POST 421 09NOV2019 LEARNING ATTITUDE and LEARNING MODELS

		www.clubmasterhoang.blogspot.com  POST  421                                 09 NOVEMBER 2019 (CONTINUED from Post 420 ) Thinh-Su, Asking the Master
		(continued from Post 420) For this week (Post 421) you are invited to continue to practice this chieu (small form) Asking the Master, under the two following aspects: The “Tinh”, Essence, and The “Khi”, Vitality, Energy.  -Step 3. The TINH, Essence. Under this aspect we will explore the core value of the intended teaching in the form Asking the Master. a.Source. Once a pupil came asking a master the secret to success in life. The Master educated him through a series of 18 lessons; each lesson was symbolized by a posture. The whole set of 18 postures makes a long form of movements (quyen) called Hoanh Son. This small form Asking the Master consists of 6 first postures of Hoanh Son from the 18 lessons taught by the Master. b.Teaching. These 6 postures carry two subjects: Learner Attitude, and Learner Training. - Good learning starts with good Learner Attitude (postures 1,2,3): Sincerity, be determined in  willing to learn; Purity, be honest on the way of searching for the truth;  Respect, be respectful and proactive to ask questions. - Learner Training (postures 4,5,6): The Mountain, be strong physically and mentally; The Archer, having vision is being capable to see the real target, seeing beyond the reach of normal view; The Moon, being capable of discernment; knowing that the finger pointing to the moon is not the moon itself and the moon reflected by the water of a river can help express many aspects of the real moon. c.Application. Under this chapter when performing the form Asking the Master we concentrate our efforts to reflect the essence of the above teaching. So in the execution of the first part (postures 1,2,3) moving speed must be slow and thoughtful; and in the second part (postures 4,5,6) each movement must be clear, firm and expressive. -Step 4. The KHI , Vitality, Energy. How to express the KHI when we perform these six postures? There is no direct answer for this kind of question. The learner will perceive the KHI after a long period of practicing; each one will get a kind of personal experience regarding the issue of KHI. This experience could be perceived in a different way for other learners; however the more you practice the more you will grab the Vitality of these postures. If you video your practice at different points in time for a relatively long period surely you will be able to see the progress of the Vitality in your performing. This is called   catching the “inner-power” and it is the aim of this LUYEN THAO training. g.m Phan Hoang (08 November 2019)

		www.clubmasterhoang.blogspot.com  POST  421                                 09 NOVEMBER 2019 _____________________________________________  VIETCHIDAO Teaching of Master CHARLES PHAN HOANG ___________________________________________    LEARNING MODEL         and EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE
		Many learning styles exist on the way of searching for knowledge. However, for the purpose of this Post 421 which deals with the quyen (form, kata) Asking the Master, we will consider only three styles or models of learning as follows: passive learning, active learning, and proactive learning. - Passive Learning. In this model the students just have to follow the teachers and learn their teaching. And the teachers, Black-Belt or Red-Belt, do everything from choosing the subject, establishing the schedule, giving instruction, conducting the training, grading the students, and so on. This model is very popular in many places; students and teachers seem to be satisfied because it requires less intellectual effort and management skill comparing to other models. In fact, this is an outdated model which, in the long term, will generate many negative consequences. Because students are trained to accept what was taught and to follow the designed path, they are not trained for creativity and critical thinking, so they are able to execute any techniques they had learned but they will get lost when it comes to make difficult decision in a new situation that requires creativity, open-minded attitude and skill for  research work, let alone the capacity to  follow the evolution of the world of martial arts beyond the space of their own club, and to judge new techniques and methods. A danger that needs to be said here is the passive learning attitude can generate and maintain the passive teaching process : Because there is a phenomenon of self-satisfaction on both sides, students believe they learn well and teachers believe they teach well, so no change needed.  Over the years teachers repeat, again and again, the same training to different generations of students!         Now, in life, this model of passive learning continues to be the norm of national education in different countries I have visited in the world. This help understand why these people are less effective in action because the knowledge they had acquired in school is staying a passive knowledge ; without someone directing them what to do they do not know how to transform what they know into effective action solving practical problem in the today-open-world-competition. Many of them believe that in order to increase their revenue they must increase the number of their working-hours per week. So, their motto is “Work!  Work! Work!”, few of them could discover that to increase their revenue considerably they should change the way they work and make  each working-hour generate higher revenue. In other word, find a new job or create something new.        - Active Learning.  Active Learning engages both students and teachers in a dynamic process of teaching-learning and discovering together the truth (knowledge). Communication and interaction are good ways to make the process of teaching-learning dynamic; exchange of different views and critical thinking must be encouraged. For the student, in order to transform the gained knowledge into an active knowledge, the knowledge that helps take practical action, the student might constantly keep in mind the question Why did I learn that? How could this knowledge be useful to me?  This is a good strategy for learning. And the philosophy of learning could simply be: “We learn to gain active knowledge, not useless knowledge”. In this model the role of the teacher is sharing, guiding, inspiring rather than transferring knowledge. The aim is to form competent people capable to take decision in a difficult situation, to fight with creative spirit, to cooperate with mutual understanding, and to be independent at work. The training in educational martial art Vietchidao is not for the sake of martial art but for shaping the character and the competence of our students.          - Proactive Learning. In this model dynamic students go further; they don’t wait for the learning opportunity to happen to them. They choose the objective and design the learning contents then go searching for knowledge. The best strategy for obtaining knowledge is asking for it. But don’t ask any one, Ask The Master! This means ask the most competent person in the concerned field. Do not ask general question; break the subject into several specific questions and start with what is the most attracting question to the person you are asking. For example, avoid asking a large and vague question such as “Last year how did you win the championship?”, rather ask “Is that your  flying kick which surprised your opponent and  decided your victory?” then after, a further question could be “So what is the most important factor to make a flying kick successful?”, and so on. g.m Phan Hoang (08 November 2019)

END OF POST 421