Institute of Martial Arts and Sciences

I'm a joint founder of I.M.A.S., have several advanced Dan grades in Martial Arts and a PhD in Education. I wanted to create this "lens" on squidoo to try and get some feedback / reactions on peoples thoughts on Accredited Qualifications & Academic Education in the Martial Arts.

To learn more about I.M.A.S. you can visit the website at:

www.institute-of-martialarts-and-sciences.com

Please post any comments / feedback

Introduction

There are many reasons why a person might decide to turn up at your dojo and have a go at the martial arts, and it is important that we try and identify these in order to establish exactly what the potential student is looking for, and whether or not your art is going to give it to them.

Identifying Needs and Expectaions

So, why has that particular person just come into the Dojo? What is it that makes them come to you? What is their particular motivation?
These are all very good questions to be asking your self, but it is even more important to actually ask the learners themselves rather than allowing yourself to make any "knee-jerk" judgments or decisions for them, and jumping to any conclusions.
Indeed, having preconceptions about learners can be extremely misleading indeed, and can cause no end of problems later on. I remember one particular instructor boasting proudly that one of his students happened to be an officer in the Royal Marines Reserve. "That's good" I said, "Why is he here?" At this question, my colleague looked both shocked and amused "He's here to learn how to fight, off course!" he said, rather indignantly.
Now, without wanting to "burst any ones bubble", I think its fair to say that an officer in the Royal Marines might already know something about fighting, and certainly wouldn't need any advice from the local martial arts club down the road! ("I'm off to a war zone next month, and was wondering if you could help me out.....," Not Going To Happen!!!) On closer examination, it turned out that this individual was researching certain aspects of Japanese culture as part of his Masters degree! He had come to the class in order to learn something about classical martial arts, and the instructor (thanks to him jumping to conclusions) had him in a corner doing pistol disarming! (Good differentiation, but completely inappropriate)
The fellow was far too polite to say anything, and was just persevering patiently in the hope that they would eventually get to practice some more traditional techniques as the class progressed! This happens all the time within the martial arts fraternity, simply because we don't bother to find out what the prospective learner is looking for in the first place! As instructors, we should never take anything for granted: Simply because a person happens to wonder in to your club on a training night doesn't necessarily mean that they know anything about what your doing, or even have an actual interest in martial arts. (That reminds me of another story, when a young lady entered a dojo and was immediately told by the instructor to get on the mat and warm up. She took part in the whole lesson (it was a beginners class) and, when asked at the end what she thought of it she said she had enjoyed it quite a lot, but actually only came in because she thought the aerobics class took place on that particular night!)
Take some time out to talk to them, put one of your senior students in charge for a few moments, walk over, and introduce yourself! This will help to make both you (as one of those creatures of legend "The Black Belt") and your club far more approachable and accommodating, and will immediately impress upon the visitor that you DO consider them to be important and DO care about them.
Usually, they will volunteer a certain amount of information regarding their background and expectations such as: "I used to do karate when I was younger, and just thought I would pop in an have a look" etc.
But, you should also ask them some questions as well in order to clarify any important points, and enable you to get some idea of what they are after and build up a picture of their expectations. Some of the possible reasons for people wanting to learn the martial arts are as follows:

1. Self Defence.
With crime on the increase, this is probably the most common reason for most people considering taking up the martial arts, as they feel it will at least give them a "fighting chance" if they are ever unfortunate enough to be attacked.
2. Physical Fitness
People are being encouraged to take more of an interest in their well-being these days, and the martial arts provide them with the opportunity of building up their levels of stamina, strength, and suppleness by providing a good "all round" workout.
3. Sport
Many martial arts such as Judo, Kickboxing and Kendo are very lively and established sports offering participants the chance of competing at club, local, national and international levels. And this supplies a very healthy outlet for the competitive spirit.
4. Philosophical

The martial arts have, over the period of centuries been influenced by a great many different religions and philosophies, and all have left their particular mark. This is particularly the case with the softer, Japanese arts of Aikido, Iaido and Kyudo, and the internal Chinese martial arts of Tai Chi, Pa Kua and Hsing-Yi.
5. Cultural

Martial arts are extremely rich in history, tradition and customs. As such, they will tend to appeal to people who are interested in these particular aspects of human behaviour, be that just a casual curiosity or even an academic study.
6. Psychological

Again, martial arts are superb tools for building up a person's confidence and self-esteem, and are also brilliant at controlling stress levels. Some schools even include relaxation and meditation techniques, and both of these have become quite fashionable in recent times.
7. Social

Martial artists tend to train hard and play hard, and some clubs have a very lively social scene whereby they organize trips and outings. This helps to build up the "camaraderie" amongst the students, as well as helping to break down the barriers that can sometimes exist between junior and senior grades.

