To Question or not: That is the question.

[Alcatraz]

The main reason cited is because students are consumers and they need to know why they are doing something, and to certain degree I have always believed in this philosophy and practice, but.....

Can questioning be taken too far?

Many, if not most, of us practice an Asian based martial system, be it Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, etc, etc, and many of us like to train with established and well trained teachers from these parts of the World.

I remember as a 13 year old training with the renowned Shito-ryu teacher Kusano Sensei. His two main languages are Japanese and French, with a sort of Pigeon English thrown in. He showed, we did, he physically corrected, we did again, and he would either correct or nod.

We were unable to question due to the language barrier, but the seminar was one of the best ones I have ever attended.

The reason for this post is because I was once invited to train at the dojo of an aquaintance who teaches Shorin-ryu. The training was not milataristic, but the dojo definitly followed the Sempai/Kohai system, with Sensei teaching, the class breaking up with Sempai working with Kohai to correct, and Sensei stopping off and working with the different sub-groups. Nobody was questioning what was being taught, but physically, and aesthetically, some of the 5th Kyu students were of a higher standard than many black belts I have seen in recent years in other Dojo/Dojang/Kwoon.

I asked Kev (my Shorin-ryu friend) about this approach.

He told me that he would never shout a student down for questioning him, but in the 4 years he has been teaching, no student has ever questioned the technique being taught.

I walked away from that Dojo with a slightly changed attitude.

Questioning is OK, and should be encouraged, but not just for the sake of it.

If Sensei, Sifu, Saboonim, Guro, etc has done his/her job correctly, then the need for questioning the why's and wherefor's should become moot on the students part.

What do you think?

[Toptomcat]

Well, there are questions and there are questions.

There are good reasons for wanting to keep people from asking obnoxious questions- "this doesn't really work, does it?", "how do I use this if I'm attacked by fifty ninjas?", "what about these fifty slight variations that I made up on the spot, aren't they all so much better?", "why are we bothering with all this standup stuff when I read in a magazine that 99% of fights go to the ground?".

But there are other questions. "Does my arm end up parallel to my thigh or slightly inside it?", "Should this be a blood choke or an air choke?", "Why do we chamber in a different way for this kick?", "How do I set this up?"

Any school that discouraged questions of that second type- limited in scope to ensure that the answer doesn't take up the whole lesson, pertinent to the technique being shown, and asked solely in the spirit of learning more, without any ulterior motives behind them- would be one that worried me.

[KarateGeorge]

I'm with Toptomcat on this. I think questions should be encouraged, if they are legitimate questions concerning a technique. I'd throw the "This doesn't really work, does it?" type of question in that group though but only if its truly a legitimate concern about a technique's effectiveness. When I'm being shown a technique, or if I'm showing a technique, I want to be sure that it would actually accomplish its stated purpose. However, just like Toptomcat said, if they're just asking rediculous questions to be difficult, then those should be best left at home. When asking questions in class, they should be limited to questions where you have a true concern, but if someone does have a question, I'd rather it be asked than to be left unanswered.

[sensei8]

There's a old saying..."There's no such thing as a stupid/dumb question!" I think I'd be more cautious if no questions were ever asked at all. How can we learn anything if we don't ask question(s)? I can't! I'll ask if I don't know and hopefully after I ask, I'll be a little bit smarter and more wiser.

[Lupin1]

I think questions should be encouraged, if they are legitimate questions concerning a technique. I'd throw the "This doesn't really work, does it?" type of question in that group though but only if its truly a legitimate concern about a technique's effectiveness.

Yeah, you gotta be careful with that one. There's this one black belt in our class who likes to ask that question a lot, even when it's something tha would work and he's just trying to sound smarter than the sensei by asking it. And he gets a free, personal demonstration as an answer to his question. But then we've got a green belt who was a Marine with all their combat training who asks the same question but is more careful with it, and he usually gets an actual answer because usually he's right that the move as practiced is just a drill and probably wouldn't work in real life.

[DWx]

I agree with you Alctaraz when you said that if the teacher does his job properly the student shouldn't need to question anything because its all explained. But of course its impossible for the teacher to cover everything the student might want to ask so technical questions should be encouraged in my opinion. Whenever I ask a question I tend to remember the answers better than I would have done if I'd just been told that info as part of normal teaching anyway..

The ridiculous questions have no place in class IMO, they just waste time and disrupt everyone's training.

[Toptomcat]

To be more specific, I put "This doesn't really work, does it?" into the 'obnoxious questions' category because it's both excessively vague and very blunt- it's very easy for an instructor to take that as a direct challenge to their competence. Something that specifically addresses why you feel the technique is problematic while being more diplomatically phrased would certainly be a valid question.

[Jeffrey]

I also agree with Alctaraz on the teacher doing his/her job correctly. But on the flip side I like to ask questions or maybe just clarify something. When it comes to technical questions I will on occasion ask the same question to each Sensei. Usually regarding a Kata. I find I get a different answer but each one blends together. They don't have a problem with this approach and we share the information after class. Everyone learns from everyone idea.

I do find the kids often are the ones who have the ridiculous questions. “If I was fighting ten ninja what kick would work the best.” Yes I had this one asked. A smile goes a long way.

[username13768]

You have to also be careful of answering some of the technical questions.

If you are a competent instructor you should realize that even good questions aren't necessarily meant to be answered, at least not at the time asked. It depends on the skill level of the student asking and the skill level of the question. If the student doesn't even have the basics of the technique down there is no place for advanced questions at that time. This tends happen a lot when a student is cross training in another art. I must confess that I have been guilty of this and it's usually because I think I understand what the point of a movement is. In these cases it's better to try and mimic the instructor and listen for an explanation. If the instruction is sound you shouldn't need to ask any major questions.

[Jay]

Question anything and everything, its the only way you can learn at anything. Why just sit there and blindly accept everything you are told. You must know the why the when and the how. Then you are able to work out if sed technique or principle is sound.