Things to Tell Someone Working with a New Student

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[danj]

As a companion
100 things to tell people working with new students anyone?

1. They are gonna be stiff
2. They can't relax yet even if they want to
3. Even though it creates pain they don't know how to receive a lock/pin
4. They don't know when to fall\
5. They are not challenging you they just don't understand yet
6. They can only learn one thing at a time
7. A 5 degree adjustment of the left foot whilst rotating center and cutting down is not one thing
8. Teach success through allowing them to finish technique before correcting

best,
Dan

[phitruong]

As a companion
100 things to tell people working with new students anyone?

8. Teach success through allowing them to finish technique before correcting

best,
Dan

9. you break it, you buy it
10. play practical jokes like getting newbie to wear gi pant backward and gi flaps left-then-right and seeing the look on sensei face as he/she address a dead-person with backward pajama pants. :D
11. talk to your invisible O Sensei while making some head twitching movements
12. every now and then drop to the floor real fast and look scared and make statement "just checking to make sure the floor is still there"

I know I am bad ..... working on it...in aikido :)

[Randy Sexton]

13. Demonstrating a technique Very Slowly with no talking or very few words can be worth a lot more than a detailed explanation. Sometimes, the mind will focus on the words more than the action and might just cloud the understanding rather than help.
Doc:cool:

[Nick P.]

13. Remind them to reassure the newbs it is all very nebulous.
14. Less talk, more leading by example.

[John A Butz]

15) Don't get cocky. The most dangerous person you will work with is a novice, because they don't know what is happening and they might hurt you unintentionally. You need to be able to protect yourself as well as protect them.

16) You were a beginner once too.

17) Let them (the new student) determine the speed of practice

[Ron Tisdale]

15 bears repeating...

DON'T GET COCKY...

B,
R :D

[Voitokas]

17) Let them (the new student) determine the speed of practice17b ...except when they want to go too fast.
18. Exaggerate your movements, and don't try to look cool.
19. A good way to head off talking and questions is a terse "later.."
20. Smile at them a lot - because that's what kind of martial art we do (okay, later it becomes a shit-eating grin as we throw our friends across the room, but the smile's understood by then!)

[wideawakedreamer]

21. There's a difference between showing the way and showing off - do the former, not the latter.

[graham butt]

22. why did the man by a boat?
23. because he notion for it.

sorry! :P

[wideawakedreamer]

To add to number 4:

4.a They are afraid to fall. Reassure them that it's really not that bad when properly done.

[Charlie Huff]

N+1: Beginners are probably going to be doing a bunch of stuff wrong but if you try to correct everything at once you'll get them confused and frustrated. Pick ONE thing to work on and let the rest go. When they get that ONE thing sorta right, pick something else and work on that. Repeat as needed.

Corollary: If you're not sure where to start, pick the thing that's most likely to get someone hurt.

[Randy Sexton]

26. Tell them to learn to take Ukemi like Buzz Lightyear:

"It's not flying, it's falling with style!"

Buzz Lightyear
Toy Story
After taking Ukemi from a real firecracker Black Belt

Doc:cool:

[Rosecarmethene]

27. Remember it's about them --the new student. It's not about you. Be sensitive to where they're coming from and what they're capable of.
28. Push their limits just a little, where you feel they're strong.

[Rocky Izumi]

29. You can learn from them much more than you can teach them if you pay attention and stop trying to correct things.
30. You can help them more by doing your own practice correctly.

[Walter Martindale]

31. Acknowledge that they're trying to do what's demonstrated but can't tell where they're not doing it.
32. Nobody wants to do it poorly, so let's see if we can figure out how to do it well...

[Rocky Izumi]

33. Thank you for helping the newbie.

[sarahhair]

## Just do the ukemi in the air. Let the new student follow you!

I loved it when I was really new and a couple of people I would work with would attack me and just do the ukemi and let me follow them. I once saw my sensei require from a single student, ukemi only, omote and ura, for ikkyo during a test. It was so eye-opening to see someone just take the ukemi without a partner. I try to be able to do this, sometimes making a bigger deal of it than learning the technique in the first place.