Hi again,
A little quote :
I have a problem with this. If the author is a TKD practitioner, then I would say that the forms he had practiced were arbitrary because he was taught them in an arbitrary manner. The last three years of looking at my forms in depth have shown me a rich backdrop of possibilities - both from the karate traditions (which they preserve to a fair degree), and from the training potential of the whole set of forms.
Isn't all teaching arbitrary? I think the guy who wrote the article did it with good intentions, but limited knowledge. Just as I have limited knowledge on TKD. Even in my karate classes, where the information is... well, more abundent (thanks to the instructor, not necesseraly the style) some students don't want to learn that. So it's kind of a personnal responsability too. For the teacher and the student. I could simply learn forms, the official bunkai and not look anywhere else and I'd still pass grades and probably end up a shodan somewhere in the future. But with limited knowledge. :-)
He does however hint of the overall expected ability of each practitioner. The forms are only a platform for training - further skills require a lot more effort from instructors. For instance, I have just spend three months with a beginner, showing him applications from our first form. I reckon from here on out, he would then be ready to embark on further practice to get himself ready for a white belt grading. Maybe another two months? In other schools, he'd have to learn the form plus a lot of additional techniques not related to the form for his test. My point is that the form contains sufficient material that will keep any practitioner satisfied at their skill level.
Woah, some sentences that I've read elsewhere come to mind and a question that came to my mind a while ago:
-I'm beginning to think that we learn too much too fast. (I'll explain)
-Practice, practice and practice some more, then bunkai will come to you.
which sends me to another quote :
How do you justify teaching students with short staying power? Or how to teach it in two short sessions a week? It's tough!My thoughts are all over the place now, I'll try to focus them..
Exactly. It's tough. In fact, it's much more than tough. It's more like mission impossible. Let's say I go to my classes - (2 times a week) - and do not practice at home at all. I've got 3h of MA a week. minus warm-up and various things, it comes down to roughly 2h or MA a week. In two hours, you have to:
-Learn kata
-Practice kata
-Learn Kumite, practice kumite
-Learn bunkai, practice bunkai
-Learn tehodoki, practice tehodoki
-learn basics, practice basics.
- and so on, and so on.
Say you practice 9 months a year, that makes about what... 38? 40 weeks of practice? at 2h a week, that's about 80h a year. Roughly. ha, what the hey, say 100h a year. That's 2 week worth of working hours back to back. 2 weeks. And it takes around... 4, 5 years to get to shodan? that's a 2 months of practice.
And that's not so far from the thruth.
How long does it take to actually become good in any day job?
Mireille hinted that we're all hobbyist. We are. :-)
Sure it's tough. D*** it's near impossible. So what kind of tutoring the guy got? I have no idea. But yeah, put aside martial considerations and focus on the sport aspect, there's no way you can learn as much.
So... back to a question I got, the syllabus of forms is nice, but the way we train (generally!) there's so much to learn, I often wonder if we should not wait longer between grades. Yesterday, I did a yellow belt form. Although I practice it daily, I still got corrections on it. And I'll probably get some next time too....
All in all, I have no answer to your question. It's a reality that all MA instructors have to face and deal with. Now, if a student says he doesn't learn enough, there's the instructor's responsability and his own. Like you said, there is much to learn just in the basics forms and your current level form. But just how to you compress joint locks, takedowns, strikes, blocks, ground work, weapons and whatnot in 2h a week?
Haha, no Idea. But you chose to be an instructor
I mean no disrespect - just to be sure
Mathieu