Through the years I have had many setbacks in training. I suffered some pretty serious damage to my knee in my early teens. This single injury resulted in several more injuries through the course of my life, and today I have what I call a bad knee, and a worse knee. Of course, the knee…
Category: Teaching
When Students Leave for Good
I am facing the truth that a couple of my long-term students are about to go off to college, and I am facing the fact that there is no telling when I will see them again. This is a post based on the random thoughts that I tried to bring into something resembling a blog…
Catch What is Right, Correct What is Wrong
Many years ago, there was a standard style of teaching martial arts. Stand at the front of the class, and bark commands. As the number of martial arts schools expanded and schools began competing over a small number of students, different styles of teaching emerged. Some had benefits, others did not. Of course, there are…
Eat Bitter
You read that right, I said eat bitter. I did not mean eat better. I cut my teeth in the traditional Chinese martial arts, and there is a common saying that translates into English as eat bitter. This is essentially a common sense idea that you have to put in the work in order to enjoy…
KICKSTART KIDS Sponsorship Drive
It is that time of year again! Kickstart Kids is a non-profit organization that teaches Character Through Karate. We operate in schools around the State of Texas offering a martial arts class as an alternate PE credit elective, and we work with some of the best kids in the State. We give them a place…
A Teacher’s Reward
I started teaching martial arts a long time ago. When I started, my biggest passion was simply to share something I really love. For me and for many others like me, martial arts are more of an approach to life than a sport or hobby. If you have ever had a moment where you have…
KICKSTART KIDS Sponsorship Drive
KICKSTART KIDS is a nonprofit that uses martial arts to recruit and retain students while teaching them life skills and character strengths. I am privileged to be a part of this group. I get to teach martial arts all day, have dinner with my family in the evenings, and I can honestly say that I…
Teaching Martial Arts: A Positive Classroom
We all have to be mindful of our interactions with our students. As I have said in the past, it is easy to catch people, kids especially, doing things wrong. There is no special skill or training needed to do this. The real challenge lies in catching them doing things right, and finding ways to…
Strategies for Teaching Martial Arts: Student Praise
As we return to the subject of teaching martial arts, I want to address the subject of praising the student’s progress. There are many opinions on the topic, and mine may just be one more thrown in the mix, but working with more kids on a daily basis, and teaching more classes in a day…
Strategies for Teaching Martial Arts: Attitude
I am going to offer a series of articles intended for instructors who teach children, but I think there may be something of value to those parents of children who are training in the martial arts in that I may be able to offer a way for the parent to judge the effectiveness of their…
Wallace Smedley 