Teaching Martial Arts: The Way of The Master, by Sang H. Kim

his book: "Teachin Martial Arts: The Way of The Master" by Sang H. Kim was printed originally in 1991. The actual book here is from 1997. Sang. H. Kim, Ph.D., has his background from primarily the Korean arts of taekwondo and hapkido.

Even if some of the methods and ideas in the book tend to focus on these Korean martial arts, that does not make the content any less valuable to other arts - after all the principles of teaching and learning are universal. As such, any martial arts practitioner will potentially benefit from reading a book based on teaching another martial art. If you do tai chi, you can very well find great stuff in a book about teaching karate for example.

Mainly these principles are what this book is all about; that is: what creates a good learning environment where students and teachers can give their best as well as receive the best.

The book starts off by presenting a picture of the unique sides to the martial arts, pointing to the physical benefits, the vast amount of unique techniques, as well as the various psychological benefits - self-esteem, self-confidence, control, disiplin, respect and so on.

Next, the author discusses the essence of teaching by highlighting what he calls the five laws or principles of teaching: Planning, Motivation, Recognition and Individuality, Practice, and Evaluation and Feedback. Sang H. Kim makes a point of stating and showing that there are various steps to each of these five principles. One example could be that the point of Evaluation and Feedback contains positive reinforcement, follow-ups and more.

The next chapter is about developing the traits that really should be a part of being a martial arts exponent: A positive outlook on life, a good attitude towards self and others, disiplin, respect, loyalty, etc. Then the author goes through the development and practise of the various parts of a syllabus, discussing the methods that can be used. Following this, you will get to the methodical aspect of teaching: Structure, teaching plans, teaching prosess, professionality, tips on keeping the interest and motivation high, as well as other things.

Finally the author talks about running a school/dojo (or dojang as it is called in Korean), treating students, customers and parents properly, taking calls and so on. Unless you plan on opening a professional school this may (in my opinion) be the least interesting part of this book. Mind you, I'm not saying that this is unimportant. I'm just saying that the other parts of this book are more interesting and usefull to me as a teacher within the martial arts community.

This is a very good book that will give you lots of tips and tricks on teaching. You can do much worse than reading it if you plan on becoming a teacher - or indeed a better and more confident teacher! As always, my advice is to begin your search on: Abebooks.

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