Something to consider

[TheOriginalName]

Hi all,

I'm sure a number of you are already familiar with Sempai John Will. He's a awesome martial artist based in Geelong, Australia. He is trained in a number of martial arts but is probably best known for his BJJ.

Anyway, i was reading his blog and came across this post. I think it's something we should all take to heart....but i'll let you be the judge.

"After teaching about 5000 classes, I had learned to easily answer any sorts of questions, thoroughly and with insight - after teaching 10,000 classes, I learned to listen to what the questions had to tell me about the student - after teaching 15,000 classes I learned to look for the 'question beneath the qeustion'. perhaps I am just a slow learner.

Rest of the blog can be seen here.

 

[SenseiBear]

That is a great insight. I often have students who ask specific questions, but the questions are based in a series of suppositions or circumstances... and I often find myself answering the question asked, but feeling rather bemused about the question itself; which often seems too specific to be useful...

Dealing with the question behind the question would often benefit the student more... If they are willing to accept the answer. I think that many times the student asking so specific a question may seek elsewhere if they don't get the answer to the question asked.

The perhaps most important modifier there is whether you TRUST the opinion of the expert you are studying under. I often find people with only a few years of training that ask advice but don't want to follow it. They believe they know the best way to get where they want to be, rather than trust the instruction of someone who is already there.

 

[shesulsa]

Interesting. I think I'll read his blog a bit more before I get too deep into this convo, but a good answer to over-simplified questions usually contains a seed for a bigger train of thought.

 

[jackmcmanus21]

that is great insight. I have read his blog before and it is a tremendous read...definitely interesting from his perspective.