Mirror of yourself

[terryl965]

I was wondering how many of you instructor try to have your student be a mirror image of yourself. I know we all teach is student to be thereself but have you ever cought yourself trying to make a student be you when you was that age and had about the same ability?

 

[bushidomartialarts]

We're lucky at my school in that the program is run by a group of four peers. There's no opportunity to try and force students into my mold -- all of our students have four different teachers.

Keeps us humble.

 

[terryl965]

We're lucky at my school in that the program is run by a group of four peers. There's no opportunity to try and force students into my mold -- all of our students have four different teachers.

Keeps us humble.

But have you ever cought yourself and stopped?

 

[bushidomartialarts]

But have you ever cought yourself and stopped?

Hmmm. Not directly. In the beginning I think all four of us had a little of that (or a lot of it) going on. We're a kenpo school, so we all had our own pet interpretations of various techniques. By the time it all got hammered smooth, we all just want to teach the system.

In a related note, I noticed that most of our black belts tend to gravitate towards one instructor's style over the others. For my part, I tend to send the ones who lean toward my way to train harder with my colleagues. Makes them more well rounded.

 

[terryl965]

Hmmm. Not directly. In the beginning I think all four of us had a little of that (or a lot of it) going on. We're a kenpo school, so we all had our own pet interpretations of various techniques. By the time it all got hammered smooth, we all just want to teach the system.

In a related note, I noticed that most of our black belts tend to gravitate towards one instructor's style over the others. For my part, I tend to send the ones who lean toward my way to train harder with my colleagues. Makes them more well rounded.

Thank you for the honest answer

 

[kidswarrior]

I was wondering how many of you instructor try to have your student be a mirror image of yourself. I know we all teach is student to be thereself but have you ever cought yourself trying to make a student be you when you was that age and had about the same ability?

Probably more than I even know or would like to admit. I know as a professional teacher and former mentor, etc., this is a huge mistake for rookie teachers--and even some vets! So, I'd like to say no, but now that you bring it up I'll watch for it more. :ultracool

 

[terryl965]

Probably more than I even know or would like to admit. I know as a professional teacher and former mentor, etc., this is a huge mistake for rookie teachers--and even some vets! So, I'd like to say no, but now that you bring it up I'll watch for it more. :ultracool

For me I catch myself once in a while doing it and autimaticlly stop and then I tell the student they need to find what works best for them and not me.

 

[kidswarrior]

For me I catch myself once in a while doing it and autimaticlly stop and then I tell the student they need to find what works best for them and not me.

Well, if you're catching yourself that's the sign of a pretty evolved teacher, imho. And then telling the student there's more than one way, well, not every teacher can do that...:asian:

 

[MJS]

I was wondering how many of you instructor try to have your student be a mirror image of yourself. I know we all teach is student to be thereself but have you ever cought yourself trying to make a student be you when you was that age and had about the same ability?

When we teach, we all have our own unique way of doing things. I could teach a technique "my" way and other inst. can come along and teach it with "their" unique touch to it.

I try to mirror my instructor when I work with him, and many times, we find that there are certain things that we do similar or have similar thoughts on moves that we like, etc.

Ultimately though, everyone is built differently, so no matter how hard I try, there are just going to be some things that don't feel right to me. I could stretch and work on my kicks everyday, but chances are, I'll never be able to kick like Bill Wallace.

Mike

 

[stickarts]

Nope. When I began teaching my main instructor explained to me how each person will develop in their own way and he didn't believe in trying to make "clones" of himself. He set that example and it made sense to me.

 

[Kacey]

I'm going to build on what MJS said - no matter how much you attempt to make your students move like you do, individual differences (age, size, gender, physical ability, etc.) will prevent them from being a clone. One of the most important things I learned as an instructor is that each person is an individual, and deserves to be treated as such - something that I was taught in my teacher's training before I really understood it as an instructor.