Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense, NFP

I Believe in the Slow Burn

October 15, 2024

I used to be more of a barker as a teacher, a slightly more prototypical karate kids’ teacher, maybe tending to be more of a John Creese than a Mr. Miyagi.  I believed in straight lines, eyes to the front, a quiet, buttoned-down class.  And then I started assisting classes at Sun Dragon.  It was a little bit different, a little bit wilder, occasionally chaotic.  It took some getting used to.

What I learned over time was that there was a method behind the madness.  There will always be plenty of the straighten up your back and call me "sir" when you talk to me schools.  They produce quick apparent results as rigidly enforced external discipline often does.  There aren't that many schools out there that embrace the kids who don't take to being yelled it, who are a little bit squirrely, who are much more prone to fidgeting than to standing still.  The kids who fall in love with the idea of going to karate classes but don't feel at home at the places with trophies in the window.  We believe in building that self-discipline and self-confidence from within, over time, with patience.

I was talking the other day to someone and mentioned how you never know how kids are going to turn out, who's going to be the foundation of your school seven or eight years in the future.  That tiny, shy kid who follows along, rarely says anything, just keeps coming to class might eventually be one of your most influential students.  The floppy, pouty kid who's more interested in the idea of training in karate than in the grind and physicality of training might grow into a great fighter and teacher.  The one who barely looks up, much less looks at their partner might develop a thunderous roundhouse kick over time.  Of course, you'll sometimes have those kids that you just know are going to be a leader (because they already are leaders), but those are the exceptions.

There's a subtle alchemy to running classes that allow kids (and adults) to be kids and slowly nudge them towards becoming their better selves over time.  There will be missteps along the way, times when things get a little too chaotic, times when we get the balance a little bit off.  But those are learning opportunities, chances for instructors to learn different ways to adjust the balance and to accept failures as learning experiences and chances for students to learn to self-regulate and recognize boundaries.  Those are much more important lessons than learning how to immediately stand up straight and freeze your face.  One you can mimic in a minute.  The other you take a lifetime learning and refining.

I love the picture at the top from our adult promotion Saturday.  I don't remember what prompted the laughter at this particular moment, but it says so much about our students--the joy, the the community, all of it.  A moment later, these same people were locked back in, Eye of the Tiger, all that intensity was turned on again.  I believe in a karate school where we can embrace the entire person, the joy and the intensity, a place where we can go grab a bite to eat together after a promotion or stand around and talk for twenty minutes after class about the important things that are going on in our lives.  That same ethos is what informs our approach to teaching children.  It takes time and investment from the teachers and the students, but the slow burn is worth it.  The slow burn changes people from the inside out, it doesn't just change behavior for the hour that they're in the dojo.

The straight lines, the focus, the intensity, all the little details are part of the process.  But they don't come all at once and for some students they might not come quickly.  But sometimes you get the chance to look at a teen or an adult who started with you when they were children and you can only wonder in awe at how they've grown into such remarkable human beings.  And feel grateful that you had a chance to be part of that process.