Your Student Studying the Art on His/Her Own

[joesteph]

This question of "self study" can be asked of instructors and students who know their instructors well.

When I took Tae Kwon Do, there were two instructors, husband and wife. It was a large dojang, and the class was rather large. After the warm-ups and the opening exercises (such as we all do the lunge punch, then the front kick, etc. as a class), and before we did non-contact sparring, there were the hyungs to be learned and practiced for each belt level.

I had purchased the book of the hyungs from the husband. I learned rather quickly from the first few classes that the hyungs in the book were easy to follow; not that I could learn them as well without an instructor, but that I could study/teach myself the next few moves, then do them with either an instructor or a student of higher rank in the dojang. I spent a fair amount of time on the exercises (usually punching and kicking) at home, then on the hyungs, reviewing the old and learning the next few moves. We moved along rather slowly; it was just a few new moves per class.

When the wife would call us up in a group by belt rank, she'd have us move through the hyungs as far as we should know. She was fine when I'd do the next few moves; he was not a happy camper. I would still receive hyung instruction from a higher belt, and both instructors would check on my progress, but it was evident that I was progressing faster than someone who had no self-study, who didn't go ahead.

I believe the wife had no problem because she knew I was applying myself, and it made the job of teaching me new hyung moves easier; there was something to fine-tune rather than start from scratch. At one point, though, the husband took me aside and told me not to go ahead any longer; he told me just to do what was done in class, and wait to be taught the new moves.

I don't know if he realized that I understood that knowing hyungs wouldn't give me a faster promotion in rank, but I was genuinely disheartened and didn't continue there.

Instructors: Do you approve or disapprove of students "going ahead" in the form of self-study in your art in your own schools?

Non-instructors: Have you just gone ahead with self-study in your art? If so, did your instructor know? Approve/disapprove?

[tallgeese]

Yeah, I'd be fine with it. I mean, anything that you're doing wrong is going to be obvious in class and therefore correctable before one establishes any incorrect neuromuscular patterns signifigantly.

[ninjanurse]

I do not mind if a student learns ahead as long as they are proficient in their current curriculum. I also make it clear that it is not a guarantee of faster promotion-their attitude about this dictates how much I will let them do. Of course hard work is always acknowledged and I have found that these students are the ones who are more likely to help other students.

[joesteph]

I also make it clear that it is not a guarantee of faster promotion . . .

Of course hard work is always acknowledged . . .

Looking back, Heidi, I wish I had been told why this instructor didn't want me going ahead/self-studying, or that I had asked him. You take the time to make yourself clear.

[Tiger1962]

I'm sure there are instructors on both sides of the fence, those who mind and those who do not.

There are students who get bored easily doing the same repetitive drills all the time and learn at a faster rate than other students. As someone else mentioned, as long as the student knows that they will not get preferential treatment (meaning a faster promotion), personally I see nothing wrong with it. That being said, for me, personally, I like to be sure I have my kata/form/hyung down "pat" before moving on to a new one or advance to a more complicated move. Also, some instructors teach something in groups or "sets".

So, my answer is, as an instructor, I would not mind; as a student, I would not mind; but for me, personally, I wait until I am truly somewhat proficient in one move before moving to the next.

When you are in a situation where there are 2 owners of a school teaching, it can get political and touchy. At that TKD school you studied at, which one was your primary instructor? If that was me, and as much as it would have annoyed me, I probably would have appeased the stricter one when he was teaching and then enjoyed the freedom when the more lenient one taught. But if they are both in class, that could have gotten tricky.

[joesteph]

I'm sure there are instructors on both sides of the fence, those who mind and those who do not. . . .

When you are in a situation where there are 2 owners of a school teaching, it can get political and touchy. At that TKD school you studied at, which one was your primary instructor? If that was me, and as much as it would have annoyed me, I probably would have appeased the stricter one when he was teaching and then enjoyed the freedom when the more lenient one taught. But if they are both in class, that could have gotten tricky.

It looks like you hit the nail on the head, here, Tiger. It wasn't as though they had different days; they taught together every class. They were also husband and wife. They complemented one another: e.g., when coordinating activities in our large class, he was very good; when working individually with students, she was aces.

But I feel their personalities--viewpoints?--were different when it came to individual initiative. Sometimes we hear of or have heard of an instructor who does not want his or her students studying another art--not even some facets of that art. Sometimes we learn of an instructor who has no problem, so long as the other art doesn't interfere with their classes/instruction.

[Tiger1962]

In certain martial arts styles (i.e. traditional ones), they do make a point of saying or frown upon learning other martial arts styles. I say, if you really want to and you can handle learning two different styles at once, do so and keep it to yourself. No need to advertise it at your current dojo. And if you didn't sign any paper that states you "swore you wouldn't train at any other martial arts school," unless I'm missing something, I don't think there's anything they can do. I just wouldn't let them know about it though.

As far as the differences of opinion in teaching goes, if it's really grating your nerves, you just might need to have a talk with each one separately, or together, just so everyone is on the same page and you're not being pulled in 2 different directions.

[bushido_man96]

I can only control what a student does in class. What he does outside of class, as far as research and learning, is his/her own deal. If I see something that concerns me as far as technique, I would mention something and try to help correct it. Otherwise, its their own road to hoe. Let 'em go!

[DWx]

I personally don't have a problem with people studying at home. IMO it shows real dedication as they want to put time into things outside of class. I would draw the line though if a student was attempting to learn a new form when their current form was far from perfect. Likewise when they start trying to learn the really advanced moves when they can't really do the basic ones very well.

[unknownstyle]

jumping ahead alittle is just fine, like reading a book or asking a upper rank for help. but i would not approve of my students learning a kata that is way beyond their appropriate level, because it will make it hard to fix the mistakes they learned incorrectly