The Importance of Taking Correction – An article by Josh Haigh

When first starting your martial arts journey, everything is new and progress is swift. You still wont have every move exactly right, but the relative increase in knowledge and skill is quick. Then comes the process of refinement. Hearing the all too common refrain of ‘bend your knees!’ can become annoying, and being told you are doing a move wrong can be irritating, yet it is this constant process of putting you back on the correct path that will make you good, and even great. And we all want to be great martial artists!

Asking questions in class is extremely important. If there’s something you don’t know, don’t understand, or can’t get the hang of, ask! “Why do we do it this way?” “Why can’t I do tiger whips its’ tail?” Your instructor is there to help, and asking questions is an excellent way of getting your moneys’ worth.

When you are corrected by your instructor, you have a choice. You can accept the correction, and perform the movement in the new way, or you can ignore the instruction and not improve. If you don’t want to improve, why are you doing kungfu?

When learning any new skill, the process can be described simply. Practice, correct, practice, correct, etc. With some skills, self-correction is possible. DIY, for example. If it falls to bits, look on this as a valuable learning experience… With kungfu, it is not possible. So although you can learn movements from a kungfu instruction book or video, without the correction of someone who understands the principles behind the movements, you are not doing ‘real’ kungfu, you are doing bad kungfu that wont ever get any better!

I always want to be corrected. I know that I’m not perfect. So, I want to improve as often as possible to get as close to perfection as possible. If I finish a lesson without learning a new move, or having an old one corrected, I’m always a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I love training no matter what. And teaching kungfu is a joy in itself. But being corrected or learning something new is priceless.

By not asking for correction, or even avoiding the instructor(!), not only are you not getting better, you are actually getting worse. Mistakes are not corrected, and magnify over time. The only way out of this trap is by having your moves corrected and refined over years and years and years until you simply cannot do them any other way.

See you in the training hall,

Josh Haigh
Eastbourne Instructor