Guiding Principles

The best way to structure and properly build our curriculum starts with deciding what we want our end product to look like. What type of student (black belt) do we want to produce? This is outlined by our Curriculum Ideals. 

Currently, my curricular ideals are not completely defined. While they clearly state what each stripe colour represents, there is not enough guidance provided for developing the intangible internal qualities of the green stripe. 

Similarly, the tangible external qualities of my curricular ideals are not concisely defined. They should be able to be reduced to basic principles that are present in every technique and application. These principles should apply to both offence and defence so that you can weaken your opponent by eliminating one or more of the principles from his vocabulary of motion. Perhaps these are the ‘Eighteen Concepts’ I am always referring to. 

Requirements for belt testing are not the same as the requirements for striping. Striping should be about building up the character of the student and instilling the foundational values that will help them develop into a solid SRKF black belt. Therefore rank testing should be about the keystone principles and six harmonies to ensure the proper style foundational basics are present along with a constant progression of those same foundational basics. 

If we continue with seven stripes (black, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, white), two of the stripes (white and red) would contain the physical foundation upon which a skilled black belt is built. These two stripes would constitute the testing portion of the syllabus because these two ideals contain the information that defines how we move and adapt - our style. The other five stripes would represent supporting ideals that are important but not necessarily tested on.

This approach will only work if instructors are holding the line on striping standards. If we clearly define the standard then the standard must be consistently enforced. If an instructor does not understand the standard, the onus is on them to educate themselves by asking questions and suggesting revisions to help refine our standard definitions.

Jeff Brinker

Striping

My goal was to retain the 7 coloured stripes moving forward but I think we may be best served by adding purple and brown to our striping rainbow. This will allow us to retain all the current curricular values, separate fitness into its own category, and give the students extra striping goals. 

Suggested breakdown is as follows:

If we were to retain only 7 stripes, my intent would be to combine the fitness with Keystone Principles again and Applications with Grappling.

All that being said, I still have to resolve my vision of only testing on the important stuff (keystone principles and 6 harmonies). If we have exhaustive striping requirements, the students' focus will be spread pretty thin and they may not spend enough time on the important stuff.

With that in mind, perhaps reducing the stripes is a more appropriate approach. If we go with: 6 Harmonies, Dynamic Control, Fitness, and Keystone Principles, and Leadership and Lifestyle — that would drastically narrow the students' focus. With Leadership and Lifestyle and Fitness being aspects that are developed outside of class time, that will help keep their focus narrowed to forms, weapons, and keystone principles. I would even consider removing weapons from the mix. 

IF we were to remove applications and grappling out of the students' syllabus but leave it in the instructors' syllabus, we would have the ability to keep the students' focus narrowed while keeping the instructors' options open. As long as the instructors are able to connect the dots and see how the applications and grappling help produce the overall product, nothing should get lost in the mix. In this case we will have things that we teach that may cover 100 items but we only test and stripe on 20 of those items.

I need to think on this some more. In the meantime, I would appreciate your input and guidance.

Jeff Brinker

Engaging Students Idea

I just wanted to share something that I saw during last Thursday’s Tiny Tiger class.  If you recall, the class was doing a basic relay with the focus on the downward foot block and the kids hitting a paddle.  The kids were also doing splats on the big shields.

The row that Sifu Brinker had seemed to be having the most fun and I attribute that to the way he was utilizing the paddle.  Every time the kids did a splat on the shield, he hit the floor with his paddle making a loud slap.  The kids loved it!  

I would like to see us all (myself included) engage the students more as Sifu Brinker did.  When we are more engaged with the drills, the kids get a lot more out of the lessons.

Thanks!

Tania Vantuil

Instructor Engagement

Instructor Teamwork - Part 1

Please review the video below and make any comments below to get the dialog started. I misspoke in the video concerning having 2 instructors for every 1 student. I had meant to say 2 students per 1 instructor. If we took the Csillag girls out of those numbers we still would have had a ratio of 3 to 1.

Drill Success

Some prep material for our next meeting . . .

Instructor Team Focus

So we're a couple of weeks into the new season with a bunch of new students. I've heard a couple of instructors wonder if we should cut off enrolment as the classes are getting big. These comments have me concerned that some of you may be feeling overwhelmed and if so, you may revert back to your comfort zone and wipe out all the progress we have made in the past few months.

I want everyone focused on engaging the students on a meaningful level and to keep your focus on the students' learning, NOT your teaching. There is a difference.

Please watch the short video below and add your comments and/or questions.