The Dolphin, The Dog, The God and His Followers
Once again, on my way home from Aikido, I listen to Hidden Brain on National Public Radio. It is an interesting program that examines patterns we see in daily life through the lens of psychology. This time, the show is about learning and teaching physical movements. To be exact, they are looking at how to train physical movements efficient via judgement-free learning.
The show starts by recounting the story of how a biologist accidentally became the developer of dolphin training procedures by applying theories of Skinner and Freud. These techniques are still in use today. The natural question becomes: Can we apply these methods on humans?
A coach who trains medical professionals to perform complicated surgical procedures explains how he adopts the "clicker training" that is originally used to train dogs on training surgeons. He explains how carefully broken down, detailed procedures paired with emotion-free directions help students focus on the task at hand. To find out for himself if this really works, the host of the show, who is a self-proclaimed klutz, even volunteers to go through a session of training to learn how to tie a surgical knot.
As an Aikido student/ instructor, I find the topic extremely interesting. I have always wondered: Aikido movements are actually rather simple. Why does it take so long for one to be proficient at it? Is there a way we can teach/ learn Aikido more efficiently?
In the show, the host correctly points out that the teacher and the student have very different power position. Teacher has the expertise; Student does not. Teacher has power over Student, but not the other way round. Plus, during their interactions, inevitably, Student wonders about what every single response from Teacher means: Does he likes me? Does he dislike me? Is he angry with me? Is he happy about me? Does he approve of me? The internal conversation in Student's mind goes on and on. Often times, self-defeating thoughts emerge from Student's mind. All these psychological noises cloud Student's mind and make it really hard for him to concentrate.
I could not help laughing in the car because I remember going through all these questions in my head when my teachers are simply standing nearby. I would be so nervous that my heart almost pops out of my mouth. My body stiffens and it becomes so hard to breathe. My belief that I am good for nothing solidifies in no time.
As we all know, most people do not handle criticisms very well. Negative emotions arise from criticisms can be detrimental. Interestingly. as the host points out, praises are not very constructive either. If Teacher throws praises at Student, there is a tendency for Student to focus his efforts on earning more praises from Teacher, but such actions detract attention from the actual learning.
I am not going to bring a clicker to the dojo and start teaching students like training dogs. Yet, I wonder how we can take advantage of the insights from the show to make training more fruitful.
Unlike the coach who has only a short-term relationship with the surgeons he trains, Aikido instructors have ongoing relationships with their students. How do we foster judgement-free learning despite our relative power positions, difference in expertise and the emotional dependency of students on teachers?
Traditionally, Aikido sensei is like a god for the students. Students bear a combination of admiration, love, respect and fear for their "god". If the ideas from Hidden Brain are correct, the traditional dynamics between teacher and student may actually be rather counter-productive. All the intermingled, complicated emotions that students have for their beloved teacher may only intensify the psychological noises in their minds.
I have encountered in different occasions where one particular student seem to hit a brick wall in class. These students looked overwhelmed and became almost teary for no good reasons. As I suspected, they had been beating on themselves on the inside. Ironically, the pressing desire to do well becomes an obstacle for improvement. The emotional stress is unbearable.
When this happens, I try to find an opportunity to have a private conversation with the student in question to help release the pressure. Students who have this kind of issues tend to be quite bright, very eager to learn, and thus, have high expectations for themselves. Yet, their expectations sometimes can be so unreasonably high that they are, essentially, setting themselves up for "failure". It takes time for me to help them see how far they have come along and how well they actually have been doing. It is extremely important to help them set reasonable goals for themselves so that they can pace themselves properly. Before we end, I never forget to reassure them how much I like and care about them. I want them to know that here is no reason to doubt the love I have for them. I love them as a person. It is not hinged on their performance in class. They already tried their best. What else can I ask for? Many times, by clearing the air this way, students look more relaxed and confident in class, and they flourish.
