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Old 04-09-2005, 11:28 AM   #26
Hagen Seibert
Dojo: Kamai
Location: Freiburg
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Yes, David, there has to be a kind of masterplan.
What I was trying to say: I believe it is better - instad of a curriculum - to have a vision of the final state. Then you see what´s lacking, and that spurs ideas for the training lesson. That´s my personal preference, and it fits best to my experience.
As one starts with teaching, you need to work out the lesson in advance, and I did so myself, and I still do so for seminars. Now - some years later - I have the teaching methods/techniques available and like to use them more freely, because I feel it prevents routine and standards to enter, instead keeping motivation and creativity up. If you try to fulfill a model, you are cutting exactly this. Or to speak with aikido terms: You are not blending, but forcing it onto the students. You are acting selfcentered (sorry, this I exagarated, but I hope you may get what I´d like to say).

I also know teachers, who admitted freely to me, that they would coose certain techniques, e.g. from the latest seminar, because THEY were interested in rehearsing these techniques. Now, that´s not being serious as a teacher to me.

my 2 ct
Hagen
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Old 04-10-2005, 12:25 AM   #27
Rupert Atkinson
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Kevin Leavitt wrote:
How serious are you about learning?

That is the question I would ask.

As a student, not as a teacher, I figured out that I alone was responsible for my own growth and destiny.

I have done the "have faith in sensei and he will impart everything you need to know" mentality. Didn't work for me.
On the right track I think

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Old 04-10-2005, 02:56 PM   #28
creinig
Dojo: Yoshinkan Würzburg
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Hagen Seibert wrote:
I also know teachers, who admitted freely to me, that they would coose certain techniques, e.g. from the latest seminar, because THEY were interested in rehearsing these techniques. Now, that´s not being serious as a teacher to me.
Counterpoint: I found that these times (when Sensei chose techniques he was interested in) were among those where I learned most. I'm not sure why.
Hmm, I quess I have to think a bit about this. Fascinating and intriguing....
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Old 04-10-2005, 03:38 PM   #29
Hagen Seibert
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Counterpoint: I found that these times (when Sensei chose techniques he was interested in) were among those where I learned most. I'm not sure why.

My guess: You are an advanced student, so you could follow. Sensei was better motivated when picking techniques of his intrest. (The conclusion of this, though, would be that he is less motivated when explaining ordinary techniques. I´m afraid, that in turn would be my point of routine entering because of model fulfillment lessons.) (PS: Just a thought, I do not know your Sensei, and I don´t mean to be disrespectful)
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Old 04-10-2005, 07:31 PM   #30
Jeanne Shepard
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

We do not have a formal teacher's training program, but i have been encouraged to develop a Girl Scouts group. I started teaching workshops for Girl Scouts, now have a regular group that comes to one of our basics class(taught by a regular teacher). I spend time with the girls before class, talking about concepts they might not have time for after. The whole experience has given me a taste of teaching, and I like it.

Jeanne
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Old 04-10-2005, 09:16 PM   #31
Bronson
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Jeanne Shepard wrote:
The whole experience has given me a taste of teaching, and I like it.
Well Jeanne, they've got you now Teaching is an incredible experience. It is amazingly rewarding and terribly frustrating at the same time. I think it is difficult to understand all that our teachers give to us until we start passing it along to others.

Bronson

"A pacifist is not really a pacifist if he is unable to make a choice between violence and non-violence. A true pacifist is able to kill or maim in the blink of an eye, but at the moment of impending destruction of the enemy he chooses non-violence."
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Old 04-11-2005, 01:23 AM   #32
creinig
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Hagen Seibert wrote:
Quote:
Counterpoint: I found that these times (when Sensei chose techniques he was interested in) were among those where I learned most. I'm not sure why.
My guess: You are an advanced student, so you could follow.
Well, ~0.8-3 years of experience, depending on which of these "incidences" we want to look at.

Quote:
Hagen Seibert wrote:
Sensei was better motivated when picking techniques of his intrest. (The conclusion of this, though, would be that he is less motivated when explaining ordinary techniques. I´m afraid, that in turn would be my point of routine entering because of model fulfillment lessons.) (PS: Just a thought, I do not know your Sensei, and I don´t mean to be disrespectful)
I consider him a very good teacher, always motivated, interested and learning himself. It might very well be that picking techniques of special interest might add a little bit of extra motivation on his side. Maybe doing something "special" also gives myself some extra motivation. And then I'm pretty sure that there's a different kind of "learning atmosphere" in these cases, which should make a positive difference as well. Kind of "searching for the answer together with Sensei" instead of "searching for the answer Sensei wants to teach us".
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Old 04-11-2005, 02:43 AM   #33
ruthmc
Dojo: Wokingham Aikido
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

