I've been mulling over this for a while, we have a Ton of white belts in our class. I love that they are so eager, but they get discouraged so easily! They want to be good at everything right this instant! So....if you could do it all over again, what is the one foundation or principal that you wish you could relearn, or could have spent more time on. OR why do you wish you could be a White belt all over again??? FC
Kicking! I would go back and focus more on proper technique rather than being concerned with how high I could throw my leg! I think too many beginners are too kean to kick high rather than kick with good technique.
I definitely agree with the kicking. Mine was already decent because I spent a while in TKD where kicking was really emphasized and therefore focused on to have proper form. Although there might be subtle differences in the kicking style (e.g. spin kick), the foundation was there. On the techniques, I would say proper body movement. I see a lot of beginners focusing on the hands and ignoring proper foot work and body positioning that enable most of the techniques to work properly. In addition I think beginners focus mostly on what the hands are doing rather than where they are and don't think about keeping them properly positioned in front of themselves, so that their whole body is performing the technique and not just the arms.
I spent so much time helping out with beginner classes, that I don't feel like I missed out on the white belt experience... I was still getting it, plus additional detail / review. I think what I liked about white belt was that it was all new. Beginners mind. As much as I try to keep a fresh outlook, and enjoy the details of those fundamental techniques / forms, sometimes I forget and feel like it's old and boring.
Patience. When you're a white belt you are so eager and want to be able to do everything overnight, but you're also overwhlemed because there's so much to deal with. But then, you also can get a little bored because you have such a small palette to draw from so you sit in class doing the same little thing over and over and over and over and you might even start to feel bored. And it's tough because the white belt student is someone that can't really see the long road ahead so as an instructor you have to keep them interested and involved. It's a tough balancing act. But the key thing I find to impart into beginners is patience. It's tough to do, and a lot of it is just talking with the student to relay it to them and hoping they'll trust you. As for a physical skill, since Kuk Sool tends to put a lot of emphasis on kicking, I would say working with them to gain good foundations and proper form, especially in kicking (but certainly in all things). Don't emphasize speed or power, but correctness. Of course, now and again let them just go full out because for some it's more fun to kick fast and hard, but continue to emphasize to them to try to do so with correct form.
