Self-Training
By James Oberschlake
The Dojo Kun says, “Be Faithfull.”
Funakoshi said, “Karate is like boiling water. You have to keep a fire under it to keep it going.”
Okazaki Shihan says you need to self-train at least 15 minutes a day, 5 to 7 days a week.
Some things you just can’t get without practicing on your own. Karate is one of those things. If you come to class regularly and obey your instructor, you will make progress, but without self-training you will not mature to the level where karate will seriously impact your life and benefit the lives of others.
Consider a piano teacher: A piano teacher usually gives lessons once a week. Students are required to practice on their own 1 to 2 hours a day. What do you think would happen if a student showed up the following week without practicing on their own? The lack of progress would be evident. The teacher would probably have to repeat the lesson of the previous week. The student would be admonished, and the need for self-training would be re-emphasized. If the student fails to incorporate self-training into their daily life, the only song they will ever play is “Chop Sticks”.
Becoming proficient at a musical instrument, achieving fluency in a foreign language, playing a sport at the college level, exercising to maintain optimum health – these are examples of other things that require the daily devotion of self-training. Self-training is essential to the mastery of all skills and areas of study.
Psychology has measured the importance of daily review. If a student learns something and reviews within 24 hours, long-term retention will be 80 to 90 %. If the student waits 48 hours or longer, long-term retention drops to 20%.
Consider the inefficiency of time and energy and the amount of relearning necessary when a student fails to practice daily review: Let’s say a student learns 100 units of information each day, Monday through Thursday. If the student practices daily review, 360 units out of 400 is retained, and preparing for Friday’s test is not a great burden. However, if the student does not practice daily review, 80 units out of 400 is retained, and studying for Friday’s test becomes a much more difficult task. Without daily review, more forgetting than learning takes place, and learning becomes stressful and unproductive. Teachers should try to incorporate review into their lessons, and a student should review daily even when no homework is assigned.
Many karate dojos offer instruction only 2 or 3 times a week. Even if classes are offered every day, many students will not attend every class. This situation leaves many 48- hour gaps to be filled with daily review and self- training.
Here is what I want you to do:
Take personal responsibility for your development in karate.
Incorporate review and self-training into your daily life.
Motivate yourself with more than guilt and other negative emotions.
Seek truth.
Create beauty.
Help others.
.
By James Oberschlake
The Dojo Kun says, “Be Faithfull.”
Funakoshi said, “Karate is like boiling water. You have to keep a fire under it to keep it going.”
Okazaki Shihan says you need to self-train at least 15 minutes a day, 5 to 7 days a week.
Some things you just can’t get without practicing on your own. Karate is one of those things. If you come to class regularly and obey your instructor, you will make progress, but without self-training you will not mature to the level where karate will seriously impact your life and benefit the lives of others.
Consider a piano teacher: A piano teacher usually gives lessons once a week. Students are required to practice on their own 1 to 2 hours a day. What do you think would happen if a student showed up the following week without practicing on their own? The lack of progress would be evident. The teacher would probably have to repeat the lesson of the previous week. The student would be admonished, and the need for self-training would be re-emphasized. If the student fails to incorporate self-training into their daily life, the only song they will ever play is “Chop Sticks”.
Becoming proficient at a musical instrument, achieving fluency in a foreign language, playing a sport at the college level, exercising to maintain optimum health – these are examples of other things that require the daily devotion of self-training. Self-training is essential to the mastery of all skills and areas of study.
Psychology has measured the importance of daily review. If a student learns something and reviews within 24 hours, long-term retention will be 80 to 90 %. If the student waits 48 hours or longer, long-term retention drops to 20%.
Consider the inefficiency of time and energy and the amount of relearning necessary when a student fails to practice daily review: Let’s say a student learns 100 units of information each day, Monday through Thursday. If the student practices daily review, 360 units out of 400 is retained, and preparing for Friday’s test is not a great burden. However, if the student does not practice daily review, 80 units out of 400 is retained, and studying for Friday’s test becomes a much more difficult task. Without daily review, more forgetting than learning takes place, and learning becomes stressful and unproductive. Teachers should try to incorporate review into their lessons, and a student should review daily even when no homework is assigned.
Many karate dojos offer instruction only 2 or 3 times a week. Even if classes are offered every day, many students will not attend every class. This situation leaves many 48- hour gaps to be filled with daily review and self- training.
Here is what I want you to do:
Take personal responsibility for your development in karate.
Incorporate review and self-training into your daily life.
Motivate yourself with more than guilt and other negative emotions.
Seek truth.
Create beauty.
Help others.
.