{"id":24914,"date":"2018-06-18T10:41:57","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T16:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meifushinkageryu.ca\/?p=24914"},"modified":"2018-06-18T10:41:57","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T16:41:57","slug":"the-daily-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meifushinkageryu.ca\/the-daily-50\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Daily 50”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Starting to learn Shurikenjutsu is very exciting. It can also be very competitive, relaxing, and sometimes frustrating as well. When I started to learn Meifu Shinkage Ryu in 2014, I already had quite some experience with Shurikenjutsu, however, being the only student in Canada and sharing this path with Darren Thomas, it was difficult to adjust and transform our skills to become “MSR-style”.<\/p>\n
Research in education has pointed into various directions when it comes to how students learn best. John Hattie (Visible Learning, 2012, 2016) analysed more than 1,200 studies and concluded that 10 teaching habits are essential for assisting students with their learning. These 10 habits can be summarised with a single question that any educator needs to reflect on: “What is the impact of my teaching on student progress?”<\/p>\n
Hattie reports more than 180 factors that effect learning in various positive and negative ways. The effect sizes are constantly changing, based on new evidence that Hattie finds. Below I choose 7 that not only have a extremely high impact on learning, they are also applicable to teaching martial arts.<\/p>\n
How does the above impact your learning as a martial artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n Before addressing this question, I would like to take care of a the misconception that many students have about learning and progress: “the amount of effort a student puts into studying”. Effort by itself only describes the physical component of “being there” and “doing”. If a student puts a high amount of effort into learning a skill using an inefficient learning method and without measuring the impact on learning, this student may be learning a particular skill without much progression. Such a student may be “new to the skill for 10 years in a row”.<\/p>\n However, pair “effort” with any of the above concepts, and all students can succeed. Let’s look into this deeper.<\/p>\n In 2015, I developed a strategy I call “The Daily 50”. This strategy mainly assists in creating a new habit (growth mindset), replacing a less effective habit. “The Daily 50” is about scheduling 20 minutes every day for Meifu Shinkage Ryu to practice one skill. Focus only on that skill, and pair with with self-grading. For example, perform 50 Shomen-uchi thrusts with Bo-Shuriken, and after each set of 5 thrusts, reflect on what the Bo-shuriken are “telling you” (angle, penetration, sound, grouping) and on how you feel (that one thrust felt really good, do you have any tension in your body, balance, relaxation).<\/p>\n But there is more to “The Daily 50”. In fact, Hattie’s research validated the need for additional components. Let’s look into these in relation to the impact on your learning.<\/p>\n One factor I would like to make stand out:\u00a0Instructional Quality<\/strong>. How are you learning and who are you learning with and from?<\/p>\n A common phenomenon\u00a0 in Martial Arts is that people break\u00a0 away from their teacher too early to continue alone.\u00a0 If your skills are developed up to a certain level of proficiency, you require the assistance of what Vygotsky called “A More Knowledgeable Other”. This other person is a teacher who’s skill development is at a much higher level than yours. This teacher provides feedback, beliefs in your skill, helps you grade how you are doing, and tailors the instruction to your needs.<\/p>\n There is one more essential component that ensures the quality of instruction: the continued development of your teacher<\/span>. How often does your teacher visit his teacher? Does your teacher actually visit Japan to further study not only the martial skill, but also the culture, habits and language? How does your teacher reflect on his\/her own development? Does your teacher constantly want to invent new skills? Is your teacher ignoring advice from more knowledgeable others?<\/p>\n Essence:<\/strong><\/p>\n There is much to reflect on when it comes to studying anything, martial arts in particular. Focusing this article, the following four aspects I tell my students all the time:<\/p>\n I hope that the above helps any student reflect on their own martial arts learning path. Opinions differ, and the above is my opinion supported by current research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Common aspects of essential learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25022,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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