thegirlsclub

[Dorothea]

I've been asked to come and teach at an event dedicated to female fighters next year. After some consideration I made up my mind and accepted. I am thinking of something along these lines:
- Friday evening - round table discussion (females only) with some leading topics (not sure exactly what yet, I have some ideas)
- Saturday morning - A walk through of the exercises and drills we are going to do during the day: why I choose them, what they are good for, and what I want people to pay attention to (for everyone)
- Saturday, all day - Various physical drills and exercises, both in armour and out (for everyone)
- Saturday evening - Theory with practical topics such as force generation, speed, components of training etc. Other topics such as goal setting, motivation, anxiety, "surviving in a competitive environment" followed by general Q&A (everyone)

Do you have any thoughts/ suggestions/ opinions? All thoughts welcome. PM me if you don't want to respond here directly.

Thanks
_________________
Dorothea Weberin, KSCA
Dun in Mara, Insulae Draconis, Drachenwald

[freiman the minstrel]

I want to come.

f
_________________
Surf less, fight more

[Cunian]

From the things I've been at, it rarely seems like most people are up for more than a couple hours of drill/exercise things without a break. Might be a thought to add in a less active segment mid-day. I don't know how long the actual amount of time you are working on filling Saturday is. Possibly a session on vetting equipment and armour... less often than in the past, but still often enough, one finds women trying to fight in/with incredibly hindering equipment.

[Dorothea]

That's a good point Cunian, I will make it so we do the physical drills in intervals, perhaps having some "theory" in between. Hmm
_________________
Dorothea Weberin, KSCA
Dun in Mara, Insulae Draconis, Drachenwald

[audax]

Pick three things, work on those and be done with it. What are the three things most women struggle with in fighting, in your opinion? Teach those three things.

That is how much anyone can learn in one dose, even in an all day class. The rest of it will be in one ear and out the other, from sheer over load. You'll also just wear yourself out.

The teaching method I see most often in SCA fighting is throw everything at the student, all at once and hope something sticks. Don't do that; it sucks and makes a difficult skill that much harder. Start with a foundation and build from there. If you wanted to drive from Dublin to Killarney, you'd consult a map, and take the correct roads, right, not just start driving in any random direction? Same idea applies to fighting.

I think an entire day is too long for teaching a physical skill. It's just too much information to process and it is a LOT of time to fill.

Don't keep people in armour while you are expositing. It's tiring and aggravating; attention will be on discomfort not information.

Teach in digestible chunks. Remember the rule of threes.

Tie theory directly to practice; don't spend three hours on theory and expect anyone to remember the first thing you said, when you finally get around to moving. I, personally, would do very very little theory. Theory is for teachers, sensei and senpai level, not for students.

Lead by example. That means your form should be near perfect for whatever physical skill it is you are trying to teach. Your students will replicate your mistakes, forever and with geometric progression.

Physical skills are learned experientially. I can spend hours telling someone how to throw a blow. In one second, I can show them and they'll get it.

The best way to learn is to teach. Paradoxically, beginners have no business teaching because all that happens is that mistakes get reinforced.
However an excellent drill for learning how to teach, since that what everyone will one day be, is simple observation and analysis.

Three man drill: two slow spar, one observes. Fight for sixty seconds (this is a LONG time), then the observer simply relates what she saw. She offers no correction, just observation. Then the group together can analyze what worked or what didn't. People take turns, no talking all at once. Again, no correction, except by high level fighters or knights. None of that "Well, my knight says this and that must be the only way." Just "I saw this and it didn't seem to work because it wasn't from a strong stance, etc". Make sense?

So an outline like this:

Subject 1
Five minutes of exposition: three things about subject 1 (hats off)
Ten minutes of drill that reinforce what you talked about (hats and bats)
Q&A
Subject 2
Five minutes of exposition; three things about subject 2 (hats off)
Ten minutes of drill that reinforce what you talked about (hats and bats)
Q&A
Subject 3
Five minutes of exposition: three things about subject 3 (hats off)
Ten minutes of drill that reinforce what you talked about (hats and bats)
Q&A

Coached sparring
Free sparring
Q&A
Drink beer, eat food, hooray!

The actual class time will work out to at least 90 minutes. More time will spent on Q&A, plus lots of processing which is best done over food and libation.
_________________
Martel le Hardi
squire to Meser Lyonel Oliver Grace, fostered to Sir Gaston de Clermont
-------------------------------------------------------

The Minstrel's Champion