The most important task you perform as an Assistant Instructor is to assist during classes at your school. With this in mind, it is important you know how to help the students during each part of the class. Therefore, the general parts of class are listed below with information on how the particular topic should be performed as well as how to help the students during this topic.
One of the first ways you will be asked to help in class is to lead warm-ups. If you are not leading the warm-up, then you can help other students by correcting their posture or body position to improve their flexibility. In general, the warm-up portion of the class should take no more than 10 minutes for children and 15 minutes for adults. The warm-up should consist of some light movement followed by both static and dynamic stretching. Performing some light movement for a minute or two before stretching will help get blood flowing through the body and will ultimately help improve the students’ performance. This may take the form of “shadow fighting”, some light jogging, or light kicking and punching.
After some initial light movement, the stretching portion of the warm-up should occur. The purpose of stretching is to help students maintain the elasticity of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments while developing a full range of motion for a joint or series of joints. The static stretches use slow movements that involve stretching to a desired limit and then holding the stretch, hence the word static. It is important to have the students inhale prior to the stretch and exhale during execution of the stretch. Once the stretching limit is reached, students should breathe normally and hold the stretch without bouncing. Upon completion of the stretch, have the students inhale and return to starting position. Encourage students to maintain good postures in order to achieve the maximum benefit that stretching has to offer.
Dynamic stretching will immediately follow the static stretching. An example of dynamic stretching is rotating the arms, rotating the waist, or performing rising leg swings. In general, dynamic stretching should not be done very fast or wild. They should still be fluid and controlled in order to generate maximum results. During rising leg swings (typically referred to as stretch kicks), encourage students to “lift” their legs up rather than “throwing” their legs up. Remember that stretches should be relaxing and limbering, not ballistic and painful. Don’t ever loose sight of the “no pain in the dojang” concept.
Appendix A contains the Standard Adult and Junior Class Stretching Exercises that should be used in class. In advanced or black belt classes, you may perform additional stretches that have been shown to instructors by Grand Master Choi. Consult your Chief Instructor if you have questions regarding additional stretches.
As an Assistant Instructor, you need to develop a love for the basic techniques and fundamentals of Choi Kwang-Do. This is important for many reasons. First of all, you may be exposed to many advanced drills and techniques that would normally be taught at a higher rank. Remember that right now you have all of the fundamental techniques and skills that you need to defend yourselves. Don't ruin these fundamentals by trying to concentrate on advanced techniques and drills. Secondly, your teaching concentration is going to be the beginning students who need to establish good precise basic movements just as you did when you began. In order to help beginning students establish precise basic movements, your basic techniques must be precise. A good story to sum it up involves Grand Master Choi training with one of his instructors.
Instructor: “Sir, can we work on Black Belt Patterns? Mine need a little work.”
GMC: “You have the white belt pattern perfect?”
Instructor: “No Sir!”
GMC: “Me neither. We start with white belt.”
To effectively teach the basics and fundamentals that form the foundation for Choi Kwang-Do, it is important that you learn to teach the basic techniques step-by-step as you were instructed in class and during your certification. The step-by-step method of teaching techniques is the standard method that should be used whenever teaching someone how to do a particular technique. However, you may find that a student is not grasping a particular concept, so you may have to come up with some creative ways to get the student to perform the technique properly. If you need help remembering the step-by-step methods, then get help from your Chief Instructor. Remember that the basic techniques are reviewed at Instructor Clinics. If you stay current as an Assistant Instructor then you should have no problem committing the steps to memory.
During class, you can help the students by moving through the rows correcting stance, techniques, reminding students to keep their hands up, and answering questions. Let the students know if they are performing well, but also be sure to give them something to work on. When teaching or correcting techniques, it is important to over-emphasize the movement so the student can see how it is performed. In addition, hands on teaching can be very effective in teaching a student a new technique. You can apply this by moving their arm or leg through the movement or physically helping them shift their hip/body forward. It is important to let the student know you are going to help them through the technique. If you sense that a student feels uncomfortable with you touching them then stop immediately. If it happens to be a female student with a male instructor or vice versa, then get a female or male instructor respectively to help them out. Finally, be careful not to over correct students, because this can overwhelm them and may lead to decreased self-esteem and/or decreased self-confidence.
The first goal to helping students during combinations is to be sure that the students are performing the correct techniques and the correct sequence of techniques in their combination. If a student is having a lot of difficulty, then you may find it helpful to move them to the back of the dojang to work with them. Overall, encourage students to perform their combinations with speed and precision as if making contact with a target. The techniques should be distinct and there should be good transitions between techniques without “smearing” them together. It is important to note that any student performing a combination that involves a rear leg kick should not step back for the next combination until the instructor gives the next command. In addition, pay attention to students that move or slide forward during their combinations. Help these students by making sure that they start from the same initial point on the floor each time they repeat their combination. Finally, all combinations are performed from a Front Stance, unless otherwise specified.
When teaching patterns, be sure that students are starting from a Chumbi Stance and are stepping back into the correct stance. In addition, emphasize the use of proper footwork during the turns in the patterns. For junior students, pay particular attention to proper stance and standing still upon completion of their pattern.
Patterns can be performed two ways: “by the count” or “in your own time”. When students are performing patterns “by the count”, each technique (block, punch, strike, kick, or dodge) should be performed on a single count. For patterns that turn, the turn should be performed just after the last technique for each direction and on the same count. It is important to have students wait for the next count before shifting and blocking. This allows them to start the block from a good stance rather than a pre-shifted stance. The purpose of performing patterns “by the count” is to correctly demonstrate each of the techniques one-by-one with precision, proper body dynamics, and correct hand/foot postures. If you see any problems with technique during patterns then that is a good time to work with the student to correct it.
