Long classes?

[joesteph]

Could you do a class during the week, after 8:00 pm? That might be a better solution to one 4 hour class. Then, you can have two classes.

JuJitsu is taught in my teacher's dojang starting at 8:00 (turning it into a dojo) on Mondays and Wednesdays, the karate classes having ended at 7:30. Since it's the same sensei as on Saturdays for self-defense JuJitsu, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the classes ran a good hour-and-a-half. Two hours may not mean that much of a difference, depending on what you're doing.

[JusticeZero]

A class after 8 PM might be hard, given that I tend to wake up at 4:30 AM so I can make sure to get work for the day - that will likely change in a month, but for now, it's a limit. Alas, I can't reserve an early block either as things stand.

Maybe later i'll be able to reserve a 5-7 AM or 6-8 AM block; I need to change jobs. My instrutore's classes were 6-8 and it worked great, but he never had a huge turnout.

I suppose I could block out music, self defence/technique, roda, conditioning separately in some way; that was why I was considering such a long class. I'm not sure what a 15 minute break would accomplish precisely, though; an hour would at least let people walk down to Taco Hell a block away and get a snack and something to drink or some such thing.

[ninjanurse]

The JuJitsu classes that my hubby teaches last 2-2.5 hours twice weekly. Too much nage... too little time!

[tallgeese]

The 15 min. comes out of the adult learning model. According to it, adults learn better when they get that mental pause intermittantly like that. I don't have the exact science right in front of me, I'd have to look if you're interested. Conversly, there's probibly some good sites out there about it.

I like the smaller breaks just becuause you'd keep everyone on campus. They'd still be kind of in the mindset of what you're doing and you wouldn't have to start back over again from scratch after they slurped down a big mac.

It'd give them teh cahnce to recharge mentally, get some water, fast snack maybe and that's it, back to training. That's my thoughs anyway.

[Grego]

Tallgeese, the army does something like that.

We're big on taking a break every hour or so.

[tallgeese]

Same in law enforcement, Grego.

[Rateh]

Currently I train for 3 hours one saturday a month (outside of my normal training). This is part of black belt "pre-testing" that lasts from january till the big test in september.

Three hours does tend to drag a bit sometimes, especially the last hour, but it's not particularly difficult to make it through. The problem comes with retaining the information. We get about a 5 minute break in the middle, then back to training. There often is a lot of technical stuff covered in the classes, and by the end of the 3 hour block, I find I've forgotten half of it.

I'm going to be requesting shihan that they give a longer break in the middle, so we can quickly jot down some notes before we forget.

As far as fatigue physically, I know some people have difficulty going the full 3 hours. I haven't personally had a problem, but then again I usually take two classes in a row during normal week classes.

Our January class was a test over the lower color belt material. Our February class we spent the whole three hours going over basics and forms. March was 3 hours of self defense. April will be a test over all high color belt material. I think it was actually easier to go over the same type of material for the whole 3 hours, rather than mixing it all up.

[bushido_man96]

If you're going to do a big block like that, or have no choice, then I'd break for about 15 min each hour and radically alter the focus of training after each break.

So, maybe (and just using an example form what I do), start with some mitt work and drills for hour one, maybe some light sparring DRILLS. For hour two, move to grappling work. This will flow pretty nice from the stand up. For block three, I'd switch gears and go for some knife/club work. Striking and cutting, locking, offense, defense- run the gambit and get the mind working along differnt paths. Then, for block four, I'd get some standing jj work in for a finish. If you're up for it, you could do simulation sparring here or attack/defend drills to fininsh on a higher cardio note.

You can see how the mental focus changes with each hour, that will help keep it fresh. Don't get me wrong, I still think its an uphill battle. But left with that optioin, I'd try something along those lines. I'd also switch up the order frequently to keep it from becoming routine.

Yeah, this tends to be the kind of setup done for most of the seminars that I have attended for LEO defense stuff. Its a good way to take it, too.

[DWx]

4 hrs is a long time. Like others have said, it would take a lot of physical and mental effort to do it on a regular basis, for both you and the students. Most seminars I've attended last about that long and even then you get regular breaks to go write everything down. Plus I don't know how many students would be willing to dedicate practically their entire Saturday or Sunday to training. Maybe some dedicated ones would but most people have other stuff going on in their lives and they can't afford to take half of their weekend away because they've got kids to see to or errands to do or whatever.

[JusticeZero]

Right now i'm thinking two Saturday classes - 2-4, 6-8. Then I can have dinner between the two. :? My only student at the moment can't do 12-2 anymore because of a family schedule conflict.