The importance of Teaching

My Sifu was once talking to my student and mentioned that he would be better at Kung Fu if he had a few students of his own. That basically by having students you are forced to become better at Kung Fu and it makes you more of a master than if you simply practice on your own.

Often in legend and pop culture there is a moment in the Sifu disciple relationship where the student becomes the teacher. This is always a big moment after years or some sort of catastrophic event. But actually you can learn from your students right from the beginning. And if you spend all your time learning from your students while you are teaching them, you spend a lot of time learning and improving. No great student or person simply practicing by themselves can learn as fast as someone who is constantly learning from so many fresh perspectives. It is learning and adapting to all these minds that actually gives you that aura of a master. Probably more so than your actual skill (which is of course also important)

But that means that teaching cannot simply mean performing in front of 200 people and having them follow along. A video recording can do that. Just as they are watching you, you are watching them. What is easy for them to do? What isn't? When do they listen and why? When don't they and why?

But in a class structured where there isn't any talk back, the Master doesn't learn much from the student. It is those one on one encounters, questions, and outright talking out of turn that improves you.

Here are a couple quotes from children that have changed the direction of my teaching style and art significantly.

On basics, from a trouble maker
"He says it's Kung Fu but it's not real Kung Fu it's just kicking and punching."

On push hands, right before I am bout to explain how to do it, from a girl who is the "model student" type
"Wait can we just do it instead of learning how to do it?"

But these tidbits cannot compare to real conversations.

A while ago I started teaching and learning from this elderly woman in the park. I haven't seen her since Noah started school. But Mainly I was teaching her push hands. She says that she found my advice extremely helpful. But she would also have a lot to say about what she thought about this concept or that concept. Because she was talking more about concepts, and using her own language, instead of parroting things she heard or talking about specific moves, I actually found that I could take this information, ponder on it, and actually use it. I.e. I was learning from her! And I told her so.

Recently in practice I actually learned from something she said. It had to do with the tree leaves deflecting the wind. What is faster than the wind? Well more on that concept later.

She also talked about Pouring weight instead of shifting it. I found this good terminology too. After all. It's cool to say stuff in Chinese that rhymes and then translate it, and to talk about animals that you only see sometimes in the zoo. But it's nice to have stuff from everyday life in America to draw from as well when explaining something.

In my after school program class, I am learning more and more from those children by trashing my old curriculum. They are still following what I am doing, and we do a ton of basics. Except the basics are on in a circular fire dance. and so even though we are now dancing around a cafeteria, around the perimeter, we have plenty of space.

Also one girl came up to me crying because someone colored over her portion of the lion head (yes arts and crafts are part of my class) and the conversation I had with her was something I wouldn't even be able to have in my old classes. In the military style follow me form type classes, if you cried I would ignore you while a teachers helper comforted you. At most I would just ask you to sit this round out.There simply wasn't time for that.

But nobody is crying in the circle dance. (Well one kid but it had to do with sharing. Since we switch heads, that's easy enough.) Plus this coloring over my part made me realize how fundamental the making of the heads is to the spirit of what I am trying to do. Every child expresses themselves their own way, in the dance, and in decorating the head. But ultimately we come together as a group because the dance is a group dance, and many people work on the same head.

Also the heads that they started making themselves were pretty cool. I mean, we have a robot head.  That;s cool. I am excited and learning a lot. From my kids, from my students, from random people at the park.

Teaching is a very very important part of you Kung Fu.