Potential student

[Flying Crane]

Grow up. I'd expect that kind of comment out of a 10 year old. Yeah I am a ballet dancer what about it?

Some people are best kept on ignore. Try it. You might like it.

 

[Flying Crane]

I was never interested in forms. I started creating them to have a way to walk through the movements of techniques when I was traveling (no partner). When I started my new curriculum, I decided to create forms to give us some material for various uses (something to practice at home, use for warm-up, and something to do when recovering from injuries, etc.). I found students seemed to really dig into them, and I liked learning them. I've gotten to where they are my default warm-up - I'll do my staff kata a few times before going out for a run.

I'd still rather spar, but it turns out I quite like doing forms, too.

You can do both, you know.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Today worked on pure defence we did a few rounds of me throwing punches at him and him trying to block. He did okay single shots he blocked well enough but started to struggle when I doubled up on shots but that's to be expected I also introduced parries to him. Then got him to throw punches at me and I defend. That gets him used to punching at a target and having to work around someone's defence and of course arm conditioning.

Next time I plan to do something similar but put in counter punches as well.

He's progressing at a good pace he seems to be practicing on his own as well which is always a good thing to see. I haven't done much on his fitness yet once we've got basics down I'm going to buildup some endurance for him before going further because in my opinion fitness is just as important as technique

Something I added early in my curriculum is a 30-second "defensive sparring" test. This happens somewhere in the first weeks of training, and their job is just to survive 30 seconds of light attacks. They can block, turtle up and enter, use footwork to control the situation, or whatever. There are only three things they can't do: keep backing up (lets the pressure overwhelm them), hit back, or just stand still and take it.

I do this to make sure - before I go further into the curriculum with more technical work - that they can deal with pressure that overwhelms their skill. If you haven't taught him to cover and enter/slip/get outside, then it's difficult for him to play defense-only.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

You can do both, you know.

Oh, I definitely do both - I was just saying if I had to choose one or the other, I'll personally choose sparring.

 

[_Simon_]

Today worked on pure defence we did a few rounds of me throwing punches at him and him trying to block. He did okay single shots he blocked well enough but started to struggle when I doubled up on shots but that's to be expected I also introduced parries to him. Then got him to throw punches at me and I defend. That gets him used to punching at a target and having to work around someone's defence and of course arm conditioning.

Next time I plan to do something similar but put in counter punches as well.

He's progressing at a good pace he seems to be practicing on his own as well which is always a good thing to see. I haven't done much on his fitness yet once we've got basics down I'm going to buildup some endurance for him before going further because in my opinion fitness is just as important as technique

That's really cool, and a really good progression as it's giving him a good perspective on all the different facets of training. How long have your sessions gone for? I reckon I'd have trouble coming up with material haha but am sure it would come up as the session goes

 

[_Simon_]

Something I added early in my curriculum is a 30-second "defensive sparring" test. This happens somewhere in the first weeks of training, and their job is just to survive 30 seconds of light attacks. They can block, turtle up and enter, use footwork to control the situation, or whatever. There are only three things they can't do: keep backing up (lets the pressure overwhelm them), hit back, or just stand still and take it.

I do this to make sure - before I go further into the curriculum with more technical work - that they can deal with pressure that overwhelms their skill. If you haven't taught him to cover and enter/slip/get outside, then it's difficult for him to play defense-only.

Ah I remember doing drills like that, they were very fun hehe! I think we even did a drill where our back was to the wall, and our partner just had to attack with contact and we just had to block whatever we could in a set time. Obviously takes body movement/footwork out of it but sharpens the eyes XD

 

[Flying Crane]

Oh, I definitely do both - I was just saying if I had to choose one or the other, I'll personally choose sparring.

Sure, but I don’t even like to express it in terms of either/or. Neither was meant to stand alone.

That is where a lot of the debates build from. People who want to argue against forms denounce them as worthless, and tend to express it as “doing forms instead of...”. Well it’s not meant to be instead of. These are all aspects of a complete methodology.

Im not saying you were doing the that, but I’m pointing it out because how it is expressed is important.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Ah I remember doing drills like that, they were very fun hehe! I think we even did a drill where our back was to the wall, and our partner just had to attack with contact and we just had to block whatever we could in a set time. Obviously takes body movement/footwork out of it but sharpens the eyes XD

I actually think the biggest value of exercises like that is just getting over the fear of being inside that storm, keeping your head about you and doing SOMETHING, anything, other than panicking or giving up.