I remember my teacher, the late Kenneth Cottier Shihan, used to tell us: Don't worry about if you will ever get a black belt. Yes, you will. Everybody can, as long as you keep practicing.
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=616127481
The show starts by recounting the story of how a biologist accidentally became the developer of dolphin training procedures by applying theories of Skinner and Freud. These techniques are still in use today. The natural question becomes: Can we apply these methods on humans?
A coach who trains medical professionals to perform complicated surgical procedures explains how he adopts the "clicker training" that is originally used to train dogs on training surgeons. He explains how carefully broken down, detailed procedures paired with emotion-free directions help students focus on the task at hand. To find out for himself if this really works, the host of the show, who is a self-proclaimed klutz, even volunteers to go through a session of training to learn how to tie a surgical knot.
As an Aikido student/ instructor, I find the topic extremely interesting. I have always wondered: Aikido movements are actually rather simple. Why does it take so long for one to be proficient at it? Is there a way we can teach/ learn Aikido more efficiently?
In the show, the host correctly points out that the teacher and the student have very different power position. Teacher has the expertise; Student does not. Teacher has power over Student, but not the other way round. Plus, during their interactions, inevitably, Student wonders about what every single response from Teacher means: Does he likes me? Does he dislike me? Is he angry with me? Is he happy about me? Does he approve of me? The internal conversation in Student's mind goes on and on. Often times, self-defeating thoughts emerge from Student's mind. All these psychological noises cloud Student's mind and make it really hard for him to concentrate.
I could not help laughing in the car because I remember going through all these questions in my head when my teachers are simply standing nearby. I would be so nervous that my heart almost pops out of my mouth. My body stiffens and it becomes so hard to breathe. My belief that I am good for nothing solidifies in no time.
As we all know, most people do not handle criticisms very well. Negative emotions arise from criticisms can be detrimental. Interestingly. as the host points out, praises are not very constructive either. If Teacher throws praises at Student, there is a tendency for Student to focus his efforts on earning more praises from Teacher, but such actions detract attention from the actual learning.
I am not going to bring a clicker to the dojo and start teaching students like training dogs. Yet, I wonder how we can take advantage of the insights from the show to make training more fruitful.
Unlike the coach who has only a short-term relationship with the surgeons he trains, Aikido instructors have ongoing relationships with their students. How do we foster judgement-free learning despite our relative power positions, difference in expertise and the emotional dependency of students on teachers?
Traditionally, Aikido sensei is like a god for the students. Students bear a combination of admiration, love, respect and fear for their "god". If the ideas from Hidden Brain are correct, the traditional dynamics between teacher and student may actually be rather counter-productive. All the intermingled, complicated emotions that students have for their beloved teacher may only intensify the psychological noises in their minds.
I have encountered in different occasions where one particular student seem to hit a brick wall in class. These students looked overwhelmed and became almost teary for no good reasons. As I suspected, they had been beating on themselves on the inside. Ironically, the pressing desire to do well becomes an obstacle for improvement. The emotional stress is unbearable.
When this happens, I try to find an opportunity to have a private conversation with the student in question to help release the pressure. Students who have this kind of issues tend to be quite bright, very eager to learn, and thus, have high expectations for themselves. Yet, their expectations sometimes can be so unreasonably high that they are, essentially, setting themselves up for "failure". It takes time for me to help them see how far they have come along and how well they actually have been doing. It is extremely important to help them set reasonable goals for themselves so that they can pace themselves properly. Before we end, I never forget to reassure them how much I like and care about them. I want them to know that here is no reason to doubt the love I have for them. I love them as a person. It is not hinged on their performance in class. They already tried their best. What else can I ask for? Many times, by clearing the air this way, students look more relaxed and confident in class, and they flourish.
I remember my teacher, the late Kenneth Cottier Shihan, used to tell us: Don't worry about if you will ever get a black belt. Yes, you will. Everybody can, as long as you keep practicing.
https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=616127481
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