Martial Arts Instruction: Applying Educational Theory and Communication Techniques in the Dojo

Bottom Line Up Front: Begins to fill a real need in instructional books for martial artists, but misses the mark in a couple aspects.I enjoyed reading this book; it is clearly written by a martial artist who clearly loves his art of Goju Ryu and has devoted a great deal of thought about how to best teach it. There are quite a few good tips on teaching and planning, and I liked the author's personal anecdotes that he used throughout.However, I had two main issues with this book. First, the author's over-reliance on the connection between personality type and learning is theoretically weak and unsupported, and simply not that practical for most teaching martial artists. While there is research supporting theoretical connections between personality type and learning, Mr. Kane does not adequately show, reference, or point the reader towards the support for these connections - and there has been a lot of it - nor does he discuss the real data showing that the connection is nonexistent and/or tenuous in most circumstances. Since this text is not (or should not be) an academic text, it spends too much time on this ungrounded aspect, and I believe that most martial arts instructors would be better served trying to improve other aspects of their instructional approach rather than playing amateur psychologist and trying to guess their students' MBTI. It came across as reaching for Mr. Kane's background, which does not seem to include advanced study of educational theory, and this is unfortunate.Secondly, there is a lot of unnecessary Japanese terminology and Goju Ryu specific information. Do you really need to know all of the testing requirements for progression in Goju Ryu (over 5 pages)? Unless you are a practitioner of this art, probably not. Perhaps if this had been tied into illustrating the difference between preparing to teach a beginner class or an advanced black belt class, but as it is it simply seems like filler. The discussion of many other art-specific terms and information is likewise generally unrelated to martial arts instruction, at least in the approach that would be needed by instructors in other styles.Overall, a useful book but the reader should not consider it complete.

Good book on teaching. A bit of overexplination on some things, but thats better than not enough. Mr. Kane has done the research and it ties well into teaching martial arts directly. Mostly geared toward traditional arts, especially karate systems, with enough adaptability for other arts.

For any instructor facing the future challenges of communicating with a full class of various ages groups, Kane provides the detailed explanation, how-to's, and what not-to-do's to make the job easier.

Excellent, Excellent Book. Great insights for using proven teaching methods and applying it to Martial Arts.Also other cool stuff!!

I recently had the opportunity to read one of Lawrence A. Kane's books entitled, "Martial Arts Instruction: Applying Educational Theory and Communication Techniques in the Dojo" and found it to be a fantastic book for anyone involved in the teaching of students and not just those involved in the martial arts. This book is a fantastic source for reference material concerning the art of teaching, and yes, I do feel that teaching is an art form.The approach Lawrence takes in this book is simple, yet loaded with an abundance of information that shows you various methods that you can easily incorporate into your own particular style of teaching regardless of what the particular subject is. I can almost guarantee you that if you purchase this book and study it for a few weeks, and then start applying the information that you have learned, that you will see a notable improvement in your own teaching ability, while at the same time see a marked improvement in your students.When I first read this book, I identified with a lot of the mistakes that Lawrence mentioned concerning my own teaching style especially when I first started teaching students a little over 20 years ago. Although it is imperative that we as individuals make our own mistakes, it is not that easy or desirable to make mistakes when you are responsible for the development of another individual. Although Lawrence's focus is on teaching the martial arts, a lot of what he tells you could also be used when teaching your own children. However, you would have to modify your teaching method a bit.The following is a brief review of each of the six chapters in this book and what there main focus is on.Chapter One: Understanding Learning Style DifferencesIn this chapter, Lawrence delves into the different types of personalities that an instructor will undoubtedly find in his students, as well as, how to tailor your teaching style to best suit each individual personality type. He also delves into the use of the five senses in order to enhance your teaching ability so that your students not only retain more information, but also enjoy the lessons being taught.The five senses are; seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling, and smelling. Although it isn't practical to employ the use of all five in every lesson plan, you should try and devise a few that you could use once every month or so. I used a similar approach once teaching a group of law enforcement officers and the response I received was very encouraging. It works so use it.Chapter Two: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Tool to Understand Student PredilectionsThis particular chapter is quite complex, yet Lawrence makes is all seem rather simple with his easy to understand explanation of the various personality types and how they are best suited to learn and retain information. In this section, Lawrence supplies you with some very good resource material to have your own personality tested in order to determine what type of personality you have and what method of teaching is more conducive to your ability to learn.Chapter 3: Applications of the Six Teaching Styles to Martial ArtsThe six teaching styles discussed in this section are; modeling, lecturing, cooperative performance, independent performance, knowledge capture, and role reversal.Lawrence describes in detail each one of these teaching styles and provides good examples of when to teach that particular method and how to apply it to the teaching of the martial arts.Chapter 4: Fostering a Positive Learning EnvironmentIn my humble opinion there is one section in this chapter that perhaps says it all when it comes to the ability to teach another person, and that is the attitude of the teacher.This was the single most important thing that jumped out at me when I read this book. Although there is tons of useful information provided within the pages of this book, none of it is going to be worth the proverbial hill of beans without the proper attitude being displayed by the teacher.Etiquette or respect for oneself and others is so vitally important not only to the learning environment, but also the living environment where we have to co-exist with so many different people from a vast array of backgrounds and cultures.Another great subject that Lawrence brings up in this section is the importance of a solid emotional and physical environment in which to teach your students. The one undeniable single factor that is prevalent in everything that Lawrence discusses is the teacher. He or she is the one who will make or break a class and/or the students in it. You can have the most exciting subject and something that you are hugely passionate about become the most boring and painful experience if the teacher is horrible. Or you can take the most boring subject and make it interesting if the teacher is passionate and knowledgeable about how to get his/her information across to the students.Along with a lot more information on the role of the teacher, Lawrence also spends some time going over some very solid information on how to find the martial art and martial arts school that is best suited for you.Chapter 5: Developing and Implementing Lesson Plans for the DojoThis section covers not only how to devise, refine and implement a lesson plan, but also how to adapt when the plan you have is not working. It also covers a lot of really solid information on the martial arts itself and the various nuances that are prevalent within it. Lawrence also has a lot of really solid useful information concerning the martial arts and their use in a self-defense situation. He gives a couple of really good examples from his own personal experience that shows what may be a preferable way to handle a situation rather than resorting to physical means. Although one must always keep in mind that no two situations are going to be identical and what may work well in one situation may not work well in another.Chapter 6: Conclusion/Stages of TeachingThis section is rather brief as I am sure the author intended and merely goes over that which he has discussed in the previous chapters. However, there are some very good tidbits of information included here and in the next 40+ pages.This book, like all of Lawrence's books, is filled with solid useful information concerning whatever subject he has written about. There is much that can be learned from them and I highly recommend that you purchase them and study the information contained in each one of his books.Shawn Kovacich, martial artist/author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.

I've read better but 2nd hand fair price

The arrived with the print upside down to the cover? Also it took a long time to arrive and needed chasing - disappointed