I was speaking with my friend, Guro Joe Craig, recently after participating in one of his classes. Guro Craig is the head Filipino Martial Arts Instructor at Apex Training Center. We were talking about the types of training and some of the different training methods between our two systems. Guro Craig has been teaching much longer than I have and I feel he has a lot of great insight both as an instructor and as a very accomplished martial artist. One of the subjects we touched on was that the training and development methods of the Shaolin Lohan Pai tend to be very difficult and demanding both on the body and the spirit. Many practitioners have trouble advancing beyond a certain point due to physical and mental blocks. When this occurs a practitioner’s skills tend to plateau.
This plateau effect is very unfortunate on several levels. For one the student’s learning and progress tend to stagnate. The student does not progress which often leads to frustration making further breakthroughs in knowledge and skill even less likely to occur. Frustrated students will generally either become frustrated to the point where they quit or may take a more apathetic approach and continue without making progress. The apathetic reaction, while generally being much more drawn out, will also eventually lead to the student leaving the system when they decide that the benefit of further training is not worth the cost of tuition. This is bad for both the student and the school.
Guro Craig told me that when he began teaching and a student reached a plateau he would often let them work through it on their own. This is a common strategy among instructors of most martial arts. They feel that the lesson will be better learned and more rewarding to the student when the make the breakthrough on their own. Guro Craig realized though that this strategy does not really work. Most people, especially students studying complex or otherwise difficult information, need help or outside influence to make a breakthrough and overcome the plateau. If they did not need this outside stimulous they would not have plateaued in the first place.
As an instructor we often want our students to not just develop and grow, but to be better than we are. By not helping students overcome the plateaus that they encounter, we are limiting their ability and not doing our best to help them achieve more than we have. Sometimes it only takes simple encouragement or involvement to help a student overcome an obstacle. Each student though will respond differently and need different types of motivation to help them overcome. Some students need positive reinforcement and encouragement, others may respond better challenges. Sometimes the student may just need the information broken down or explained to them in a different way. Instructors will have to gauge their own students to determine what methods may be most beneficial to each particular student. The one common thread among all methods though is the instructors willingness to help the student progress and their direct involvement, which requires that the instructor be there working right alongside the student.
The instructor has to be present and willing to help and invest the time it may take to help a student overcome a plateau. Once the student does manage to breakthrough something that is causing them difficulty, it is both rewarding for the student as well as the instructor. This produces a stronger relationship between teacher and student as well as a better bond with the school. As students continue to progress they place more value in what has been learned or accomplished and are also less likely to leave.
This may make sense and probably seems like common sense to many once the read it. It was quite clear to me once it was pointed out. I had never really thought about it before as I am sure many other martial arts instructors out there have not. I want to extend my respect and thanks to Guro Joe Craig for pointing it out and giving me some insight. I hope that this will help me improve my own teaching methods and ensure that I do all that I can to keep my students from getting stuck in their progress.
