Hints in Teaching Judo:
A Motor Skill
by Professor Merlin Estes
&
Professor Lamar Fisher

[Drills]
[Explanation]
[Demonstration]
[Practice]
- Make drills attractive.
The competitive type of drill,
such as relays or other forms of competition,
is good, especially for the younger set.
Do not linger too long on any one specific drill or
exercise as this tends to form monotony and cause a lack
of interest.
It is much better to return to an exercise later than to
continue for a great length of time.
- Qualification.
The teacher should epitomize all qualities which they
seek in their students. By this we mean
such things as sportsmanship,
the democratic outlook, roles of clean living,
etc. for certainly without these the sport of
Judo would go back many hundreds of years.
- The motor skill should be explained briefly first.
The language should be simple and to the point, as not to
confuse the slower students.
The voice should be kept at a conversational level
and directed at each student.
- Where the art is in two or more parts,
the parts should be explained as a whole,
then broken down again briefly.
- Demonstration of the art should be given by an
instructor or an advanced student as slow and as perfect
as possible. This can be given with the explanation if
the teacher so desires.
Each part of the art should be gone over separately
with the explanation to its purpose of the whole.
- Safety should be pointed out here,
with the demonstration, as necessary for the completion of
the art. No art is complete unless the executor can finish
the art with good balance and permit his opponent
to perform a good fall. Each art has its own specific
safety feature. The elimination of needless hazards by
all means is important.
- The new art should first be given by the teacher and then
practiced with an advanced student until it can be done well
enough to pass the safety requirements.
If an advanced student is not available, the teacher or
instructor should be there to help them with the first
few times through.
- Analysis of the art should be made from time to time,
to eliminate imperfection and incorrect learning.
A student should never be referred to as
BEING WRONG
in any art or part of any art, but rather, that he could
improve the art, or part, with a small change in his
procedure. He will then have a chance to reassemble his steps.
- Work on a specific art should continue until the student
can perform without trouble. This may take some time
and tend to be tedious. In this event, the teacher should lend
as much support or encouragement as possible.
Failure tends to result in a lack of responsiveness or
withdrawal, so it may be necessary, for the sake of success,
to alter or vary the art to fit the student's learning power
as a temporary measure.
- Rewards - recognition should be given as often
as possible to motivate an eagerness of learning.
All factors which affect learning favorably may be said to
motivate learning.
- A student found to possess a negative attitude
should not be given the opportunity to learn these arts.
There is no place in our sport for those who would use
it incorrectly.
[Drills]
[Explanation]
[Demonstration]
[Practice]
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Last modified: 99/01/04 14:41:14
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