Every Instructor teaches differently and has there own personality that they bring to the class.
But the lesson structure should be the same for each instructor that teaches.
Below is the basic structure of a class and a couple TIPS to take into account when teaching and writing out your lesson plan.
Starting the Class
Before every session ask if anyone is injured i.e. knee pain or sprained wrist.
Offer them an alternative technique or do double on the non injured side.
If you have any serious injuries occur during the class, call an ambulance and don’t move the injured person.
All instructors should have a first aid training if they’re going to be running a class.
The Bow
The start-of-class bow is a way to switch student’s brains in to “training mode.”
In many martial arts, a bow is used to indicate that the class is going to begin and that students should leave their day-to-day lives behind.
It also creates a sense of unity within the group and establishes respect between the instructor and the students.
The Warm Up
The purpose of the warm -up is to prepare the body and mind for activity. This means that the student should feel warm and ready at the end of the warm-up — Not exhausted. Every warm up and stretch can be different and typically should only last for a maximum of 15mins.
Make sure the warm up and stretch matches what is planned for the lesson. For example, if the lesson is going to focus on kicking, the warm up should facilitate this with lots of leg focused drills and stretches.
The Teaching
One of the biggest mistakes that instructors make – particular at the early stages of teaching – is over-teaching during a class. Most students don’t learn from listening (3 way of learning) to instructors talk about the intricate details of every technique, and most students can only really retain three or four techniques per class. Especially with beginners classes only focus on 2-3 key points in any drill or combination.
Overloading beginners with too much detail makes them feel overwhelmed and make them quit. Less is more with beginners. Save your technical masterclass for the advanced students.
The art of good teaching is linked to Disguised Repetition. Great instructors find a way to drill students on the same techniques repeatedly without boring their students.
The End
At the end of the class, give a recap of the drills/lesson whilst they are cooling down.
If the class was mainly kicks, then a gentle cool down stretch of the legs, punches, stretch the upper body.
This will help prevent DOMS Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. No more than 5 mins to prevent boredom or losing interest.
TIPS
PEMDI
P= Preview the Techniques. Frame the purpose and the use of the technique. For example “Today we’re learning a Snap Punch/Jab. It’s used for…”
E= Explanation of the technique – explain the technique in context.
M= Mistakes common to the technique. Make sure you mention the most common problems that students face, so that they can avoid them before they even start.
D= Demonstrate the technique from several different angles.
Full speed and half speed.
I= Involve students in the learning process be asking questions and including them in the discussion.
PPP Pair Partners Properly
To prevent unnecessary injuries and make sure everyone has a good time, Instructors should pair partners based on (not in order):
- Size
- Skill Levels
- Gender
- Athletic Ability
- Competitive Interest
- Toughness
- Injuries
With an odd number of students, you can put the students into groups of 3 and rotate the groups.
