Beginners. Monjin waiting at the gate.
While every dojo needs and wants them, they do have side effects such as slowing down the class, and making you repeat the same thing repeatedly (and redundantly). Not learning fast enough (or at least it seems that way to the more advanced deshi). Unable to work more advanced material. The complaints go on.
However, once you slow down and cool your jets (as some would put it) you suddenly realize that monjin who are now deshi (are inside the dojo) can serve a higher purpose. Having beginners in class allows the deshi who have been there a while to suddenly realize just how much they know; how much they really do know. Once that realization occurs, the more experienced players stop ranting (verbally or non-verbally) over the idea that they aren't learning anything (or learning fast enough) when they see how advanced they are when compared to the new players.
Beginners delay the flow into intermediate and advanced level material. This is nothing more than one of the realities of teaching but when looked at in the broader sense it is not necessarily a negative. Too many times going fast turns into a failure to break down what the waza calls for (at a deeper level) and then to adequately explain it (they call that “auto-pilot”). Then you the Sensei begin to not correct mistakes or errors in the basics such as kamae, sen or ma-ai.
Teaching, guiding, creating “good learning” environments means taking the time to carefully observe, analyze, and then give commentary that should result in improvement; this, remembering that improving the basic fundamentals (you know, the “beginner stuff”) really is advanced work.
Sensei should break the material down into digestible bits sized by the ability of the group to grasp, and then proceed to explain the lessons inherent within the kata. That becomes difficult too impossible if you just repeat the waza (or a larger kata set) at speed as if everyone already knew everything you do. Beginners ask questions (sometimes a frustrating number of them ….. repeatedly) but by doing so they create thoughts of why take this action or posture instead of that one and in another sense, create the need to find an explanation that will be at the level of the deshi’s ability and easy(er) to understand. By doing so, the questions should cease, at least on that topic until understanding deepens (again) and then the questions start all over but on more intense levels.
L.F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudokan
Houston, TX
April 18, 2022
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