KC Elbows
04-29-2011, 10:05 AM
...I've been teaching a class for a year now. Some things I'm happy about, noticed, or what have you:
-It's been at least eight months since I've had students do the old application dance, meaning, "now stand at exactly the distance you would be attacking from, minus any movement from getting there, and attack in a way that doesn't really give the person any useful thing to work with", and I'm not missing it. All the stuff I teach is from one form, so I show them the form for that move, then show it with a partner where we move around each other, he has glaves on, and I don't know when he's gonna give me the punch and must deal with distance and timing, and then have students do the same, at first focusing on the initial getting out of harm's way, then on pulling off the rest of the move.
-LKFMDC is right, as soon as you say kung fu and don't spend all day doing forms and conditioning and as soon as you more than occasionally actually work on techniques, you lose a segment who don't want their ego burst by knowledge that they are mortals and that if they can't master kinetic energy, there's no way they're gonna master The Force.
-For some reason, a lot of people spend a lot of time working inside fighting with the spear and neglect spending a lot of time stabbing at a distance. Not in my class, just something I've seen, I mean, it's a spear, it seems common sense.
-The same guy that can punch jab and uppercut without pausing, with just a little contact with the wrong idea of kung fu, will dramatically pause after a chop.
-Turning people into student instructors, nine times out of ten, is denying them the attributes of a real instructor. Want them to be a teacher, then give them a teacher's knowledge first.
-Some students and many kung fu teachers need to be familiar with a phrase, I think it's from Mengzi, something to the effect that "It's a human flaw to wish to be seen as a teacher." Train.
-Training someone to compete in shuai jiao is tough, but educational, and you will wish they had told you earlier they wanted to compete so that there was more you could do to help them.
-It doesn't matter if I do this for thirty years, it only matters how long I do it in a useful manner. Doing kung fu for thirty years without refining my ideas of it is like dry humping the pillow into retirement and calling myself Don Juan.
-I expect that eventually a student will ask me to train them for san shou, but I'm really on the fence regarding san shou, and need to educate myself a bit on it. I am under the understanding that a lot of open hand strikes/chops are not allowed, which I suspect are not prohibited in mma, and since, locally, san shou has zero presence, for students who wanted the experience, they would get a lot more bang for their buck out of mma. Most of the students I have that show an interest have bjj or judo experience, so I feel like it would be a better time investment for them in mma, but then, there are some sanshou events that are worth the travel.
-I seem to have really benefited from a plan to focus on teaching the style through constant drilling of footwork. Since, from about the second week on, the student in every class will be drilling all the major footwork in a non scripted manner, they really seem to get comfortable with other aspects faster.
-I have been fortunate in that a local teacher has allowed us access to one of his training rooms, which has mats.
-I am preparing to teach and drill students on the basic defenses and strikes with spear, sword, and knife for a portion of every general kung fu class: with each, they will stand at a distance where they cannot, at the furthest end of their reach with the weapon, touch the other person's body. From there, one person presents something to defend against by doing, in an unscripted manner, one of the basic attacks, and the other person defends. While this is stationairy, and limited by working at the extreme range, it will allow them to develop good strength and beginning applicability in their weapons. Since the overall class is structured around rounds, this should fit in nicely, and show that having a weapon form means little if one hasn't crossed weapons with others.(Based around rounds meaning students begin with three rounds shadow boxing/footwork, warming up and building intensity, then rounds of push hands alternating right foot forward vs. right foot forward or left foot forward vs. left, working on implementing techniques from the style, then rounds of push hands left lead vs. right lead or vice versa, then rounds of push hands squared up to each other, then rounds of dropsies where every three moves or so someone should be trying to do a dropped stance move, then break for water, then rounds of striking drills related to footwork, throwing drills related to footwork, rounds of basic weapon drills, some variation in what drills are being worked, in a two hour class, quite a few rounds can ultimately be covered, with experienced students expected to build intensity through the workout in a controlled manner, and beginners largely focusing for each first on the same fundamental footwork, with less emphasis on completing the throws, strikes, etc. The class is based around the idea of every class doing all the major fundamentals, with specific class times set aside for focused lessons, and video ultimately to be used to reduce explanation time in class, homework being "watch the cutting hands video and mess around with it", etc. I have a standing rule for the more experienced guys that you don't interupt contact time for questions, if it worked against you once, it'll happen again, and you'll remember later during the break, and can ask questions then, but having a teacher doesn't mean you shouldn't try to figure out the answer to things, so think about the problems that arise and why.)
