In this post I want to talk about discipline in the dojo, about behaviour and about teaching these things.
This is always a hard subject to get into because it seems so simple, students come to a dojo, behave and learn, and if they don’t they get punished. As simple as black and white, as ABC. Unfortunately as with modern teaching in any area from martial arts to mathematics things are never as simple as they seem.
I have seen many classes run and heard of others, I will share with you a story from a fellow martial artist. He knows a child involved in a taekwondo club, at this club the students are extremely well behaved and extremely attentive, the only problem is they are well behaved because they fear the consequences of not behaving. When the higher up instructor comes to the club for a grading some students are so afraid of making a mistake that they can’t answer simple questions like ‘give me a number between 1 and 10” and their brains freeze. Is this the fault of the instructors or the environment, I can’t know I have never visited the club, but it is easy to see that a state of tension, anxiety or fear of mistakes is not a good environment to learn and develop, just ask any student coming up to an exam they feel unprepared for, none of them will tell you about how easy it is to remember things when you’re anxious.
Another example would be a dojo I have stepped into where the children literally ran roughshod over everything, the instructors were so obsessed with the children enjoying the lesson and having fun that 8 and 9 year olds with mid-level belts couldn’t even do basic stances for more than a few seconds without wandering off. It was Chaos, it was fun for the kids, but Chaos. And when they needed to get into a line it was like watching a group of inexperienced sheep dogs trying to gather a flock. This could maybe charitably be called a playschool but not a well-run one.
And a good example, a club I know well, I step into the club and students nod their heads as I bow. I am a student in this club but they still acknowledge me and I them. The class isn’t starting for 15 minutes, but there are a good 5 groups already together practising this or that as they chat. The instructor steps in and everyone bows and greets him warmly. He laughs and jokes with students as they practise, talks about the football, and everyone is chuckling away. Then he steps up to the front of the room and students move quickly to make a line, no need to yell line up. Everyone warms up together though most are already warm, and the instructor starts teaching, assistant instructors move through the line reinforcing lessons and students work hard, every now and then a joke is made and the atmosphere is light, but the focus is heavy and laughter dies quickly to be replaced with the hissing breaths of effort. This environment welcomes all, and anxiety is nowhere, the instructor is a focus of attention and respect but never fear.
What makes the difference between these three dojos, many things in reality, to say that a poorly run dojo is the fault solely of the instructor is unfair, would you say that a city with crime problems is entirely the fault of the Mayor, no, humanity is too complex for so simple a reason. However we have to say that the instructor has a strong influence on the class, on their behaviour and attitude.
Good behaviour, respect, and good discipline is a downward cast shadow, it starts from the top and the shadow covers those below; but no matter how dark the shadow a light bulb will always shine brightly, and a mirror can always reflect the light from outside the shadow.
First lets look at the mirror though, outside influences affect how we feel and think, the same is true for everyone and so these outside influences no matter how strong we are inside will follow us through the club door and become mirrors reflecting the issues from outside the dojo. As instructors how we deal with this can be a challenge, because we aren’t just trying to deal with our own mirrors but with everyone else’s. This is what Mushin meditation it karate is for, it is to focus and let us have a moment to turn our mirrors around so they don’t disrupt the shade in the dojo. However many things have been shown to help, having a warm up that addresses the mind and body, starting with a ritual beginning such as bowing, having a distinct line between the outside and the inside, all these things help and most clubs employ a strong mix of them whether they know it or not.
We as instructors must also look to deal with the mirrors from those other than our students, whether it’s the music from the aerobics class down the hall, or the kids on the skate park, and this we deal with mainly through our own shadow.
The light bulb is a different problem, some call these students ‘spirited’ others call them ‘badly behaved’ many simply call them on the phone and tell them they unfortunately can’t continue at the club ((and yes that does actually happen)). Myself, I call them a project, what makes the bulb shine, that is the challenge, is it boredom, is it a desire for attention, is it a lack of understanding, or social anxiety, is it a lack of desire. Each reason for the shiny bulb has its own solution. Whether that is providing a deeper challenge, or more support, or more chance to socialise, or in the case of a lack of desire having that hard talk with the parent where you ask if they have ever forced their child to come to class when the child didn’t want to, and if so, why.
The easiest thing we can affect is our shadow, and the shadow of those around is to some extent. Our own shadow is our own, we affect it with every gesture and every motion. Cesar Millan the world famous ‘dog whisperer’ would call this shadow our energy, our pack leader dominance; and he is as right for humans as he is for dogs. Students as with dogs are creatures of instinct, they respond to the now, if we use aggression we will breed fear and submission through fear, this is not healthy. What Cesar teaches is that pack leaders are calm dominant, and this leads to calm submission. It is as much what we want as the owner of a dog pack as it is what we want as a martial arts teacher, because calm submission is a natural state to learn from and a relaxed and easy state to live in.
Does this mean we never shout, of course not, shouting is useful for being heard, for giving commands, for being a presence; but shouting should never come from aggression or frustration. Jo Frost of “Super Nanny” Fame teaches this with children, children know when a shout is coming from anger or frustration and this results in fear and misbehaviour. Super nanny prefers a quiet calm voice when talking to a child who has been bad in the same way that Cesar Millan prefers the calm dominance in the dog world of demanding space.
But it’s not just our voice, everything we do from how we stand to how we act sets a tone, and an example, by using that we can start to set the atmosphere of the dojo and that influences the behaviour of everyone else.
So if as a teacher we find ourselves yelling from frustration we need to step back and deal with ourselves first, because if we are standing at the front of the glass as a lightbulb how can we expect any of our students to find somewhere in the shade.