Rateh

We had a student that started tucking in her belt tips into her belt. The head instructor suggested it during a private lesson when it kept hitting her. She was 8 years old at the time. She started doing it in regular class and it became a dojo fad for a few months!

I prefer black, though I have always wanted a medium weight red one. Also I prefer cross over to pull over tops.

I have spent years planning kids curriculums and researching. In all the stuff I know and have created alone, I have found a program that is way better. You don't have to take it as is either, just tweak it till its the way that you want it, no need for permission or any such thing. It's the shuman concepts programs. They have one for 3-4 year olds, 5-6 year olds, 7-8 year olds, and 9-12 year olds. The 3-4 and 5-6 are by far the best. Included in each binder is a LOT of information, such as lots of drills to work with 3-4 year olds and it lists what each drill accomplishes, etc. Another program that many people use is Lil' Dragons. But IMHO that pales in comparison to the shuman concepts programs. Its not even in the same ballpark as far as I'm concerned. Only 1/3 of the curriculum is focused on martial arts, the rest is stuff like memorizing your phone number. Also they group 4-7 year olds in the same boat. I prefer a young kids program that will give them the attention, discipline, and physical skills they will need to be successful in martial arts and other sports and activities.

A few tips 1. Command respect without causing fear This is easier said then done. However it does involve your voice as G95Champ said. Speak with a commanding but not intimidating voice. It also involves your body language. Your body language must say "I am in charge, I know what I’m doing, and you cannot get away with anything". This means back straight, shoulders up, walk with confidence, look students in the eye. Use your facial expressions as well. Smiling at new students, smile at students who are behaving, smile when they try hard. When they are doing otherwise look at them in such a way that says "Shape up, I’m disappointed" 2. You must have a "reaction plan" This means what you do when a situation occurs. I suggest you create a reaction plan for each situation you regularly come across. Reaction plans should include first having an idea of why the students generally behave in that specific manner. As a new instructor the main reason will be control. Another reason generally seen in MA classes is for attention. Students who misbehave in order to have control need the harshest reactionary technique. They MUST learn that they are in fact NOT in control of the class. This usually involves push-ups. As a note, when I give push-ups, if a student argues or grumbles or anything, I increase the number (based on the age and rank of the student). If they continue to grumble or complain, I increase it again, and warn them that if they don't do it without complaints, arguments, whining or grumbling (whichever they are doing) then I will continue to increase. The most I’ve ever had to increase was 3 times. This lets them know that you are the one in charge and they can’t get away with anything. The other main reason why students may misbehave is for attention. If someone is misbehaving for attention, the best thing you can do is NOT give them any attention, then when they begin to behave immediately give them attention. If their misbehavior is distracting other students then they will get the attention they desire. So you should then sit them out of the class, and make sure they are in a position to not distract anyone but themselves. A third thing you should consider is that they might be misbehaving because of lack of understanding or communication. They may not understand what you are asking of them, or they may have a problem and not know how to bring it up to you. 3. You must have a "preventative plan" This is more important then the reactionary plan. If your preventative plan is well thought out and well executed, you will rarely have to execute your reactionary plan. A preventative plan is what you will do to prevent the situations from occurring, when you are a new teacher, or when a student is a new student, you will probably have to use the reactionary plan a number of times before the preventative plan will start to work, don't give up on your preventative plans though. Consistency is always key in managing a martial arts class, or any other class for that matter. For students who wish control, give them alternate methods of having control. For instance give them times when they may choose a technique, either for themselves or for the class. Make sure you do not favor students however. Another thing is to let them know that they are in charge of making sure that they get the most of any exercise you give out. Students who wish attention, give them appropriate leadership positions. For instance let them stand in front of the class during warm-ups or when doing techniques. This will give them an appropriate outlet for the attention they seek. Again don't favor students. Another method that might work is to compliment students who are behaving near them; this will let the attention seeker know that they will get more attention for behaving then not. Remember to be consistent, if you compliment other students for behaving, you must also compliment the attention seeker for behaving, or it will mean nothing. For students who misbehave because of lack of understanding you need to make sure that you are very clear in your instructions. (But don't make instructions too long, or students will blank out or misbehave). Also make sure that you regularly speak with each student before and after class, so that if they have any problems they can bring it up to you before they disturb the class or quit. 4. Compliments Whenever a student is doing well, compliment them. Focus on the students weaknesses, both behaviorally and technique wise. For instance if a person moves slowly to their place. Compliment others for moving quickly (SPECIFY) and then when the student who regularly moves slowly moves quickly, compliment them immediately. If a student regularly talks in class, compliment others being quiet, and whenever the student is quiet then compliment them for it. If a student is usually distracted, compliment others for paying attention or for listening, and then compliment the distracted student when they pay attention. Do this for all behavioral problems. Make sure that your compliments are sincere and specific. If they are not, students will have no desire for the compliments, and/or will not know what it is that you are complimenting them about. This means saying EXACTLY what it is that you like about what they are doing. This means smiling! When complimenting technique, again be specific! If for instance you tell a student to rechamber their leg in a side kick. Compliment the efforts you see to rechamber. Be genuinely excited and enthusiastic about their progress. Along the same lines, don't continuously tell a student they are doing something wrong. If you already told them they need to rechamber their leg, telling them over and over again won't make them suddenly get it; it will just make them angry or frustrated. Thing of a new way to get the same concept through. Also be specific about what you want changed. Don't just say "make your side kick better" be specific! Tell them WHAT is wrong and HOW to fix it. Give them solutions, not just problems. This is all I got for now.

I chose not to do anything as the student who recieved near identical scores never returned.

