a little help from other teachers please? (or anyone Ideas)

[SenseiMike]

here's my situation, I'm opening a school near my house in murfreesboro tn, I got the building at a great deal, from a wonderful land lord, but I have small problem with it:

The total ammount of training space in it is about 450 square feet. Now I'm not planning on running a big school, I wanted one that'd stay small enough for me too focus on each student as an individual. But I'd like to have more than one or two in a class, how can I teach kata to students in such a small place? I know the bunkai won't be much of a problem, but running the kata at full pace, well....

thanks

[ShotokanKid]

A cool thing I learned last Sunday is keeping one foot stationary. You can do it in a very small area. For example, Heian Shodan.

first move is step out, downblock. you can't move the left foot, so you step away with your right foot. Hope this makes sense.

So the whole time, one foot stays perfectly still.

Or, you can have one student do it at a time do it. If there isn't enough space, instead of stepping forward and running into the wall, have them step back and step forward. This works the leg muscles.

If the next move is step in punch, have them step back with the front leg and quickly change before they fall down.

Okay, hope a made at least a little bit of sense.

[scottnshelly]

Is there a larger space outside that you can practice kata on sunny days? Maybe in the parking lot or a yard of some sort.

[fallen_milkman]

450 square feet? How far out do your kata go? Our school is probably about that big. About 15ft by 30ft or so. We never have a problem going one, two, or three at a time, and we also have smaller classes. Usually we have around 6-8 at the most.

[White Warlock]

Practice together the parts. When it is time to do the whole kata, break them into turns (one or two at a time) doing the full kata (or as much as they've learned since then), with the other students watching and making 'one' critique and 'one' compliment each, then moving onto the next student(s) to perform the kata. It will both encourage them to help each other and develop a closer inspection of their own performance. And, obviously, you'll have more room. This approach can also develop courtesy, consideration, respect and compassion in your students.

*note: a relatively small dojo can encourage a more intimate relationship with your students. Foster this, but also... clearly, maintain the teacher/student differentiation.

*special note: a critique must be constructive and a compliment is 'required.' Comments like, "pathetic" or "moves like a troll" are simply not constructive. You'll gain the opportunity to develop their communication and training skills at an early stage by encouraging them to point out what needs work and possibly adding their insight into 'how' to do it correctly.

And don't forget the compliment.

[White Warlock]

Another thought on that would be to 'alternate' the compliments/critiques, so the same students aren't always pointing out things while the rest go, "umm... i don't know." My earlier recommend may not only allow some to get away with not trying, but also may make those who do try look too critical of their peers.

[MasterH]

You need more space, plan for at least 50 students. You do need to pay the bills.

[parkerlineage]

450 square feet should be big enough for small classes, I would think. What are the dimensions (as in length/width)? Your kata can't move around that much, can they? If you start out evenly spaced, you should be able to pull it off, I would think.

Peace;

Parkerlineage

[younwhagrl]

hey! our grandmaster tells us that all you need to do forms is a 3ftx3ft square by doing box forms..basically doing all full motions and stances and turns..by just staying in one place!

[JusticeZero]

That sounds.. what, 20x22? Just have them do the kata at the same time and the same facing. If they don't keep in synch, they'll crash into each other, and thus show they have some problems. That sounds like a bigger room than the one I remember practicing combinations of full speed spinning kicks in with about a dozen other students.