 

[Headhunter]

So took a week off last week as I was at a kenpo camp In Ireland over the weekend which I'll post about later but today worked on defence and counter attacks. Will probably move into self defence techniques next time

 

[dvcochran]

so the other day is training in my back garden I was doing some forms and some bag work and one of my neighbours who's a 14 or 15 year old started asking me questions about what I was doing so I told him and he asked if I could teach him as he always to train but his parents couldn't afford it. He's not an athletic kid or anything like that his parents told me he's had issues with bullying. I told him I'd think about it and see if I have time.

Thing is I'm a bit unsure as I've said before I'm no teacher but I do want to help the kid as he is a nice lad and I know martial arts could be great for him but I'm just not sure about it. I don't really know if I want that responsibility or duty of care over him. Of course I'd check with his parents first make sure they're fine but I also don't want to teach him but him get into more fights because of it and get hurt. But I'll think about it.

But I've always decided if I do agree the main thing I'll teach is karate as that's my base and what I'm the best at of all my styles but I won't do belt ranks or wear a gi or any of that stuff I'll just teach the basics, some self defence techniques and possibly some forms and I'll work on his fitness and endurance and strength. I also may add in a few things I've learnt from Krav Maga but I'll post more of a teaching plan if I do decide to take this on.

It won't get me anything as I wouldn't charge but it is something I'd kind of like to do but just not sure if I. Good enough to do it

Pouring the good in yourself into a kid is never a bad thing. If you do this I suggest you set a schedule and make them stick to it.

 

[Headhunter]

Been a while since updated this. But the kids still training and he's doing good. Not an expert by any means and he's not got natural athletecsim but he works hard and listens well. I've been teaching basic forms and he enjoys them. He's also been doing cardio work on his own which is good I've started doing some light sparring with him and his defence is getting good he just needs to work on committing to his attack more. In the next few weeks I'm thinking about taking him down to my daughters gym. She runs a kickboxing and self defence gym. Just so he can have more sparring partners and people his own age to work out with. I'm happy with how it's going he's getting the benefits and seems to be enjoying it. I mean he may not do it for a long time he may quit in a couple months and if he does fair enough that's his choice but hey I haven't been a total failure coach at least lol

 

[_Simon_]

Been a while since updated this. But the kids still training and he's doing good. Not an expert by any means and he's not got natural athletecsim but he works hard and listens well. I've been teaching basic forms and he enjoys them. He's also been doing cardio work on his own which is good I've started doing some light sparring with him and his defence is getting good he just needs to work on committing to his attack more. In the next few weeks I'm thinking about taking him down to my daughters gym. She runs a kickboxing and self defence gym. Just so he can have more sparring partners and people his own age to work out with. I'm happy with how it's going he's getting the benefits and seems to be enjoying it. I mean he may not do it for a long time he may quit in a couple months and if he does fair enough that's his choice but hey I haven't been a total failure coach at least lol

Ah that's great to hear . Sounds like he's getting a great deal out of it, and willingness to listen and work hard always trumps natural athleticism, that's really cool.

And yeah that's it he may move on which is natural, but sounds like you've been a great teacher and person to look up to for him. And that's nice you're branching him off and getting him exposure to more people and training places too, would be good for him.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Been a while since updated this. But the kids still training and he's doing good. Not an expert by any means and he's not got natural athletecsim but he works hard and listens well. I've been teaching basic forms and he enjoys them. He's also been doing cardio work on his own which is good I've started doing some light sparring with him and his defence is getting good he just needs to work on committing to his attack more. In the next few weeks I'm thinking about taking him down to my daughters gym. She runs a kickboxing and self defence gym. Just so he can have more sparring partners and people his own age to work out with. I'm happy with how it's going he's getting the benefits and seems to be enjoying it. I mean he may not do it for a long time he may quit in a couple months and if he does fair enough that's his choice but hey I haven't been a total failure coach at least lol

Thanks for posting the update, HH - I love to hear how folks are coming along. Sounds like he's making solid progress. Let us know how he reacts to the folks at your daughter's gym.