Difference Diversity and the art of teaching
Karate
Over the past 30+ years I have trained with many
different instructors in the Dojo and at seminars. Some I came to know very
well and others I observed from deep in the throngs all training at a seminar.
I have observed all of their teaching methods, Tokui Waza and their ability to
reach other others when teaching. Some were phony and came across as plastic
and over practiced while others stuttered and fell over words trying to deliver
basic commands. My view on instruction
and my skill set as a teacher came from all of these sources as well as the
teaching skills and styles of countless school teachers, university professors
and those that I have studied under in collage.
It stands to reason that my instructor has had the most
impact on my ability and teaching style as I have trained under him the most.
But when he watches me teach he has told me that I don’t remind him of his
style of teaching. At first I was kind of hurt till he told me that diversity
in approach is what students need to find their own Karate!
Years ago Sensei posted a sign on the door going from the
mens change room to the training floor it read simply….”SHU HA RI” and that was
all, Hand written in black marker on a white paper. He did not really explain
it to us, not that I was told, but it just sat their for a while every time we
left the change room screaming “Look me up” at us. I think I was one of the few
that went and found a book at the library that said something about it….this
was before the internet…Yes I am that old….
Shu Ha Ri stands for “Protect”, “Detach” and “Separate or
leave”. It’s a very Martial arty philosophy that I have taken to guide my
teaching and growing new instructors in our The idea behind Shu Ha Ri is that
an instructor or student starts off learning the core priciples of a style.
They study under a master/instructor for a long time and they come to
understand and practice the core of a system. They grasp onto and covet the
teachings of the instructor and they make the practice part of them. Then they
student/instructor will move to detach themselves from the system and they will
start to remove that which does not fit their personality and personal style as
it has developed from exploring the system deeply. And finally they leave the
system all together and show their personal style exclusively.
This makes no sense to some who read this and think one
of two things “its all just kicking and punching that makes no sense” or “why
do they bother training in a system then make their own”…and while both seem
valid…they just show the level of complexity of the Martial philosophy.
Think of it this way….you enter a school to learn a trade
or Musical instrument and KNOW NOTHING about how to use the tools of the trade.
You study under a teacher and build your skills. After a while you start digging around other
ideas, skills or tools and start to build your personal skills and ideas. You
work with trial and error and build up both your knowledge of the
instrument/skill trade and find new ways to get to the same spot that seem to
be more purposeful for you. After a while you can abandon the skill sand
techniques that were taught to you and do your own thing…but your goals are
still the same.
To be more clear let me explain my walk through Massage
school. When I got to the school
everyone told me I was a natural massage”er” and that I should get into it…but
I had no skills really, I thought I had but I did not. I studied the techniques
of the instructors I had and I practiced like crazy, studied books on anatomy
and physiology and worked every day to getting better. I slowly began to master
the strokes and compression techniques that the instructors taught me and I
became very good at repeating the prescribed techniques that they taught. This is the Shu part of the learning process.
After a while I started watching Youtube videos and
videos and experimenting with different things, but still working the
traditional strokes and techniques. I practiced and merged different techniques
together to try and get to the same outcome and then built off of this and
started expanding my tool box. This is the Ha part of training. I was breaking
from the traditional way that was taught to me and exploring a bit, but still
keeping the traditions in mind.
After I graduated and had a lot of practice I began to
leave some of the traditional stuff behind, I hated doing some movements and
found them unpleasant to do and less than impressed when I had them done on me.
I took aspects of the traditional stuff and tossed it out the window. I had transcended the old traditions and
created a new style for my massage. And then it became tradition and I was back
to Shu!
So, how does this apply to teaching Karate? When you start out teaching you should first
look at what your instructor’s current style is. What art they teaching, how
are they getting the message across and what do they focus on! Then repeat it in classes, let that style set
in but then try and add your own personal swerve on it. Begin looking around at
others, implement changes to your system, your style and your techniques of
communication. After a while you will notice that while you still hold the core
values of what is being taught you are totally different than your instructor.
Eventually you will find your style is now your tradition
and at that point you should start exploring again, finding new ideas, new
systems and new communication avenues and then bring that in to refresh the
tradition and finally create a new one.
In my current club we have about five different instructors
who all teach a variety of classes. One of the things that I try and impart on
the students is that they should try and train with as many different
instructors in the club as possible because we all have our own point of view
and styles for teaching. I try and tell the instructors that they need to be
different from one another and not try to cover the same things the same way.
Some are newer and still in the SHU phase of learning and teaching and look at
me like I am crazy. Others are already in the curve of learning, adapting,
changing and relearning and get it.
What we are teaching may be very similar or even the same
but how we teach it should always be our own ideas, our own views and our own
ways of doing things. We will focus on different things and we will impart
different ideas to what we are doing. That is the correct way to learn and
teach martial arts.
