, i think i would insist from the beginning that parents know that they are part of the childs program and education. they would be instructed on THEIR responsibilities if their child is to take classes,, wash the childs uniform, fold it and not allow it to be worn to bed as PJ's or stuffed under their pillow....show up on time......insure both they and their child address me in a respectable way (sensei or some such thing)....
basically i would explain to them my plan for their child's education in martial arts and make sure they are on the same page. consistent signals are important between both parents but also need to include the sensei if they are putting the child under his tutelage. we can only instill the advertised "confidence, self esteem ect " if the parents are on board as well.
This is one of the reasons I don’t like teaching kids. I want to coach the parents.
Absolutely agree, I've dealt with those types also. The problem, as I see it, in that case is that they are given too much control. Nobody is born with a natural ability to make good decisions. It is something we all have to learn. Some kids are better at it than other due to environment, but they all have to learn. Neither extreme that you mentioned allows the child to properly learn how to make good decisions. Unfortunately, there is nothing out there that ensures that parents learn how to properly teach their children so it ends up falling on educators and volunteers for the most part.
gpseymour said:
When I was in Scouting, I felt like I spent almost as much time teaching parents as I did teaching the kids.
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donald1
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I haven't asked any questions here in a while... just 1 question today. I like hearing people's opinions. What aspect of martial arts do you like doing the most? Sparing, Empty hand forms, Weapon forms, Basic stretches, Or something I didn't mention?
Personally at this point in my training I like the weapon forms the most. Its interesting learning weapons, seeing how different weapons are used, and learning the history behind them if possible.
Personally at this point in my training I like the weapon forms the most. Its interesting learning weapons, seeing how different weapons are used, and learning the history behind them if possible.
Nice, love it .
Tricky one as I love alot about training...
Big fan of kata, even a strong basics session, sparring I do enjoy but the others trump it.
Also the philosophy and spiritual aspects of MA I'm very into.
Strangely I've never been interested in weapons at all! And never loved grapply/takedown work!
.Tricky one as I love alot about training...
Big fan of kata, even a strong basics session, sparring I do enjoy but the others trump it.
Also the philosophy and spiritual aspects of MA I'm very into.
Strangely I've never been interested in weapons at all! And never loved grapply/takedown work!
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