I usually don’t go to class on Wednesday, but as my wife had a big test on Wednesday morning, I begged off my Tuesday schedule so that she could prepare on Tuesday night. So I went the next day, Wednesday. I read or heard somewhere that you retain 10% of what you hear, 20% of what you see and 70% of what you teach. The act of teaching makes you really think about what you are doing. Conveying information puts an extra burden on the conveyor to fully understand what they are tryng to get across.
Last night was no different. We had a new student in class, T. T is an older guy coming back into the martial arts after a long absence. (sounds familiar.) I was helping Sensei get him into the swing of things by working with him on some techniques. I remember when I first came back I had such a hard time getting the techniques together in my mind. I really had to lean on others to help me with that, as well as all the crazy sounding names for the techniques. I still think it would be easier to number them than to have all the crazy sounding technique names … falcons, maces, storms, destruction this and that. It can all be a bit overwhelming, but I digress. T was having some of the same issues I was trying to piece together the movements. It was more troublesome for him as we were doing some purple belt techniques last night that are more complicated and longer than the yellow belt techniques he would be working with on most nights.
Shuffling back into a cat with dragging hooking parries, followed with figure 8 back fists, rising elbow and a finishing claw is fine if you have had the practice to get up there, but it can be overwhelming on the 4th class. Being paired with T, I had to make sure he was understanding the material and that he didn’t get frustrated with it. An easy thing to do if you are working above your comfort level. As is usually the case, I learned more about the technique than I thought I knew when I was trying to explain it to T while we worked back and forth. I think by the end of our work on it we both understood it better. So I have to say thanks T for helping me to understand the art a little better. Also, Sensei paired me with the new student for a reason, I appreciate his trust and his motives for doing so. He knew that by explaining I would learn more than my simply going back and forth with the advanced students. A great class.
Filed under: American Kenpo, Martial Arts, Self Defense
I am continually surprised at how much teaching can refine one’s technique.
When I first started teaching at my dojo, I shied away from techniques unless I felt absolutely sure I knew them inside and out. I have quickly learned that this is unnecessary–because you really don’t know how well you know something until you have to explain it. So many times, I thought I knew a technique, only to rediscover it through teaching it to others…
I now regularly choose techniques specifically to challenge how well I understand them. Students–even new ones–seem to enjoy the fact that we are attempting to figure these things out together. By and large, they end up being very enjoyable and educational classes.
Thanks for the link! I’ll be sure to add you to my blogroll as well.
Funny how many people return to Aikido, or other martial arts after a long absence. There is definitely a strong compulsion to pursue it once started.