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Jun 26
2009
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I am working with a 6-year-old girl, teaching her forward rolls in the children's Aikido class. A forward roll is a way of transferring your weight from your arm across your shoulder and back to the opposite leg as you go over. Your head should never touch the mat. My student's forward rolls look like somersaults. She has done two of them. She says, "I'm good at it."
I say, "Try to do it without touching your head. See, like this." I demonstrate. She does another somersault. I say, "Try it again." I guide her movement so that she does not touch her head. She does not look pleased. We do a few more, she improves a little.
"Now lets try some backward rolls." I change the subject.
She says, "I'm not good at them." We proceed.
Is this conversation about being good at it helping her to learn or getting in her way? If I want to learn, I need to say, " Sensei, would you please take a look at my forward rolls and tell me how I can improve them?" If I want to learn a skill, I first need to be willing to do it badly. Then I can be observed, get corrected, practice some more, and improve
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