Teaching Less is More

The hot summer days in sunny southern California have arrived and school has come to an end. It is the perfect time to come to karate class more often and escape the heat while children burn some energy and increase their knowledge. Summer Leadership Boot Camp is underway and today I had   new leadership team members assisting in class.

Eager to step up to the plate as a new leadership team member, beginning leaders often either don't know what to say or give every detail they can think of so the new students make no mistakes.  Hands up, hip turned, eyes straight, toes back are all commanded at the same time. Consequently the day ended with our first lesson, "Less is More".

Every technique requires lots of detail. Have your ever lost your class emotionally? A few students may be engaged, however, most are spacey, confused, overwhelmed, and over thinking what they are doing. This used to happen to me all the time as a young instructor, however, I finally realized that I had to break down every detail and teach it separately. It used to take about 4-6 years before new instructors could do this well.

A few years back we added some fun, creative drills for our leadership team to practice that greatly helped speed up the process. The goal of the drills were to teach "Less is More".  When teaching a technique, leaders have to explain it from the ground up starting with the toes.  Here are the rules to the drill:

Always begin with toes only:

1.  Demonstrate where the toes should be.
2.  Show 2 common mistakes ( ask questions).
3.  Drill getting into position 3-5 times.
4.  Highlight someone doing it correctly.
5.  Give a 5 second story of why they need to learn this.
5.  Drill it faster with something fun such as running.

After each step was complete leaders are then allowed to move up to the ankle or knee and repeat the process.  As leadership team members worked their way slowly up the body we found that students were not only more focused, they remembered the move better and they felt confident that the move was correct.

Leadership team members had to really think about how the move worked, consequently gaining a much higher understanding themselves. We have our leadership team practice this drill on each other prior to trying it with beginners. The complexity of this fun challenge  trains advanced students to dissect movements and gain understanding at a much higher level.

Tammie Lawrence is an Educator having taught in the private and public sector and a Master Martial Arts Instructor who teaches aspiring young teachers how to engage their students and make learning fun and successful.  She is known for her work with inspiring young leaders to take an active role in their communities.   She can be reached for seminars and workshops at Golden Tiger Martial Arts, San Bernardino, CA  92407  909-881-9603

info@martialartsgt.com