How to treat your students

I finally finished the first battery of course work for my teaching certification for public schools. This week there was alot of inspired teacher talk. "You make the difference in a child's life!"


"A child will perform to your expectations if you believe in them" We were being taught by a master level teacher Mark Benthall whose passion for education flowed over the crowd.



I was talking with one of my spiritual guides a few years ago, Master Aaron. We got on the discussion of the Dali Lama. I am heavily influenced by Zen thinking but there are some things my intellectual mind doesn't buy. I asked "Master Aaron, do you really believe the the Dali Lama is the current incarnation of the Bodhisattva of Compassion? Really?"



Master Aaron responded "What if you were to take a child, and tell him that he is one of the most important holy men in the world? What if you you were to give that child the best education and surround him with other holy men of the highest caliber? What if you respected that child's words and honored him?"



What if you were to genuinely tell every child that they were here for something very important? What if we made them believe they were responsible for leading us and teaching us the most important lessons?

Thank you for the lessons Master Aaron and Master Teacher Benthall for reminding me how I should not only treat children, my aikido students...but really how I should treat all people. They are all special.

The Life Giving Sword

No one came to Aikido practice tonight. It gave me some time to think about magic and the concept of the life giving sword.

An Interesting Fight

I don't really watch fights very often. Every once in a while I stumble upon one that I think is interesting.

Here we have a fight between two kung fu fellows. One has a kicking strategy and the other has a judo like strategy.

Taxonomy of Throws

Currrently over at the Kaze Uta Budo Kai site a few of the fellas are debating the technique that is used in this video. Some vote gyakugamae ate, others vote gedan ate.

conversation at Kaze Uta



A few weeks ago I was working out with Hussey Sensei. I asked him to tell me the names of the techniques he was using. "I don't use techniques, I use principles." Many teachers say that, but Hussey Sensei really does it.

Hussey Sensei's comment got me thinking about the conversation we are having about gedan ate versus gyakugamae ate. Really techniques and there names are learning tools. While useful at a certain level of our development, I think at a certain point they cloud our minds that simply want to move in freedom and create aiki.

What makes a great teacher?

Currently I am going through my teacher certification training course for elementary visually impaired children. One of the questions they keep posing to us is what makes a good teacher?



This has really struck me, not so much in the world of formal education, but in the world of budo. Examples of excellence shined through.


I think in the martial culture we have built for ourselves, having a teacher that can beat us up is almost irrelevant. Of course technical insight is important. But really the ability to lead a drill or game so everyone can learn is the primary roll of a martial arts. Really the set is stage so we can teach ourselves this stuff.

My teachers inspire me. Inspiration is a funny thing. Every time time I meet one of my teachers, I am usually looking for my one little gem. It is usually a moment I feel them doing something I had not noticed before. I then scurry back to my dojo and attempt to recreate the gem for the next 4 months or so. This is how my inspiration works.



I think great teachers bring people together. They are the center of a networking world of other experienced budo men.

All of these other attributes are irrelevant compared to the teachers ability to invest in a relationship with you. I am now excited to be at a position in my martial career where my teachers call me and email me. We chat about the ins and out of esoterica. I travel more and more to hang out with cool people, or I bring them to me and my students to spread their warmness and influence.



My teachers are my friends. They have knowledge and simply want to experience the richness of sharing their explorations. They inspire me with their words and actions, and I work hard to make them proud of my practice. I only pray that the people that call me teacher feel the same way about me. I have big shoes to fill, but I have good role models that we show me how to walk the path.

Aikido calligraphy in tensho

It is a hot summer Sunday in Texas. Tis time to play with brushes.

New video found of Ma Yue Liang

This is a video I found of my favorite push hands player Ma Yue Liang.

From Wikipedia;

Ma Yueh-liang (Chinese: 馬岳樑; pinyin: Mǎ Yuèliáng; August 1, 1901 - March 13, 1998) was a famous Chinese teacher of Taijiquan. He was the senior disciple of Wu Chien-ch'uan, the founder of Wu style Taijiquan, and married Wu's daughter Wu Ying-hua in 1930.

I have posted many of his videos before, but I keep uncovering new ones!



Wikipedia of Ma Yue Liang