Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Needs of a karate-teacher

To be able to function as a teacher of karate-do for a long time, i think most instructors will agree with the thoughts expressed in this post.

Everyone has different values in life and when I approach my teacher I listen very attentively to his directions so that I don't step too much on his toes. (My fear is that if I do it will make him less enthused in helping me improve) If he would say: "I think its important to not wear jewelry" or "The karate suit must be clean" - then I would show up without jewelry and with a clean suit. If his values were totally incompatible with mine, then I would look for a new teacher (It has happened to me, and yes, it still hurts)

My values regarding karate-training is best summed up like this: Try your best at all times, keep a positive attitude and don't give up, ever.

Another thought regarding how I approach being among the senior students in the class: My role is then to enhance the point that my teacher is trying to get across. (If i don't agree with what is being taught, I would not voice my opinion nor argue about it in class)

Open letter to my former students

I just read some scary statistics. It said that 70% of the students that quit do it because they think the instructor don't care about them or their progress. I find this to be very sad, cause it couldn't be farther from the truth.

I care deeply bout the progress of *anyone* that wanna improve their control of their own body and reap the benefits of consistent karate-training. Come to think of it, in many cases I probably care more bout the students progress than what they do and sometimes this might lead to some frustrations on my side. I will try to up my tolerance for this issue. My main problem, though, is when the student will sabotage their progress with a weak spirit. (Like not trying their best cause just "I can't do it" or "I don't wanna do it". This quickly  makes me wanna quit teaching. (luckily this usually pass fast, cause I really love to share my passion for the art of shotokan karate-do))

So with that said; here is my challenge to the 70% of the ones that have given up on me: I think you should try my classes again with an open mind, cause I am 100% sure that we can together have some mad fun and get your karate to the next level.
 
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