“The one concerned with days, plants wheat; with years, plants trees; with generations, educates people” (Yanusch Korzak)
A mere hundred years ago, Japanese martial arts were practically unheard of outside of Japan. Even Competitive Judo, which is well known today, and is being practiced worldwide, was only introduced to the Olympic Games in 1964.
Today Japanese Budo are widely practiced in Europe, however it would seem that Naginata is spreading slower than other arts, such as Kendo, Aikido, Karate and even Iaido.
What makes such a difference? Why some arts succeed in fame while others don’t? While there could be more than one answer to such question, I would like to point one very significant factor – Children.
There are numerous benefits in teaching children Naginata:
- Children are usually more available compared to adults as parents are inclined to send their children to after-school activities.
- A potential for long term growth. A kid who starts at the age of 10 will reach a very good level by the time heshe is 18.
- Encouraging the existing members of the club: A good way to understand Naginata is to explain it to others. Thus even if you are not an accredited sensei, running over kihon or waza with a younger student will have a good effect on your own technique.
While this is correct with any student, in our case it is even more so, as in order to keep kids interested you as teachers must be creative and resourceful.
- The next generation: Kids who will start naginata today will be the leaders of European Naginata in 20-30 years.
- Money makes the world go round. The more kids you get into your dojo, the more money is involved. And that means more training, more competitions, more seminars and so on.
Sounds good enough, but it’s only the beginning. The major problem is that many Naginata practitioners in Europe have little or no experience in teaching children. As I’m teaching children naginata for about 6 years, I’d like to point out some basic rules that I find handy.
- Don’t wait for them to come to you.
Hardly anyone knows what Naginata is. Even less people know that it’s so awesome. Therefore most of the kids will simply never hear about it unless you bring Naginata to them. That can be done in several ways:
- Schools – some schools offer some sport classes within or after the usual daily curriculum. If you know the director, one of the teachers, or even a student that studies there, try and get an appointment. This path is a bit tricky because many schools require a teaching degree special insurance other bureaucratic paper in order to admit you to teach Naginata in school. Such problem, however may be avoided if you only demonstrate Naginata and invite those who are interested to YOUR dojo AFTER school time.
- Cultural Sport events – This is not necessary only for children, but if you attend such event, make sure you bring flyers and a blank papers to write names and phones of people who are interested to see more.
- Community centers networks – This differs for every country, but if you are a part of some community – make sure everyone hear what Naginata is and that you are the only (and the best!) teacher around.
- Friends – Kids tend to move in groups. “If all of my friends go to basketball I want too”. So here is your solution – You know a kid who is willing to come and try Naginata? Ask him who his friends are and try to get them interested.
- It must be personal.
I’d bet that if I’d take 100 strangers from the street and tell them about Naginata, many of them would say that they would like to try it out. But if I’ll tell them that trainings are on Tuesdays at 19:00 at the local sport center – The chances are that no one will come, even though they seemed very interested.
This gap between getting interested in Naginata and actually coming to training is a serious issue that you should be aware of.
- Naginata is what the student wants it to be – The new “recruit” has his own imagination and circle of interests. When you talk to him you must understand it and “adjust” Naginata to his interest. If he is young and sportive talk to him about competitions and shiai, if he is more spiritual you can get into the deeper meanings of budo and its history, if he is concerned with health you can talk about the physical benefits of the practice. What is important that every person will be able to see “himself” in the Naginata, even before the first training.
- Remind them a day before – While in some cultures it may be considered impolite or even aggressive, try and call the new guy and remind him about the Naginata class. E-mail and SMS reminders aren’t good options, as they are not as personal as a direct call. Just imagine that a person you’ve met calls and asks you if you are planning to come. If you say “yes” you are likely to remember it and actually come, while an e-mail is easily brushed aside and forgotten.
- Communication with the parents – If the parents are convinced that Naginata is a good idea – their kids are more likely to come and try it. That means that you as a teacher should be able to explain them what are the educational values of Naginata. A good source for it is Bennet’s book, specifically the part about Naginata Concepts.
- If the student misses a class it’s your responsibility to know why – A new student had missed a class. Maybe he is sick, maybe he was tired. But maybe he has a problem with the training. What if he was insulted by some other member? Or that he was injured and no one noticed? Or that he has problems with money and is too shy to talk about it? There is nothing wrong in you calling and asking if everything is ok. Just make sure you are really asking about him “Hey man, I didn’t see you last time, I just wanted to ask if everything is ok?” and not saying things like “OK, make sure you come next time”, because that does sound a bit oppressive. Naturally, if a person asks you not to call him or says that he wants to stop altogether just let it go.
- If the training is not fun you are doing it wrong – That doesn’t mean that the training should be easy or not serious. Quite the opposite. Most of us enjoy hard training and if anything, end up smiling, photo it and post it on facebook ☺. For kids, it’s similar. There are several ways of making the training “special”
- Games – Kihon are the basics and everyone has to go over them again, again and again. But it doesn’t mean that the trainings are run in the same manner. I love playing games with my students, and it keeps the dojo alive, because even if I decide that we will only be doing, say, soku-men for a whole hour, we will do it it many ways that will keep the students on their toes.
- WOW Factor – “a quality or feature that is extremely impressive”
What it means is that you need to impress your students, not because you are proud about your abilities in Naginata, but because you want to show the students how far they can reach and what waits for them in the future. It can be a complicated and flashy waza, or some personal story that you can connect to the training, either way – it has to be something that you like and believe in yourself.
Another great WOW factor is national and international results. Many of us had at least a few positive results in shiai and engi, while modesty is an important factor in budo, make sure that the students are aware of your achievements, because when you return from a a tournament with a medal, you prove that what you really know what you are doing, and success is addicting.
- Small victories – Everyone should experience success. It can be a small inner dojo competition. It can be simply awarding everyone with a dojo T-shirt, zekken, tanegui or one of those cute Naginata gifts from Japan. What’s important is that everyone will feel that they have achieved something important even by simply showing up for training.
- It’s not the art – it’s the teacher.
There are a lot of jokes about the notorious exam-question “Why did you start Naginata”, but the really important question that should be asked is why did you continue? One of the reasons that children choose to go to a martial art is because the teacher makes them feel comfortable, respected and valued. While the position of a sensei in a dojo is a very long topic to discuss, I can tell that when a student feels that you are giving him tools not only for the martial art you are practicing but to life as a whole; he is very likely to continue to train for many years. So if you chose to be in a position of a sensei, please remember that your job is not only to open the dojo at 18:00, lead Naginata training until 20:00 and then say goodbye until next time. You must be able to feel and adapt to your student’s needs.
There is a lot to say about recruiting and teaching methods regarding children. What you all should remember is that it is our duty not to concentrate only on our personal improvement, but also on spreading the martial art we all care so much about it.
For any comments, questions or concerns please feel free to contact me Naginata.Israel@gmail.com
Yours,
Gur Nedzvetsky
Israeli Naginata Federation (ISRNF)