Beginner's Class

[Luar]

Why do we need, or don't need, a beginner's class?

[Tripitaka of AA]

Could you define "Beginner's class"?

Do you mean a one-off Introductory class that will be exclusively for Beginners? Held at the beginning of term, for example, when there are a lot of new starters joining for the first time...

Or do you mean a regular class, where students of a certain rank will be the bulk of the class? In other words, a class where everyone present (apart from the Instructors) is of a novice ability... up to and includng what rank I wonder?

It depends a lot on the type of ebb and flow that each club gets in terms of new starters. University clubs, from what I hear, get a huge influx at the beginning of the Autumn Term, and smaller peaks at the start of Spring and Summer terms. Public clubs tend to get people starting at more irregular intervals, which can mean they are easier to integrate into the regular class... or it can also mean they are intimidated by being surrounded by higher grades.


Is that what you meant?

[Luar]

Could you define "Beginner's class"?

Do you mean a one-off Introductory class that will be exclusively for Beginners? Held at the beginning of term, for example, when there are a lot of new starters joining for the first time...

Or do you mean a regular class, where students of a certain rank will be the bulk of the class? In other words, a class where everyone present (apart from the Instructors) is of a novice ability... up to and includng what rank I wonder?

It depends a lot on the type of ebb and flow that each club gets in terms of new starters. University clubs, from what I hear, get a huge influx at the beginning of the Autumn Term, and smaller peaks at the start of Spring and Summer terms. Public clubs tend to get people starting at more irregular intervals, which can mean they are easier to integrate into the regular class... or it can also mean they are intimidated by being surrounded by higher grades.


Is that what you meant?

I meant the 2nd although the 1rst is also a valid question.

[Gary Dolce]

In our Branch, we seldom have enough newcomers at one time to have a separate beginner's class. Instead, we typically have a senior member of the Branch work with beginners one-on-one for a class or two (or more if they need it) with the goal of integrating them into the class as quickly as possible. Of course, once they are in with the rest of the class, we always make sure that whoever is paired with the newcomer is working at an appropriate pace. There is still as lot of one-on-one time as they learn new things, it just is no longer the majority of practice.

Occasionally, if the mood hits me and the circumstances are right when a first-timer shows up, I will turn the first lesson into a group lesson for the entire class of all levels. It may seem a bit tedious, but I think it is good for everyone to periodically review the most basic things as a beginner would learn them. It also helps students to be ready for when they are asked to do a one-on-one session with a first-timer.

I am curious what others teach in the first class. How do you balance general concepts vs. detail? Teaching enough to keep it interesting but not so much as to be overwhelming? Time spent explaining vs. time spent doing? Making sure they got a good workout vs. making sure they understood what they were doing? I think the first few practices are key to retaining new students and would like to hear what works and what doesn't work in other Branches.

[Nina]

Since we are an university club, more or less all new students enter the class at the beginning of the semester together with alot of other beginners.
So we normally have one or two training sessions for beginners, what means that the training is modified for them (starting with shifting the weight from one foot to the other...). The higher graded students train together with them, sometimes every minarai has the chance to get assist from someone with a coloured belt. After some time the different groups get seperated, training for their special rank, or helping to teach another group.


I am curious what others teach in the first class. How do you balance general concepts vs. detail? Teaching enough to keep it interesting but not so much as to be overwhelming? Time spent explaining vs. time spent doing? Making sure they got a good workout vs. making sure they understood what they were doing? I think the first few practices are key to retaining new students and would like to hear what works and what doesn't work in other Branches.
Normally in our club the very first training is some kind of overwiew-training, so that the new students get a picture of Shorinji Kempo. Sometimes we also prepare Embus.

[Nina]

Why do we need, or don't need, a beginner's class?


Since we are an university club, more or less all new students enter the class at the beginning of the semester together with alot of other beginners.

So I think in our case it`s nessecary to have a beginner`s class...

[Gumby]

This is a difficult question to answer. Having more advanced students in with the beginners can be beneficial for the beginner because they can learn to emulate how the more advanced students. On the same token not having a more advanced class then the higher ranks would not be able to fully train to the best of their abilities. You cannot expect a brown belt to fully train with a white belt as their partner.

[Luar]

You cannot expect a brown belt to fully train with a white belt as their partner.

Actually we do

[Gumby]

Actually we do


I guess I should have said some styles you cannot perform certain techniques. In jujitsu, a brown belt cannot throw a white belt with full force with techniques such as Seio-Nage. Especially if the white belt has not fully grasp the concepts of proper Ukemi.

[Luar]

The reason I started this thread was while surfing some branch websites, I noted that they would designate one particular class of the week as the beginner's class.

We do not have such a class. In the first class we would quickly show them the basic etiquettes but during Kihon we would ask them to copy the movements at their own pace. Later on Sensei will spend time with them working on basics after assigning practice drills to the non-beginners. One thing we do introduce beginners as early as possible is tenchi ken dai ichi and giwa ken dai ichi as these encompass many good foundation skills.

For a university club, I can understand why such a class is necessary but as Gary has said, this isn't practical for other branches.

As a side note bout a year ago I was talking to a Sensei who is well respected here and in Europe about this topic. He came from a tradition where beginners were expected to some extent to keep up with the training pace. Later on he began to experiment with a class structure that favored the beginning students. He very much indicated to me that he regretted doing this as he felt it lowered the standards and held back the training for more advance students.

[Gary Dolce]

This is a difficult question to answer. Having more advanced students in with the beginners can be beneficial for the beginner because they can learn to emulate how the more advanced students.

Training with beginners should also be productive for the more advanced students if they are encouraged to approach it with the right attitude. I probably have learned as much or more from teaching as from being taught. Even if you aren't actully teaching, there is a lot that can be learned watching and analyzing how less experienced students do things.


On the same token not having a more advanced class then the higher ranks would not be able to fully train to the best of their abilities. You cannot expect a brown belt to fully train with a white belt as their partner.

It is fairly common in Shorinji Kempo to have both types of practice (mixed-level and same-level) in the same class. For example, start working on more basic things in a mixed group, then as you move to more advanced things the less experienced students get separated out. I assume this is a common approach in martial arts classes.

[Nina]

Last week a mixed class started in our club,and I think that this was the reason why only five new potential students showed up. This week there were 0...

[sheb]

As a beginner I liked to train together with experienced students. It was more fun, because they did know what they had to do ... and I also could learn more.