Anyone with experience with a revolving curriculum?

[Sifu88]

I'm new to running my own martial arts program and I recently came across an article on the internet about a rotating curriculum or a modular curriculum. I have some experience with a modular curriculum from an academic point of view as I attended a school once where the curriculum was all modular. It seemed to work quite well... I was just wondering if anyone here had any experience with something like this or any advice on designing curriculums.

All the best!

[mal103]

Read something before about a revolving thing, it would cover everything needed from white to black but not in a logical order...

Beginners need basics, advanced students need basics too but also something more advanced. Some students will need the step by step approach because they can't handle too much too soon, others will go off and learn/practice what you teach them so will get bored with the same stuff.

Start with what your Sensei taught you and then add to it when you get more comfortable, try not to make it better every week as you will soon run out of ideas and realise that you have strayed from the syllabus and basics.

You will at some point be able to swap and change your teaching on who turns up and on what they need the most. I've started plenty of lessons with a plan and within 10 minutes thrown it out to react to what i've seen in front of me.

I'm no great instructor with years of experience but I don't lose many students so am glad I must be doing something right. Your main aim is to make them want to come back next week, this is sound business advice but you also need to train them long enough so they get what it's all about and will want to come back even if they have to walk through a blizzard to get there.

With kids (and some adults) this may involve doing something "fun" in the last few minutes as that is what they will be telling their folks when they get home.

[Aodhan]

I'm new to running my own martial arts program and I recently came across an article on the internet about a rotating curriculum or a modular curriculum. I have some experience with a modular curriculum from an academic point of view as I attended a school once where the curriculum was all modular. It seemed to work quite well... I was just wondering if anyone here had any experience with something like this or any advice on designing curriculums.

All the best!

Quite a few ATA schools do what they call "blocking" of forms. We have 9 colored belt forms, and the most popular is to block by threes.

So, if you happen to start with the Yellow belt form, then your next form would be white belt, and the next would be orange.

There are some disadvantages to this, in that there are some slightly advanced techniques in the yellow belt form (In ATA, the yellow form has a jump front kick.) If you come in during the most advanced form portion of the block, then you'd be learning the blue belt form (6th colored belt) as your 4th form instead of 6th.

I was against this at the beginning, but I believe that if you pay attention to the basics, it works. It certainly does make it easier to teach slightly larger classes, as if you have a class of 20, you're not teaching 7 different forms.

Black belt forms are not blocked. I also don't agree with the concept of blocking the entire curriculum, I think it's inviting too much in the way of injury to have a brand new student doing a brown or red belt form.

John

[bushido_man96]

This "blocking" sounds interesting, but I'm not sure. Are you saying that a white belt in the ATA class could be learning the yellow belt form?

I think I would feel better by rotating in differing subjects, like a two-week touch on joint locks, etc, and then back to the forms weeks, but keep the basics of the classes the same.

[Lupin1]

Some things I guess could be blocked-- things that don't depend too much on what came before it. Isshinryu might be a good system for that since our kata don't necessarily go easy to hard (hence why my instructor has us study kata from other systems as preparation for the Isshinryu kata).

But even in one-room school houses they didn't start the first graders with long division. In most systems, things get harder as you go and that's for a good reason.

[Rateh]

For low ranks (white, yellow, and purple) we block forms, sparring drills, boxing drills, and self defense. Basic kicks, kick combinations, board breaking, fitness, and stretching are by rank.

For upper belts (orange, green, senior green, blue, senior blue, and brown) we block forms, sparring drills, advanced kicks, boxing drills, self defense, and board breaking. Fitness and stretching are by rank.

The three ranks before black belt (senior brown, red, and senior red) review ALL of the material taught in the low rank blocks and upper belt blocks.

I'm currently working on blocking lower black belt ranks.

Our students have improved greatly since we have revamped the curriculum. All of the students can do the drills together without having to break up groups. The only time we break into groups is for new white belts their first few weeks. Also, the low ranks and upper belts train in the same class for adults, so we have the upper belts train longer each class.

[Aodhan]

This "blocking" sounds interesting, but I'm not sure. Are you saying that a white belt in the ATA class could be learning the yellow belt form?

I think I would feel better by rotating in differing subjects, like a two-week touch on joint locks, etc, and then back to the forms weeks, but keep the basics of the classes the same.

Our white belt form has:

Front stance

Middle Stance

Reverse punch

High block

Low block

Inner forearm block

Knifehand strike.

Yellow belt form adds:

Double knife hand block

Spearhand

Jump Front kick

Backfist

So, there isn't really a lot of difference. And, there are ways to teach it that they "get it" during the curriculum block. I wouldn't block more than that, and if/when I have my own school, I would seriously consider white as it's own block, then block by two's the rest of the way.

John

[sensei8]

To be honest, I don't know much about a Rotating Curriculum, but what I do know about them, I do know that I don't want to have anything to do with it.

[Tempest]

To be honest, I don't know much about a Rotating Curriculum, but what I do know about them, I do know that I don't want to have anything to do with it.

Why not?

I don't really know much about them as Judo is typically tought a bit different anyway. Our curriculum is a bit flexible until you are studying for a test.

But I would like to know what you don't like about rotating curriculums?