What makes a good seminar?

[jks9199]

I've been thinking about this for a couple reasons. First, I've been teaching more seminars of late -- and have a few coming up. And the thread on best/worst seminar experiences got me thinking, too.

What makes a good seminar? Is it different if it's a seminar that's in-system primarily, versus an "open" seminar where you have lots of people from different styles there?

What's a good length for a seminar? When does your attention and focus wain?

What about "after events?" Do you like taking a meal and hanging out together afterwards -- or do you just wanna hit the road? Does it depend on how far you've traveled?

Share your thoughts; maybe you'll get to see if I or someone else put 'em into practice!

 

[Drac]

WOW, what a topic jks....It is not just one item but a combination...Now this speaking for myself and how Master Steve Fine and I run our seminars

1. Location, Location, Location...How hard will it be for someone outside of your City/State to find, and is there ample free parking???

2. Our seminar, as are all the Combat Hapkido seminars are open to EVERYONE and no experience is required.

3. I think most of the ones I have attended are 6-8 hrs in lenght..That is including a lunch break..Make the lunch break around 11 am so attending guests dont have to fight the "townies" for a place at the lunch counter.. A map showing local fast food/resturants is always helpful..

4. When does the focus wain?? Usually right after lunch..

5. After the seminar? We always locate a resturant about a week ahead of time that can accommodate 20-30 guests and has no problem with issuing seperate checks..We invite all attendees to join us (at their expense)..We guarantee at least 10 spots...

6. The day before we take the Grandmaster out to dinner followed by cocktails..

 

[terryl965]

JKS great thread, let me start off with one of my biggest pet peeves.

Charge accordingly to the material being tought, if it is simple basic techs. please keep the price at a reasonable level.

Have material to cover the entire class just not going all over the place because you have to much and are trying to kill time with filler.

Give plenty of time to work and experiment on the material you are teaching.

Lastly make sure you have enough water and snack breaks if it is more than three hours.

 

[Flying Crane]

OK, I'll give you my personal thoughts on this.

I'm not a fan of seminars, and I've got some real reasons for this. Maybe you can consider what I'll say about it and take that into consideration when you plan your seminars.

I think there are a lot of traps that people can fall into, in the seminar scene. First, it is a short episode when you are working with people who are not your regular students. Once the seminar is over, you likely won't see them again unless they show up at another of your seminars. So don't teach them something that takes a long time to learn, and even longer to understand and develop well. Like a form or kata. You cannot teach it adequately in a couple of hours or a weekend. If you get thru the whole thing, then people likely did not learn it well because it was too quick. They do not have an ongoing training relationship with you, so they do not have the opportunity to continue to develop under your guidance. So they leave the seminar, practice the kata poorly, and someday teach it to their students, poorly. Or else, you only teach them a portion of the kata in an attempt to raise the quality. But what's the point in that? How will they finish the kata, and they still need an ongoing training relationship in order to improve the portion that you taught them. So it's still a problem.

Teaching something from an art that the students do not have a background in. Different arts are built upon a different foundation. Some systems have a similar foundation, others are wildly different. If you don't have that foundation, the techniques of the art will not work as they are designed. You cannot teach that foundation in a short time, so you cannot teach elements from the system to people who lack the proper foundation. Too much to try and accomplish in a couple hours, or even a weekend. You leave people with some poorly and partially understood material, with no opportunity to follow-up and improve their grasp of it.

Some people, I think, travel the seminar circuit and it seems to me they are trying to learn an entire system thru attending different seminars with whatever instructor happens to be giving one. I think this can cause a mish-mash, as different instructors may teach the same material differently, so there is no consistency in what they are learning. Learn something one way from one teacher, then another way from a different teacher, and it conflicts. Which way should he do it? Better to have one good teacher, with an ongoing student-teacher relationship.

These are the problems that I have with seminars, and this is why I don't like them. Give these some thought, and maybe you can avoid falling into these traps.

One of my teachers does do seminars sometimes. He tries to teach things that can be universally applied, no matter the background of the attendees. So he often works on nerve strikes and whatnot. These don't have to be technique-specific, people can hit the nerves however they want, as long as they are using good technique however their style does it. I think this is the best way to teach seminars. Don't be too style-specific, unless the attendees are all from the same style as what you are teaching.

 

[K-man]

I must confess to being a seminar junkie. But it depends who is instructing. There is one high raking karate-ka whose seminars I am morally obliged to attend who sometimes produces gold and on other occasions teaches basic #@*$. He takes the money and gives nothing in return but his time. There are others, like Iain Abernethy for example, who give great value all the time.
Personally I don't care if the seminar is one hour, three hours, all day or weekend. That depends on the material to be covered. What I do ask for in return is a little personal attention and to learn at least ONE new thing that I can take away with me to use in my future training. If I genuinely cannot say there is one thing I have learned, then I have wasted my time and money. In fairness, most seminars I have attended have been fantastic. :asian:

 

[jks9199]

Great tips and advice!

