Every once in a while the question, \u201cWhat makes a good sensei?\u201d comes up for discussion. There are many valid answers for this question but this post is going to take a different approach to the standard responses. This month will continue the series looking at what makes a good training session. Since the sensei runs the session, a good training session requires a good sensei. The inference being that if you do these things then you will improve as a sensei. This post will be considering that the session should include behaviours required for the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we get too far into this it\u2019s important to have some background. Studies have been carried out into elite athletes to discover what, precisely, they look for in an effective coach. Rushall (1995, Think And Act Like a Champion) observed that, \u201cThere is a group of overt and covert behaviours that are common to sporting champions\u201d. Of particular interest is that he claimed this list was unchanging. Rushall researched the behaviours of 155 champions and record-holders over a 20 year period. What he discovered was that there were no differences between the old champions and today\u2019s. The basic core values remained the same. Of the items identified by Rushall as being the habits of champions, 10 of them are under the direct control of the coach. The sixth of these is that excellent coaching sessions include behaviours required in competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This strikes a chord as something that, for the majority of aikidoka, is not very relevant. While there are aikido competitions<\/a> the majority of aikidoka do not compete in a formal manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea behind this though, is something that relates very well to an aikido dojo and how we train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As noted above, the research was on sporting champions. By definition, it is impossible to achieve that without competing. But we can restate the concept as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Excellent coaching sessions include behaviours required by the stated goal of training.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n