Judo Class Management, There is Power in A Question

Judo Class Management, There is Power in A Question

I ask questions in my Judo class management. There is power in a question. Power to keep my Judo students (judoka) attention. Any question, it doesn't have to relate to the class. In fact the more random the question the better. Once I have their attention I can then explain to them what I want them to do.

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Of course, questions like: “Do you understand?” are a waste of time without follow-up questions such as: “Do you have any questions?”

Obviously, you can always ask a student to repeat back to you what you said in their own words to clarify understanding and you should do lots of that as an educator but it's just boring if that is the only question that you ask.

Try asking “What's your favourite colour?” completely out of the blue when you want someone's attention. It doesn't have to even make sense. In fact the less sense it makes the better attention it will get.

Then there is the more serious question that helps to learn such as: “What do you think I should do next? and “Where should I place this arm/ foot?” learning is not just about telling students what to do; a question helps them to think a solution through themselves.

I don't always give them the answer. I let them spend time working out for themselves.

I always encourage my students to ask me questions. That means they are thinking and that is the sort of students I want. I do this by asking questions that encourage them to ask me questions back. Questions such as: “What are you struggling with?” and “what do you need to know?”

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Here is an example of a question I use to teach rules that I want to get the students to learn by heart: “what do not have to remember when you are doing this?” The answer is of course whatever rule it is that I want them to recite back to me.

Naturally, if they don't remember the rule I tell it to them and get them to recite it back to me; but the process is all started with a question.

Questions are a great way to get a student's attention and they are also an excellent way to manage a class. This is because whilst they are thinking about the answer to your question, they are not thinking about disruptive behaviour.

Enjoy
Sensai
Richard