2024-03-13

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

It’s Spring break week for most local schools, so the youth & family class had only one student tonight. That’s okay - he’s a new student, and he’s been having trouble with his kata, so we spent almost the entire hour going over it. In situations like this, I find blue painter’s tape to be a great tool.

Using painter’s tape, I’ll mark off the kata embusen on the floor, including step markers and even a few dotted lines to indicate turn direction. Since there was only one student, I could measure it out precisely to his stride length. At that point, it’s all a question of repetition:

1. Do the kata on the tape, with me explaining every move.
2. Do the kata on the tape, with me just counting.
3. Do the kata on the tape, with the student counting out loud.
4. Do the kata on the tape, with the student counting in his head.
5. Do the kata on the tape, but not looking at the tape.
6. Move over and do the kata elsewhere on the floor, with no tape.

Roughly 30 minutes later, he was able to get through the kata without assistance.