When it comes to coach education, if we wait for national organizations to do the right thing, we might be waiting until hell freezes over. We have many dedicated volunteers trying to do the best job they can, but honestly, none of the organizations has espoused a great vision when it comes to developing better educated coaches. For that reason, we coaches must take development into our own hands. We must become autodidacts- self-learners- driven only by our desire to better ourselves as educators.
Monthly Archives: February 2011
Building a Better Teacher
I’ve added a new article entitled Building a Better Teacher. It can be found under Articles.
What goes on in school classrooms throughout the United States repeats itself on our Judo mats. We are all educators facing the same problems. I hope you will find Building a Better Teacher interesting and useful.
The Chicken-and-Egg Dilemma
In his latest blog post, Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, asks, “What would you do if you received a check for $50,000 tomorrow to help develop talent in your team/school?” The four options were; pay for new facilities, hire the best single teacher or coach, bring in a series of camps and seminars, and pay existing teachers and coaches more. So, what would you do? What comes first? The chicken or the egg?
Breaking with the Past
As I get older, I’ve become less tolerant of things that irritate me. One big irritant has been the IJF rules. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how many times I’ve complained about the silly rules and the clueless IJF luminaries who keep messing with my sport.
Gaijin Teaches Judo in Japan
During my trip to Japan in December 2010, I had the pleasure of visiting the Yamagata University Medical School Judo Club, coached by Dr. Hiroshi Takei, a former student of mine. In spite of the name, the club has a large children’s program in addition to the university players. I attended two practices. Dr. Takei invited me to teach the last hour of the second practice. When I asked him what he would like me to cover, he half laughingly said, “Transitions,” an obvious choice.