Thursday 15 October 2015

Wisdom is wasted on the old...

Well...that's not necessarily true. But it's awfully dramatic. And seeing as I haven't figured out how to make my blog pretty yet, dramatic will suffice.

We've recently had a new lad come into class. He's 17, still at high school, and not at all like "all-those-other-damned-kids!"
Suffice to say, as I get older and settle further into my role as resident curmudgeon, I do find myself agreeing with some of the things the old-folks used to say about us kids.
Lazy.
Stupid.
Disrespectful.
But then are they really? The kids I mean?
 These 'kids' are used to a casual state of relationship, like we each had before we had to learn as adults that a lot of people have external locus' of control, and as such the opinions of complete strangers end up meaning so much.
I believe their cavalier attitude may simply be an off-shoot of this social awareness. Which is to say, they're assuming association with us, and each other, already. (Think more: a friend I haven't met yet; and less: I wonder what they think of me).

Lazy? Are they really? Or are we just poor at giving instruction and communicating idea?
Stupid? Not by a long shot. This is the time of their lives when they're taking in so much information that mere adult minds can neither remember, nor fathom. (So types the guy who's struggling to remember whether he brought lunch to work or not...nah, surely i did...i think).

The truth of it is this folks...its entirely our own perspective getting in the way.
This kid, having recently started in our class and is picking things up SO quickly. He doesn't ask a lot of questions, but then he does actually listen.
He's invested in the interaction.
He has involuntary reactions when he realizes his stance is slightly out, or his jaam sao should've been a bit more 'just-so'. And more importantly, (to my ego), he makes visible improvement every week.
It's so refreshing.
Cause I'm telling you now, the WORST students are adults.
Have you noticed that often adults will come into class with their 'full cups' making comments such as, "in my last WC we did this," and "but that's not how we used to do it"...which is why you're in a different class friend. 

Now, his kid is no learning superman, nor a Kung Fu Natural. He's just receptive. That's all.

I've noticed that a typical class for an adult involves assumption, conversation, excuse making, and ultimately time-wasting.
Remember, these are gross generalities based on what I see in class. It could be a reflection of Auckland thought processes, New Zealand learning culture, or even another point of view that I haven't accounted for. And there MUST be a multitude of other potential reasons.

We've had Tai Chi guys through our class, we've had boxers, and we've had folk from the Leung Ting, Chu Shong Tin, Lo Man Kam and William Cheung lineages too! And they've all been good people...for the most part. The single, most powerful similarity they all had was arrogance.
Don't get me wrong now...I'm not talking of striding around with their chests puffed out, nor saying, "x is superior to y because I study x so I've got the best perspective!", though I've heard that in a class briefly too.
They've each had something interesting to share with us about their style.
And yet they all repeated, "ah...but this is how we do it in so-and-so". This is reasonable if I'm coming to your class. But you've come to ours, to share what we're doing...so listen and embrace it.
Having said that, these comments are reasonable in the context of comparing this-with-that, to better understand what it is that you've learned. Until that point is reached, you're merely making the learning process harder for yourself. 

After the class you can do as you like, but during that class...all I ask, is that you invest yourself in that moment. Don't waste this opportunity to learn a new perspective.
I'll even join you over a cold and fizzy beverage to discuss the differences, and to receive your deductions about my system. Happily. After all, the words you give me only have the meaning I allocate to them. If I think you're full of shit, then there is nothing to help you friend...but still, I'll let you say your piece.

By extension this could be just as valid in social interaction, work negotiations, or even buying product from your local grocery store.

I suppose the important thing to take away from this, though I doubt its been portrayed clearly, is that patience is needed in the classroom...and potentially more so than at school. Most of what you learn in a class may be forgotten in time as you're concentrating in a different direction, such as forgetting English because you're concentrating on Calculus.
In WC there is only WC. It's ALL important. And it takes time, patience and understanding to communicate the complicated intricacies involved in such a Simple system.