I find that enthusiasm and enjoying what you are doing are contagious

Ruth
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Old 04-26-2005, 02:50 PM   #34
jester
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Dave Organ wrote:
how serious are you about teaching?
Do you show up for class and say "OK, gang, what do you want to learn today? OK, let's try that."
Do you spend hours a few days before class studying material, writing and revising lesson plans, and rehearse a class until it shines?
Dave
I am not the schools instructor, but am almost always paired up with a lower ranked student. I start by going through the basic techniques, and usually find something that needs work. It could be off balancing, timing etc. If I find the student is solid in the basics, I would ask them what they want to go over. They could pick a technique, and I would give them fine points to work on, and show them variations for different scenarios, or I would show them how certain techniques are linked just in case one would fail to work.

In the Tomiki Aikido that I learn, each of the basic techniques are made up of different parts that can be interchanged, making the basic 17 techniques turn into an endless amount of material to cover.

I never come to class with a lesson plan, I just adapt to the person I'm training.
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Old 05-05-2005, 02:13 AM   #35
takusan
Dojo: Canterbury Aikido Club
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Ohh well here I go-----

I think this will get most of you - most annoyed.
I'm sure too, that you will wont to tell me ALL sorts of reason for what I do, as being wrong or worse, dare I say it, unprofessional.

SO, don't even bother.

My teaching style, is of the ' lets look at the scenery on the way there' variety.

I seldom have a plan prior to class. I wait to see what the make up of the class is, and direct the class from there.
What I ALWAYS do though, is work on a single theme. Allowing a single class to develop the feel for the topic.

Learning MAY be a bit slower - naughty me.
But it is diverse and thorough.
My knowledge is broad, occasionally even with some depth. (I hope)
My students, seem some how, to 'get' what I'm trying to teach, but only if they have the stick-ability that is required of a martial artist.
If not, then no matter what /how, I teach, they would not have been around long enough to learn a great deal.

This does not mean I teach haphazardly. Seen too close up, that could be your conclusion.
But seen as a bigger picture of aikido, this style seems a little less - haphazard after all.

Kihon waza , kihon waza, kihon waza. The three corner stones of deeper aiki appreciation.
Get that, and you get aikido ala Dave H. style.

Serious teacher - I'm deadly serious - when its appropriate.


Oh - did I mention kihon waza.
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Old 05-15-2005, 12:43 PM   #36
Mark Uttech
Dojo: Yoshin-ji Aikido of Marshall
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Training/teaching is "continuing"... The world of aikido is very wide. Even the woods where I have lived for over twenty three years contains surprises from time to time. "Memories" is a tried and a true path. So, no, I have no lesson plan. We bow in, we train together, and we learn. And, just like in the woods where i live, surprises arise from time to time. Sometimes when that happens, the class as a whole, stops suddenly, and bows to the shomen. It's an interesting phenomena.
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Old 05-20-2005, 06:02 PM   #37
Usagi
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

It all depends on the meaning of "serious".

All i know is that i became a better teacher after i learned (Thanks Messisco sensei!) not to take myself too seriously.

I usually have an concept of what i believe my group should work, and shape it according to who shows up.

I emphasize variations of ikkyo, shiho/kote and irimi/kokyu, which i view , together with koshi nage, as Aikido's whole curriculum (personal opinion guys!).

I personally try as much as possible to make sure my friends/students are not "falling" for me, but being actually unbalanced by my center and have no distress in exposing myself as limited.

I do my best to get all questions answered or at least provide the means for my students to make a research of their own.

I do my best to participate in other sensei's classes as student so as not to lose my "beginner's mind".

How serious am i as a teacher? Not enough to waste a good joke

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and i- i took the one less traveled by,- and that has made all the diference!"
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Old 06-08-2005, 09:03 AM   #38
Mark Uttech
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Every student has different things to work on, different things to practice. Because not everyone shows up at every class, this actually makes it easier
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Old 06-08-2005, 10:56 AM   #39
ChrisHein
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

I usually show up to class with not an Idea of what I'm going to do that day. If I do come in with a plan, I usually scrap it once we start. It's rare that I show up and everything works out how I plan it, so I stopped planning. I find that material is very dependent on who shows up (weather newbies, or weathered old timers, Gungho police and ex military, or house wives, and computer nerds). Also even at the class's where I'm pretty sure I know the turn out, I still wont know the mood of the class till I show up. I've heard that mood is a thing for Cattle and love play, but my job is really to help people learn, so I find I can best do that when appealing to the moods, and thoughts of my class. My class's usually center around what ever I'm working on in my personal training. Weather that be weapons, or controls, or throws, or intention magicy stuff. I just go with the flow. A nice thing about my self that I have seen in the last few years is that my knowledge of Aikido is strong enough that I can go in any direction I want and never feel like a fish out of water. This hasn't always been so, in my early years teacher I would often get to a technique that I wasn't so proficient at and I would skip it, or move on, afraid to teach something wrong, or mislead someone.

