Sometimes teaching can be frustrating.  Trying to get people, especially kids, to not only put their body but their mind into their effort can be exhausting.   Here is a three-point plan to understand the ways to reach folks and some teaching ticks that not only work with kids but adults as well.

We think you are going to hear your own internal voice on this one. What if you had done things differently?  What if you had taken a different road?  The question for us in this podcast is what you would tell yourself in your youth in the martial arts world and in the personal world. We don’t call them regrets, just observations. Lawrence has an interesting story about a job he didn’t take, and it’s going to sting when you hear it.

We are tasked with the question of the biggest lies in martial arts.  Three is the number, and on number one we have an instant disagreement, I say, “No,” Lawrence says, “Yes.” Then after some discussion (Remember when that used to be part of our world instead of yelling at one another?) we come to a conclusion.  Two other lies fill out the show.  Lie is a powerful word, but if it is a lie let’s call it what it is.

It started out well, and then it got good. Throwing some red meat at Lawrence regarding guns, laws, attitudes, and behaviors. And one weird karate instructor. Then it gets really good as we call out former U.S. Vice President Biden for his crazy recommendations. Some clarity on AR-15’s and a whole lot more.

The three biggest lessons you learned, either bad or good, from your teachers.  The wasted potential.  How the work is tough but rewarding, and it raises the bar in life. A couple of techniques and tricks pop up during our conversation such as, “Pick out the second.”  What makes the best coach and we close with the story of a little old Greek lady and paid encounters and the value of context.

The first half of the show we talk about the shoplifter and tweaker that Kris watched with interest. The second half we get on to the ambiguous question of if we have paid the price for our martial arts. A few brief words from a conversation with a National Champion Football Coach that just dovetails sweetly into the topic of a price to pay.

The topic of the days is, “What other resources do you recommend for extra training?” Upon review, we don’t go down the road of lift this and punch that, not a single supplement is mentioned. We hone in on the mental aspects, the practices that challenge the mind and use time in effective ways.

Time Stamped Topics

2:39 Planning + You are the product

5:00 Multi-tasking – it’s a lie

9:08 Independent study

18:47 Outside Training (from other systems)

22:00 Found Out!

25:56 Reading the Masters

 

We take one topic off the top of the show, old memories v. making new ones. We killed that one quickly and hit a hot button along the way. Then we blow off one question and move onto the idea of the “One Thing.”  What is, or was the one thing that each of us did that exploded our martial arts growth and improved each of us.  Sometimes an apparent step backward is a step forward.

 

What does the perfect training session look like? How does it feel and by what measure do we look at a training session as a success?  What makes a perfect session for an instructor?  How do you get the most out of training? Is it monotonous, or soothing? Explaining things a good way and a bad way.

 

3:53 Instructor preparation

8:40 A major award

13:00 The same lunch

21:59 Multiple explanations

28:39 An office idea gone bad

32:00 Don’t make it easy

True Believers. From the first time I heard the phrase, it bothered me. Every religion needs zealots. The ones who are totally dedicated to the mission. Their goals are aligned with the group’s goals. Any other roles they have in life are ultimately distractions. Every criticism of the group is a criticism of them. But that’s not what we were. No way. For some years now I had been living in Monterey, California, training in a traditional Japanese martial art: Seibukan Jujutsu. I thought I had hit the jackpot. An amazing school, warm people, and a deeply fulfilling martial art. We were more than a gym where you worked out, we were a movement. We had a rich and complex philosophy, as much a self-development system as it was a martial art. We were growing too, with over a dozen schools up and down the west coast and more popping up overseas. We were changing the world, one student at a time. I was a part of something. And we owed it all to our teacher. A world-class martial artist and a captivating instructor. He was the source. He had created the art and its philosophy. We’d follow him to the ends of the earth.

(from the Amazon website book description)

Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/True-Believers-Louis-Martin/dp/0692997059