Teaching one-step techniques and flow drills alone is not enough. One-step techniques are a great gateway to teaching more complex techniques, and flow drills serve as an introduction to “the flow.” However, neither, by themselves, sufficiently teaches sensitivity. 

What do I mean by sensitivity? In a nutshell, it is feeling your opponent’s energy and responding accordingly without freezing. One of the aims of sensitivity training is to eliminate or reduce the “freeze point” as much as possible.

If you are not able to view the video, click here.

How do I teach sensitivity? Admittedly, this is a work in progress. However, the method that I have chosen, for the time being, is similar to the video above. In the above video, I demonstrated four counters to Dref’s various check hand actions in the slap off/pull off drill.

Once the students have learned these three or four counters, I will direct their training partners to mix their responses to elicit the correct responses. Most of my students will initially freeze as they try to recall the proper response to their opponent’s actions. The more they practice, the smaller the freeze point becomes. The bonus is that many of them have fun with this and turn it into a game as they increase the exchanges’ speed.

Once the three or four basic counters become automatic, I will add more, usually one at a time, to increase the difficulty level, not to mention the fun!

As indicated above, this is just another tool in my teaching toolbox.  My classes have recently moved toward a mixture of flow drills and sensitivity training rather than a one-step technique. Further, I have added elements of other flow drills when extracting techniques from a flow drill. In other words, I’m mixing and matching parts of different flow drills. The possibilities are endless, but the bottom line is tons of fun for the students!

Since moving to Canada in June of 2007, I’ve come a long way as a teacher, and this necessarily means exploring the art and finding ways to impart the information in an effective, interesting, and fun way while retaining the practical self-defense aspects of the art. I’ve gone down some dead ends, teaching-wise. But those dead ends were blessings in disguise as they pushed me in different directions and led me to where I am now. I’m currently happy with the class format I have developed through trial and error. Make no mistake about it, I will probably tinker with the current approach (flow drills, sensitivity training, and mixing/matching) for awhile. In any case, I’m constantly evaluating my teaching and often thinking of ways to teach more effectively. All part of the evolution of being an instructor!

Have you had a similar teaching journey? Let’s hear about it!

Additional Reading