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Old 11-27-2006, 01:05 PM   #26
DonMagee
Location: Indiana
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 1,311
United_States
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Re: Have a sensei that is to verbose .

I'm the kind of person that learns best though doing. I learned to program though doing, I learned to play guitar though doing, etc. Then after I've learned, I refine by going and getting educated. The best way I can be taught is by giving me a quick overview of my goals, some examples of how to accomplish them, and then let me practice it. After a good while of practice, give me a suggestion. Then repeat.

Don't waste time on the finer details. Don't stop me every other minute to point out a flaw. And don't change up what we are doing ever 10 minutes. It just bored/discourages/annoys me.

To me the perfect class is a series of techniques show that have the same basic movement. Maybe you want to work on entering, or footwork, or kuzushi. So pick 2 or 3 techniques with the same movement. Demo one, let us train it for like 10 minutes. Don't stop us to suggest solutions, just walk by and suggest them. No need to stop and bow, or stop the class to show everyone. At the end of the 10 minutes, then you can show everyone the common pitfall they all fell into. Then move on to the new technique and have them switch partners. This should fill 45 minutes or so if you did 3 techniques. At this point, it's time for free play. Now is the time to engage on a individual level and refine the 3 techniques for those who need it, or allow randori for those who need that.

In my judo class, this would be warmups (lots of cardio to get muscles warm, pushups, crunches, then falls and stretches) , then 45-50 minutes of uchikomi (I perfer 10 fit-ins with 1 throw, switch sides) with 15-25 minutes of randori (broken into 3 minute segments switching partners with 1 minute breaks). Finally, end with a summary and demonstration of key points you want to reinforce. BJJ would be similar, but with less drilling and more conditioning and sparing.

Contrasted with my old judo class.
First warmups (although very light usually no cardio, cold stretching), followed by break fall practice, a conversation on how everything was going with us, who did what in competition, who might be ready for a belt rank, and other chatter, followed by a technique demo or mat work (ground only randori). Usually during randori or the uchikomi for the technique the entire class would be stopped within 2 minutes to explain how to fix a problem he noticed on a single student. Tipically the explanation would take 5 to 7 minutes. At this point we would begin the uchikomi or mat work again, and again be stopped within 1-2 minutes. After 2 or 3 rounds of this, we would have a throw line. Each person would throw, then be verbally corrected. Typically this required 1-5 minutes per person until you got to throw. I would usually suffer injury due to cooling down. After the throw line, we would move to either a new technique and repeat the process, or if time was short (usually it was) we would be brought out 2 at a time for randori, the rest sitting waiting for their turn. Randori would last only a minute or two tops when we would be stopped and either scolded for not using the technique of the day, using a throw that the other student has never been shown, or commenting on our poor technique and how we are not ready for tournaments. Finally we would line up to bow out and he would chatter about something or another for the last 5-10 minutes of class.

Needless to say I did the one for a year with no noticeable gains, did the other for a few months over the summer and came back to clean house on the old school's students. Most of the promising ones now train where I train. I didn't go back to steal his students. I went back to see if there was anything I might have been missing by going from training with a high dan grade Olympic to training with a bjj brown belt (and also now cross training with a judo shodan).

I found that while the guy was very good at judo, and could clean house with me even at his age, his teaching methods did not build fitness or technique, and his best students were good not because of skill, but because of the physical strength they acquired in their careers (such as firefighting). This solidified my belief that training methods are even more important then the style you are training.

More recently I've decided to actively peruse rank in judo. Hopefuly when I open my own club in years down the line I will remember this lesson and make sure my students don't simply listen, but do as well. I think the best way to balance this is to teach your students to not stop while you are talking. Tell them what to do, but at the same time tell them to keep doing the randori or uchikomi. Most of the time there is little need to stop them to make your point, and if they keep practicing and sparing, it will work itself out.

- Don
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" - Albert Einstein
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