Help others to help yourself

You don't have to be a sensei to help others. You could go over a kata with a fellow student at the start of class.

One of the great things about GKR is that we have a system of training new class helpers and instructors called the Sensei Training Program (STP). Many rival clubs believe that you can only train to be an instructor when you're a black belt, but that's rubbish. Being a great instructor and being an expert martial artist are not the same thing. Do you think that only ex-champions can train other Olympic athletes? Of course not!

I've seen so many other styles where the instructor can do the splits and punch 7 times a second, or knock you to the floor with a one-finger nerve hold, but he can't teach to save his life. He might lack confidence, or the ability to express himself articulately, or worse still he might be a bully, or show such favouritism to his high grades that his junior grades feel alienated. Maybe he simply fails to empathise with the beginners, forgetting what it was like to be in their shoes, or he's boring, or it's so long since he studied to pass the lower grades, that he's forgotten what he needed to understand in order to pass beyond them.

I know that some people are critical of GKR's way of doing things - as if only 5th dan instructors with 30 years of experience are capable of teaching 5 year old white belt beginners! Well the truth is, judge the club by its results, not by other people's ill-informed misconceptions, and possibly your own preconceptions. In the Australian National All Styles competition, which is open to entrants from any martial arts organisation, GKR's members consistently rank amongst the winners in both kumite and kata, and GKR students have taken the Champion of Champions medals four times in the past five years! GKR senseis were recently welcomed with open-arms for the seconsd time by prestigious Goju Kai headquarters in Japan, and praised for the quality of their karate and teaching methods upon their departure.

In GKR, we train our instructors to instruct. At the same time, they are also training to become great martial artists. Unlike some rival martial arts styles, where the instructors have no obligation to maintain their own personal training, in GKR, every single instructor must train at least once per week, no matter how high a grade they are. This ensures that their own abilities and understanding of karate constantly improves, and at the same time, their people skills and teaching ability are also nurtured.

You might be asked to help out in your class by organising the kids or the lower grades; you might be asked to stand out in front of the class to help demonstrate the basics or other techniques. Perhaps you might be asked to take some students through kata or supervise some students during kumite. You might even be fortunate enough to be invited to attend sensei training. I know that a lot of people get nervous about this sort of thing, and one or two even get belligerent, as though they're the ones doing the favours. Well let me tell you, nothing brings your own karate along more quickly than having to be role model or example to others. Better yet, if you should get to take part of the class, or cover for absent senseis, it will get you thinking about your own karate and exactly what it is that you're doing.

Best of all; and this is no word of a lie, few things in life are more enjoyable than helping other students to strive for, and reach their goals. I've not missed a class or taken a holiday in almost three years. Not because I'm not allowed to, but because teaching is such a buzz that going away on vacation seems like an anti-climax! I bet that there are few things in most people's lives that feel that good...