Becoming a CI

[Zaine]

Today is my first class in my own school!

I'm rearranging my living room, teaching a handful of kids and adults from my kiddo's school for free, with friends of friends paying a monthly tuition. I'm so excited! This has been a dream of mine for so long. A few months ago, a Nidan friend of mine (who is co-owner with me) said that despite their 30 years that they didn't feel qualified. So I gave them the advice that I would give anyone, that their experience is good and that they should teach. Then I realized that I had those same objections to opening my own school, and if I would give the advice to others with ny experience, I should give it to myself.

It turned out that my Nidan friend had a very similar dream. To take the breadth of their experience in multiple systems, and combine that into one system. So, we combined our resources and today's the opening Salvo! [/img]

Edited September 4, 2022 by Zaine

[Zaine]

The class went so well. It was 3 kids, including my child. It was fun, and the time flew by. The other instructor and I worked really well together (which wasn't a surprise, we knew that already). On a personal note, it was really, really cool to see my daughter, who knows some Karate already, help out the newer kids. I'm always proud of her, and this was one more thing to give me those good Dad feelings. I can't wait for the next class.

[sensei8]

Congratulations to you and your Nidan friend on being brave enough to open your own school. While all of the authority belongs to the CI, so does the responsibility, and never taken lightly. Student Body before the needs of the CI. The CI is ready to the CI when THAT CI decides to, no matter what anypne might say, especially any Governing Body.

That's one of the reasons that my Soke separated himself from the powers that be in Okinawa because he wanted to call his own shots. I waited until I was a Sandan before I opened my dojo, and with that I became the CI, which was funny because I was the ONLY instructor for some time. Chief? Chief of what? Of myself? Just tickles me to this day.

You both as well as your Student Body will be fine. In time, the school and the Student Body will grow, and I believe that both are very fortunate to have your both as their CI.

[Patrick]

Congrats John! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Patrick

[bushido_man96]

This is awesome! These kids are lucky to have an instructor like you! Taking your own advice was a solid idea! I have no doubt that you will have a long and wonderful career as an instructor.

[Zaine]

Thank you for the encouragement! We're still in the process of finalizing a curriculum (which will most definitely change as needs be) for the back half of the kyu ranks. It's very exciting.

[Shojiko]

I'm glad to hear you've taken the big step! My venture is still in the planning stages. Please keep us updated on how business is going.

[Shojiko]

Would you be so kind as to provide us with curriculum and structure details, including grading?

[Zaine]

I have it split into 3 parts: Kata, Kihon, and Kumite.

Seems obvious, and it is, but having those split into columns of written out, actionable items helps remind me what the students need to learn to advance, and gives them something tangible to look at when they're wondering what they need to work on or still learn.

Under the kata section I list their kata. My partner and I are working on recording all of the kata so that they have a visual representation of it to remind them of this-or-that move when needs be. Right now our biggest kata load is 5 kata for Gokyu, with most others having 3 or 4 depending on the complicatedness of the katas learned at that rank.

Kihon lists which fundamentals they are learning for the first time at that rank. Except for those learned at White Belt, the kihon largely relates to things that they will learn in the next rank. I.e. for Rokyu, the students will learn the basics of how to use a Bo, along with some drills to gain comfort. They learn this at Rokyu because they learn their first Bo kata to get to Gokyu. This is also the place that I put milestones. For the kids class, sparring starts as they get ready for Hakkyu, so under kihon I have listed sparring so that they know it's a requirement.

Finally, kumite is where the 2 person work goes. There's a list of self-defense techniques that are based on the kata they are learning at that time. Any multi-step partnered drills go there as well.

For grading, we're still fleshing out the particulars. In general, we both want there to be a cardio aspect to the test. In the past my teacher would take us through all the basics at the top. We both feel that cardiovascular fitness is important so we want that to be there, increasing in intensity as they go up the ranks. Then a demonstration of kata, and then sparring (sparring an instructor the first time, and then others as the hit the levels necessary for that). The Shodan and above tests will be different, but we're far enough from there so planning that hasn't been a priority. We both tend to agree that it should fit the Karateka testing for Shodan, so we'll likely have a foundation of things and then customize from there.

As far as whether someone is ready to test, we're both of a mind here, as well (it really is great to work with my partner, they will say an idea that I was just thinking about). Overall, we feel that Karate is about personal growth. What is the measure of a Shodan? Is it that they are technically perfect? Or is their improvement? We tend to believe that it is in the improvement. Now, this isn't to say that we don't have certain expectations. We're not going to test someone who can't do a kata correct just because they've gotten better. However, no one will ever do anything to perfection. Has the student achieved the best possible performance of a kata that they can in this moment? If yes, pass go.

[Shojiko]

That program sounds amazing and well-thought-out.

Will you eventually launch a website or YouTube channel, just out of curiosity?