Monday, April 22, 2013

What I've Learned From Karate Day 1: Minimal Effort

One of the easiest things to learn in karate, and yet one of the hardest to master, is to use minimal effort.

As an instructor of karate, it hurts when I see a person (normally this is a problem with grown men in particular) trying to muscle through every move. They burn up energy and the punch or kick is far less powerful as a result.

When I was going through this, one of my senseis told me what, in retrospect, was a very Karate Kid bit of advice. He told me to, instead of muscling through my punches, to just "reach for the salt." He told me to snatch the salt shaker away from the middle of the table. As a result, my punches became so much quicker, and so much more powerful.

What did this teach me about teaching? I don't know how many times over the years that I've had a student whom I have had trouble with. I've tried to "muscle through" to them, and it never ever works. But when I've tried to find out what I like about the kid, the middle ground we have in common, and just forget about trying to win them over or getting them to work, I've found it to be incredibly valuable. I find that I like them as a person. And then I normally find that I've got some common ground and then we go from there.

But when I try to force it, it doesn't work at all.

You'd think after twelve years, I would know it by heart. Nonetheless, it's a lesson I learn anew each and every year. But thank goodness I do.

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