-Chris Hein
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Old 06-09-2005, 12:29 AM   #40
Charles Hill
Dojo: Numazu Aikikai/Aikikai Honbu Dojo
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Chris Hein wrote:
I've heard that mood is a thing for Cattle and love play
I wonder what kind of Aikido teacher Gurney Halleck would be.
Charles
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Old 06-15-2005, 01:21 PM   #41
rob_liberti
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

The way Chris described is exactly how I felt a number of years ago, and it is still my favorite way to do it. But, I have started to make a consistent teaching curriculum for at least half of the class time because I was finding that the new people needed that, and the long time students couldn't care less - so it was a win-win.

Rob
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Old 06-15-2005, 07:12 PM   #42
maikerus
Dojo: Roppongi Yoshinkan Aikido / Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Rob Liberti wrote:
The way Chris described is exactly how I felt a number of years ago, and it is still my favorite way to do it. But, I have started to make a consistent teaching curriculum for at least half of the class time because I was finding that the new people needed that, and the long time students couldn't care less - so it was a win-win.

Rob
We make an overall plan at the dojo for each class centered around a technique, an attack, a movement or a concept. We have a list of about 25 "things" that we set for any particular class and rotate through them. We also make allowances and time for test training and holidays.

Each class is then up to the discretion of the instructor on how they want to approach the particular "thing" for that class.

The reason we do this is to make sure that we, as instructors, are going through the complete curriculum and not skipping a concept because "it's too hard" for some of the people in the class.

An example...

Today, the class "thing" was nikajo. I had one person who showed up for their second class today, a bunch of people who had just finished there beginners course and a couple of more senior students.

I chose to have a more senior student show kamae and hiriki no yosei ichi to the beginner and then move into using hiriki no yosei to do nikajo. For the others in the class we did yokomenuchi nikajo osae ichi in partners and then a yokomenuchi nikajo nage in kagarigeiko.

Before class I had no idea how I was going to present nikajo...during warm-ups I decided because of who was present.

For me, this seems a good way to cover both worlds...make sure the students get a well-rounded education and let me be creative in how I approach a concept based upon my current thinking.

cheers,

--Michael

Hiriki no yosei 3 - The kihon that makes your head ache instead of your legs
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Old 06-16-2005, 01:12 AM   #43
Sonja2012
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
David Hood wrote:
Oh - did I mention kihon waza.
I hope this is not too OT, but I would like to ask what exactly the term kihon waza means. I know it means "basic techniques" (right?), but what exactly does that mean? It may sound silly, but we do not use this term much in our organisation and I am interested in learning it´s proper definition.

I think learning basic techniques is very important, especially for beginners. But also now and then it brings out great learning experiences if people are challanged with really advanced stuff that might actually be well over their heads. At least I feel that way myself.

I have trained under people who plan their lessons carefully and others who go in and let practice flow as it comes. Both can be great. What I find most important, is that the teacher feels comfortable with their teaching style. Every teacher has a different personality and therefore a different approach to teaching. I don´t think that necessarily means that some of them are more and others less serious about teaching.

For me, a "serious" teacher is one who is passionate about the topic (in this case aikido) and about helping others to develop. Interest in the students and their learning processes, knowing where the student is at and what kind of help they need would also make a teacher "serious" to me. Not just in aikido.
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Old 06-22-2005, 08:30 AM   #44
Lance
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Have You Ever Noticed That The Students Immediately Look To The Sensei / Or Sempei (whoever
Is Teaching That Night) To Know What Frame Of Mind To Try To Get In, Not Just What They Are About To Learn, But How They Are Going To Learn. In My Mind
When I Am Going To Teach The Lesson Not Just Assist
I Have To Have A Plan Of What I Am Going To Teach To
Know Where My Head Needs To Be. I Wouldn't Want To Be All Stiff And Serious If I Wanted To Teach On Wind That Evening. But I Don't Have To Have The Whole Lesson Planned Out, You Always Have To Leave Room For The Spiritual Flow Of Body And Mind
And Where It Is Leading You To Go.

