Teaching Marital Arts in Canada

As a student, practitioner and teacher of martial arts for the past 33 years ...

Generally Martial Arts instruction in Canada sucks.  Not that the arts being taught suck but the passing on of information is atrocious.  And the reason is simple, most instructors are the person who has survived the longest in the school.  This is the person who is seen as the senior student, obviously the most knowledgeable and, that seems reasonable to the other senior students.

The reality is that the new teacher generally has no real idea how to teach adults and more specifically how to teach North American adults.  This is an important distinction that needs to be addressed.  Martial Arts training, regardless of which Asian country they come from also come with that country’s culture and traditions.  In Japan and China that includes a lifetime of a culture that believes “The nail that sticks out, gets hammered down”.  A culture that is trained to do what they are told and not question the status quo.  Jet Li did not decide to be a Martial Artist, he was told he would be and was sent to a Martial Arts school.  In his own words he then did not even learn to read his own language well as the focus was on Martial Arts not education.

That is the exact opposite of the North American culture.  In this culture children are given the opportunity to decide what they want to experience.  And often they are taken to several different activities to find their passion; gymnastics, dance, hockey, figure skating, etc.  Martial Arts is just one of their many possible choices.  As such if they are going to join a school for any of these activities they will have to be engaged.  This carries through when they are as well.  They will not accept a ‘shut up and listen - this is tradition’ mentality from their instructors.  Unfortunately, many “Sensei” try to recreate what they have heard about or seen in China or Japan without taking the cultural differences into account.

Canadians want answers.  Why am I doing this move?  How will this help me become the Martial Artist I dreamed of becoming?

These two questions address the fundamentals of Martial Arts, the Physical and the Psychological; as well as the core issue of why most people join Martial Arts schools.  After teaching hundreds of students and asking them why they are there I have heard this; “I want to protect myself and my family”, “I want to learn self-discipline” or, “I want to achieve inner peace”.  If we are not dealing with these three fundamental student goals, we should roll up our mats and go home.  Let’s look at these individually. 

I want to protect myself and my family.

The first goal is a physical one and probably the most popular answer.  That means we must be able to teach people to move in a practiced structured way within a reasonable amount of time.  In Japan’s culture a teacher can assign a movement to a student and expect that the student will practice it numerous times and never question why.  In Canada the student will wonder and ask how the movement fits into the overall fighting system.  And, even if they do not ask their teacher directly it will be in the back of their minds. 

As teachers with must anticipate and address that question without resorting to ‘it’s tradition’, which is the “traditional” answer.  Instead we need to be able to explain how the movement increases the student’s ability to move, increases their focus or how it is applied against an opponent.  Answering those questions requires a full understanding of the art, preferably learned from their own teachers.  Sadly, that is rarely the case as many teachers have not actually been told what they are doing, instead they repeat movements by rote rather than conscious understanding. 

The question is how to change this, especially in the more complex arts that involve not just kicking and/or punching, but also deal with ground fighting and a variety of weapons.  Change requires a shift in the way students are trained to eventually become teachers.  This radical shift requires that teachers recognize that the teaching paradigm of standing at the front of the dojo and telling people what to do does not work here and does not produce teachers.  Teachers need to be trained to teach as much as they need to be trained to punch.  And they need to start that training as soon as possible.

There are several benefits in training people to teach early.  By early, I mean within 6 months of joining a school.  By that time the student has learned some basics, whether that be punching, rolling, break falls or kata, and they should be able to speak knowledgeably about them.  The first benefit is to the student who has just joined.  The new student is in a place with a bunch of people who can out-fight them and who understand what is going on, from bowing in to warming up to whatever activity is planned for that night.  This is an intimidating situation especially for students who came to learn to defend themselves out of fear.  The student-teacher provides personal instruction and a person who can help make them feel accepted.

The second benefit is to the student-teacher.  That student-teacher gets the opportunity to reinforce what they have learned and to see the movement from a new perspective which improves their own training.  It also empowers the student-teacher making them feel like a valued member of the school who can contribute.  During that time, the main-teacher can help the student-teacher learn how to help the new student to improve the movements they are trying to learn.

The third benefit is to the school itself.  Doing this guarantees that there is a constant supply of trained knowledgeable teachers available for any emergency or succession of the school itself; none of us can teach forever.

I want to learn Self-discipline

Self-Discipline is internal and cannot ever be externally imposed.  Most people don’t understand that, fortunately it can be modeled and encouraged.  People forget that it takes self-discipline just to make it to class on a regular basis.  We all have lives outside the dojo.  There are always reasons not to go to class, birthday parties, snow, friends are doing something.  Discipline, properly called Self-discipline, is what drives students to class day after day.  Having a teacher who is always there and ready is a great role-model.  Recognizing that is one of the great revelations for many students and encourages them when they realize they are working on something they can already do.  Teachers can reinforce that regularly merely by thanking their students for showing up and recognizing that the student chose to come to class rather than go do something else.  Teachers should never take a student’s attendance for granted, it is a gift and should always be treated as such.  Students who feel accepted, encouraged and appreciated are more likely to return.

I want to achieve inner peace

Finally, inner peace.  As many of us that have trained for years know this too cannot be taught.  It can, however, be achieved.  Inner peace can and has been described by many, and each definition differs slightly.  It must be defined by the student themselves but can be nurtured by the teacher.  Most seem to achieve it when they have defeated their inner demons.  Training seriously requires students to drive themselves in ways they never have before.  It forces them to examine who they are and what they stand for, what they are prepared to do to get what they want and, what they are capable of in the pursuit of their goals.  It is this deep understanding that leads to inner peace for most practitioners as they have beat their most difficult adversary, themselves.

When a teacher has put their students on this path they will find engagement, empowerment and dedication from their students.