bushido_man96

Its great to be able to get together with a few of the people that you know you can really get to expounding on the Martial Arts. Its easy to get carried away, too. An instructor has to constantly check himself with the audience he is speaking with, and make sure he isn't going over too many heads. Save the real good stuff for those that will appreciate it.

Solid post!! React to ANYTHING!! That's should be the jewel of the MA, any MA, imho!! When working off specific attacks for specific defenses, this can happen often in Hapkido or Aikido classes (the one's I've been involved in, anyway). Uke gets confused or loses track of what is being focused on. Its quite humorous. I often visualize Jim Carrey saying "you attacked me wrong!" On a side note, having principle-based responses are very helpful to minimizing these funny moments.

Kids, between 45 minutes and an hour, if you can do a focused kids class. Adults, hour to hour and a half. I like to go hour and a half anymore, to get in all the segments of the class. Kids younger than 8, really only need about 30 minutes.

What is this course you are doing? Sounds very interesting. I was also curious if you had a system you use for handgun or long gun disarm/retention for your department. Do you have one system you use for DT, or a few things pulled from different places to round it all out? I agree, weights are great for squats. But everyone is afraid of them. But the same people who are afraid to squat due to back and knees have no qualms with putting 300 or 400 lbs on just their elbows. Kudos to you for doing all that squatting! I'm trying to get myself back into it, as well. I can see the importance here. But, I also see how it can be important to burn out once in a while; just not that regularly.

I've never made any style transitions, but I have done TKD in one facet or another for over 20 years. Right now, I do more of an Olympic style of sparring, whereas before I did the ATA point system of sparring. Within the TKD styles of sparring, you can see lots of different methods. In point systems, you can see more lead leg kicking, without putting the foot down. In Olympic style, you see more rear leg kicking and combinations and counters, because there is no stopping to call points. Some will be counter fighters, and others more offensive. You just never know what you are going to get. I'm not sure if that helped you out at all, but I'd be willing to try to answer any other questions you'd have.

I wish i still kept many of my old belts. Alas I was young and didn't think of keeping them. But hey what can I do, lesson learnt! I'd have to do some digging to see if I still have all of mine. I did keep the certificates, though. Most of them, I keep in clear page holders in a notebook. The bigger ones I have framed.

Great article. Very thorough, and a great guide. Happy Birthday, Danielle!

Congrats!

So it is your national association then for all styles? That was my question, as well. How many different styles can you test for, and how does that affect the judges that sit on the panels?

Congrats! Very well deserved!

Happens a lot i find. When it is the same style people decide to train in at 2 different dojo's baffles me and i don't know why they do it. If I went to train in another style of karate then i would check with my sensei first, then I would tell the head of the other school of my training in the other style. But if it is a different martial art, I would still tell the owner of that school so that they are aware My question is, why? I think its the student's choice as to what they consume as a customer, isn't it? As an instructor, I really don't think I have the right to know which stores they shop at, or if they learn Martial Arts elsewhere. My only job is to mark their progression through the style I teach them, and make sure they are doing things the way we do them in our gym. That's really my only job as an instructor. If they have the time to devote to training multiple styles, then kudos to them. Take advantage of it, because it won't always be there.

I think the only way is if I just fall apart physically, and can't do them anymore. Even if that ever happened, I would still keep coming here to fulfill my Martial Arts needs.

Well, if you have lots of wall space, you could frame each certificate for each belt, and mount the belt below each frame. But that would take quite a bit of wall space. You could also minimize that, and just have all the belts hanging below the certificate of your current rank, having the lowest rank belt at the bottom, leading up to your current rank, with your current rank certificate above them.

I concur with Brian. In that, I've never really like the line-up protocol because the lower ranks can be overlooked in the back row, and I do understand why the protocol is what it is. I can see the use in both ways. The way we do it, the low ranks in the back get to watch the higher ranks go first in basics, so the lower ranks can then either mimic or reference how the higher ranks do the techniques. But on the way back down the floor, the lower ranks go first, so they have to take what they've seen and apply it accordingly on the way back. So they only get a reference going one way. I do like the idea of lower ranks having a reference going both ways.

Thank you for all the thoughts on this, everyone! Great responses.

We all have the floor in common. The question is, do we venture from the comfort of our own floor from time to time and experience what others offer on their floors. Thanks for the addendum, Bob. As always, its great!

Great article, Danielle. Love the ideas! Thanks for sharing them.

I loved this article, Alex. Great use of videos in making your points, and adding to the clarification of your article, to boot. I also don't feel that Wrestling gets nearly enough credit for what it has to offer as a Martial Art. Thanks for putting this out there.

Please do. I've done a review of it in the Martial Arts Research Library thread, as well, on page 18 of the thread: http://www.karateforums.com/martial-arts-research-library-vt8082-170.html

I love reading the history of stuff. Thanks for sharing all this with us, Bob.

