Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

As previously mentioned, I have transitioned from teaching group classes to private lessons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last few months, the tenor and format of the private lessons have changed quite a bit compared to the pre-pandemic private lessons.

Before the pandemic, my private lessons followed a general formula. We started with warm-ups, followed by the Bamboo Spirit Flow Drills and sometimes worked on curriculum material. Students will frequently ask to work on material they are not confident in. Pre-pandemic, many of my private clients often attended one group class per week at Harmony.

However, in this pandemic period, the tenor of my private lessons has changed, starting in September. First, I stripped down the curriculum to include only the Bamboo Spirit Flow Drills and their applications. Secondly, the fact that I shut down the group classes, meant that my clients would get to train with me just once a week. Yes, there is a downside to training exclusively with me as it breeds familiarity with my timing, speed, and rhythm. Of course, they can train with their classmates if they want to. In fact, I encourage them to do so as long as they take COVID-19-related precautions.

Given that they would train with me once a week, one major change concerns the intensity of the sessions. We often constantly move from the moment we start the lesson to the end. I have less material to teach. Consequently, the sessions focus on quality instead of quantity of techniques.

Material-wise, we start with the warm-ups. Then, we typically cover the flow drills required for their next rank. I extract applications from the relevant flow drills and insert them into reaction training sequences. These sequences are intense and fast-paced. One can say that they are designed to pressure test the client.

This is the beginning of “structured play” that often incorporates elements of the “Clearing Drill aka Flow Drill 2.”

Since September, I have developed several preset feeding and defending sequences performed at high speed. No matter the sequence, it must end in a technique extracted from a flow drill. For example, if a student is required to know “Abanico Corto” for the next rank, the sequences will end with an Abanico Corto technique.

That said, while I am feeding them, the client must maintain form, body structure, and good footwork. If any of them fail, we will start over at a slower pace and correct those errors.

One such sequence is an “efficiency drill” that I designed to teach one client efficient movement. I am encouraging this client to eliminate all wasted movement.

Sharing with Dref a new drill that I designed for another client.

The nice thing about this is that you can insert any technique or concept into this drill. The bottom line, though, is eliminating wasted or telegraphic movement. The first time he went through this drill, the client in question instantly improved. Amazing! And it took me a while to come up with a solution. Yes, we instructors can be slow in figuring out solutions. It’s a process! I will soon be sharing this with most of my private clients.

Anyway, bottom line, I have increased the intensity of the private lessons compared to my pre-pandemic private lessons. In addition, I’ve narrowed the focus to stick material for now. It’s been a fun and rewarding experience!

Postscript: Yesterday, rumours started circulating that Ontario will go into a 28-day lockdown effective Christmas Eve. As details dribbled throughout the day, it appears this will be a hard rather than a soft or limited lockdown. We will find out today. Of course, I will be looking hard at the lockdown rules to see if I can continue teaching private lessons. I’m going to assume the worst-case scenario. On the other hand, this may be an opportunity to make further changes to the private lesson format. We’ll see.

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