Comparing yourself with Other students

[cathal]

I recently attended a training session along with almost 200 other students from the surrounding provinces. I arrived early and noticed at least 20 other students stretching and practicing their kata. I am a 7th kyu and noticed that of those others there almost all of them were at the same level as myself. (After all it was the junior belt training session.)

 

I was immediately surprised. Almost all of them were exhibiting poor form, no spirit, and some were even performing the techniques incorrectly. I noticed that three of the closest were a family. I remember thinking to myself that this was a great thing, father, mother, and son all in Karate. Something they could all do together and something they could all share as a family. They were doing Heian Nidan and it was something terrible. When they had to move from a back fist into horse stance they didn't move the proper direction, nor did they even get into the proper stance. It looked more like a very low forward stance to 45 degrees left.

 

I struggled with myself to not say anything, but just as I was going to, Sensei arrived. I whispered to her of what I'd seen and my complete surprise that most of the people there were having difficulties with their stances, movements, postures, etc. She nodded and mentioned that while those were all goals some dojos had several hundred students and it was not possible to have 1-on-1 time with their Sensei. She also mentioned that it may not be the best thing to mention anything to those students as it may not have been appropriate, and you never know what kind of reaction you may get.

 

OK, don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect. I did Karate for two years, 9 years ago, now I've been back for only two months. There are still a lot of opportunities I have on my techniques, etc. But in my own opinion most of those students were barely doing their techniques, and I stayed around for the senior belts and noticed the same thing. I even saw a Brown belt unable to properly perform a side snap kick, then get lectured about it only to have him walk away from the master muttering under his breath.

 

What are your takes on this? Does this happen a great deal in that when a master visits you notice things like this as well? Is it possible that a Sensei would not take it upon themselves to have 1-on-1 time with their students?

[equaninimus]

A) Not to quibble too much, but where is kiba-dachi found in Heian Nidan?

 

B) When instructong, one attempts to get as much performance out of a student as one can. Not everyone has the same amount of skill, strength, stamina, etc... Students are often ranked according to how much they have improved since the last grading. No one is perfect, not even you.

[cathal]

Sorry it was Heian Sandan.

 

I agree, as I said in my post, I am not perfect and I have many opportunities to improve myself. Perhaps you missed that part when reading my post? Be that as it may, I'm concerned you misunderstood my post for something else. I am not, nor will I ever, attempt to unsult anyone else's techniques or capabilities. My goal was to simply get across that I personally believed that at their particular level they would be able to perform the basic techniques much better.

[equaninimus]

The point I was trying to make was that as a beginner it isn't your place to make corrections in the technique of others. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh.

[cathal]

Indeed. Well it was a good thing that Sensei was there to instruct me on that point as well. It could have turned ugly. I don't think it sounds harsh, rather logical however. (I'm a beginner in so much as my experience with Shotokan, but I've been practicing Jiu-Jitsu for years now.)

 

I appreciate your input equaninimus, what do you think about larger dojos? Do you think some students get enough time compared to others? The dojos I've been in have never been larger than 12-16.

[aefibird]

It's generally a bad idea IMO to compare yourself to another student or group of students, especially those you don't know.

 

At the lower kyu grades you're certainly not gonna find perfection of technique. Heck, you don't find perfection from many dan grades!! lol, that includes me more than anyone. There's always areas where people can improve their technique. As equaninimus wrote, students are often graded as to how much they have improved since last testing. So, even if someone is the same belt as you but has 'worse' technique, it doesn't necessarily mean they shouldn't have that grade. They may have improved a 100% since the last time they graded.

 

 

 

Yes, I think it is possible that a sensei would take it on themselves to not have any 1-on-1 time with a student. 'Belt factory' clubs would be a good example of this, where the instructor just cares about getting people through gradings (to get the $$$/£££), rather than ensuring that students have good technique. Also, some dojo's are very large and it would be nigh-on impossible for the head sensei/instructor to be able to concentrate on everyone in the club 1-to-1.

 

I think that the emphasis of the club can also have a lot to do with how well students perform certain techniques, kata, etc. For example, a sport-karate orientated club may concentrate less on kata than a more traditionally based club. My instructor is very 'hot' on basic techniques and we concentrate a lot on those in my dojo. Students from my club always get comments, whenever we go to association events, about the good quality of basic techniques. However, because we tend to sometimes concentrate more on kata and kihon than kumite other clubs would maybe look 'better' at kumite than my club. It just depends on the outlook of the sensei. After all, he/she is in charge, so students have to concentrate on whatever sensei wishes! That was a very long-winded way of saying that not everyone can excell at everything in karate; there are usually weaker spots and stronger aspects in everyones training.

 

Concentrating on one's own training and trying to improve faults is the way to go, even if you do privately think that 'that guy with the belt above me sucks!!'

 

lol, I've rambled on a bit there...

Edited January 10, 2004 by aefibird

[equaninimus]

I appreciate your input equaninimus, what do you think about larger dojos? Do you think some students get enough time compared to others?

It depends on the individual instructor, and how many (if any) assistants he has available.

[cathal]

Well spoken aefibird, thank you for your input.

[ESA-Shotokan]

The thing I always find funny is how when you watch a class, you seem to forget how tiring the work is. I have sat and watched a lesson and thought, "Easy!" and then when I'm there in the thick of it, 15 minutes and I'm half dead.

 

Watching other people is a good thing though. It is when you do find fault in other people that you start to formulate teaching strategies for your own classes. I don't look at a person's technique and think how awful it is, more on how to ensure I myself am not doing such a thing and then ensure people in my class don't also do such an error.

 

[aefibird]

what do you think about larger dojos? Do you think some students get enough time compared to others? The dojos I've been in have never been larger than 12-16.

 

My dojo has about 25-30 students, but there's usually only a max of 15 there at anyone time, due to the way the weeks' lessons are arranged (eg, beginners, black/brown belts etc).

 

I think that larger dojo's can be a good thing, but it is often very difficult to ensure everyone gets full attention from the sensei and/or assistants.

 

Also, I once read on a karate website (it might have been 24fightingchickens) that "Sensei's are human and have favourites. Get over it." Basically, even if an instructor tries to be impartial there's probably one person or a group of people that he/she favours and will concentrate on a little bit more.

 

Plus, some students need extra attention from the instructor. For example, it's more likely that an 8th kyu will need more assistance with a technique than a 6th kyu. It is a bit of a delicate balancing act trying to make sure that all students needs are catered for.

 

I'm not a karate instructor, but I do teach the beginner clas (under supervision of my sensei!) and sometimes it would be dead easy for me to concentrate on one particular student in a lesson because that student is struggling. However, this wouldn't be fair to the others, so I have to try to balance out the needs and abilities of all the students in the group.