Sigung Chambers

Progressive sparring through the belt ranks. For beginners white to orange belt- Partner referance shadow (no contact). This consist of sparring with a partner, but with no contact at all. much like shadow boxing with the exception that you are using a partner, but only using the partner for referance. This gives the student the ability to train his or her footwork and ranges as well as finding targets to deliver techniques just short of contact to the desired target. For intermediates- Touch sparring: this consists of sparring with just touch and can be applied by only touching with a punch and or kick as well as implimenting takedowns if desired. For advanced- 25% contact along with grappling if desired. Note: Depending on preferance, you need to encourage your brown and black belts to spar with at least 75% contact some of the time. Also, by conducting progressive sparring, you will give the students steps to progress in their sparring abilities. I will not promote a student to black belt until they can spar with a degree of proficiency that I belive is benafitial to them in that they can also apply their Kajukembo techniques on the street if needed. It is better to have and not need then to need and not have!

For the students who need extra training: Did I mention quality over quantity? So how can we achieve this? Yes, we do and although Kajukembo is a unique art in that we have something for everyone to be their best in defending themselves, we have to take in consideration of each individual student. Each student is different in both physical and mental attributes. Do not get hung up on students not gaining skill or understanding of 1 or 2 techniques. Yes, try your best to help and teach them, but if they are not going to get it then find a way to encourage and lift them up with what they are understanding. You may be training then on a drill which has stances, punches and kicks and they get 2 out of 3 right then you have accomplished your goal. Let them know what they are good at and did correctly and then let them know that they will get it in the future once they get the bigger picture together. So how is it that we achieved our goal? Remember my puzzle concept. When we as an individual look at the same thing, a lot of times we see the same thing differently until we have the whole puzzle together and even when we have the puzzle together we still see things that others do not. I remember when I was Bass fishing with a friend for tournaments I could see the same structure ( possible location that may hold Bass) that my friend would see and we agreed that we should catch a Bass, but we both always fished it differently. Different methods and or different baits Sometimes only one of us would catch a Bass and sometimes both of us would catch one. And sometimes the Bass just would not bite the bait at all. But we would go back to the same location and structure later and catch Bass. Most the time we accomplished our goal and placed in the Bass tournaments we entered. We ended up getting 3rd place for the whole tournament year. In saying this, some students will get ever skill and some will get most and some will get a few. Even some students will get none of the drill. It is our job as instructors collectively to insure that the students get the most out of their training. All students will learn with each class, but not necessarily the one drill you are training them in, however, they will improve and learn other skills. Although you may feel that you have failed, you have not! You have accomplished much! That one drill has improved something, you just have to look for it and then build on that. That is what makes Kajukembo unique. Be sure to take note for future reference of the skill that needs improvement and figure out a way to help him or her better understand it the next time you cover this skill. It is a part of the student and instructors growth as well as building a good relationship between the Texarkana Kajukembo Ohana. Note: This is also a great opportunity to mention Private Lessons to help the student who needs extra training outside of regular class. If you choose to give him or her the private lesson then this will give you time before the appointment to reevaluate and tackle the task with a different approach.

I have been in martial arts for over 20 years and still today I have learned things from white belts, either through my own thinking and reevaluating and or through another's personal view of things. If we fail to learn from any and all things then we become stail. If we learn we grow. I for one have great pleasure in learning. If I knew it all, then I would have never needed to enter a dojo in the 1st place.