My School's New Curriculum

K

Kirk

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My instructor added 2 belts to his rankings. The curriculum is
now like this:

White - Time In Grade: 2 Mos.

Yellow - Time In Grade: 2 Mos. - Techs: 11
Sets: Star - Forms: None

Orange - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Stance - Forms: Short 1

Purple - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Kicking - Forms: None

Blue - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Elbow - Forms: Long 1

Green - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Finger - Forms: Short 2

3 Brn - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Striking - Forms: Long 2

2 Brn - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Coordination - Forms: Short 3

1 Brn - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: Staff - Forms: None

Red - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: None - Forms: Long 3

Red/Black - Time In Grade: 4 Mos. - Techs: 16
Sets: 2 Man - Forms: None

TOTAL: 36 Mos. 155 Techniques.

---------------------------------

It used to be 24 to get 3 Brn, 28 for 2nd, 28 at 1st.
Yellow had 11, and the rest had 16. Red, and Red/Black
didn't exist previously. Each belt required a form and at
least one set. Old system: 155 techs - 9 belts ... new
system 155 techs - 11 belts.

My instructor said that he's got a lot of students getting
stuck "in their browns". One student has been a 2nd
or 3rd Brown for 18 months. He feels it's a bit easier
to remember this way, without watering things down.

I personally like it this way, but I thought it'd be good
for a discussion here. Is anyone else doing anything
similar? Anyone doing anything way different?
 

Blindside

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Interesting,

Do you have to learn Long 4 for Black? I'm just curious because it seemed the next step in the progression. But quite frankly, how does stretching out the system make it any easier to learn, especially at the upper end? I'm assuming you have to know all the previous material to test for the next rank, so it can't be a memorization thing. Is it just a way to allow people to take baby steps? I guess I don't see how this gets someone "unstuck."

Your instructor doesn't charge testing fees does he?

I don't really care how people rank out a system, as long as you have a good product. Wait, I take that back, if your instructor adds a "camo belt" ala the ATA well, I'm gonna have to kick his ***! :D

I would be bummed if I was one of the high browns and I got stuck with two more ranks to go, especially with minimum time slots.

Lamont
 
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K

Kirk

Guest
Originally Posted By: Lamont
Do you have to learn Long 4 for Black?
I'm just curious because it seemed the next step in the progression.
Exactly, you hit the nail on the head.

But quite frankly, how does stretching out the system
make it any easier to learn, especially at the upper end?
I'm assuming you have to know all the previous material
to test for the next rank, so it can't be a memorization
thing. Is it just a way to allow people to take baby steps?
I guess I don't see how this gets someone "unstuck."

You're right ... we all have to do all of the previous material
to test for the next rank. My instructor said that people are
progressing fine, then get 'caught up' in brown. I guess maybe
because people feel overwhelmed, or since they've had to
accomplish 16 techs previously, they're having a hard time
memorizing them 26 at a time? He has quite a few browns
that don't seem to be progressing, and I think this is the first
idea, or best idea that he's come up with to try and get the
ball rolling for these guys.

Your instructor doesn't charge testing fees does he?

$20.00 per belt, regardless of rank.

I would be bummed if I was one of the high browns and I
got stuck with two more ranks to go, especially with
minimum time slots.

Well if you're third brown, once this is implemented, you'd
probably have red, or red/black, so there's not anything MORE
for these guys to learn, but instead of having to learn 26 techs
to get a belt, you only need 16.
 

Blindside

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If you have alot of people getting stuck on brown then I suspect that the barrier is psychological, and I don't think that another couple of belts will make that mystical "black belt" any more attainable. Three years ago, I was one of 4 brown belts that were amping up for black. Our instructor at the end of one of the classes was discussing difficulty in promoting througout the ranks, and he mentioned that it was likely that only half of the browns would make it to black. I thought he was nuts. Now of the four of us there are two black belts and the others are just gone. One of them was the most talented martial artist that I've ever run up against. A brown at our school probably has at least 5 years in the system, the students who don't make black are usually distracted or are unwilling to put in the training time to accomplish the next step.

The barrier to black is in the head, not in the belt.

Lamont
 
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Rob_Broad

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If a person has been training for a few yrs with an average of 16 techniques per belt and then are told that for the last 4 belts that the would be doing an additional 10 or more techniques per belt, it can be quite and adjustment. Plus they wold still have yhe forms and sets for those ;evels. There is nothing wrong with the instructor adding the 2 level to keep the curriculum consistant through the entire program.

People forget that the program has to fit the individual or it is a waste of the person's time and hard earned money. When I started training 20 yrs ago people didn't have as many distraction in their lives as there is today. People thinking I got my belt in X then everybody should be able, have to re-adjust their thinking. The price that Kirk's instructor charges for grading is very low so him adding the 2 extra belts doesn't seem like a cash grab, he appears he is doing it to help his students achieve their goal of Black Belt.
 
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Ronin

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I think its important for the individual to just try to be the best they can be at any rank and not try to get hung up on when the next rank. After all we have the rest of our lives to learn.
 

Goldendragon7

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should be on improving what he/she is being taught. And of course learning new material that is presented.

