To the Teachers of Martial Arts

[Buka]

Most of the Police Officers that stop by to train, have a reason.
It is usually a change in their process or rules of engagement and in so doing their instructions is lacking to them.
** Note: This does not mean their instruction was bad, it just didn't connect with them. Sometimes a different instructor can say the smae thing with different words and reach a person. **
.
I have learned to ask them what the issue is, and then we break it down and address.
They are in and out in a few classes to a month.
.
Some will say this is an interruption to the rest of the class.
And I say it is a chance for them to see what is being applied by others who need it on a day to day basis in a jail or somewhere else.
I also know they are not there for the long lessons of the art. They want some specific answers and get back to being safe and going him to their loved ones.
If I can help with that, then that is some of the rewards I take home with me.
.
I bring this up as just teaching can have a few issues.
One never practices to get better and they can get sloppy. ( Not always just an observation on what is possibly )
One can also have wins from teaching.
When you reach a person, or someone applies it for real and they survived better off with than without.
.

Training Police Officers is definitely different - especially when it comes to DT.

I was in a unique position, though. All first responders trained for free, so I had a lot of them (the district police station was right next door.)

But a lot of times Officers were just Martial Arts students and trained the same way as everyone else. I had them in the Academy previous to that and they knew the difference between DT and Martial training. That made it a lot easier for all of us.

If, during a regular class, one had a question about how something might apply in a DT sense, I'd split them off from the class and we'd work on that. Three of my assistant instructors were cops with a long tenure as DT instructors, and they were always either in class or teaching. They were personal, long time friends and seasoned Black belts, so it was easy peasy. (thank God)

I was very fortunate to have all those people there every day. So were the students, so were the Officers.

 

[Taiji Rebel]

It is good to hear from so many different teachers with varying experience levels. I'm guessing some of you are part-time teachers, whereas others teach more often. Teaching and coaching is my livelihood, so I am constantly learning from experience. Added to this, I am a voracious reader and deep thinker with a vast library - a recent book which has benefited my approach to coaching is the following:

The Language of Coaching: The Art & Science of Teaching…

Try to recall the best coach you've ever had. Consider …

www.goodreads.com

It is expensive, but if you are invested in improving your skills as a coach and educator then this is a great book to study

 

[Buka]

It is good to hear from so many different teachers with varying experience levels. I'm guessing some of you are part-time teachers, whereas others teach more often. Teaching and coaching is my livelihood, so I am constantly learning from experience. Added to this, I am a voracious reader and deep thinker with a vast library - a recent book which has benefited my approach to coaching is the following:

The Language of Coaching: The Art & Science of Teaching…

Try to recall the best coach you've ever had. Consider …

www.goodreads.com

It is expensive, but if you are invested in improving your skills as a coach and educator then this is a great book to study

Thanks for the tip, I'll check that baby out today.

 

[Buka]

Another thing about teaching….

IMO, (and has already been said by other) the very best thing you can do is observe other teachers. Watch them like a hawk, take notes if you like. And if you’re a fairly young martial artist, go to fighting competitions and watch a few. Then enter competition yourself. I don’t care if it’s Kata competition, Kumite, breaking, MMA, whatever. And I’ll tell you why. If you compete a bunch of times you’re going to make friends, especially if you have a decent personality. You’ll probably make a lot of them. Ask them if you can come to their school to either take a class or watch. Then go. Watch how they teach, experience how they teach by being part of their class. Take notes.

Think about this. Remember your school days, everybody had teachers they liked and some they didn’t like so much. What was it about them that you liked? Or didn’t like? Maybe it was because the class was easy, or an easy class to get and A or a B in. Or maybe it was because you learned a lot and learned in in an enjoyable way. Or maybe because it was just the balls and really blew you away.

And it's best to come to grips with a cold, hard fact. Not everybody can teach. Sure, anybody can stand in front of a class and count. Stand in front and run the class. But some people can only be a “counter.” I’ll give you an example, my wife.

One of the hardest working, dedicated students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. NEVER missed class, all the while working a full-time job. A tough as nails tomboy who loved Martial Arts, loved fighting anybody and everybody and only fought contact. And with very few females, she only fought men, usually blackbelts. Knew the material like the back of her hand. You could ask her any question and she’d recite the answer like it was written on her eyeballs. And she honestly understood the answers she gave, in every detail.

Despite that, she couldn’t teach to save her life. And not because she was shy, she was anything but shy, she just couldn’t teach. Not just Martial Arts, she really can’t teach anything, it’s not part of her. She was the extreme example, but there’s just some people that can’t teach, even if they want to.

Since most reading this thread are teachers, we are blessed with the luck of the draw. But we shouldn't let it cool. We all have to learn more about teaching, learn in any and all ways we can. Teachers make a difference in people's lives. Good teachers even more so.

Let's go make a difference.

 

[Balrog]

How do you continue to learn and development as a teacher?

Do you attend courses on becoming a more effective teacher?

ATA offers continual training to everyone. I'm a Master Instructor, but I jump at the opportunity to be a student again, so that I can learn new things to take back to my students.

What books on teaching are in your library?

More books on martial arts and m. a. history than on teaching.

 

[Finlay]

This is a great question

Outside of teaching martial arts I am also a teacher in my day job. Teaching of each discipline has at one time or another, informed the other.

I would break it down into different areas.

Knowledge of the discipline.

No matter what we are teaching we should work to increase our detailed knowledge of the subject. Some of these details we can pass on to our students, and some of these details will inform our teaching. Maybe by showing links between techniques or concepts that we previously hadn't noticed.

Often this will be driven by questions from your students


Knowledge of sport science.