Can't type any more.
-It's been at least eight months since I've had students do the old application dance, meaning, "now stand at exactly the distance you would be attacking from, minus any movement from getting there, and attack in a way that doesn't really give the person any useful thing to work with", and I'm not missing it. All the stuff I teach is from one form, so I show them the form for that move, then show it with a partner where we move around each other, he has glaves on, and I don't know when he's gonna give me the punch and must deal with distance and timing, and then have students do the same, at first focusing on the initial getting out of harm's way, then on pulling off the rest of the move.
-LKFMDC is right, as soon as you say kung fu and don't spend all day doing forms and conditioning and as soon as you more than occasionally actually work on techniques, you lose a segment who don't want their ego burst by knowledge that they are mortals and that if they can't master kinetic energy, there's no way they're gonna master The Force.
-For some reason, a lot of people spend a lot of time working inside fighting with the spear and neglect spending a lot of time stabbing at a distance. Not in my class, just something I've seen, I mean, it's a spear, it seems common sense.
-The same guy that can punch jab and uppercut without pausing, with just a little contact with the wrong idea of kung fu, will dramatically pause after a chop.
-Turning people into student instructors, nine times out of ten, is denying them the attributes of a real instructor. Want them to be a teacher, then give them a teacher's knowledge first.
-Some students and many kung fu teachers need to be familiar with a phrase, I think it's from Mengzi, something to the effect that "It's a human flaw to wish to be seen as a teacher." Train.
-Training someone to compete in shuai jiao is tough, but educational, and you will wish they had told you earlier they wanted to compete so that there was more you could do to help them.
-It doesn't matter if I do this for thirty years, it only matters how long I do it in a useful manner. Doing kung fu for thirty years without refining my ideas of it is like dry humping the pillow into retirement and calling myself Don Juan.
-I expect that eventually a student will ask me to train them for san shou, but I'm really on the fence regarding san shou, and need to educate myself a bit on it. I am under the understanding that a lot of open hand strikes/chops are not allowed, which I suspect are not prohibited in mma, and since, locally, san shou has zero presence, for students who wanted the experience, they would get a lot more bang for their buck out of mma. Most of the students I have that show an interest have bjj or judo experience, so I feel like it would be a better time investment for them in mma, but then, there are some sanshou events that are worth the travel.
-I seem to have really benefited from a plan to focus on teaching the style through constant drilling of footwork. Since, from about the second week on, the student in every class will be drilling all the major footwork in a non scripted manner, they really seem to get comfortable with other aspects faster.
-I have been fortunate in that a local teacher has allowed us access to one of his training rooms, which has mats.
-I am preparing to teach and drill students on the basic defenses and strikes with spear, sword, and knife for a portion of every general kung fu class: with each, they will stand at a distance where they cannot, at the furthest end of their reach with the weapon, touch the other person's body. From there, one person presents something to defend against by doing, in an unscripted manner, one of the basic attacks, and the other person defends. While this is stationairy, and limited by working at the extreme range, it will allow them to develop good strength and beginning applicability in their weapons. Since the overall class is structured around rounds, this should fit in nicely, and show that having a weapon form means little if one hasn't crossed weapons with others.(Based around rounds meaning students begin with three rounds shadow boxing/footwork, warming up and building intensity, then rounds of push hands alternating right foot forward vs. right foot forward or left foot forward vs. left, working on implementing techniques from the style, then rounds of push hands left lead vs. right lead or vice versa, then rounds of push hands squared up to each other, then rounds of dropsies where every three moves or so someone should be trying to do a dropped stance move, then break for water, then rounds of striking drills related to footwork, throwing drills related to footwork, rounds of basic weapon drills, some variation in what drills are being worked, in a two hour class, quite a few rounds can ultimately be covered, with experienced students expected to build intensity through the workout in a controlled manner, and beginners largely focusing for each first on the same fundamental footwork, with less emphasis on completing the throws, strikes, etc. The class is based around the idea of every class doing all the major fundamentals, with specific class times set aside for focused lessons, and video ultimately to be used to reduce explanation time in class, homework being "watch the cutting hands video and mess around with it", etc. I have a standing rule for the more experienced guys that you don't interupt contact time for questions, if it worked against you once, it'll happen again, and you'll remember later during the break, and can ask questions then, but having a teacher doesn't mean you shouldn't try to figure out the answer to things, so think about the problems that arise and why.)
Can't type any more.