by John Graden,
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UNITED STATES, Dec 12 — When I opened my school, I presented the exact curriculum that I was raised on. Among the many problems that created for me was that I had a lot more kids in my school than my instructors did. Martial arts forms, hyungs, or kata were designed by highly disciplined adults to be taught to other highly disciplined adults in a military atmosphere. That is simply too much for the average student to master
W
hen I opened my school, I presented the exact curriculum that I was raised on. Among the many problems that created for me was that I had a lot more kids in my school than my instructors did. Martial arts forms, hyungs, or kata were designed by highly disciplined adults to be taught to other highly disciplined adults in a military atmosphere. They were not designed to be taught to an eight-year-old kid.
Teaching kids traditional forms, especially multiple forms, can be very difficult for everyone involved. This is not to say that forms don’t have value, but your curriculum is how you package the forms. Going back to the recipe analogy, a good curriculum is like a healthy, tasty, enriching meal that you look forward to, while a poorly designed one is as attractive as a plate full of broccoli to the average kid. It’s good for you, but it’s hard to get down.
Take a look at the following two curriculums, Figure 1 and Figure 2.
Figure 1 White to Orange (four months) Traditional Karate 1. Down block-Lunge punch 2. High block 3. Forearm block 4. Side block 5. Reverse advance 6. Knifehand block 7. Front stance 8. Back stance 9. Horse stance Strikes 1. Front kick 2. Back kick 3. Side kick 4. Round kick 5. Backfist 6. Reverse punch Traditional form – Chonji Orange to Green (four months) Strikes 1. Low – High kick 2. Spin back kick 3. Jump front Kick Six one steps Two forms – Tan Gun & Pyungdan Shodan Free sparring Green to Blue Strikes 1. Hook kick 2. Jump round kick 3. Jump side kick Six one steps Two forms – To San & Pyungdan Nidan Two-on-one sparring
Blue to Fourth Brown Strikes 1. Jump spin back kick 2. Crescent kick Six one steps Multiple sparring Board Breaks 1. Round kick - two boards 2. Reverse punch - two boards (women could use a palm heel) 3. Running jump side kick over two people – three boards Two forms – Won Hyo & Pyungdan Samdan Fourth Brown to Third Brown Two forms – Tai Gyi & Pyungdan Sadan Three creative* one steps Two creative board breaks Third Brown to Second Brown Two forms – Hwarang & Pyungdan Odan Three creative one steps Two creative board breaks Second Degree to First Brown Two forms – Chogi & Chung Moo Three creative one steps Two creative board breaks First Brown to First Black Belt Two forms – Batsai & Kwan Gae Three creative one steps Two creative board breaks *Creative means the students make it up.
Figure2 White to Gold (two months) Blocks 1. Left cover 2. Right cover 3. Left trap 4. Right trap 5. Left down sweep 6. Right down sweep Strikes 1. Front kick 2. Back kick 3. Jab 4. Reverse punch 5. Elbow #1 6. Elbow #2 Gold to Orange Strikes 1. Front leg round kick 2. Side kick 3. Hook punch 4. Uppercut 5. Elbow #3 6. Elbow #4 Combinations 1 - 3 Fighting Form Orange to Green Strikes 1. Low-high kick 2. Spin back kick 3. Jump front kick Traditional Karate 1. Front stance 2. Back stance 3. Down block 4. High block 5. Side block Sparring – blocking contact only Green to Blue Strikes 1. Hook kick 2. Jump round kick 3. Jump side kick Traditional Karate 1. Forearm block 2. Knifehand block 3. Reverse advance Sparring – body contact only
Blue to Fourth Brown Traditional form – Tosan Strikes Jump spin back kick Sparring – light contact kickboxing Fourth Brown to Third Brown Traditional form – Tai Gyi Three kumites (traditional combinations) Sparring – light contact kickboxing Third Brown to Second Brown Traditional form – Hwarang Three creative kumites Second Brown to First Brown Traditional form – Chung Moo Three creative kumites First Brown to First Black Belt Traditional form – Kwan gae Three creative kumites If you look at the curriculum in figure 1, we can see some common problems: 1
The program is front loaded. It has far more requirements in the early ranks than in the advanced ranks. Typically, this overwhelms white belts and bores brown and black belts. This is a classic pyramid curriculum, as you can see in figure 2. The majority of the material is at the lower levels, and it tapers off as the student moves up in rank. We prefer to see more of an even column, as illustrated in figure 2. This lessens the amount of material required for the new student, which means they will have more time to improve on fewer techniques.
This gives the student a higher sense of competence, and competence leads to confidence. When someone feels they are “getting it” in the early stages, they develop a momentum that keeps them coming to class. When they feel they are not “getting it” or not very good at it, they find excuses not to continue. Have you ever had a student drop out and tell you that he or she is too much of a perfectionist to continue?
This is a student who takes pride in doing things right, but your recipe made it too hard, so they quit.
2 The focus is almost 100-percent traditional material. Traditional material is not immediately practical enough to hold the interest of the modern student. I like to give students, especially new students, material they feel they can use right away. When a new student joins your school to learn self defense, and in the first class you spend most of the time on front stance, down block, and horse stance punching, that student may not see the instant value they were looking for. The sooner the student feels they have something they can use, the sooner he or she feels value in the effort. Too often, we start with techniques that are theory-based rather than reality-based. We end up saying things like, “You would never really block this way, but...”
1 People like to do what they are good at, and traditional martial arts are hard to learn. This is not to say you should drop your traditional material, but rather rework the recipe.
2 There are far more forms than necessary. Remember, it was not uncommon for a traditional instructor in the East to teach only one form. Everything in class was built around that form. This curriculum requires 17 forms for black belt. Some ranks required three forms. That is simply too much for the average student to master. Three forms in one belt cycle is not reasonable or productive.
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