once or twice a week?

[Octavius]

Hi, I've noticed a lot of very good IMA folks teach only once or twice a week in parks and I was wondering if those studying under him can really attain a high level of skill with only that much instruction. Of course personal training and practice counts for a heaping lot, but I'm of the opinion that the teacher does need to correct often and interact a lot for the student to really benefit, especially in the beginningand especially in Internal arts. However, having said that, I see that some of the senior students are quite good. So I would like to ask those of you who have trained under such situations how you have done this, what kind of self training you did/do? Thanks.

[Laughing Cow]

I myself only see my Sifu once a week, some of the guys that come from far maybe once a month. And some of those long-distance guys are GOOD.

Most of use train daily at home or in the park.

We train zhang zhuang, chan su jin, forms and single postures.

Remember that the teacher is only the guide, the hard work needs to come from yourself, if you need constant corrections I would say you either did not get the last lesson or you are not training correctly.

Relying too much on the teacher is a fault I see often in the kwoons.

Most of the times we will get corrections for maybe 3 or 4 movements per lesson, which we will need to train and fix till the next lesson.

Just my thoughts.

[Crimson Phoenix]

well it's really no problem to see your sifu once or twice a week...provided you train everyday, even 30 mins...the teacher can correct you, but cannot train for you, so even once a week is sufficient if you do your part of the job the 6 other days :-)

[scotty1]

I agree with you two. I only see my teacher twice a week, I'm a beginner, but I practice a lot on my own and it shows because every class I'm better. Most of my learning I do on my own, processing stuff which I've been told but didn't really get at the time.

[count]

Hard to say. For the first ten years I had classes 4 or 5 days a week and practiced on my own every day. Now I go once or twice a week, but I have a training partner to train with 2 days a week and practice on my own 2 days. No problem with this, But I think a beginner should get hands on with a teacher more than once a week. But than, bagua is not for beginners.

[MaFuYee]

bagua is for sissies...

[count]

[Ray Pina]

I think it depends on your age, maturity (self discipline) and your level as a martial artist.

[GLW]

Unless you are paying for private instruction, if you are in a class for 1 to 2 hours one or two times a week, you MAY have the attention and one on one with the teacher for 15 minutes a week. Otherwise, it is group practice and correction and then having the other members in a class get their alloted time as well.

This is one of the reasons it is very important to do for yourself and to listen to EVERYTHING that is said...even if it is NOT to you...and watch EVERYTHING that is done...while practicing. You then get the benefit of other people's corrections as well.

As for private instructions, it is really only worth it after you are past the beginner stage. Beginners really don't need the teacher constantly supervising and correcting. They need constant structure and supervising but a lot of this can and should be done by the senior students. This is how they learn what they know and don't know and how they learn to teach.

A good teacher can look at what you are doing for a few moments and zero in on the core things that need to be corrected. Often, these corrections may take a week or even months. Most people can only remember 3 or 4 corrections at a time...so the benefit of one on one with the teacher after a point does not really have an impact.

Now, the benefit of practicing daily....different story. As long as you adjust your training to allow your body to recover from whatever you do, the more training the better. But, you MUST have that recovery time. If you don't have it, you WILL have stress related injuries.