Grading Project 2013

Aaron Potter

My project for my black belt grading is split up into four main areas:

a)    As a Martial Artist what methods of communication do we use to learn Martial Arts?

b)    As a Martial Arts teacher what methods of communication do we use to coach?

c)    How are these skills transferable between sports, work and education and socially?

d)    What do you think are some of the most important points made by Dale Carnegie in his work on ‘Effective Communications and Human Relations.’

Before I can answer the questions in the topic I have to know the different definitions of ‘Communication’. The Oxford dictionaries definition of communication is: “the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium such as television.” This means that there must be at least two people in order for communication to take place, a sender and receiver. Therefore communication must be something used to inform people and as well to educate.

The word communication itself comes from the Latin word “communis” meaning to share. The topic of communication is in itself made up of different elements such as verbal and non verbal communication. Communication is part of our everyday lives and some believe that without methods of communication humans and other species would not be what they are today.

I have been doing martial arts for around four years now, so I have seen how different methods of communication are used to teach martial arts. I see this area of the topic as not just the methods used today in modern western karate, but also in eastern training methods modern and ancient too. This way I am able to see how the methods vary across time.

In order to fully understand the sections on the topic I will have to put myself in the shoes of coaches, senseis and the everyday person in the attempt to try to fully understand the ways communication is used. As a student, I know well how teachers in schools teach their students so they can get lots of information into them. However people teach different things in certain ways.

Why do they teach this way? How does it measure up to other techniques of communication?

The topic involves me thinking and researching from the martial arts perspective as well as non martial arts perspective too. My research will be done online with using Google with the use of other people’s blog sites for the views of teachers and sensei’s, and also sites like Wikipedia that will give a balanced view but however seem to be less useful than the blogs. I will also use my own personal view and experience to support and give views. I will have to look up certain sources to answer specific elements of the project. I will use the internet as I am unable to interview or go see different sports in action. As a sports leader I will be able to give a perspective of how communication is used in non martial art sports.

As usual, I find proving projects like this tricky (for example proving the different ways coaches teach martial arts), but I will be able to quote who I have got my ideas and research from and try to argue my points in a way that would support and back up my answers or points on communication.

I will present my findings in update from March till December with new findings and thoughts on previous ones. I hope to take each section of the topic one at a time and give updates for each in my report at the end of March, April, June, July, August, September, and October. If I find anything interesting after this time is will publish it in concise updates. The at the end of the project I will give a lesson in communication but I will decide what to put in this once the project is complete.