There are, off course, many more reasons why a person chooses to commence training in the martial arts, but the above are the main ones. And it will, more often than not, be one or more of these that is the "prime motivator" for the majority of people. As well as having an initial chat with these prospective students, you could also employ other strategies to help you clarify their ideas and needs, such as giving them a short questionnaire which they could take away, fill in and bring back when they officially enrol.

Conclusion
Identifying student's needs and expectations as quickly and efficiently as possible enables the instructor to:

1- Ensure that what he/she is teaching is actually what the prospective student is looking for (You will need to be brutally honest here. For example, it would be completely inappropriate for someone wanting to learn self defence to enroll in an Iaido class, just as a person wanting to experience meditation might be a bit disappointed if they ended up a student in a kick boxing class, etc. It is the instructor's responsibility to consider the welfare of this person, and to guide them in their choice. Rather than simply regarding them as yet another training fee!)

2- It will enable the instructor to gain valuable insight into the background and aspirations of the individual and, (if and when appropriate) to modify their syllabus, resources and teaching methodology to accommodate these efficiently.

Jumping to conclusions about what your students want, on the other hand, is both patronizing and condescending and can be an extremely effective method of putting people of studying martial arts for good!

"Most people know what they want, but few know what they need"
(Ancient proverb)

Introduction

Teaching anyone anything is a tremendous responsibility. As martial arts instructors what we do and the way we do it can have a very profound impact upon our students.

Added to this is the fact that many of the arts we practice are centuries old, being literally pieces of living history. It is obvious that we need to not only be good at what we do, but also strive to become better at what we do, in order to preserve these fascinating arts for future generations.

There are quite a few different teaching and learning methods. However, for the purpose of this book we shall concentrate upon those that are most often utilised by instructors in the Dojo.

· Lecture
· Demonstration
· Participation
· Discussion
· Problem Solving
· Group Work
· Questions and Answers

The above will, if implemented correctly, greatly enhance the teaching ability of the martial arts instructor, by encouraging and reinforcing the learning process.

A good lesson is interesting, enjoyable and informative. If a students interest and enthusiasm can be maintained, then their desire to learn more about the martial arts will, in turn, help facilitate learning.

Two of the most important keys to effective learning are "motivation" and "memory", so our lessons need to be both stimulating and memorable.
In the next section of this book, we will take a look at each of the methods mentioned above:

Lecture:

To begin with we must understand that what is meant by the word "lecture" in this particular context is, in fact a "short talk". Talking to a dojo full of students is an excellent method of clarifying and explaining certain aspects of what it is we want our students to learn.

However, this is very much what is termed "Teacher Centred" meaning that it is the instructor who is the focal point of attention. This is necessary, but, if carried to extremes can quickly become quite boring to the students, so it is better if you place the emphasis upon the "short" rather than the "talk".

The usual would be to limit yourself to no more than 5-10 minutes of talking, as this means that you will not over-tax the attention span of the average student in a mixed ability class. Remember, they are just sitting still, listening to you wax-lyrical, so any longer than this and their mind will definitely start to wonder.

When you use the short talk method, it helps if you do the following:

· Use the correct tone and pitch of voice (don't mumble, drone or shout)
· Always use appropriate language (depending upon age and ability)
· Move about, and utilise strong, positive body language and facial expressions
· Try and inject an element of humour (don't stand there telling jokes though!)

Demonstration:

This is, by far, the method that sees the most use in martial arts classes. It is often (but not always) used in tandem with the short talk, as the instructor will often be giving a verbal explanation of what s/he is doing while they are demonstrating a technique or Kata, etc. It is the best way of showing a competent execution of a technique and can, because of this, help the student to avoid making certain errors or mistakes.
Whenever we use this method, we should demonstrate the movement several times and from a variety of angles and speeds, so the student can appreciate them from different perspectives and velocities.
Demonstration is an absolutely marvellous motivational aid if skilfully employed, inspiring the student as well as instructing them: They should be able to watch your performance and say inwardly "I want to be as good as that one day!"
As effective a method as demonstration no doubt is, it is completely impossible for someone to learn something simply by sitting and watching, so timing on this should be limited once again to between 5-10 minutes max.

