ladyj

Pineapple... I can tell from reading your posts that you would not have a problem training under a female, and I commend you for that. However if you would take a look at most of your male students and question "why" they are training what I found was it usually starts out as them wanting to learn how to fight, then around intermediate level it shifts over to understanding that MA is not about physical fighting that fighting is only a small part of MA. When they are wanting to learn how to fight do you really think they want their friends to know that a "girl" is teaching them. The male students we have now do not have a problem taking instruction from me as a female but the dojo I teach at has my Instructor's(who is male) name on it, even though we are equal partners.

Lesson plans are the way to go. If you are not careful you will begin to notice that the students are progressing in some areas but lacking in others, then you will have to play catch up. We have a basic lesson plan that includes the techniques that are required for each level and at the top it has columns with date then by each technique it has a blank to check off under each date column. That way if something happens and one of the instructors can't be there anyone can walk in pick up the plan and pick out what they need to cover. With mixed levels in the same class we will start out with the technique breakdown for beginners and make the intermediate and advanced follow the beginners speed, then we will ask the beginners to step off the floor and allow the intermediate and advanced to perform the same techniques at their pace. Hope this helps.

As a female instructor with over 14yrs experience, I can tell you it isn't that some of us don't want our own dojo, but being from a smaller town, it is very hard to keep enrollment up. How many men do you know who want to tell people they are training under a female instructor? And as bad as I hate to talk about this... when you put alot of women together they tend to have issues with each other (note this happens in the classrooms irregardless of the instructors gender). I think if you look at the trends, it is a wiser business decision to have male and female instructors at the school so they maintain balance. Men and women perceive and interpert things differently so if you have a good mixed team they will communicate effectively to solve any problem that may arise. Also I agree with the idea that the ratio of women training vs men training is very unbalanced, weighing on the men's side, so of course you will have more head instructors that are male.

Most all of us have to work outside of martial arts or we have families so we do not want injuries. I think if the protective equipment is available you should wear it and not worry about what others are doing because you aren't responsible for them.

Talk to your sensei. If the BB or the advanced students are acting this way they need a rememberance class about when they were beginners coming up through the ranks. We all start at the same place and advance at different paces but we are all training to acheive a similar goal (each individuals goal will be slightly different), and your sensei should address this.

With our small children we will for example cut an orange and a green belt into two strips about 12 inches long and tuck one on each side of their belt. Put them into a sparring stance and the object is to be the first one to grab your opponents strips. They absolutely love it and they don't even realize they are learning to close the gap between an opponent and a technique. They are so free because there is no fear of getting hit.

In my experience the students who truly want to quit just stop showing up without saying anything. However those that talk to me about quitting I encourage a great deal.....Due to the fact that usually they are struggling in some way. Be it a problem with another student, problem with a technique, a miscommunication, etc. We have an open door policy where a student can come in and ask any question or voice any complaint he/she feels is necessary and we attempt to remedy the situation to the satisfaction of all parties involved.

I agree that it is not a lack of upper body strength, however since you are aware of that you are doing it you can change it. All you have to do is think about your shoulders relaxing and they will. This to will take practice. Once you realize that you are tense then begin to think about your shoulders being relaxed and it will happen, when they become tense again then repeat the process and it will eventually become second nature.

I understand your question completely, however I wasn't talking about just being able to generate power from hip rotation. In our system we teach what my sensei has called "concepts". That is when you practice a physical techniques he has you focus on the mechanics first, then once you have those down, you begin to focus on relaxation, rotation(hips or punches), breath,synchronization, etc so you can project energy projection into a target from any technique that you do. Luckily I was intrigued by energy projection and practiced and still practice very seriously.

Ninjanurse that makes perfect sense. Thanks for the clarification.

Yes, please explain this. My sensei and I both compete periodically, but it is not about winning or losing it is seeing where our "weaknesses" are. If we are having trouble with focusing, speed, etc. we go back to the dojo and set up a new training routine focusing on the areas we feel are lacking and implement it into our normal training routine. Then after a few months we again return to the tournament arena and see if our routine was successful. Competition is used for many different reasons and to each his own.

Competition is a wonderful training tool, however you do not have to have it to be a martial artist. I feel that competition is an individual choice and that is why we encourage potential students to sit in and watch a few classes so they can develop an idea of what is going on and usually after seeing a competition sparring class there are two questions... Am I going to be able to do that? or I don't want to do that, do I have to? To each his own, the technique will develop the same way... with repetition.

Great article. The hard work and focus have paid off.

All of the advice you have received is great. Please remember to encourage her and let her know that we all start out as beginners and if she goes to a dojo where the advanced aren't willing to help or be supportive... beware.

I think it's great to want to branch out and compliment the current style but you should be very careful when doing this. What generally happens or from what I have seen as an instructor, most students who branch out unless they are a seasoned black belt tend to mix the techniques. Most students can not separate the two styles and so the techniques they will become an odd mixture, and you will not progress at either style.

I tend to agree with all of you, but my question is...are you only trying to generate more physical power? Being a female in MA I have a Physical disadvantage compared to men... however if you want to talk about projecting energy into a target it takes practice of your concepts. Hip Rotation, breath(kiai), relaxation, synchronization,etc. power will develop on its own with practice which will equal technique maturity and non thought or the technique will become second nature.

As a nurse, I teach mindfullness meditation to my patients with chronic pain, then we advance to visualization etc. , however I first learned meditation from my sensei and we now teach it to all of our students. The first thing you need to know is that it is normal for your mind to wander but if you continue your mind will wonder less and less until it is silent. Basically you are slowing your brain waves down. Find a comfortable place to sit or lie, no noise or as little as possible... close your eyes and visualize the number 10 breath in and out and watch the number change to 9 then 8 etc. If your mind wanders off bring it back to whichever number your are on and continue this process until you reach 0 if your mind still wanders start the countdown over again. It takes practice and you will notice that when you have had a tough day the process will take more time. Hope this helps...