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Use the blogger search this blog feature, at the top of the page if you don't see the article you were looking for...thanks RJF
I've been helping out at a Karate instructors dojo every Monday night for about 2 weeks now...
...she's going on a cruise in November and needs someone to instruct her class for 2 nights.
I'm just a second brown belt and have only been training in Karate for 2 and a half years, so I was surprised to be asked to take the class.
Well not really surprised, I live only a few blocks away and her class is mainly made up of white belts and a couple of orange belts.
Instead of being a Sensei I will be a Senpai and as such, it is my duty to teach and assist the students with lower belt rankings.
I train at a different Dojo taught by the head Master, but as a member of the Union, we all help each other out, so that by working together we all grow stronger...
...and besides, there's some pay involved, which never hurts...after all, operating a Dojo after everything is said and done, is a business.
It's really kind of fun and can be hard work too, trying to keep everyone including little kids from getting bored practicing basics.
It's really different learning Karate and then trying to teach it to someone...they're quite separate processes...
...like hockeys Wayne Gretzky once said, he doesn't know how he does what he does, so how could he teach someone else to do it...
In the Karate class, I simply have to teach techniques that have been taught for hundreds of years, there's not much room for improvisation, actually there is none what so ever and I'm finding out that the fine tuning takes place as the Karate-ka progresses towards his/her black belt.
So far there hasn't been anything noteworthy to report from the class yet, all seems to be running smoothly and I've only had a couple of blond moments and memory lapses...
...not bad for a rookie Senpai.
RJF