Participation:

Participation is the practice of a technique or Kata by the students that they have previously witnessed the instructor perform.
This method enables the instructor to gauge how effective their demonstration was at conveying the information necessary to perform the technique adequately, and also helps to highlight any difficulties.
Any errors or mistakes can be easily noticed and corrected, so aiding the student to rapidly improve their skills and move on to more advanced, complicated movements. If it is a "paired" exercise, then the Instructor should encourage the students to change partners several times during this period of practice, as this helps them to apply the technique upon several different types of people.
This will not only help them to refine their technical ability, but will also encourage people to get to know each other and avoid any "cliques" from forming.

Discussion:

When used as a teaching method, discussion takes the shape of an informal chat between the students and their instructor upon a particularly relevant topic (memberships, insurance, health and safety, gradings, courses, etc)

Whatever the topic under discussion, the job of the instructor is to simply act as a "chairperson". Everyone should be made fully aware of the topic under examination, and that they should stay within the parameters of the subject concerned.

The instructor should also ensure that everyone has their fair say, this means drawing out and encouraging the more timid students while, at the same time, ensuring that the more confident ones don't end up dominating the conversation. This encourages positive group dynamics by everyone voicing and sharing ideas and opinions with each other.

Problem Solving:

This is sometimes referred to as "discovery learning" It is a method whereby the students are set a particular task to perform without being told specifically how to do it (obviously (I hope) they MUST collectively be in possession of all the knowledge and skills required in order to solve the problem successfully)

Students really enjoy learning in this way because of the amount of liberty it affords them regarding their own learning and progression. Indeed, they will come up with a variety of different, but equally valid, solutions to the problem. Whereas, if they had been shown what to do by the instructor, they would have only one! This is a great strategy for evaluating students ability to transfer their skills, and appeals particularly to the imaginative and independent types. The instructors must "step back" and allow the students to come up with the solution, acting only in an advisory capacity, and ensuring that Health and Safety is maintained at all times.

Group Work:

This is a vitally important method for both defining and refining students social skills within the structure of the dojo. It is a fantastically effective way of helping a person overcome their personal inhibitions by encouraging interaction with other students within the controlled setting of safe and familiar surroundings.

On a purely practical level, it enables the student to cope with people of all different shapes, sizes and abilities, as well as to deal with attack's coming from more than one direction, and it is a good way for the students to enjoy themselves and have a bit of fun while they are learning, again aiding the "bonding" process.

Questions and Answers:

Questions and answers are generally used in one of two ways:

1. The instructor has the students ask him/her certain questions in order to reinforce the major points of a particular lesson, clear up any misconceptions and ensure that learning is taking place.

2. The instructor quizzes the students regarding what they are supposed to have learned, so gaining valuable feedback upon their progress

With a bit of imagination, Q and A sessions can be made quite fun by, for example, designing quizzes both verbal and written. In this way they encourage the student to increase their under-pinning knowledge of the martial arts, as well as appealing to their competitive nature.

It might be an idea to introduce some additional "motivators" such as medals, trophies, or free lessons for the winners!

Conclusion

All of the teaching methods mentioned above are effective in their own right, but do actually compliment one another as well. By utilising a variety of methodologies in your class you help to maintain levels of interest and motivation, and increase attention spans and concentration.

Remember, different people are good at different things, so the more variety you have, the inclusive you are being as regards the knowledge, skills and abilities of the students, so making the martial arts more accessible to many different kinds of people.

Introduction

The technical standard of martial arts practitioners in the West is extremely high indeed, from the modern combat sports like Kick-Boxing and Ultimate Fighting to the more traditional arts of Karate, jiu-Jitsu, etc British martial artists have made their mark the world over. and are acknowledged by all as being ranked among the worlds best. However, the elite athletes and technicians referred to above are just that: Elite. Exceptionally skilful individuals at, or very near, the peak of performance standards.
Most of us may never reach that exalted status, a lot of us wouldn't even want to. But, does that mean we shouldn't join a club, and get a buzz out of training at our own level? Off course not! Martial arts training has something for everyone, and should be readily available to anyone who wants to give them a try.

To teach all kinds of people however, takes a special skill. A skill that is completely separate to having technical ability. And that skill is called "Teaching ability" because it's a fact that being good at your subject doesn't mean you can teach your subject, any more than being able to drive a car makes you a good mechanic!

Background

Not all martial arts instructors choose to teach very young children (4-6 years), as they know it will prove an extremely demanding task. They are, of course, quite correct in this assumption! It requires a special set of skills, and the author would certainly advice against such an endeavour unless the instructor concerned has undergone some form of specialist training to be able to deal with the complexities involved.

