Keep in mind that you can always teach students something you feel is important, but you don’t have to make it a requirement for rank.
New school owners usually try to make everything a requirement because they want to create super students.
If you require it at a specific rank, then a percentage of your students will be able to perform it adequately, but many will not.
It’s a difficult kick that requires jumping and flexibility, and some students will get nauseated from the spinning.
This is especially true of students in the 30 age group.
Ask yourself, how important is this kick? Well, I think it’s a skill I want my students to have.
How about if you teach it and practice it in class but don’t require it? Then it’s a fun challenge for the students but not a potential obstacle to their advancement.
The students who can perform this will, and those who would never use it after being shown it won’t have the concern that this may hinder their progress.
Still, I felt we were requiring more traditional material than I felt valuable this early in a student’s journey.
Despite my love of forms, I want my students to be able to fight first and foremost.
Requiring the six basic blocks, four kicks, and three stances from white belt to orange belt was not giving my students the practical material I wanted them to have.
Skip in front leg round kick – jab-reverse punch-hook punch – clearing round kick Students enjoy these combinations.
Once you demonstrate them and show how effective these strikes can be, the students are excited to execute them with full force in the mirror and on targets.
These changes provided three immediate benefits to the students: 1.
Students felt an Instant Value in the class that is hard to get teaching traditional basics such as front stance down block-lunge punch.
The drills pushed the students, which helped their conditioning faster than walking through traditional basics did.
The defensive drills helped prepare students for sparring.
Not only do many students need to learn how to deal with someone hitting or striking at them, they also have to learn how to hit someone.
Have you ever seen a student, usually a female adult, do a drill and tap her partner with a punch and then reach out and say, “I’m so sorry…”? For the past 20 years or so, the “Don’t ever hit someone” message has been drilled into a large portion of our population.
Smart relationship and defensive drills really help you overcome this for your new students.
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