Mat chats
Out_of_Bubblegum
Posts: 2,220 Member
Does your school participate in "mat chat"? That is, do you have a time at the end of class when the class or instructor talks about things? Most often during end-of-class stretching.
If so, what topics have you enjoyed? Any fun/cool stories to relate?
If so, what topics have you enjoyed? Any fun/cool stories to relate?
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We don't have that. I feel like I'm missing out now. We do pause the class for discussions though1
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If we end with sitting down stretches and our chief instructor is taking the class, he likes to ask us to think about the class and name one thing we each learned that day. Then he goes round and ask everyone what theirs was.
In the children's advanced grade class, all the children are being given a bit of constructive feedback on how they did and what to keep working on at the end of each class. (Emphasis on constructive.) But that's probably because of what point we're in, in our testing cycle.
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We don't have it either, though my class is mostly kids. We line up at the end of class and usually he'll go down the row of us and say what our "homework" is - different for each student. We usually have a post class conditioning drill. Also he prefers to speak in Mandarin (which I don't speak) sometimes he even yells at me in Mandarin - I have no clue. I figure at some point I should take some language classes!3
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We end class by giving stripes to each student, going over the upcoming schedule, and paying respect. For the kids they also receive extra stripes for completing tasks at home that their parents sign off on.1
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Our classes end with a physical conditioning routine, announcements (e.g. "grading is in one week, please practise", "the disability spaces in the car park are not drop-off points", "entry forms for the competition next month should be in by X date so Master Y can finalise the event schedule"), presentation of any belts, and paying respect as a class.
Then we make our personal farewells: in the children's class, all children shake the instructor's hand, but not each other's hand; in the adults' class, all students shake each other's hands, too, before bowing out of the room.2 -
In kobudo we have a 10 minute sit-down at the end of the lesson where we discuss different weapons, their origins or how to take care of them (things like stripping down and cleaning a katana), or we might discuss the origin of a specific kata, or sometimes people bring in unusual weapons they have acquired. We've also sometimes used this time to learn some spoken or written japanese, or even to learn to meditate. It's a part of the lesson which is dictated mostly by the students and makes it feel as though we are learning about a whole culture rather than an abstract concept.1
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It's a part of the lesson which is dictated mostly by the students and makes it feel as though we are learning about a whole culture rather than an abstract concept.
I think this is important in martial arts... to honor the culture that created the art as well, not just to learn the physics, mechanics and mentality, but also the art, the language, the philosophy.
For me, Martial arts is not just about learning how to fight, but how to become the best "me" that I can.
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Before class officially starts he'll sometimes tell historical stories about the forms, their creators, battles, etc. Mostly just after promotions. Sometimes he'll ask how we are physically, inquire about our injuries. The first class in each session he'll give us a verbal synopsis of that session. "This session I want to focus on..." and tell us why. After each class, while we are packing to leave he walks around and randomly gets our feedback of the class or will give us constructive critism if we ask or if he is so inclined.1
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