This weekend at my karate dojo is a black belt test. I was telling my sensei the other day that April 28th (the date of the test) is the same exact date on which I earned my black belt five years ago. He laughed that I remembered the date, but to me it was no joke. April 28th was a date etched into my brain as soon as I knew when the test would be. I was so nervous in the months leading into it, and so relieved when it was over.
A black belt test at my dojo is serious business. Mine was over four hours long, and you have to pass a rigorous physical fitness test, pass a history test, pass seven katas (click here if you don't know what that is), and then do three major self defense portions (single attacker, single attacker with a club, and three-man attack). Two weeks before this, I had failed my evaluation. I was convinced to go ahead and test to see how it would go. I didn't want to at first, especially not knowing how it would turn out. But after two weeks of grueling practice; eating, sleeping, and breathing karate, I felt like I had put in the preparation needed for the test. Needless to say I got it, but it wasn't easy. They didn't go light on me, and I wouldn't have wanted them to. It was a hard-earned black belt.
Karate, to this day, is something I highly enjoy, and the exercise is always a good thing. I've learned a lot from doing it, and it's been good for me to take my turn as a student. Of course, I also teach and coach karate, but I'm learning in classes that I take two or three times a week as well.
This being Wellness Week and a black belt test week, I thought I'd write each day this week about something I've learned about classroom teaching from karate.
So here goes lesson one: Be a Feather.
The founder of my karate dojo, Shihan Doug Adamson, once asked our class as we were preparing for the black belt test and working on self-defense, "Have you ever tried to throw a feather?" As you know, when you throw a feather, no matter how hard you throw it, it doesn't cooperate. It just goes with the flow, and bends with the wind, just kind of drifting to the ground, no more shaken than when it first drifted down when it was shed. He said, "Be a feather."
What he was saying on the literal level was that when someone throws a punch or comes in to attack, you should let your body be light and flexible, bending around their punch and maneuvering yourself into a favorable position to do some damage to your attacker. To apply this to everyday life, and furthermore to teaching, I've learned to be flexible. We don't go through a day where everything goes exactly according to plan. One thing I've taught the students in my class is that everything will go so much better for them if they can learn these words: "It's all good" and "Whatever".
Of course, this is much easier said than done. We can all work on applying this to our daily lives. But I can tell you that it makes me smile any time I tell the kids apologetically that plans have been altered due to circumstances beyond our control, and I hear, "It's all good, Mr. C."
I am still trying to learn how to be a feather, but thankfully, because I've passed Shihan Adamson's words down to my students, the kids are helping me out in the process.
A black belt test at my dojo is serious business. Mine was over four hours long, and you have to pass a rigorous physical fitness test, pass a history test, pass seven katas (click here if you don't know what that is), and then do three major self defense portions (single attacker, single attacker with a club, and three-man attack). Two weeks before this, I had failed my evaluation. I was convinced to go ahead and test to see how it would go. I didn't want to at first, especially not knowing how it would turn out. But after two weeks of grueling practice; eating, sleeping, and breathing karate, I felt like I had put in the preparation needed for the test. Needless to say I got it, but it wasn't easy. They didn't go light on me, and I wouldn't have wanted them to. It was a hard-earned black belt.
Karate, to this day, is something I highly enjoy, and the exercise is always a good thing. I've learned a lot from doing it, and it's been good for me to take my turn as a student. Of course, I also teach and coach karate, but I'm learning in classes that I take two or three times a week as well.
This being Wellness Week and a black belt test week, I thought I'd write each day this week about something I've learned about classroom teaching from karate.
So here goes lesson one: Be a Feather.
The founder of my karate dojo, Shihan Doug Adamson, once asked our class as we were preparing for the black belt test and working on self-defense, "Have you ever tried to throw a feather?" As you know, when you throw a feather, no matter how hard you throw it, it doesn't cooperate. It just goes with the flow, and bends with the wind, just kind of drifting to the ground, no more shaken than when it first drifted down when it was shed. He said, "Be a feather."
What he was saying on the literal level was that when someone throws a punch or comes in to attack, you should let your body be light and flexible, bending around their punch and maneuvering yourself into a favorable position to do some damage to your attacker. To apply this to everyday life, and furthermore to teaching, I've learned to be flexible. We don't go through a day where everything goes exactly according to plan. One thing I've taught the students in my class is that everything will go so much better for them if they can learn these words: "It's all good" and "Whatever".
Of course, this is much easier said than done. We can all work on applying this to our daily lives. But I can tell you that it makes me smile any time I tell the kids apologetically that plans have been altered due to circumstances beyond our control, and I hear, "It's all good, Mr. C."
I am still trying to learn how to be a feather, but thankfully, because I've passed Shihan Adamson's words down to my students, the kids are helping me out in the process.
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