Meet Me Half Way
50 / 50
Half and Half
In a previous blog I referred to a comment Sifu Ip Chun once made to me, saying:
“Fifty percent of your Wing Chun comes from me and then other fifty percent comes from yourself”
Well, after a recent grading I found myself reminded of this again.
Now this is not meant as any for of disrespect to those who graded, in fact it is not even aimed AT them, I actually refer to the questions and answers from so many students at the classes building up to this event.
It is so easy as a teacher, to believe that you have covered something and that the student therefore should know it, especially when this comes to a grading or assessment, but unfortunately this is not the case.
Time after time I will ask a class such things as:
“Have I mentioned this before haven’t I?”
Or
“You do all know about this don’t you?”
Questions to which I am 100% sure that they will know, and have me thinking to myself:
‘Here I go repeating myself, again’.
But to my surprise this is not the case, nearly ALWAYS, I find that half the group have forgotten all about the thing, and the other half have not yet heard it.
You see it’s so easy to assume that a student knows this stuff already, and for those with experience who are new to teaching it is so easy to forget how much YOU actually know, and subsequently assume that the person you are talking to also knows what you know.
NEWS FLASH, THIS JUST IN…
THEY DON’T!
As teachers we will try to offer all the answers before they are even requested, BUT as a student it is up to you to ask the questions.
Dig deeper into your techniques and try to know more about what you are doing.
It is not enough to just do what your teacher tells you.
“The more YOU understand a technique the better you will make that technique work FOR you”
The best students are not always the ones who do what they are told.
Sometimes breaking the rules and stepping up, especially when it’s in the search for knowledge, is actually necessary if you are to achieve your goals.
There is a lot of truth in the phrase:
‘Do as I say, not as I do’
BUT…
Ask questions,
Search for knowledge,
Want to know more and
Do not miss out on opportunities to learn when they are presented to you