This would be how to structure a class for phyiscal development. How to make people fitter and stronger. This field is always changing and is worth keeping up with.

Explanations/public speaking

Being able to explain things in simple terms but not so simple that you have to ignore some details or concepts. I used to give my trainee teachers challenges to help.

Teach with out speaking
Teach without moving
Teach with no preparation


Drills

This is something that can be taken from books , youtube, and other teachers or created by yourself. However, you have to use all the previous points to make the drills effective. You need to know why you are doing them, how to physically prepare the students for them, and how to explain them.

The best way to develop teaching is to teach, watch others teach but when watching try to look at all aspects not just the superficial drill, and have other instructors watch you teach and give feedback. Not all comments will be relevant as we all see classses through our own experince, but some small tips (speak slower, demo at different speeds, give less or more details, use 'you' statements not 'I' statements) can really make a difference

Teaching is a balance between art and science

Just science is only information
Just art is only entertainment

Teaching is both

One last thing I would like to add

As a teacher we are there to serve our students. They are not coming to class to serve us.

If someone doesn't understand it is your problem as a teacher to adjust to them. Not their problem to adjust to you

 

[HighKick]

Another thing about teaching….

IMO, (and has already been said by other) the very best thing you can do is observe other teachers. Watch them like a hawk, take notes if you like. And if you’re a fairly young martial artist, go to fighting competitions and watch a few. Then enter competition yourself. I don’t care if it’s Kata competition, Kumite, breaking, MMA, whatever. And I’ll tell you why. If you compete a bunch of times you’re going to make friends, especially if you have a decent personality. You’ll probably make a lot of them. Ask them if you can come to their school to either take a class or watch. Then go. Watch how they teach, experience how they teach by being part of their class. Take notes.

Think about this. Remember your school days, everybody had teachers they liked and some they didn’t like so much. What was it about them that you liked? Or didn’t like? Maybe it was because the class was easy, or an easy class to get and A or a B in. Or maybe it was because you learned a lot and learned in in an enjoyable way. Or maybe because it was just the balls and really blew you away.

And it's best to come to grips with a cold, hard fact. Not everybody can teach. Sure, anybody can stand in front of a class and count. Stand in front and run the class. But some people can only be a “counter.” I’ll give you an example, my wife.

One of the hardest working, dedicated students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. NEVER missed class, all the while working a full-time job. A tough as nails tomboy who loved Martial Arts, loved fighting anybody and everybody and only fought contact. And with very few females, she only fought men, usually blackbelts. Knew the material like the back of her hand. You could ask her any question and she’d recite the answer like it was written on her eyeballs. And she honestly understood the answers she gave, in every detail.

Despite that, she couldn’t teach to save her life. And not because she was shy, she was anything but shy, she just couldn’t teach. Not just Martial Arts, she really can’t teach anything, it’s not part of her. She was the extreme example, but there’s just some people that can’t teach, even if they want to.

Since most reading this thread are teachers, we are blessed with the luck of the draw. But we shouldn't let it cool. We all have to learn more about teaching, learn in any and all ways we can. Teachers make a difference in people's lives. Good teachers even more so.

Let's go make a difference.

Spot on. I have said many times just because someone gets their black belt and 'really, really' wants to be an instructor or school owner, it is just not in their DNA. I have seen good black belts hurt the attendance at schools because of the inability to teach. And there are several different ways this can happen.

 

[HighKick]

Training Police Officers is definitely different - especially when it comes to DT.

I was in a unique position, though. All first responders trained for free, so I had a lot of them (the district police station was right next door.)

But a lot of times Officers were just Martial Arts students and trained the same way as everyone else. I had them in the Academy previous to that and they knew the difference between DT and Martial training. That made it a lot easier for all of us.

If, during a regular class, one had a question about how something might apply in a DT sense, I'd split them off from the class and we'd work on that. Three of my assistant instructors were cops with a long tenure as DT instructors, and they were always either in class or teaching. They were personal, long time friends and seasoned Black belts, so it was easy peasy. (thank God)

I was very fortunate to have all those people there every day. So were the students, so were the Officers.

@Buka , I suspect you will appreciate this. I recently saw an ad by my adjoining county recruiting for police officers. The position for patrolman offered $15/hour to start. After going through the police academy, the pay is bumped to a whopping $15.95/hr.
I would have thought it was a spam ad but sadly I confirmed it is not. To add to this insanity, this county is the third worse for drug offenses in our state.

 

[Buka]

@Buka , I suspect you will appreciate this. I recently saw an ad by my adjoining county recruiting for police officers. The position for patrolman offered $15/hour to start. After going through the police academy, the pay is bumped to a whopping $15.95/hr.
I would have thought it was a spam ad but sadly I confirmed it is not. To add to this insanity, this county is the third worse for drug offenses in our state.

Wow. That's crazy.

 

[Earl Weiss]

How do you continue to learn and development as a teacher?

Do you attend courses on becoming a more effective teacher?

What books on teaching are in your library?

1. Get off your but and seek knowledge. In the last several months attended sparring Seminars with GMs Dalton (from Ireland) GM Wadley, (From Texas) and Bill "Superfoot Wallace" Aside from learning material you can also pay attention as to how the instructor teaches.
1. I also had people from several states attend a seminar I taught and often the questions they ask lead to certain insights on how people learn. I have different items about teaching in my library and wrote an article on teaching different types of learners for Totally TKD. Reading periodicals can also lead to knowledge and insights.

 

[Mider]

How do you continue to learn and development as a teacher?

Do you attend courses on becoming a more effective teacher?

What books on teaching are in your library?

Many teachers in organizations still have continuing education from their own teacher or they learn from others