Would you still consider a green belt a beginner?

[Tames D]

As a beginner do you feel it would be appropriate to teach others?

Beginners teaching beginners. Interesting.

 

[Dirty Dog]

As a beginner do you feel it would be appropriate to teach others?

Absolutely. We expect every student to teach. I learn from students all the time. Some of them have more experience than me. Some less. Why would anybody cut themselves off from possibly learning something simply because of a belt color?

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Beginners teaching beginners. Interesting.

I don't generally try to promote my blog in this forum, but I recently wrote an essay which I think is relevant to the consideration of who can (or should) be teaching whom. It's too lengthy to post in a comment, so I'll just drop the link here for anyone who is interested: Lineage.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I don't generally try to promote my blog in this forum, but I recently wrote an essay which I think is relevant to the consideration of who can (or should) be teaching whom. It's too lengthy to post in a comment, so I'll just drop the link here for anyone who is interested: Lineage.

Thanks Tony for the link to your blog it is a great read!

 

[PhotonGuy]

This one MA student said that in his dojo, everybody is really a white belt. Sure you might wear a belt that's a different color on the surface but its really just a white belt that's been dyed green, brown, black, or whatever. Underneath the coloring its a white belt. So, we're all white belts.

 

[drop bear]

Absolutely. We expect every student to teach. I learn from students all the time. Some of them have more experience than me. Some less. Why would anybody cut themselves off from possibly learning something simply because of a belt color?

Because a beginner may not understand the subject matter and teach something silly. Everybody wants to help. Just sometimes helping is letting the non beginner teach.

I know I generally like my instruction to come from someone who knows what they are doing.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Because a beginner may not understand the subject matter and teach something silly. Everybody wants to help. Just sometimes helping is letting the non beginner teach.

I know I generally like my instruction to come from someone who knows what they are doing.

If they've been taught correctly, they can teach correctly.
If you can't teach something, you probably don't really understand it yet.


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Really.

 

[Tames D]

Because a beginner may not understand the subject matter and teach something silly. Everybody wants to help. Just sometimes helping is letting the non beginner teach.

I know I generally like my instruction to come from someone who knows what they are doing.

Absolutely. I would be concerned about quality control with a beginner giving instruction. I'm sure it's a good way for a school owner to save money but...

 

[Dirty Dog]

Absolutely. I would be concerned about quality control with a beginner giving instruction. I'm sure it's a good way for a school owner to save money but...

So to your way of thinking, I should stop teaching?

 

[donald1]

I agree with dirty dog, beginners can be able to teach. In my Karate class at a certain point the instructor let's people help lower belts. It's good for beginners to help teach cause that's good experience when done right

 

[Tony Dismukes]

Getting back to the original question re: green belts, it's a matter of perspective. When you are 5, someone who is 20 seems old. When you are 50, a 20-year-old doesn't seem even fully grown up yet. From my current standpoint, after 33 years of training, a green belt is still very much a beginner.

 

[Tames D]

So to your way of thinking, I should stop teaching?

I don't consider you a beginner.

 

[PhotonGuy]

A more advanced beginner can sometimes teach a newer beginner in the same way that a 3rd grader can help teach a 1st grader some basic addition and subtraction and lots of schools do have programs where a student who is a couple of grades above another student might help teach the student in the lower grade some material. If a student is going to help teach another less experienced student it should be done under the guidance of the instructor of course and in my dojo you usually don't start doing any assistant teaching until you're a brown belt.

 

[drop bear]

If they've been taught correctly, they can teach correctly.
If you can't teach something, you probably don't really understand it yet.


Sent from an old fashioned 300 baud acoustic modem by whistling into the handset. Really.

Which is what makes a person a beginner. And why I tend not to teach. Or will ask my coach if I can teach certain aspects. So say someone's footwork is munty. Now it can be either a case of something that needs to be cleaned up or it just can be something that works for them. Now it is not my business to really determine that because the person who is learning then gets conflicting messages when he may not be ready for them.

And if I can get a qualified opinion from the non beginners in my club. I will. That is why I pay the money and turn up in the first place.

 

[drop bear]

A more advanced beginner can sometimes teach a newer beginner in the same way that a 3rd grader can help teach a 1st grader some basic addition and subtraction and lots of schools do have programs where a student who is a couple of grades above another student might help teach the student in the lower grade some material. If a student is going to help teach another less experienced student it should be done under the guidance of the instructor of course and in my dojo you usually don't start doing any assistant teaching until you're a brown belt.

Chinese whispers?

 

[drop bear]

Getting back to the original question re: green belts, it's a matter of perspective. When you are 5, someone who is 20 seems old. When you are 50, a 20-year-old doesn't seem even fully grown up yet. From my current standpoint, after 33 years of training, a green belt is still very much a beginner.

OK what about say a purple in the beej. Working on the theory of green,brown black. Purple,brown,black.

Got a mate who is a purple but rates in pan pax competitions. Once you start winning on a national stage I would suggest not beginner. Even if I had trained for thirty years obviously he is understanding the concept better than me.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Getting back to the original question re: green belts, it's a matter of perspective. When you are 5, someone who is 20 seems old. When you are 50, a 20-year-old doesn't seem even fully grown up yet. From my current standpoint, after 33 years of training, a green belt is still very much a beginner.

I consider somebody with a solid black belt to be a beginner. If you've got a black belt where the black coloring is coming off and its turning white, that's a true sign of experience and progress.

 

[Tames D]

i consider somebody with a solid black belt to be a beginner. If you've got a black belt where the black coloring is coming off and its turning white, that's a true sign of experience and progress.

jeeeeeeeeeeeeesh

 

[tshadowchaser]

I consider anyone with under 10 years of experience a beginner

 

[Hanzou]

OK what about say a purple in the beej. Working on the theory of green,brown black. Purple,brown,black.

Got a mate who is a purple but rates in pan pax competitions. Once you start winning on a national stage I would suggest not beginner. Even if I had trained for thirty years obviously he is understanding the concept better than me.

A purple in Bjj is like a second degree black belt in most styles.