Posted by: ThomsonsPier
Inadvertent teaching session - 06/06/06 05:52 AM
As usual when we have new people attending, after practising some hand forms and drilling some basics for a short while, my Sifu split the class in two last night, taking the two new people aside to show them some locks and holds and sending the other four of us to develop the staff form.
As I attempted to root and centre myself, assuming the others would be doing the same, I noticed a shuffling off to either side. Delaying the first movement of the form, I turned to see what was going on only to see the other three lined up behind me and waiting for me to start.
Realising that I was the only one in the class who has learned the entire form (or at least the sequence of movements), I led them through the form as far as each of them knew and then went back to help them in the trickier areas.
I've now discovered quite how much fun it is to teach these movements, and how much it improved my own understanding of how to perform the techniques; far more so, I believe, than it would have just to develop the movements alone (which I can do in the garden at home).
This is especially good for me at the moment, as I've recently found myself in a period where I am trying to find interesting ways to strengthen my existing skills, rather than greedily acquiring new ones which I won't yet find useful.
As I attempted to root and centre myself, assuming the others would be doing the same, I noticed a shuffling off to either side. Delaying the first movement of the form, I turned to see what was going on only to see the other three lined up behind me and waiting for me to start.
Realising that I was the only one in the class who has learned the entire form (or at least the sequence of movements), I led them through the form as far as each of them knew and then went back to help them in the trickier areas.
I've now discovered quite how much fun it is to teach these movements, and how much it improved my own understanding of how to perform the techniques; far more so, I believe, than it would have just to develop the movements alone (which I can do in the garden at home).
This is especially good for me at the moment, as I've recently found myself in a period where I am trying to find interesting ways to strengthen my existing skills, rather than greedily acquiring new ones which I won't yet find useful.