Extra Post: October

Much of the same happened this month. Running games, occasionally doing a weapon or kata.

However this month was a tournament. Tournaments are times for the kids to compete in kata and weapons against the other cities. At the tournament I did assist in some more teaching. My mom took several pictures for me. These pictures are the ones I chose to use for my 1st Lesson.

What's going on here is Anthony (the guy sitting down who I mentioned in September) is speaking out the nunchuck form while I am preforming it for the kids to follow, for extra practice before the tournament. I was going intentionally slow to make following easier. In each of these I have my head turned so I can look at the kids and see who is doing it correctly and who isn't. Most of them were doing well. The younger ones who I can only assume are too young to get it were the ones messing up.

My mom left before the tournament started. During the tournament I was a judge for the competitions . I basically shadowed Anthony while he judged. The kids were so young I did the forms while they followed me. The same thing I was doing in these pictures, just one kid at a time, and weapons and kata.

Much of the month of a tournament is dedicated to weapons and kata. While I didn't do much along those lines with the young kids, I did help out a lot with the older kids. (And when I say kids I mean people slightly younger, equal to, and older than me.)

Another part of tournaments is how they are times for people to receive their black belts. I have a little friend with the older students who was testing for it. I spent a lot of time training him in his weapons for the test. He passed the test too! I didn't get a picture, but I will say he is the younger brother of one of us seniors.

I have several stories to tell from the tournament, but only one has anything to do with the kids. Before each competition the judge does a run-through of the expectations and what will happen. However the group we received consisted of a 5 year old girl, 5 year old boy, and two 6 year old boys. The 5's were asking questions the whole time like "When do we get the trophies?" "How old are you?" "Can I get the big trophy?" Anthony did a good job saying composed during this, but we lost a lot of time for the competition.

After the first round, the pair of 5's came in second. This means they got the smaller medal. No matter how hard Anthony and I tried to change it, the girl could only understand. "I'm not good. I didn't get the big medal. I did bad. I came in last." Anthony said it was his first time judging and someone came close to tears. What a way to be broken into judging. I tried explaining next time it may be better, but I don't think I did a good job doing so.

I know the interview was this month, but I haven't gotten a picture of my mentor yet. I will get one in November.

Blog 8: Research and Working EQ

1. What is your working EQ?
2. What is a possible answer to your working EQ?

EQ: What is the most significant factor for teaching karate to children?

• Understanding the material being taught
• Patience in regards to slower children or those who do not want to pay attention

3. What is the most important source you have used that has helped you come up with an answer to your working EQ? 

My first interview with Anthony-sama has been the most helpful. The extra questions I put in related more to my project. As he is doing almost exactly the same thing I am, his advice was most helpful to me.

4. Who is your mentor, or where are you doing your mentorship, and how does what you are doing relate to your working EQ?

I am an assistant instructor under Sensei Walczak at his karate dojo in La Verne. As I am teaching the younger (4-9) kids, I need to know the best way to teach.

Blog 7: Independent Component Approval

As of right now, the best idea I have for the independent component is spending time helping kids prepare for their tests. I say this because Sensei and Anthony do the majority of the teaching I will have to talk to them before I can put this into action. If I am to do this, it will benefit me by being able to spend more time the kids directly. To show proof of my work, I hope to go through with the pictures mentioned in my previous post.

EDIT: After talking to Piggot, I learned that Independent Component can simply be the stuff from the Mentorship. Therefore, my independent component will be the same thing I've been doing, but with a little focus on weapons and kata.