But sensei, when do I get to...

[Spartacus Maximus]

The phrase in the topic title and variations of it are probably the single most often heard question from students of all ages. Everyone seems to expect instant results or progress at a rate that is not realistic for a minimum of effort. Worse, they give up when they fail the first few times and give up before making any progress.

Martial arts were not meant to be learned quickly. One cannot expect to make significant progress by practising two or three nights per week. How many would have the patience to continue if students were taught in the old way? Nothing but basics and for six months, a year? longer?

Maybe this kind of teaching is not feasible in this discussion ay and age, or is it? No doubt many students would quit if they were not shown something new every so often. Surely there must be a way to find a balance and show the value of patience and practise.

[sensei8]

"But sensei, when do I get to..."

When I say so, and not until then!!

Student wants instant! Then buy some instant cereal! I've no tolerance for students that want to dictate the curriculum, and that's what the student's asking me to do when they ask this question. When the time is appropriate, that's when I'll introduce new Kihon, and not until then.

The MA will weed out those who lack patience!! If a student wants to quit, then quit. I don't care one way or another...I'll even hold the door open for them, and wish them much success.

[hammer]

Maybe it's because I'm an adult (and of a certain age) but this is one of the questions I never ask as a student.

Just train, and when the instructor feels you are ready, then you will get to...

[JR 137]

There are dojos out there for everyone, even the instant gratification types. The "McDojos" (hopefully) inadvertently cater to these types - promote every 2-3 months, so long as the account is current and the test fees are paid. No need for mastery of technique (relatively speaking), just physically memorize it. Walk through a kata with minimal mistakes, and you'll learn the next one. No need to know why you're doing it in first place. Walk through kihon with minimal mistakes, no need for power, speed or timing. Just show you can do a high block with 2 hands without someone actually punching or kicking at you, or someone who'll throw the technique at a speed and distance where you'll never get hit.

Then there's the places that inadvertently cater to the slow and steady wins the race types. Learn one kata. Learn everything about it. Learn how to realistically use each movement in several different ways. When done with that, learn the next and repeat the process.

Then there's everything in between. Want a dojo where you go in and fight bare knuckle every class? There's a dojo for that. Want to never get hit? There's a dojo for that. Want to learn flashy jumping/flipping/spinning stuff that looks really cool? There a dojo for that. Want to compete? There's a dojo for that.

There's nothing inherently wrong with any of the places I've mentioned. Everyone's entitled to choose and enjoy their own path.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Children and youths are probably more likely to actually ask the question in the topic. Adults, not so much but the attitude and mentality of instant results is still widespread. In general, the time spent on learning and practising a given skill or a single kata is much shorter than it used to be.

Very few dojo or instructors focus on a single thing in detail. This leads to wonder if an average student would be willing or able to train in that way. Just blocks, punches and kicks for a year, for example. A year is not so long, but would they stay or give up? I tend to believe few would stay if any at all.

Personally I am no fan of instant. I don't even like instant noodles....experience has also proved to me that attempting to learn too much too quickly yields poor results.

It would be interesting to experiment with this, but I am not in any position to do so.

[Lupin1]

As kids we learned never to ask that question early on because the answer was usually "well, I was going to start you on it tonight, but now I think you're not quite ready. You'll start it when you stop asking about it". Same answer for "when am I going to get my new belt" (since we don't do official testing cycles.

[Spartacus Maximus]

If an instructor had young students(maybe many adults too) do nothing but punching, kicking and blocks for the entire training session how many would still be there after a month? It is doubtful any would remain long enough to be taught anything else. Teaching this way used to be normal but , from a business point of view it would certainly be difficult. Perhaps it is not suitable for teaching larger groups.

[Luther unleashed]

There are dojos out there for everyone, even the instant gratification types. The "McDojos" (hopefully) inadvertently cater to these types - promote every 2-3 months, so long as the account is current and the test fees are paid. No need for mastery of technique (relatively speaking), just physically memorize it. Walk through a kata with minimal mistakes, and you'll learn the next one. No need to know why you're doing it in first place. Walk through kihon with minimal mistakes, no need for power, speed or timing. Just show you can do a high block with 2 hands without someone actually punching or kicking at you, or someone who'll throw the technique at a speed and distance where you'll never get hit.

Then there's the places that inadvertently cater to the slow and steady wins the race types. Learn one kata. Learn everything about it. Learn how to realistically use each movement in several different ways. When done with that, learn the next and repeat the process.

Then there's everything in between. Want a dojo where you go in and fight bare knuckle every class? There's a dojo for that. Want to never get hit? There's a dojo for that. Want to learn flashy jumping/flipping/spinning stuff that looks really cool? There a dojo for that. Want to compete? There's a dojo for that.

There's nothing inherently wrong with any of the places I've mentioned. Everyone's entitled to choose and enjoy their own path.

This is a very smart (devils advocate) thought process and I can't say enough how glad I am you said it. My response has a different approach though.

I teach mostly children and it's very difficult to teach kids to move gracefully, to have solid technique and so on. It's very much about the mental training for them at this point. I find the topic of the "standard" so intriguing. Here's why...

If I set my standard to how I want my students to look then I'd be bored because people would leave due to a lack of instant gratification or "frequent testings"! If I set the bar too low then I keep students happy BUT I have lowered the quality of each and every belt my students wear. As a person Wanting to teach, I want the bar high, but as a Head instructor who owns my Buisness and needs to make a living I am cautious of how high I set it because I want to remain open. The standard we hold reflects on us, but also is a very delicate line to our success. Balance is so important here. As to students getting bored doing the same thing to get better, and instructors not teaching in-depth enough because of fear of boredom and losing students... I work by this way of thinking, I trick them into the same techniques by selling them a different drill. Here's what I mean.

To avoid boredom I change how I not only rotate and come back to things to keep a fresh feeling, but I change how I teach it, this is what I think the key is to keep people interested, let me explain...

If I'm teaching a small kicking combination, such as rear leg roundhouse, set kicking foot down in front, rear leg axe kick, I may ha e them in the back of the class room moving across the gym until they reach the end (kicking drills as I call them)! A few weeks later I will teach the same combination, except I have them stay in their spots and do them with kick paddle or focus mits. Gives them different while practicing the same. For kids, occasionally I even do a relay race, running to the front wall and back to me, when back they need to execute the same combination before they tag the next person.

There are three very different methods of teaching the same kicks, and keeping them interesting. I find that it makes a big difference. In the end each person has a standard of their own, and it may change like the day, and that's ok, this is about you teaching what you want. If your happy with the product and the students happy with the product then it's a good product.

[Montana]

I just tell them..."When you're ready..."

[bushido_man96]

I think being honest with them is best, and I also think there is a way to hit the basics and get on the right path, and sprinkle in a little extra here and there to really spark the interest, and keep them enticed. I think a good instructor will know how to do this.