Thank you very much, Patrick!

Welcome back to the Martial Arts, and welcome to KF! Glad to have you here!

Welcome to KF! I don't think you should worry too much about the legitimacy of your shodan grade. Opinions on age vary all over the place, so each has their own opinions and experiences. Also, its hard to tell from what someone writes in a forum thread, if you know what I mean. We can all only assume. What's really important is how you feel about it, and after 9 years in, I think you should feel pretty good. Others also differ on the thought that a shodan is a "beginner." I don't really buy into this train of thought, but others do. So, to each their own. It really boils down to a matter of personal philosophy, or what ever philosophies your instructors try to instill in you as a student. Once again, welcome to our community, and I look forward to hearing and learning from you.

This post was originally published as an article in a dedicated KarateForums.com Articles section, which is no longer online. After the section was closed, this article was most to the most appropriate forum in our community. Part of the American Taekwondo Association's instructor certification program is learning and applying what the organization has identified as 10 class management skills. Application of these skills is important in providing a positive experience to the students of each class and helps the instructor manage the class through positive methods of leadership. Let's review. 1. Set Mood and Tone of Class This is the first class management skill and for good reason. Starting with the bow-in, it's important for the instructor to present him or herself with a positive, upbeat, ready-to-work attitude. Presenting oneself in this manner serves to get the students excited about the class as well. 2. Create a Positive Climate/Atmosphere This skill flows right along with the first one. Even if the previous portion of the day has been the worst of our life, it's important to create a positive class atmosphere to promote the best learning experience possible for our students. As instructors, we probably see our students on average of 3-5 hours per week. It's imperative to make those few hours as positive as possible. 3. Use the Personal Approach/Individual Contact Although classes are a group setting, the individuals that make up that group each want and deserve an instructor's attention. It's important to approach students individually as often as possible to make a correction, give some praise or offer a compliment. In the same vein, it is also beneficial to make individual (and appropriate) contact by shaking hands, high-fiving a child or correcting a technique. This allows you to personalize the classroom experience for each student. 4. Set Direct Goals This class management skill is utilized by the instructor in class design. It's important to have a goal for the class and have the drills for the class lined out in order to reach that goal. It is also important to relate the goals of the class to the students, so that they know what is expected of them and how they will reach that goal in class. The goal could be to learn the first half of a new form. By stating this, the students get themselves ready for the task at hand and understand that by the end of class, they should be able to meet this goal and demonstrate goal attainment at the end of class. 5. Give Thoughtful Feedback to Each Student's Response Students ask questions, and it's great that they do. As instructors, it is important to be able to listen to these questions and provide thought-out responses to the best of our ability, to search out an answer and get back with them if need be or to provide resources for them to seek out the answers on their own. Students will learn soon enough if an instructor is feeding them hogwash, so i's best to be honest if an instructor doesn't have an answer. There is no shame in not knowing, as long as there is willingness to look for a response. 6. Reinforce Positive Behavior Finding positive behavior, and reinforcing it immediately, will let other students see what you expect out of them in class. This will shape the class. If a student answers up properly right away where others may be a little more shy, reinforcing that behavior lets others know that it is appropriate, and they will work to follow along. 7. Give Realistic Praise Everyone responds well to praise. It's important for praise to be realistic so that it doesn't sound disingenuous. For praise to be effective, it should be specific. Instead of praising a good kick, praise what made the kick good, like a proper chamber position and base leg pivot. Praising the student this way gives them specific feedback, and helps other students' understanding as well. 8. Give Positive Correction Rather than Criticism Positive correction goes a long way in keeping attitude towards learning positive. Avoiding negative language during corrections, like "that's a terrible chamber." Instead, get right to the heart of the matter by being specific; "you can make your kick easier and better by getting your chamber up high and tight." The student knows what to change, and the instructor can monitor the student's attempt to change and correct the technique. 9. Refer to Students by Name This class management skill is pretty straightforward. Learning and using a student's name individualizes and personalizes the classroom experience. 10. Teach the Concept of Personal Victory The idea behind this class management skill is to convey to the students that each class makes them a little bit better in one facet or another, no matter how small the gain is. Whether it is attaining the class goal of learning half of the new form, or making it through a class after a particularly hard day, the student that finds the victory within that day will be driven each time they return. Learning and applying these 10 skills has helped me throughout my career as an instructor. I'm sure many will read these and see that they use some of them already, and perhaps there are a few here that might be new to some. I hope they prove helpful.

Here is an article I found rather interesting, regarding BJJ point changes: http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/446250/BJJ-needs-rules-changes-to-increase-fight-relevancy I have to admit, with my very limited experience, I kind of followed most of it, but don't know about all the positions mentioned. But, I think I do see the point being made about increasing positional dominance and getting into good fighting positions. Thoughts from the more experience BJJers and MMA competitors?