Soft Student

[bagpuss]

I have my own school with a children class and adults classes.

One thing i have learnt from being a student of karate and now instructor is NOT to give press up's, sit up's etc, or any form of exercise as a punishment. They are part of the fitness which comes with karate training.

At my club i as instructor and owner of it, before any student walks onto the dojo training area, i have to make sure no student is wearing any jewelery. I also explain why it should be removed.

So maybe you should not have been put in that situation from your owner/instructor.

Not wishing to sound so goody goody you are right, In the fact that you asked him to remove it and he still no matter what age or rank did not.

That showed dis-respect for you as the class tutor and he should train in the spirit all martial arts student do week in week out.

[trustkid1]

You have rules in the dojo and he has to follow those rules. If somebody use a necklace can lose it or brake it in kumite. Earings are dangerous too when kumite. It can get stock in the gi and rip your ear. Rings are also dangerous because can cut somebody. Long fingernails can scratch or bend in kumite. You did the right thing.

[xtremartialarts1]

ok here is a great example of a student trying to push the limits with an instructor. First off, an instructor is not on the floor to discipline(to a certain extent), a martial arts instructor is on the floor to really make a difference in the student's lives. With that said push-ups are never an answer . This is because 1. The students feel that they are really being disciplined in a place where they are really supposed to have fun. This is not school this is karate. 2. Students will never want to do push-ups in warmups or in any other part of class because they will feel that push-ups are a bad thing.

As far as that particular situation, don't yell or make a big deal of the student wearing something like that. Instructors have to learn to pick their battles. Yes i know it's against the school rules. If you are doing some form of contact or anything else that you think will interfere just say to the student off to the side quickly, almost like its no big deal, "listen, Johnny, you're really not supposed to wear that in here cause you or someone else might get hurt. Or that might even break. Do you really want that thing to break into a million pieces all over the floor and then have to clean it up?"

make a joke out of it. The student will probably play along and say yes i do want it to break, but you know what, now its in his head and if he still doesnt take it off then you can be a little more stern.

[Goju 4 Life]

We have certain rules at our school about pushups. Certain infractions are dealth with 25 pushup multiplyed by how many instructors are in the building. I read what you guys said about pushups and I think you're right. But, it's not my school. And I have realized he was jsut looking for an excuse to leave anyway.

[Rateh]

i disagree with the statements about pushups. In our school push-ups are used regularly. Not so much as a punishment, but as a reminder to the student that the behavior is not allowed. For instance leaning on the wall might get 10 push-ups. Now ten pushups isnt very much, and hence serves to remind the student to act appropriatly. Push-ups isnt treated as a stern discipline, and so students are able to quickly perform their pushups, and get right back into the fun of the class. It should also be noted that the students never complain about doing pushups for warm up, and many of our students come to enjoy them. (these students tend to not need to be disciplined by pushups anymore)

I think it is more the matter of the attitude of the instructor. The instructors demeaner decides whether pushups will be a negative or positive disciplinary action. Students who are disciplined with pushups should not feel resentful after the fact. Once the push-ups are finished, they should immediately rejoin the class as though nothing occured. (unless the student is continuously misbehaved, or the action is such that a few words of lecture need to be stated)

On another note, discipline means nothing if the person being disciplined doesnt know the reason behind it. With young students especially, i make sure to explain it.

[Shaolin Bushido]

If the kid didn't take off the necklace when you told him to the first time, he had an attitude to begin with.

You can't control people. It's not your fault.