However, it is important that instructors continue to refine their teaching ability as this will help improve performance and maintain good practice in quality assurance throughout. So they are to be encouraged to seek out and undergo such training. In the meantime, here are some of the "basics" to be going on with:

To be able to teach a toddlers class, the instructor will need to understand something about child development, and structure the classes in such a way as to compliment and reinforce this. Child development has four main aspects, and these are as follows:
· Physical
· Intellectual
· Emotional
· Social
Collectively, these are known as "PIES" (nice easy way of remembering them!)

Development

Physical Development

A pre-school child will have already begun to act independently, they will be able to change into their own budogi, and use certain equipment efficiently. In addition, they will have good levels of balance and agility, so you can reasonably expect them to be able to perform kicks, breakfalls and throws.

However, it must always be remembered that they are still developing, so extensive care must be taken to avoid any and all activities which might have an adverse effect upon their delicate frames (Joint locking, strangles/chokes, rolling over objects, striking hard objects, certain types of exercise, etc).

Intellectual Development

The young child's mind is like sponge when it comes to soaking up information. They love learning new things, and the instructor will need be careful in not taking them "too far, too quickly" because the mind, just like the body, can be overworked and strained. So make sure that here are regular periods of work (learning) and rest (play) Generally, Toddlers tend to learn best by "doing" (kinaesthetic) rather than too much listening (auditory) or watching (visual). That is to say that although it IS still important that the instructor does continue to both demonstrate and explain what they want the class to be doing, much more emphasis should be placed upon the doing, simply because this is an "active" learning style which requires energy and participation, rather than the more passive ones of sitting still while looking and listening to the instructor while trying not to fidget, pick-noses or fall asleep!
These young learners will already have developed good problem solving ability, so the instructor shouldn't immediately rush in to correct any minor mistake s/he has noticed (unless some aspect of safety is in danger of being compromised) Rather, they should allow them some time to try and work it out for themselves, as that way they will get a far greater sense of achievement.

Emotional Development

Even though human beings are the most intelligent species upon the planet, it is still our emotions that define who we are. The ability to "feel" rather than simply "reason" or "think" is what makes our existence so rich and varied: what makes us "human" if you will. During this period, the children will still be developing their understanding of feelings (both their own and those around them) this is a vitally important skill which will aid them in eventually becoming well-balanced adults.

Instructors should show constant support and offer plenty of reassurance to the Toddlers, helping them to develop their confidence and sense of self. They should be encouraged to form new bonds and friendships on the mat, express their feelings in a socially acceptable manner and also to think about how other people feel. When implemented correctly, the above techniques will combine to result in an emotionally strong and secure child who "feels" valued as an individual.

Social Development

Social skills are what get us by in society at large. Any form of group learning is a "social experience", wherein the young child will not only be learning the subject being taught, but also certain aspects of interpersonal skills and teamwork. This is where they learn about such things as responsibility, discipline and good manners. To" wait their turn" and use "please" and "thank you" (and "Oose") etc.

Children in this age group can be expected to share equipment, work well in a team, choose their own friends and wait patiently for the instructor's attention. The acquisitions of these "socialisation" skills help them understand the basic rules and principles of society, and their place within it. They will have respect for others, discipline in themselves and (later on) more of an appreciation for law and order.

Teaching Methods for Pre-School Children

As we all already know, Children of this age have:
· A great deal of energy
· A very short attention span
· An ability to learn quickly
· A love of games and play
· Varying levels of coordination

This means that your lessons will need to be the following:
· Safe! (See chapter on Health and Safety)
· Short (30/45mins max)
· Kinaesthetic (emphasis placed upon "doing")
· Interesting, challenging and informative
· Have plenty of variety
· Contain lots of the "fun" element.

In addition, motivational aids may be employed such as badges, medals, trophies, certificates or coloured "tabs" for their belts, etc. This type of "token economy" plays an important part in the encouragement of learning and attainment, and is a valuable resource in influencing and building positive attitudes and behaviour.

Instructors must:

· Have Suitable Qualifications (Black belt or equivalent plus a coaching/training/teaching award, etc)
· Be CRB checked
· Have a child protection policy
· Have special training in Child Protection
· Make sure all Health and Safety measures have been taken and are up-to-date (Including Insurances)

Teaching Toddlers can be an extremely rewarding undertaking as you can often see the results of your efforts almost immediately. It is well worth the extra efforts involved.

Thanks for stopping by at this Lens. Any comments are much appreciated!