Just My Thoughts
Lance
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Old 06-29-2005, 07:41 AM   #45
rob_liberti
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

tHat wAs aN oDd sTyle oF cApatalization. - rOb
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Old 11-18-2005, 08:13 AM   #46
Rocky Izumi
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

I go to learn my Aikido by studying the principles through teaching those techniques that focus on those principles. I study by watching the learning of the students and practicing with them what I have taught to see if any can resist the technique. I teach to learn since I do not get to see my Shihan that often. My students are my teachers and the best ones are the ones that are the most clumsy or the least natural . . . they teach me the most about Aikido.

I am not very serious about my teaching but I am serious about my learning. The students have to follow the questions I pose myself and learn what they can pick up.

The students are my experimental labs to see if what I see as a principle actually is a principle or whether I am mistaken. If it is a correct principle, then their Aikido and my Aikido should both improve through the understanding, practice, and application of that principle.

Is there a lesson plan? In my mind, it is the question / principle that I have been working on to expand and practice. I have been working on just one for the last 8 months. One of the students last night just realised that with an exclamation "this wha we be workin on for last year!" "Yup, actually just eight months."

There is, of course, always some time for a little side excursion into another related principle every once in a while. Those excursions tend to be about how those other principles interrelate with the one that I am working on.

For those curious, I have presently been working on, for the past two years, the issue of the shifting of weight distribution through movement of the hip and feet in order to generate power and speed of technique and ability to move correctly . . . . . basically, tori fune kogi undo. I guess I may have actually been working on this for about the seven years.

Rock
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Old 11-18-2005, 02:31 PM   #47
odudog
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Sonja, kihon waza does mean basic technique. kihon = basic waza = technique. All of the techniques that you learn to obtain your shodan are kihon waza. They all teach you the basic principles involved in Aikido and are the easiest way to do a technique. Later on, we are taught the same techniques but in a much harder way to accomplish the technique. Now, I'm not a teacher yet, I'm only 2nd kyu. But, in my mind I have always been learning to teach from day one for I want to teach my kids when they grow up so I am always thinking about Aikido and braking down what my instructors say to find a quicker easier way to convey the same message.
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Old 11-19-2005, 07:17 AM   #48
Ed Shockley
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

"A teacher is always there and always cheerful." John Stevens
So many revelations occur by creating a safe and encouraging environment in which people can practice that John Stevens' advice seems to fill most needs. New Year's eve we do misogi practice with Henry Smith Sensei (6th dan) in Philadelphia. It is always a single technique, suwari waza non stop for one hour in complete silence. Somewhere around throw number one hundred Aikido starts teaching all by itself. The same thing happens when we do five hundred or more bokken cuts. All of the posts have been filled with marvelous advice but O'Sensei's brilliance seems to be embedded in the art that we practice and is communicated to the diligent student because of or in spite of our efforts.
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Old 11-21-2005, 01:19 AM   #49
Sonja2012
 
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Mike Braxton wrote:
Sonja, kihon waza does mean basic technique. kihon = basic waza = technique. All of the techniques that you learn to obtain your shodan are kihon waza. They all teach you the basic principles involved in Aikido and are the easiest way to do a technique. Later on, we are taught the same techniques but in a much harder way to accomplish the technique.
But as every organisation includes different techniques on the way to shodan, that would mean that kihon waza are different in every organisation, right?
I have also heard the definition of kihon waza as techniques practiced staticly as opposed to techniques done Flowing/in movement (I forgot the name for that). I think I got that from some Iwama/Takemusu video or so... Is that also correct?

Thanks for the answer!
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Old 11-21-2005, 02:34 PM   #50
odudog
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Re: How serious a teacher are you?

Quote:
Sonja McGough wrote:
But as every organisation includes different techniques on the way to shodan, that would mean that kihon waza are different in every organisation, right?
I have also heard the definition of kihon waza as techniques practiced staticly as opposed to techniques done Flowing/in movement (I forgot the name for that). I think I got that from some Iwama/Takemusu video or so... Is that also correct?

Thanks for the answer!

Yes you are correct, the kihon waza for me might be different than yours. The tests that I do are from Yamada Sensei but my testing Senseis added some weapons to them. Even if we are in the same organization, your way of doing a technique might be different from my way. Currently when I test, there is about 8 dojos that get together {all Aikikai} but under the direction of two different Senseis. It's interesting to see how the same technique is done differently be each dojo {differences due to dojo-chos}. Sometimes it can get scary for if you are paired up with someone from another dojo and you don't know exactly what to expect from the technique. You have to have good ukemi and think quick on your feet to fall the proper way. I have some people in my dojo that are 2nd kyu as well but they aren't so quick a foot. They always pray that they are paired up with a fellow dojo mate during tests.

The flowing techniques are called oyo waza. And yes, you are correct in your assumption that kihon waza is always done statically.
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