Leading groups of people through formal exercises

Formal exercises, such as kata, are the biggest differences - physically - between what we do and your classic fighting training.

Working with a student one-on-one is fairly straightforward, but when leading a group of people, things can get a little tricky. These exercises are very detailed and it can be easy to either bypass a lot of good opportunities for correction or go into every detail too much and make the entire experience a bit boring.

That being said, with everything executed properly, a whole group of students can massively benefit from training in formal exercises.

Here are some thoughts:

 STUDENTS SHOULD KNOW WHAT IS EXPECTED FROM THEM.

This is often overlooked, but essential communication from the teacher. All formal exercises have a multitude of practice styles. The instructor having the student body aware of what goals he or she expects from them, will go a long way to helping them achieve that goal, not to mention a sense of consistency.

VARY THE TONE.

Little is more effective at controlling the tempo of a class than voice inflection. Proper use of voice inflection can emphasize and reinforce the goals and expectations of the exercise.

EYE CONTACT.

Formal exercises are repetitive by nature. Therefore, it is extremely easy for the student body to, mentally, start to drift off. Maintaining eye contact with each individual student will help the instructor know whether or not a student is focused or not. Additionally, students tend to be more attentive if the instructor is looking at them. Obviously, with a group, the instructor has to be good at rotating through all the students in or to achieve this.

OFFER DETAILS DURING THE EXERCISE.

Formal exercises have a lot of details to work on. When counting through the exercise, the instructor will do well to remind the student body which detail he or she wants them to focus on JUST AS THEY ARE APPROACHING that part of the exercise. For instance, saying "remember to snap your kicks" just before the student body is about to execute a kick, will remind everyone of what the instructor wants them to focus on.

SET THE EXAMPLE.

Remember, nothing teaches better than a good example. Teachers and instructors in all professions can talk until they are BLUE IN THE FACE, but nothing speaks louder to a student body than the performance of the instructor.

ENDING REVIEW.

After a formal exercise is completed, an instructor will do well to say something complimentary. Nothing is needed to be exaggerated, a simple "thank you for your efforts" will set the tone nicely. That being said, this is a fantastic opportunity for the instructor to give an assessment of the classes performance. "Good effort, and the kicks were better, but we can still take it up a notch!"