Archive for Teaching
Training versus applying, Part two
Posted by: | CommentsIn part one of Training versus applying, I mentioned the lead hook as an example of how training for techniques and applying them in real life isn’t always the same. Let’s take a look at another example, this time one from muay Thai and MMA: the leg kick. Take a look at 1min40 when Rob Mccullough explains where to place the right arm.
He specifies that the right arm has to be straightened out forward, towards your opponent, when you throw the rear leg kick. OK… Take a look at this video now and watch what happens when Rob Kaman (who was called “Hammerkick” for a reason…) throws his rear leg kick.
How many times did you see him straighten out his arm towards his opponent when he does a rear leg kick? Not once…
Here’s Ernesto Hoost, another fighter who you can hardly call an amateur… Read More→
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Training versus applying
Posted by: | CommentsI just started training an 18 year-old girl in boxing and this one came up: training versus applying.
In training, you sometimes do things that you don’t (or hardly ever) use when you apply the technique in real life. It doesn’t matter if you train for sports or self defense, this applies across the board. I’ll give you some examples first and then tell you how I see it. First up, boxing’s lead hook.
Check out this instructional video:
I want you to notice two things:
- The weight shifts form the lead to the back leg.
- The lead heel is all the way up.
In this video, Freddie roach teaches the lead hook: Read More→
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The martial arts teacher’s mistake
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a story of how as a martial arts teacher, you invariably make a specific mistake. Rewind to last week…
I hadn’t been able to make it to my teacher’s Tai Chi Chuan class for a while. Work always got in the way, along with a bunch of other stuff. So it had been a while since we last saw each other. I was looking forward to it as my teacher is a pretty cool guy and his classes are always fun.
First thing he has me do is some form work to help out a beginning student: I stand in front of the student, facing a mirror and do the form. This way, he only has to either watch me directly or look in the mirror and he can copy my movements. We went over the form a couple times and then moved on to some self defense applications, after which we took a short break.
During that break, my teacher walks up to me and says there are “a few little differences” in my form (Translation: he’s too kind to say it but I’m messing things up.) He shows me some examples of how I accentuate specific things in my form and then contrasts them with how I should be doing them. After which he explains it’s typical for when you teach the form to beginners too much.
I’m about ready to slap my head, walk over to the wall and bang my skull against it while repeatedly yelling “Doh!”
What I felt like doing...
Here’s the thing: I know this. It’s a typical mistake every martial arts teacher makes sooner or later: Read More→
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Why I’m not a martial arts millionaire (yet)
Posted by: | CommentsIn the last few weeks, a couple things came together and the result is this (long) post. Here’s the list of events:
- Somebody asked about blogging and I responded. Part of my response was this:
If you really want to make money blogging, you’ll have to work hard and probably go for business models that aren’t always as cool. Not my thing, but to each his own.
- I had a discussion with another instructor/author about training methodology, cross training and the value of traditional martial arts. It took me a while before I figured out we weren’t talking about the same thing. I think he’s right in what he said. I also think I’m right in what I said.
- Branimir Tudjan said the following in the interview I did with him
First I would like to thank you for your interest in my MOSS video and for conducting this interview. You know, in the so called martial arts world which is nowadays unfortunately full of big ego “grandmasters” or “guru’s” and where every “expert” perceives others (and their systems) as a potential threat or less “realistic & effective” system then their own, it’s a pleasure to meet a person and a colleague like yourself who is competent, mature, confident and open minded. I am also genuinely impressed with your work with Paladin Press.
- Somebody got the ball rolling on important life lessons, things that suddenly clicked. I wrote:
Mine was: just because I’m right about something, somebody else isn’t necessarily wrong about the same subject. And vice versa.
All these things combined are what lead up to the title of my post here.
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