Last month I had an incredible round of free-sparring with a white belt at College Dojo. Yes, a brand spankin’ new beginner who, at that time, had only about 18 classes’ worth of training. She was a petite gal, no previous martial arts experience. As with any white belt, I started off gently and slowly. I can tell pretty quickly who’s had martial arts experience – by now I’ve sparred with collegiates who have backgrounds in Tae Kwon Do, wrestling, Kung Fu, Sumo, boxing, and other styles of Karate. This gal was a complete newbie of average ability but… Oh boy was she feisty!
I ramped things up gradually, she matched my intensity. I found her threshold then backed down. She stayed right at the top of her game. I kept her there and not once did she flag or give up. It was a challenge for me as well to keep pushing while riding that edge of her spirit and ability. I admit I did a tiny bit of playing with her just to show her her where she was making mistakes. But her response was to learn and to punch me right back next chance she got. I loved seeing that.
After it was all over, her eyes were sparkling and she was smiling. She bubbled, “Oh my God, that was SO FUN!!! THANK YOU!!!”
I told her, “You’re welcome. It was fun for me as well. I love teaching.”
By now I have a good deal of experience being in “teaching mode” while sparring. It’s always great to see the students responding positively to the pressures I put on them to improve. I love the light in their eyes after we bow to each other when we’re done. When they seek me out as a sparring partner next class, that right there is a huge compliment.
This time I saw more than I’d seen before. I know part of the youngster’s enthusiasm came from her realization of her own capabilities. But I also wondered if another part of my young sparring partner’s enthusiasm was the idea that someday she too could have the joy of teaching someone else – maybe Karate, maybe something else. I hope she knows that she has that potential. Even if she never sets foot in another martial arts class again, I hope what she learned about herself and about challenging others to reach their potential will stay with her.
To all of you who have ever taught me – thank you.
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Beautiful story as always – thanks for sharing Joelle 🙂
Thanks so much, Kai! I appreciate you stopping by and commenting 🙂