To address some of Flying Crane's excellent points -- there are different types and goals in seminars. For example, about once a month or every other month, either my partner or I teach a "seminar" or (stealing a term from Brian VanCise) "intensive" session. We take about 6 to 8 hours, including a lunch break, and focus on something that maybe we haven't had time to really focus on in regular classes. This is one type of seminar I teach; the target there are our regular students and some other students of our style. We assume a base of knowledge there, and are working on deepening their understanding.

I've got another type coming up: I'm trying to interest new students, and get them started right. Obviously, this is assuming no knowledge of the style coming in -- and trying to leave them with enough of a hook to train. My plan there is going to be, by the end of the seminar, to have covered an entire chain of (simple) techniques, in a way that it's complete if they're done with us (don't want them ripped off) but is a foundation to work from for those that return.

The third type is like what I'm doing in September for Brian; it's a "one-off." A chance to get a taste of the style, explore some approaches to handle some particular situations... To make a food analogy, it's kind of a "tasting menu." I hope that those students that day will get enough to interest them, maybe get a thing or two they can adapt and use... but they're not going walk out of that with anything really in depth, either.

Within our style, we also make kind of heavy use of weekend clinics or seminars as chances to learn specialties that may not be in your area -- or to share something that you can take home and work with and develop. These are incremental (in part; obviously, you have new blood coming in, so sometimes it's VERY incremental!) in nature; you may learn the first few sets of a form or some drills to build up to the form and internalize the principles during one clinic, then a few more sets the next, and so on.

But I'm not a fan of "seminar jumping" or the people who try to say a seminar or two makes them a master of something! I've spent more than 10 years training in one specialization in seminar format; I'm getting a handle on it -- but I've got plenty of room to go and grow, too!

 

[IcemanSK]

For me, a good seminar has a few ingredients.

1) It must be a seminar on a unique aspect of the training that I already do, or about something that I do no already do. I probably wouldn't go to a seminar on a topic I know well. (example: Bill Wallace does a stretching seminar. While I stretch daily, I knew he could teach me a lot about it.)

2) A seminar needs to start out easy & work from there. A room full of BB's don't necessarily have the same skill or experience level in the seminar topic. Beginning at everyone's comfort level then adding to it will provide growth for everyone in the room.

That's all I have off the top of my head. I'll add more if I think of things.

 

[MBuzzy]

I've been thinking about this for a couple reasons. First, I've been teaching more seminars of late -- and have a few coming up. And the thread on best/worst seminar experiences got me thinking, too.

What makes a good seminar? Is it different if it's a seminar that's in-system primarily, versus an "open" seminar where you have lots of people from different styles there?

Well, for an in system seminar, I would say that the best are those who pick a single topic and focus on it for the entire time, giving the students a lot of time to get comfortable with the one thing taught. In other words, work bunkai or cleaning of a single form or a certain type of wrist lock. In limited time, it is better to learn one thing and get it down solid than learn 20 things that you will likely forget and will be of limited benefit.

For an open seminar, I would take a similar approach, teach a limited amount of things with plenty of time to get good at them. Lots of practice and application and a lot of time for the experts to go correct. It is so much better to learn something WELL that you will take away with you than learn a smattering of things that you'll forget soon after.

What's a good length for a seminar? When does your attention and focus wain?

I'd say that it depends on a variety of factors. The length should be commensurate with the cost and instructor. If I'm taking a $200 seminar with a normal instructor, I should probably get AT LEAST a full day of instruction. Now, if you have a big name, that changes. I'd probably pay the same $200 for a few hours with a grandmaster. I've been to seminars ranging from 2 hours to a full weekend and it is more about structure and training than it is length.

If you structure the seminar well and teach the right stuff, you can make it go for as long or as short as you want! And charge what you want!

As for focus....depends on the audience. I'll stay focused for a whole seminar, but I want to be there. I'd agree that usually after lunch and near the end are the hardest times. But if you give people plenty of time to socialize and ask questions during breaks, that might help the focus issue.

What about "after events?" Do you like taking a meal and hanging out together afterwards -- or do you just wanna hit the road? Does it depend on how far you've traveled?

Personally, I like them. I'll almost always hang around for the after events. That is almost my favorite part. The farther I've traveled the MORE likely I am to stay.

 

[Big Don]

For me, a seminar needs to have the following elements:
Impart some knowledge, without this, what is the point?
Have a sense of fun!
A unique perspective helps.
When we've had seminars, we invite everyone to barbecue, and generally end up with the same group of people, the core students and instructors.

 

[Drac]

Lastly make sure you have enough water and snack breaks if it is more than three hours.

I forgot to add that...We follow the tenents of OPOTA ( Ohio Police Officers Training Academy)..For every hour or so of training we give a 10-15 min potty or smoke break...We always make sure there is PLENTY of water provided...

 

[Drac]

Another important and often over looked part of the planning process is finding out what you're competing against.If you are part of a large organization you need to find out if another school is planning one at the same time, next week or next month.

Father Greek and I attended one in Chi-Town and the traffic was TFU.Our 6 hr ride turned into 9 hours..Seems the tall ships were in port..Lalapalooza was in town and the Naval Academy was graduating a class..