Parents role???

[granfire]

well, in some cases it works, but in many cases it is a true disaster.

 

[Gorilla]

Well I would not say that.

I am not the head instructor at our school and I train my kids. One of the only reasons I came back to the dojang after some time off is because what I was teaching my kids at home was shot down in the dojang by one instructor. I told my kids to use it anyways until it was proven that it was wrong. Well, I am now one of the coaches for our competition team and my kids are the top two of the school for their ages. I work well with the head instructor and now am responsible for getting all new members up to speed before the head instructor brings them into his advanced classes.

Many of the Sr. fighters also come to me for advice as they say I have a way of making it all make sense. There was one Jr. fighter (16) that fought in the Korean American Games this year that I help one on one for a bit and he took 2nd. He said that a lot of what I showed him he never understood before but when I broke it down to him the way I saw it, it clicked he said. He lost by the way in OT because he did not have the killer instinct and became buddy buddy with the guy he had to fight in the finals.

Just don't think you can say that no parent should teach their own kid if they have an instructor. That may be true for many but not for all. If you and the instructor are on the same page then I think things can progress really well. Even if you are not on the same page things can still work out. For example, my instructor is one that teaches the kids to be very aggressive in the ring. He teaches all the kids the same way with the same lessons and drills. I for one like to look at the kids strengths and put together a game plan based on those strengths. If a kid is really defensive I will not take that away but play to it. I will have the kid practice baiting and drawing in his opponent. Now I am teaching something different than the instructor but in the end the kid actually becomes a better all around fighter as he is taught to be aggressive by his Master instructor but at the same time he keeps developing his defensive game at the same time. I like to call what you like to do and can do at any time your bread and butter. So while in a match if what your coach wants you to do is not working, you still have your bread and butter to fall back on.

You are right never say never....and it sounds like you have been able to work out something great...It is very rare though...I have seen some parent/student relationships work out well when the parent is a martial artist but even those start to get strained during the teenage years... for me it would never work...I stay out of the technical part of my kids careers...Our Master is very good and I would just get in the way!!!

ATC you are right one should not make blanket statements...I guess that we all get caught up in that at times

 

[ATC]

You are right never say never....and it sounds like you have been able to work out something great...It is very rare though...I have seen some parent/student relationships work out well when the parent is a martial artist but even those start to get strained during the teenage years... for me it would never work...I stay out of the technical part of my kids careers...Our Master is very good and I would just get in the way!!!

ATC you are right one should not make blanket statements...I guess that we all get caught up in that at times

I think there are things that all parents can do. They should all learn how to hold targets and shields. For a kid to practice at home they need this. This seems to be the biggest reason for not practicing at home.

I also hear the parents say I tell them to practice but I don't know what they did. Parents can also learn what techniques should be used to help warm up a kid. We have specific drill in a specific sequence that we use to warm up all kids. These same drills can be done at home and parents should learn these drills to make sure the kids are at least doing them.

Knowing the warm up drills by parents also help during tournaments. Becasue parents can hold targets and shields they can help with warming kids up at tournaments and take that burden off the coaches so we then just worry about coaching on the floor. We don't always have time to warmup all kids or even any of the kids properly for that matter.

I think that there is a lot that parents can do to help the master instructor. But things need to be laid out step by step and it must be understood by all.

This is why we have a few classes each year for competiton team members parents. We have target holding classes with the parent and child at the same time. During the class we have the child or student do all the warm up drills while the parent holds the targets. We then go around and just help adjust the holding of the parents. It does a couple of things. They now know that holding is not as easy as it looks. They also get an understanding of what is needed for the kids to warm up properly. Plus they bond better with their kids and other parents. They also start to respect what we do and what the kid does. Plus it may get a few parent into actual classes as they are having fun too.

We also have video recording classes. We hate getting that video that has half the match with the camera pointed up or down but not on the match due to the parent watching the match not through the camera.

In short there is a lot that many parents can do without steping on the head guys toes.

Now once again this may not be for everyone.

 

[Gorilla]

I think there are things that all parents can do. They should all learn how to hold targets and shields. For a kid to practice at home they need this. This seems to be the biggest reason for not practicing at home.

I also hear the parents say I tell them to practice but I don't know what they did. Parents can also learn what techniques should be used to help warm up a kid. We have specific drill in a specific sequence that we use to warm up all kids. These same drills can be done at home and parents should learn these drills to make sure the kids are at least doing them.

Knowing the warm up drills by parents also help during tournaments. Becasue parents can hold targets and shields they can help with warming kids up at tournaments and take that burden off the coaches so we then just worry about coaching on the floor. We don't always have time to warmup all kids or even any of the kids properly for that matter.

I think that there is a lot that parents can do to help the master instructor. But things need to be laid out step by step and it must be understood by all.

This is why we have a few classes each year for competiton team members parents. We have target holding classes with the parent and child at the same time. During the class we have the child or student do all the warm up drills while the parent holds the targets. We then go around and just help adjust the holding of the parents. It does a couple of things. They now know that holding is not as easy as it looks. They also get an understanding of what is needed for the kids to warm up properly. Plus they bond better with their kids and other parents. They also start to respect what we do and what the kid does. Plus it may get a few parent into actual classes as they are having fun too.

We also have video recording classes. We hate getting that video that has half the match with the camera pointed up or down but not on the match due to the parent watching the match not through the camera.

In short there is a lot that many parents can do without steping on the head guys toes.

Now once again this may not be for everyone.

Sounds like a very good program....I bet that setting the ground rules and letting the parents understand the role that they have does wonders for your team...Sounds to me that you get a good culture from this and allot of buy in from the students and parents...

Great stuff thanks for the great post