The student who recieved near identical scores never returned. The student who recieved the wrong rank is doing very well. His technique is progressing along very nicely. He has gained much in respect and discipline. He was disapointed when he did not recieve an orange belt on his next test, because he expected to earn all his ranks as fast. He now understands that he did not receive an orange belt because he has not yet earned it. He works extra hard in class and is determined to earn his orange belt soon.

I like to do teamwork day. Split the class into teams of about 5 (for us that ment two teams). Start them out by giving their TEAM a warm-up....say 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups and 500 jumping jacks. It doesn't matter who in their team does what, so long as as a group they finish the warm-up. Then have them race against the other team(s) to see who can finish the warm-up first. Another team game is belt tying races. Have all the students take off their belts. Then have them tie them on as fast as they can. The team who finishes first wins (they should help the white belts in their team who are having trouble). Then theres team races. Have each team make a line, do techniques or running or jumping etc down the dojo floor. Then the person comes back and tags their team mate. Students who do poor techniques (according to individual ability and rank) have to go back and start over. Team that finishes first is the winner. Then theres team endurance contests. Have everyone stand in a horse stance. Students who come up (straighten their legs or have them not bent enough) are out. Each person thats left standing after a cirtain time gives points to their teams. Repeat with standing on one foot. Next is team building contests. Have each team run and grab 5 or so peices of equipment and make a pile in a separate part of the floor. When you say go they have to make something out of the equipment (a game, a car, etc...). Give them a time limit, then have them present their creations and you decide the most creative one. Finally theres team obstacle course. Set up an obstacle course. The teams have to go through one at a time, each person in the team must complete each section of the obstacle course before going on to the next. After an initial practice round, time them. Students who start on another section of the course before their team finishes an earlier section get time added. The team with the lowest time wins. Each team contests have students winning points for their team. For instance the team that completes the warm-ups first gets 5 points. The team with the most points at the end wins. Usually I make the winning team do push-ups intead of the losing team. It makes it more fun because the students know they are competing for push-ups but they try their best in the competitions anyways.

Yes, probably. The way I announce my forms is similar to how chuilli does. Something along the lines of "Judges, my name is Jane Doe, my style is Chun Kuk Do, my instructor is John Doe, my form is Unsu, may I begin". All said very loudly and clearly. And then after a head nod "Thank you judges". If its a non traditional devision, like open forms or extreme forms, then you say the same but omit the form, unless you named your form something.

I've never seen someone not announce their forms.

I agree, as you are announcing yourself you scan through the judges looking each one in the eye. Time it so that your announcing ends with you looking the center judge in the eye. Also make sure if there are any female judges that you use ma'am not just sir. If the center is a female especially.

I agree with keeping on the balls of your feet and your knees bent. Before I teach my students kata, I teach them the proper pivots and they must practice and get them correctly. You may want to practice just pivoting alone, with no arm movements. Then when you get that down well, practice doing the entire kata with only footwork. After that add the arms back in and you should see much improvement.

I've never heard of anyone teaching xma that said that they could fight with the techniques.

I was taught to watch the chest area. We were told the eyes will trick you, and watching just the hands or feet will take your focus away from the other. Watching the chest area lets you see any slight movements in the shoulders to warn you of a technique.

Disgruntled, I have found, and you probably will too, that after a testing you do "know" if you passed or not. You just have a feeling about it. Like you know if you did your kicks correctly or not, and you know if you forgot part of your form or not, and you know if your stances stunk or not. The more tests you take, the more you will know immediatly if you passed or not. I'm sure this is what your instructor ment. Also I have found all instructors to be willing to answer specific questions about your test results if you ask them. A bit about the report cards.... I handed them out on Saturday and it seemed to go well. No one was like "oh why did I get that!". No one asked me specifically about their scores (which I take as a good sign, because after testing students are always coming up and asking me for specifics). Also I announced that it was for them and their parents to know what areas they did really well on and what areas they need to work on next time, and that they are not allowed to compare with other students to see who did "better". I didn't see any students comparing report cards so I guess they listened.

I've heard that rolling it instead of folding it can help to soften it.

Ive never seen anything other than a pass/fail....However my students just tested and tomorrow I'm going to give out Karate Report Cards. It's an idea I toyed with and decided to try. This will be the first group of students to receive one from me.

No, death is just a part of the journey

10 years so far.

"I already have it perfect" One of my 7 year old students told me this when I told him to practice the things for his test next week. I had the students working on whatever they wanted, so long as they were working. He told me he had everything perfect, and thats why he wasn't working on anything... I told him to practice his stepping punches up and down the floor till I said stop.

I like to slide in with a sidekick and follow with a backfist reverse punch. Unless of course the side kick got them too good .

Balance a plate of spaghetti I use that with my kids all the time to teach them the proper chamber for a roundhouse kick. I also tell them "no jello legs" when they do their kicks.

Which kick(s) does it involve?

I have the same problem. I have tried two brands of safty sports goggles. I find that they distort my vision a bit, and if my helmet gets hit then they get very crooked. Instead I buy regular frames that are able to bend without breaking. They also become crooked when my helmet gets hit, but don't cause distorted vision otherwise. I find this to be a real problem for me in sparring, because we spar with medium contact, and no one else has glasses when they spar. No one else understands that the second I get hit on the head, I'm helpless. This is because I see everything in double or blurry (I'm legally blind without corrective lenses), due to the angle of my glasses. It's impossible to defend yourself or blitz either in that condition. Contacts would be the best option, but I've had no success in getting them into my eyes.

In our school we use the word "break" to end sparring matches. I don't think anyone on the street would yell that in a fight...

As I heard it, a lot of the techniques were used because they could be performed with your hands cuffed behind your back. Thats why there are so many kicking techniques, and their takedowns etc are with legs only.