When students perform patterns “in their own time”, the patterns should be performed at a relaxed and continuous pace. The pattern should be performed with fluid movements and each technique should be precise and quick, but should not be ballistic unless requested to do so. The transition from one technique to the next is important in order to have the proper flow and rhythm. Like patterns performed “by the count”, techniques executed during patterns performed “in your own time” should be precise, showing proper body dynamics and correct hand/foot postures. As mentioned earlier, if needed, you may move a student in the back of the dojang in order to help improve their patterns or the techniques.
Speed Drills are combinations devoted to the development of overall speed. The goal is to increase the response of fast twitch muscle fibers by performing the entire speed drill as fast as possible. As instructors, we always want to emphasize good technique; however, students will not be able to increase their speed effectively without actively working on performing the Speed Drills quickly. You will have to remind students to slow down if they try to go too fast and end up with very sloppy and inaccurate technique.
To effectively teach speed drills, start slowly by familiarizing the students with the order of techniques. Once the students are comfortable with the order of techniques, then gradually increase the speed at which the Speed Drill is performed. Remember that each time the instructor gives a command, the student should perform the entire Speed Drill and return to their original stance as fast as possible. In addition, all Speed Drills are performed from a Front Stance unless otherwise specified so correct stances if needed.
The purpose of the defense drills is to learn correct defensive and offensive movement, proper contact blocking, and how to counter attack in a quick, effective manner. The format for defense drills is the same regardless of which drill is being performed. The instructor will designate who will attack first and they should continue to be the attacker until commanded to switch. Be sure to remind students that the defense drills are not competitive in nature. In addition, always refer to pairs of students as “partners” instead of “opponents” because the students are working towards the goal of improving their self-defense skills – not to see who can “win” or who is the best.
The series of defense drills starts with “no contact” drills that involve straight-line movement. The purpose is to teach new students how to move forward during an attack, how to move back when defending, and to become comfortable having someone attack towards them. Help beginner students establish good offensive and defensive movement as they perform this drill in class.
The next series of defense drills involve contact blocking of a partner’s techniques. The main goal is the development of blocking skills, which includes good body dynamics and proper defensive movement. Encourage students to work together during these drills in order to help each other achieve this goal. Make sure each student’s attacks are precise and close enough to their partner so that they have to actually block the techniques. Remind attackers that they should always move forward and the defenders that they should always move back as they block. In addition, pay close attention to the shift during the block. It is very common for students to move only their arm without first shifting properly for a block.
After the basic blocking defense drills, the student is instructed in the counter attack defense drills. The main goal of counter attack defense drills is to react to an initial attack and then counter attack with full speed. The initial attack must be realistic so that the defender feels like they are under attack. If the defense drill requires the student to block an initial attack, then make sure they perform a good block. If the defense drill requires a Bada Chagi (stopping kick), then let the students know that their goal is to take the kick before the attacker can get the initial attack in. After the initial attack, the defender needs to counter attack with a fast, short, and technically accurate counter attack using 5 -7 techniques. The person defending the counter attack needs to move back and work on defensive movement and blocking (if techniques are close enough to them to block). Keep in mind, the goal is not to try to block the entire counter attack; but rather, to get out of the way, work on proper defensive movement, and block only if needed.
The last group of defense drills deals with reacting to Close Range Defenses. The attacker would grab their partner with a head lock, choke hold, rear bear hug, etc. The defender’s goal is to recognize the hold and break out decisively using proper technique. It is important that the students have a slight pause between each step of the release in order to show precise movement. Then after the release has been performed, the student should follow up with a short, quick counter attack. At a more advanced level, the defender would break out of the hold and take his/her partner down and finish-up with a couple follow-up techniques.
Overall, be sure that the students understand the goal of the defense drill they are performing. Spend time working with students by encouraging them and teaching them the proper way to counter attack, move defensively, react to an attack, and to shift properly when blocking techniques. Finally, pay close attention to over-aggressive students so that we can avoid injuries in the dojang.
Air shields are used in class in order for students to hit a target with full power and speed. Beginning students should focus on the power of each individual technique. As students increase in rank, they should focus on the power and speed of a combination using techniques up to their rank. Upon completion of each combination the students should ki hap loudly and then prepare for the next combination by stepping back or resetting their stance.
When teaching students how to attack the air shields, it is important that the students impact the shields rather than push the shields. The measure of one’s power is not how far back they can push the air shield holder; but rather, how much they “shock” or impact the air shield. This is accomplished by hitting fast and driving into the shield with accurate techniques. With this thought in mind, be sure to pair students up with someone about the same size and rank. Remind the students that if they cannot hold the shield to let an instructor know so that they can hold it for them.
As a general rule, try to position the shield so that it covers from the student’s shoulders to their waist. This will help lessen the chance of the student hitting a shield holder because of excessive shield level adjustment. However, some level adjustments can be made for students lacking flexibility in order for them to be effective on the air shield. For students performing individual techniques on the air shields (i.e. white belt test), position the air shield so that the center is at the target position. When holding for individual punching techniques, the shield should be positioned on your arm so that it moves as the student attacks.
For junior students and/or those of smaller stature, try not to brace the shield against the body. Instead, let it give a little for them so that they do not become injured. In all cases, be sure to give adequate distance for the student to apply all of their techniques.
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