Class (Yellow Belt Drama)

Wednesday class was interesting on a few levels. Of note: This is the first class I've completely ran solo as an assistant instructor. Master Rion took the senior belts downstairs & I worked with White, Yellow & Orange belts.


Just to give you a point of reference, I consider myself to be overly fair & patient when instructing. My philosophy is to educate first, discipline second. Nothing gets my blood boiling faster than people who assume everyone knows the rules.


Let's start with the Orange belts (RHIP, right?). Overall, excellent. True, most of them are adults & are in the class because they want to learn, want to work out, etc. This group followed instructions & with the exception of a couple young kids, showed perfect bearing. I think we got a lot done & the adults really appreciated the exercise before the Christmas break.


Moving on to the Yellow belts. Oh, where, where, where to start with this motley bunch? Well, none of them wanted to follow the rules. This sometimes happens when Master Rion isn't around, so I was prepared for it. I lined them up, organized them & made sure they showed proper respect for the school. No, I didn't lay into them with push-ups & such (remember my philosophy?). Now that they know where I stand, push-ups most definitely will be involved if there's a "next time".*


One incident I should mention: a young Orange belt tried to "pull rank" on a young Yellow belt. Folks, I *don't* tolerate that crap! I calmly explained to the young fellow that rank is NOT for lording over others. I will never do that as a black belt & won't tolerate it from any subordinate rank. It's disrespectful. Rank must be earned every day it is worn, not thrown around like a chew toy.


The White belts - the least experienced group - had the best behavior. No exceptions. I wish I could get more students to act this way. They followed instructions, enjoyed themselves & worked very hard. If this were grade school, I'd give them a gold star!



* - Now that I think about it, maybe 8-count body builders would be a better idea...