Tell me about your first day of training..

[gyoja]

I distinctly remember in 1978, my Dad handing me over to this big, scary looking soldier, then driving away. The things that he and the other students were doing seemed like magic to me. What a fantastic adventure it has been!

 

[Simfers]

My first day of training almost didn't happen. I was 18, a gigangic nerd and PAINFULLY awkward (two of those things are no longer true. I'm no longer 18 and I'm much less awkward).

So I'm stood there in the door to the gym the Chicoutimi TKD Academy is renting in the local school, it's big, the lighting is all weird and it's filled with strangers, some in doboks with various belts, some, like me, in just sweat pants and a t-shirt, who are chatting and laughing...

Instant panic. Sensory overload. I'm standing there transfixed, a breath away from just turning around and leaving...

When this older gentleman, a beginner himself, just like me, comes up to me, extends his hand and introduces himself. As we're shaking, he says "pretty scary, huh? Come on, I'll introduce you to some people." And somehow I followed him.

Then class started and we went over the rules of the dojang, then we started with the first techniques (if I had to bet, I'd say we started with the bichagi/roundhouse kick) and I was hooked the second I made contact with the focus mitt. The SOUND it made... The rest, as they say, is history.

I owe my entire journey to that one dude. I fon't know where he is now. He was at least 50 at the time and that was in 1997, so for all I know he's gone now, but Michel, wherever you are... Thanks, buddy.

 

[HighKick]

I had experience with instructors who were prone to correcting the finish. I learned to correct the process, like you're talking about here. Rather than telling a student "your foot should be turned further at the end", I'd be able to say "your weight was too far forward before the pivot, so your body needed your foot pointed this way to keep balance." Students learned faster - and understood better - when they were correcting the process (using principles), instead of just getting technical critique.

This is the way.
It is Much harder to learn something when it is engrained in you the wrong way.

 

[Gyakuto]

This is the way.
It is Much harder to learn something when it is engrained in you the wrong way.

This is often used as an excuse not to practise away from one’s teacher when in fact the research says that’s counterproductive.

 

[Gyakuto]

.

 

[HighKick]

This is often used as an excuse not to practise away from one’s teacher when in fact the research says that’s counterproductive.

Practice does Not make perfect.
Perfect practice makes perfect.
Yes, it is a process to get there. Hence the purpose of good instruction.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Perfect practice makes perfect.

Oddly, that’s not true, either. Practicing at a level where you are perfect is inefficient. The fastest development happens at a level where you are doing well and making mistakes - say 85% of perfect.

 

[HighKick]

Oddly, that’s not true, either. Practicing at a level where you are perfect is inefficient. The fastest development happens at a level where you are doing well and making mistakes - say 85% of perfect.

If you are including full power, full strength 100% of the time as 'perfect', if fully agree.

 

[Gyakuto]

Practice does Not make perfect.
Perfect practice makes perfect.
Yes, it is a process to get there. Hence the purpose of good instruction.

So you tell your students not to practise between classes in case they somehow ingrained ‘imperfection’? They should only practise before a teacher who can correct them? Have you heard of homework set be teachers and lecturers throughout the world?

 

[HighKick]

So you tell your students not to practise between classes in case they somehow ingrained ‘imperfection’? They should only practise before a teacher who can correct them? Have you heard of homework set be teachers and lecturers throughout the world?

Not at all. But I do caution them to make sure they are doing the movements as close to right as possible before doing them on their own. Correction is usually a process for all of us.

 

[Gyakuto]

Not at all. But I do caution them to make sure they are doing the movements as close to right as possible before doing them on their own. Correction is usually a process for all of us.

It’d be a very strange teacher who didn’t suggest that.

 

[HighKick]

It’d be a very strange teacher who didn’t suggest that.

Of course. But it is not like we, at instructors Never have to correct students who practice on the own, right?

I think of it like complex math. You can practice and practice but get the order of operations wrong or one operation or variable incorrect and it is All wrong.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Of course. But it is not like we, at instructors Never have to correct students who practice on the own, right?

I think of it like complex math. You can practice and practice but get the order of operations wrong or one operation or variable incorrect and it is All wrong.

Generally speaking, I think it's easier to correct a student who is practicing on their own than someone who isn't.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Generally speaking, I think it's easier to correct a student who is practicing on their own than someone who isn't.

Even with complex math, this holds true. As someone who used to tutor higher level calc/discrete mathematics, when working with a student who was trying and messing one thing up, we had a specific goal of what we were trying to fix, and they were comparitively better at wrapping their heads around it. Versus the person who sat in the lecture, didn't understand it, then came to a tutoring session with no practice/attempt to work on it on their own - I'd say something or ask them how they'd go about starting to solve an issue, to see where the problem was, and get a blank stare.

I'd be lucky to get them to the same spot at the end of the session that someone who practiced on their own was at the beginning of the session.

That doesn't take into account muscle memory, but as far as comparison's go it's actually pretty apt.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Perfect practice makes perfect

Oddly, that’s not true, either. Practicing at a level where you are perfect is inefficient.

I have an entirely different view of this "perfect practice" thing. I see it as NOT aiming to get a perfect result from the process of practicing, but to improve the practice itself - The goal being "practicing perfectly" - Practicing how to practice. Studying History will be a waste of time if you don't know how to study to begin with.

I see two sides of practicing - No! Not two sides: Physical and mental together. Just practicing physically is simply exercise. Conscious intent should be maintained: Think about the purpose of the technique being practiced, how it needs to be executed and the effects it will have when actually employed - Visualize the opponent and situation as vividly as possible. IMO, keeping these things in mind will make practicing so much more effective.

I seldom "practice" at full speed - Things are happening too quickly for feedback processing and self-correction. This reduces your practice to exercise. Going full speed/power I see as more of a test of how your practicing has gone. I need to feel each move component as it's being done. Does it feel right? If not, correct and repeat.

This topic can be greatly expanded on, but these are what I see as a couple main points that come to mind.

 

[Stuarto]

Oddly, that’s not true, either. Practicing at a level where you are perfect is inefficient. The fastest development happens at a level where you are doing well and making mistakes - say 85% of perfect.

Agreed, making mistakes is part of the learning process. I am training for purple belt and was picked apart by four black belts today. I appreciate constructive criticism because I know that it will help me improve. When I go for purple I want to be the best orange belt I can be.