When to Leave My club is based in a university and so has a different characteristic than the usual dojo you might think of. Our students come from many different places and the undergrads stay for only a few years. The longer term students tend to be in grad school and they might be around for up to ten years. Then there are the few locals who, like the usual dojo students, can be around forever. As a result, I have tended to think a bit more about my students going out to teach in other places than in keeping them around and progressing slowly for decades. This isnt always the case in more static clubs. Another thing Ive been aware of is the rather astonishing (but actually not all that uncommon) case of a chief instructor walking away from his/her own club because the students have, shall we say, outgrown their teacher. Its not always apparent that a teacher is leaving a club, its usually done in a gentle way, with excuses of work or other commitments and then one day the assistants are paying the bills and teaching the classes. I always thought it would be simpler to just boot the students out to start their own clubs before that situation developed. So I am always on the lookout for statements such as a karate club just asked me to demonstrate or similar, and I always say go ahead. This lets folks who may not even be aware they want to go teach have a shot at it. If they like teaching they often start. This provides a nice outlet for those who have a real desire to try things out, and lets them concentrate when they are in class, rather than challenge what Im saying (either outwardly or in their own heads). Nicer all around since Im not all that tolerant of challenges and tend to go into come here and Ill show you mode more rapidly than is good for my aging and injured body. But not all clubs have the mindset of sending students out into the void to teach and it may be difficult for a student to know when he should go teach on his own. There are some tell-tale signs. Do you tend to question more than accept senseis instruction? If your first inclination is to say in your mind thats not right rather than just accept an instruction, it may be time to go try out your own knowledge. Do you treat sensei like your doddering old grandpa? Sure, as we get older and more cranky, as well as forgetful, we may ask students to take on organizational and administrative tasks, but if you find you are resenting these little jobs, or find that you are thinking that sensei would be helpless without you, it may be time to go do them for yourself. We all feel that we are indispensable but its rarely the case, after all, how much real talent does it take to organize the annual picnic? Do you look around for other instruction? Either on the net or from other clubs? Some of this exploration is the sign of an enthusiastic beginner, but by about two or three years you should realize that outside teaching can interfere with what youre being taught. Its only at about 10 years that the urge to go beyond should hit. If you find yourself there before that time it may be a sign that you should be out teaching and researching rather than fighting with your own sensei. Are you proud rather than annoyed at being an assistant instructor. If sensei sends you over there to teach some beginner do you jump at the chance or drag your feet? Personally I feel very bad about sending a student off to teach a beginner, depriving them of my instruction for that class. That may be my own ego... Do you teach beyond your sensei? If youre assistant instructing do you find yourself saying so and so sensei says this and my other sensei says that? If youre in your senseis class and you discuss what other teachers say on that particular subject it might be time to head out on your own. Your senseis class is his, if you are assisting thats what you should be doing, it doesnt matter what else you know, its his voice that counts and only his that should be heard by those beginners. Do you perform variations? I was at an iai class being taught by my sensei yesterday and I was amazed to see some of his current students doing variations that he doesnt teach. I mean, doing a variation that he often demonstrates can just be a momentary mistake, a forgetting what he just asked the class to do, but to do a variation that isnt in his vocabulary? This made me think that I was looking at a student of some other instructor entirely, some visitor to the class. If you find yourself as that visitor it may be time to go teach on your own. It does no good to stay with an instructor beyond the time that youre listening to him. You are learning nothing and frankly, you are pissing him off even if he doesnt show it. (I tend to rant, youll know it if youre pulling that sort of thing on me, but Im not as nice as some of my sensei are). Why would someone stay in a class when they should be teaching their own? Sometimes a sensei keeps students too long, one who doesnt listen tends to create the impression of not being ready to go teach. Thats always a hard thing for a sensei to see. Like a child who appears helpless and stays at home for years after hes graduated school, it may just be that hes lazy rather than incompetent. After all if mom will cook and clean why would junior do it? Which is why, from the student perspective, they may stay in a club and teach their own way while sensei shakes his head and wonders why they are still around. Who, in their right mind, would go out and recruit students, pay rent, argue with landlords, and do all the other drudgework when they can stick around and let sensei do it for them? Time to leave and start your own club? Kim Taylor July 20, 2014 sdksupplies/
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 15:25:51 +0000
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