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Old 12-03-2002, 08:10 PM   #8
DaveO
Dojo: Great Wave Aikido
Location: Alberta, Canada
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 543
Canada
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I voted 'Yes' and if I may, I'd like to answer Kent's good-hearted challenge:
Quote:
It seems to me that the onus is on the "yes" people to prove their side, due to the nature of the question.
like this:

(BTW - keep firmly in mind, I'm a beginner at Aikido; just got my 5th kyu, but I've been teaching for about 16 years now.)

Try this:

-Isolate one skill or range of skills which you consider to be your best. I.E. - if your Shihonage is what you're best at in Aikido, choose that.

-write down everything you know about that skill.

-videotape yourself performing that skill.

Now:

-Teach that skill for one week of classes - seven sessions; to give your students ample time to learn it to their level of proficiency, and to give yourself ample time to teach it.

Once you've done that:

-Write down everything you know about the technique again.

-Videotape yourself performing it again.

Now compare the before & after results - I'll bet you the outcome - if you have done a good job teaching - will be a marked increase in your performance of that skill.

The reason is that in order to teach something, we have to be prepared to break it down into its component parts for a student. We have to be able to analyze by watching errors they will make, and be able to effectively communicate correction to them. By doing this - i.e. by actually having to think about the technique in the third person - we provide the brain with another set of data to add to the knowledge we already have.

Also, in a less material sense, it helps by touching the psyche - we know that we as teachers are not dealing with the skill for our own sakes, but for the sake of others - the students. We want to give our best, so that they can learn the best.

Anyway, try the exercise I described above; I use it quite often when teaching Methods of Instruction. I'm positive I won't have to prove the point, you'll see it for yourself.

Thanks, friends!

Dave

Answers are only easy when they're incomplete.
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