For clubs that are growing
or of a larger size; the instructor
may find him or herself spending
less time working on rank
material with specific belts
than they would like to.
This can be a real problem
as when you spend any length
of time with one rank’s
material, the rest of the
class could feel overlooked
or bored. While this is more
to do with the individual
student’s perception;
it could be a real problem
for club moral.
This issue compounds if you
do not have any sempai, kohai
to help with the teaching
load in class.
One
solution to the problem of
not having enough hands is
to delegate core material
instruction to higher ranks.
Here is an example to further
explain.
For
example, you could take your
brown belts and ‘give’
them Kanshiwa kata to teach.
So you would start out by
giving them all a private
class on just that kata, going
over every detail including
bunkai and traditional applications.
Then their task is to teach
that kata to the upcoming
ranks exactly as your specific
affiliation teaches it.
This
way when you move into core
material, you can break off
into smaller groups and the
brown belts would filter around
checking the performance of
the kata. Then as the class
moves onto the next kata,
the brown belts come back
into formation and work on
their material. If you have
a few brown belts you can
cycle one in and out to check
those still working on Kanshiwa.
Essentially in this example
the brown belts have become
your eyes and ears on Kanshiwa;
they should know everything
you know about it, and if
there is any issue with the
kata performance, then it’s
the brown belts who get the
instructions to correct it.
This way you have your entire
class learning the kata exactly
as you want it, and you can
spend equal time with other
ranks working in a similar
way.
This
is just one example, you could
have the browns ‘get’
Kanshabu or Seichin, while
the greens ‘get’
Kanshiwa for the lower ranking
white belts.
You
could also give kata to teach
to specific people, this would
help you macro-manage even
further; much the way a CEO
oversees the managers of various
departments.
Students
and parents want to see the
instructor in class obviously;
this way you can ‘float’
around the room making corrections
and offering encouragement
while in the other parts of
the room, the ranks are continuing
to get instruction even after
you move to the next group.
This is also of great benefit
to the higher ranks as they
get valuable teaching experience
that will help them in the
future.
As
well when you are ‘floating’
and watching the entire class
instead of just teaching one
group you will have a much
better scope to monitor the
class for safety, manners,
etc.
This
approach is not advisable
at all times, but will help
for those classes where core
material is being explored
and you have a range of belt
ranks participating.
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