The warm up is finished. The instructor tells you to find a partner and get a pair of pads. You put on your gloves, and execute your combination on the pads.
‘You need to pivot more on the ball of the foot, because that’s how you get power. And also, your right elbow is popping out. And also, you need to swivel your hips more when you kick. Hold the pads for a sec, let me show you’. You watch him or her demonstrate everything badly, listen to their 5-minute lecture and before you know it the round is finished and you only threw two combinations.
The second the instructor says swap partners, you quickly bow and run away as far as possible to find someone else.
You have become another victim of one of the most feared animals of the dojo – the White Belt Professor!
Sounds familiar? Then read on!
The martial arts are beautiful in many ways. One of those ways is how knowledge is passed on from teacher to student, generation to generation, over and over. Part of that cycle is that those who know more help those who know less, even if they don’t necessarily hold the title of ‘Sensei’.
This is where this can become an issue. Well, actually a few issues:
- When does one become proficient enough to teach, or correct, or help instruct, others? (Good tip if you are not sure – when you are asked to by your instructor!)
- If you are in a position to give feedback, how do you give feedback in a constructive, non-disruptive way?
- When is it appropriate to tell the infamous white belt professor to shut the hell up? In other words, if someone is giving you bad feedback, when is it okay to tell them to knock it off?
All good questions. A couple of recommended pre-readings: about the professor and his companions here and about being a good training partner here.
In this post I’m going to focus only on the 2nd point above – how to give feedback. I’ll leave the discussion of when it is appropriate and with whom to another time. So, for argument’s sake, read the remainder of this piece with the notion that you are allowed and welcome to give feedback.
Better to give than to receive?
Giving and receiving feedback is incredibly important in training. Learning how to give and receive feedback is also a crucial life skill. And, just like every skill, it takes time and critical thought to develop.
Feedback should be relevant, timely, specific, clear, and constructive.
Preferably, it should be all of those things at the same time, not just one or two of them. Let’s look at these:
- Relevant – to what you are working on right now and the question that was asked. This means there has to be some understanding of what the goal of the drill or exercises is.
- Timely – It is easiest to relate feedback with behaviour or action when they are close together in time. In other words, giving someone feedback right away is usually the best option. Unfortunately, that also gets in the way of the workout when it becomes repeated. With that in mind, if you know the feedback is going to be a bit longer, then giving a small pointer now and then reviewing in depth after class might be better.
- Specific – the more specific it is, the easier it is to address the issue. Very broad or general feedback can be very frustrating because it doesn’t help solve the problem, and can actually create more.
- Clear – we can break this down into a couple of elements. Firstly, the message has to be communicated clearly. If you are believer in learning styles, then you may need to consider different ways of showing how to fix the problem – explaining (auditory), showing (visual), and experiencing (kinaesthetic). More on this here.
- Constructive – feedback is only beneficial if the parties involved learn from it and improve. This means you need to give it in a way that encourages growth and offers a better alternative, rather than just berating the other person.
Examples
Let’s look at some examples:
- “Your jab is too heavy” … when the instructor is telling you to focus on kicks – the feedback is not relevant, and can be unclear. What does ‘heavy’ mean?
- “You’re doing this wrong. What you need to do is grab the wrist like this, no, not like that, like this, and then twist to your left, no, I said to your left, ok now step with your right foot…” – This is one of the worst types of feedback. It’s non-specific in the issue (what is done wrong) and way too specific in the feedback, and yet unclear at the same time. Lastly, it isn’t constructive. I don’t like using the word ‘wrong’. I’d usually say that’s different to what we are doing right now.
- “Hey, remember last week’s sparring session, you copped a few kicks… You need to check more kicks” – Feedback is given too late, and the delivery is a bit rude.
How would might you change these?
- “Your jab has good power, but it’s still a bit slow. Try throwing it like you are catching a ball, relax and bring your hand right back” – addresses a single issue, short and to the point and offers an immediate solution.
- “This move is complex and has a lot of fine detail, so let’s break it down to a few steps. Step 1 is X. Let’s do X ten times, and then we’ll move on to the next one” – you are not unpacking a huge amount of content that they won’t remember, it’s specific, and by keeping it short you are also keeping it timely.
- Rather than bringing it up, this something that may need prompting – “How did you go in sparring last week? We were focusing on dealing with kicks. Do you want us to review this, or do you feel comfortable?” I might then keep an eye and bring it up if the issue is still there.
Balance is Important
A couple of other tips:
- The Sandwich – a common technique for giving feedback is to go with ‘good, bad, good’. In other words, start with something positive, then give the feedback about what needs improving, and finish with something positive. This is a great tool for making people feel good about it. But be careful! Using this too often will lead to people always expecting you to say something bad after you give them a compliment. After a while they won’t hear the positive, only the criticism, so make sure you use it sparingly.
- What are you laughing at? – Humour is great, but playful banter can be perceived as mocking your partner. I will usually make jokes only if the other person makes them first, or if I know them well enough to allow it.
- There is a time to be direct – if someone is refusing to listen and keeps making mistakes that are putting themselves, their training partners or others in danger, they need to be made aware. For example, there is nothing wrong with being direct if you have a sparring partner who keeps going too hard after you asked them to go lighter.
Just like all skills, learning to give good feedback takes time and practice.
And just like many skills from the martial arts, it is also an important transferable skill. Learning how to give feedback, especially when you might be frustrated, is something that can help you with your boss or employees, with your family and friends and with your kids. There is no downside to mastering this skill, so you better start now!
(Editor’s note – read Dear Parent – The Open Letter I’d Never Send… for a related but different type of feedback we often deal with)
Stay safe, stay tuned and please let me know in the comments below how you would handle the White Belt Professor.
Osu/Oss
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- Don’t be That Person! Thoughts on Giving Feedback in Class - January 30, 2019
Our dojang has a lot of Jr. black belts. One time sparring, I noticed my sparring partner was repeating the same move and ” telegraphing ” his intention. I, a beginner was able to respectfully point out to my advanced rank partner this observation which he was not aware of.
Good on you, Jerry. We all need help with seeing what we need to improve. As long as the feedback is good and delivered well – which is what I was trying to point out 🙂