The instructors job is to dish out the material and promote once it has been satisfactorily demonstrated that the individual has accomplished progress.

:asian:
 
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K

Kirk

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Well we got another change today. Adult classes USED TO BE
as follows:

Mon - Wed: Beginners 7:30pm - 9pm
Tues- Thur: Advanced 7:30pm - 9pm
Sat & Sun: Stick n' Knife ... all ranks


Now it's this way:

Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs: Beginners 7:30pm - 8:20pm
Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs: Advanced 8:20pm - 9:10pm
Saturday only: Stick n' Knife ... all ranks

All belts are allowed to workout during these times, but
you're not allowed any instruction in the class you don't
belong in. So if you stay/come early (depending on rank)
you get more mat time. Actually you get more mat time
either way ... but like 20 minutes more instruction this way.

I'm just curious why all the changes all the sudden. He seems
to be trying to put in the same amount of time he does already
(which is a lot, he teaches 10 cardio classes 6 kids classes and
6 adult classes per week by himself), but trying to speed up
our promotions. By giving us more time to learn, adding 2
belts to the curriculum, etc. I'm wondering if he's thinking
about retiring, and turning over the school to his students.
Or maybe he wants to make it so that he can have more assistant
instructors or something. I dunno, I'm a bit concerned, here.
The 2 other kenpo schools in my city are 1 I don't care to go to,
and 1 that has odd hours. I know, I know .. everyone is gonna
reply with "don't make b.b. your goal, that's where the learning
begins, etc" ... and I don't want to start up a debate about that,
but b.b is one of MANY goals I'd like to acheive in Kenpo. I'd love
to open my own school some day. I know I shouldn't panic
but still, I'm fearing this change. I'm not sure how to approach
this either. It's really none of my business why he's made this
change, or even if I'm right in assuming that he's trying to train
more black belts. But I'd sure hate to start training another art
at 3rd brown or something. That'd just push back the initial goal,
and all subsequent goals :(
 

Goldendragon7

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Give it a fair shake......... You may like it better but don't realize how it can help you at this time. You can always alter things if you really dislike it down the road....... but cross that bridge if and when you come to it. Your instructor may not like the results he is getting after a few weeks so forge ahead like a trooper and a loyal student.... trust in your instructor.

:asian:
 
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DoctorB

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Originally posted by Blindside

If you have alot of people getting stuck on brown then I suspect that the barrier is psychological, and I don't think that another couple of belts will make that mystical "black belt" any more attainable. {Snipped some comments}

The barrier to black is in the head, not in the belt.

Lamont

I agree with your observations Lamont and it seems to me after 20+ years of training and watching others train, that the major difference between people is not style or system, it is need and desire.

I have taught people with tremedous potential, but they have quite after a few months and I have taught people who stayed for the full program. The difference is need and desire. Some people want to learn enough to make themselves feel better and when they attain that level/feeling they are going to leave training. A couple of my students only wanted to learn how to defend themselves against a very specific person and type of attack, when they could do that they left. It is not the program, the curriculum, the belts or the material, it is the individual and what each prersons needs are that determines how long and for what reasons they will stay with a program.

Jerome Barber, Ed.D.
 
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K

Kirk

Guest
I got the chance to talk in a close "one on one" conversation.
He'd like to increase the size of his school, and by offering classes
4 times a week, more people have the chance to sign up. It just
can't be coincidence, but his classes are just LOADED right now!
Not with new students either. A lot of "old" students are showing
up now, and lots of colored belts that I've never met. It's all
pretty wild to me. Our "beginning and intermediate" class had
at least 2 people from each belt color from white up to blue. I
think about 35 - 40 students in all. For some reason, everyone
was super pumped up about it, and it just made the workouts
more intense, and more fun. Like Gou stated in another thread,
I could practically ring out my Ghi (I wear a shirt under it too)
when the workout was over, and I was out of breath big time,
but I didn't realize it until class stopped.
 
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vincefuess

Guest
I know guys who have been brown belts for close to twenty years! I think there are other factors at work there, though...

Mr. Fowler "spread out" the Kenpo curriculum and added more belts many years ago, and it has worked very well for him. The current ranking (last time I checked) was yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, brown, red, red with black stripe, then black. We all know it's what is inside that matters, but you gotta admit that students like getting new belts! It's just human nature. I always liked getting a new belt. The serious students are gonna be there for the long haul anyway, so it really doesn't matter. In the advanced classes, it was never that structured anyway. As a red belt I was training with up to 3rd black belts on the same material they were. The way Mr. Fowler saw it, if you were still around at red belt you were likely gonna be around for black and then some- so he just taught it all to you. He usually based the session's criteria on which belts were in the class- if it was mostly 2nd and 3rd black, then you trained that material. If it was mostly red belts, then that material. You learn quick when you're the only red belt on a mat full of advanced black belts!
 
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Kirk

Guest
Originally posted by Goldendragon7

How's the new stuff going?

I am sooooo digging it!!!!!!! Just when I thought it couldn't
get any more enjoyable, BAM! It does. And I think I'm actually
starting to FINALLY lose some friggin weight. I test
tomorrow for orange, and I think the past 3 weeks have been
more responsible for making me ready, than the 3 months prior
to that.
 

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