After group discussions, Phil has decided to suspend Thursdays practice until we have increased the number of qualified coaches the club has.
Once numbers have increased we will look at reinstating the Thursday practice. Subs will remain at the current level.
Monday 14 February 2011
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Thursday Practise
We have ongoing issues with Thursday practise at the dojo
The issues are that we don't have enough coach cover & we are not breaking even on Subs alone.
I can't make the second practise work and carry on my studies. Due to the arrival of 'baby Jarrett' - sempai cant realistically make 2 sessions a week either His priority (directed from me) is to gain San dan this year so he needs to attend Mondays.
We have no other qualified coaches and this is an issue both for the BKA and the Leisure centre.
I've been able to justify to myself that practise could be carried out safely when Jarrett has been able to keep an intermittent eye on things.
Now I'm not happy with the situation and something has to change here are the options as I see them;
We suspend Thursdays until we have at least another 2 coaches qualified and able to supervise the sessions
We would reduce subs to reflect this - probably to £15 a month as this seems to be the level we can survive on.
We would hope to get people qualified within 3 months and review the situation.
Second option is to cancel the session altogether and reduce subs accordingly.
Third option is to carry on but make Thursday Yudansha (i.e. dan grade) only and make it a peer to peer practise. I'm not keen on this as it means a small practise not open to everyone.
Please discuss this, my preference at the moment is option 1, I need to make a decision on this fairly soon Other practise can be found at Pompey (Wed, Sat), Reading (Tues), Mytchet (thurs), Mumeishi (Tues, Sun), Kodokan (various).
It would probably be a good idea to discuss car (and fuel cost) sharing to get to some of these sessions.
Regards
Phil.
The issues are that we don't have enough coach cover & we are not breaking even on Subs alone.
I can't make the second practise work and carry on my studies. Due to the arrival of 'baby Jarrett' - sempai cant realistically make 2 sessions a week either His priority (directed from me) is to gain San dan this year so he needs to attend Mondays.
We have no other qualified coaches and this is an issue both for the BKA and the Leisure centre.
I've been able to justify to myself that practise could be carried out safely when Jarrett has been able to keep an intermittent eye on things.
Now I'm not happy with the situation and something has to change here are the options as I see them;
We suspend Thursdays until we have at least another 2 coaches qualified and able to supervise the sessions
We would reduce subs to reflect this - probably to £15 a month as this seems to be the level we can survive on.
We would hope to get people qualified within 3 months and review the situation.
Second option is to cancel the session altogether and reduce subs accordingly.
Third option is to carry on but make Thursday Yudansha (i.e. dan grade) only and make it a peer to peer practise. I'm not keen on this as it means a small practise not open to everyone.
Please discuss this, my preference at the moment is option 1, I need to make a decision on this fairly soon Other practise can be found at Pompey (Wed, Sat), Reading (Tues), Mytchet (thurs), Mumeishi (Tues, Sun), Kodokan (various).
It would probably be a good idea to discuss car (and fuel cost) sharing to get to some of these sessions.
Regards
Phil.
Wednesday 26 January 2011
Teaching Beginners
So I thought I would kick of the blog proper with a few thoughts on teaching beginners course. As we have a course running at the moment, and as not all the Shodans have taught or assisted on a course yet, it seemed like a good point to say a few words.
Before I get into the meat of it, I will just say that I have taught a fair few courses now, but in the grand scheme of things there are people out there with much more experience of teaching then me. This post is really my thoughts on the subject based on my experience.
So, I am going to split this into two parts: teaching the course and what you as the instructor can get from it.
We run our beginners courses for 8 weeks and that seems to work. There is an argument for making them 10 or even 12, but that is for another time. I have produced a lesson plan for those 8 week, which is available on request. The lesson plan has been used by me and others a couple of times and seems to work.
So, what can you get from teaching or assisting on a beginners course? The answer is that it will improve your Kendo. Why? Well because you will have to think about what you are teaching and answer questions about what you are teaching. I don't think I am yet to teach a course where I didn't have one small revelatory moment about my Kendo. The simple act of explaining something will often produce a new or deeper understanding of the subject and Kendo is no exception. Very often you will see something in an issue a beginner is having that directly relate to an issue you have had. Help to fix there issue can help you t understand yours.
It's worth thinking, as you teach and then finish a class and then go onto access the standard of the beginners you have taught, that all their bad habits are yours. They will tend to copy what you do rather than do what you say, so your technique, posture and reiho must be good.
All in all it's a worthwhile activity and there is much to be gained.
Your thoughts...
Before I get into the meat of it, I will just say that I have taught a fair few courses now, but in the grand scheme of things there are people out there with much more experience of teaching then me. This post is really my thoughts on the subject based on my experience.
So, I am going to split this into two parts: teaching the course and what you as the instructor can get from it.
We run our beginners courses for 8 weeks and that seems to work. There is an argument for making them 10 or even 12, but that is for another time. I have produced a lesson plan for those 8 week, which is available on request. The lesson plan has been used by me and others a couple of times and seems to work.
- There is a fair amount in each weeks plan, so you need to be mindful of the time. Very easy to do too much talking and then have to rush the second half of the lesson.
- On the flip side don't rush it. There is a lot for the beginners to take in. Getting half way through week fours lesson in week three is just a waste as you will almost certainly have to redo lesson three.
- Always offer to show a technique again.
- Always ask if anyone has a question. There aren't any silly questions (well there are) so don't give the impression that there are.
- Don't try and correct every little error in technique. You will run out of time and it will be info overload. Remember they are learning and that you are looking to teach the very basic parts of Kendo.
- Remember that not all the beginners will pick things up, so you will need adjust you pace depending on the class.
- Try and be positive. Even when pointing out a issue with technique try and point up something that the beginner is doing well.
- Talk less, get them to do more. The more you talk the less they get to practice.
- If there are two of you teaching, make sure that one of you takes a lead role and that the other assists. It works less well if you both try and lead. Decide who is doing what and stick to it. Don't contradict each other. If you think you partner had made a mistake for missed something, a quiet word is the best way.
- Be very mindful of health and safety!
- Remember that you were a beginner once!
So, what can you get from teaching or assisting on a beginners course? The answer is that it will improve your Kendo. Why? Well because you will have to think about what you are teaching and answer questions about what you are teaching. I don't think I am yet to teach a course where I didn't have one small revelatory moment about my Kendo. The simple act of explaining something will often produce a new or deeper understanding of the subject and Kendo is no exception. Very often you will see something in an issue a beginner is having that directly relate to an issue you have had. Help to fix there issue can help you t understand yours.
It's worth thinking, as you teach and then finish a class and then go onto access the standard of the beginners you have taught, that all their bad habits are yours. They will tend to copy what you do rather than do what you say, so your technique, posture and reiho must be good.
All in all it's a worthwhile activity and there is much to be gained.
Your thoughts...
Tuesday 25 January 2011
We have a blog!
So, we have a blog!
The idea behind this blog is to have an area where Sensei and club members can post theirs thoughts on any Kendo or club related items. Although we have the facebook group, which is very useful, it doesn't really allow for more detailed musing/rants/reports etc. So hopefully this blog will. Given Phils idea of training log books, this would seem to add into that idea.
Articles could include (but not limited to)...
- Kendo Theory
- Seminar Reports
- Taikai Reports
- BKA Calendar items
- Thoughts on training (maybe the most important and useful)
- Japanese Culture
If you would like to post an item them please email me (Jarrett) and I will post it up for you. Please make an effort with spelling and grammar. Keep it clean, legal and interesting if possible!
Anyway, there we go. It's over to you guys now!
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