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Old 01-01-2001, 11:36 PM   #36
Chris Li
 
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Dojo: Aikido Sangenkai
Location: Honolulu, Hawaii
Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,313
United_States
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Quote:

* Some teachers like to start a class from a basic concept and work their way to more advance applications. Somebody who's late wouldn't know what specific concept or aspect is being studied and the teacher would have to help this student understand what's going on. This is extra work for the teacher.

* Whenever there is a small group at the beginning of a class, a teacher might decide to take advantage of the extra mat space to practice weapons. But later into the class the teacher realizes that because of latecomers the group is now twice as big as in the beginning of class. Now there is not enough space to practice weapons safely and unwanted changes have to be made.
Unwanted changes? Oh, no :-)! Heaven forbid that the teacher should learn to be flexible in their lesson planning - in my book it's part of the teacher's training to learn how to adapt the class as the situation changes. Very few (maybe none) of the classes that I've ever taught have gotten from start to finish with the plan that I started out with, even when nobody was late.

Quote:

* When students are late, especially yudansha-level students, it sets a bad example for beginners. Beginners have less experience or insight into dojo rules and behavior, and by looking up to their seniors, they might conclude is OK to be late sometimes. This could degenerate into a bad habit.
Well, maybe it is OK to be late sometimes :-). I've known shihan that were often late for class, but not too many people criticized them for it - and their students didn't seem to be filled with the bad habits that you'd expect from such a poor example.

Quote:

* People who are late for Saturday/Sunday morning classes what possible excuse can they have?
Maybe they work Friday/Saturday nights? Maybe they were working overtime until three in the morning? Maybe they were on a business trip and their plane didn't get in until after midnight? Maybe they were up nursing their sick child/wife/grandmother?

Could be any number of things.

Quote:

* Sometimes is hard to solely focus on our partners --we have to be aware of our surroundings too (usually to avoid bumping into other people). So whenever somebody is coming through the door, walking, or doing warm-ups around the mat area, there is a distraction. I personally find this true for a class/lecture of any nature, not just aikido.
Some people complained about noise during class at a dojo I used to train at - the teacher there just said that if they were being distracted then their concentration must not be very good :-). IMO, the more distractions the better, it's just more of a chance to improve my focus.

Best,

Chris
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