So, it's been a couple of weeks since Bill and I, now with the support of Assistant Sensei Don, have been more strict on some of the dojo rules that used to need to be relaxed a little many years ago, but now have relaxed too far.
Bill and I alternate for the handling of the white belts, so I handle it one class and he handles it the next class, which allows us both a break from the task and an opportunity to train at an intermediate (orange-purple) level with the other colored belts as well. We still train when we're working with the white belts for about half of the time, but we're also doing a fair amount of standing around counting while the white belts go through Heian Shodan and their testing basics for yellow belt.
Last class was my turn to be Sempai (that is, primary assistant to the instructor or Sensei) and it seems that every class is getting better and better - the kids are getting better at knowing what to expect and because I have trained next to all of them for a few months or even a year or more, and I wear a black belt (and I'm an adult), they seem to enjoy working with me as their instructor and seem to demonstrate respect, which is one of the key focuses of karate.
There were still a couple of new students who started in September who were having problems with the turns in Heian Shodan so the two 'assistant to Sempai' students I was assigned were given those two students to work with separately from the group. The rest of the group stayed with me and we went through Heian Shodan at various speeds thinking about a few different things (lengthening stances, looking up, not down) during the kata. After a while I approached my assistants to see how things were going there, and then we all formed one big group again and went through Heian Shodan a final time before it was time to merge the entire class again.
Bill and I are introducing things that the white belts haven't had to deal with for the last few years - things like staying in second position (what's the name of the standing-up, ready to do Heian katas stance?) and staying STILL whenever they are being instructed on something. A key I focused on was how they should be able to stay in second position for 15 minutes if that's what it takes, if I go over to the other side of the gym to ask Sensei a question and it takes forever for me to come back, by the time I DO come back, they should all still be standing in exactly the same spot in second position, focused with their eyes forward but aware of their surroundings.
Yah, probably a hard topic to teach some kids, but everyone is 8 and over in this particular class, and really, out of the 10-15 white belt kids we have, only two of them have attention/being silly problems so that's manageable.
There used to be a third kid that was difficult to handle, but he's settled down a whole bunch this fall and rarely needs to be called by name to pay attention or stop fooling around during class. Now we just have to teach him that he influences other kids with his defiant behavior BEFORE class, and he'll be rockin' in the attitude department as well as the participation and technique ones.
I really enjoyed going through Heian Shodan at full speed with the kids, because they were VERY responsive and I was really impressed with their kata as a whole group. I think they're appreciating this specialized approach to training as well because there's less time for them to get distracted by other things.
After class, Bill, Assistant Sensei Don and I went over to our dojo's Head Instructor's place to visit. This was the first time Bill and I were seeing our instructor after his oral cancer surgery, so neither of us really knew what to expect. Sensei had obviously had surgery that requires a lot of healing time, but he was in good spirits and glad to see us, and offered us drinks right away (Bill was DD so he had Coke :) ), and we visited for about an hour before Bill said he had to get back home, so our group carpool departed. I'm going to call tonight to find out how Sensei's most recent test results came back, as he was supposed to get that information yesterday.
Send all the good vibes you can towards my Sensei. He's an awesome guy with awesome integrity and life experience; reliable, caring and intelligent.
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"(what's the name of the standing-up, ready to do Heian katas stance?)"
That position is named "Yoi" or "Ready position". "Yoi" is specific to each kata.
If you want the Japanese name of standing with your feet waist width apart, toes pointing out at an angle with your fists lightly clenched in front of you: that is Shizen tai (Natural stance).
" A key I focused on was how they should be able to stay in second position for 15 minutes if that's what it takes, if I go over to the other side of the gym to ask Sensei a question and it takes forever for me to come back, by the time I DO come back, they should all still be standing in exactly the same spot in second position, focused with their eyes forward but aware of their surroundings."
I have a little bit of difficulty with this expectation. It has been shown that the average grown adult's ability to focus on one thing for a certain length of time is 10 minutes before their mind becomes fatigued. The rule of thumb for younger children is 1 minute per year of age. So an average 6 year old will be able to focus on something for about 4-6 minutes. Are you aware that people will naturally stop breathing when standing still for extended lengths of time? They forget to breath, and they will black out and fall.
To be able to stand still, and focused for 15 minutes involves quite alot of mental training. Does your dojo provide the tools to these children to learn HOW to stand still for that long at a white belt level so that they can meet those expectations? Tools such as meditation, and visulization? Even adult black belts would find inertia difficult.. but to ask white belt children to live up to this expectation is to demand far higher a skill than is possible for their ability.
I applaud the fact that you wish to teach the challenge of mental discipline to the youth... but I would have to ask. Is this exercise that you place upon those in your command something that you would be willing to undertake yourself?
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