A POSITIVE APPROACH TO NEGATIVE REENFORCEMENT: UNDERSTANDING TRADITIONAL CORRECTION

Story By: Justin Kagan

With the Americanization of Martial Arts, we have seen a significant change in how students are taught and disciplined. We're told to be careful not to harm the student's delicate self esteem, but also, make sure when you're done with him, he's disciplined. Are these reasonable expectations and is there a way to positively use negative reenforcement?

There's a term in Japanese used to describe the methods a traditional sensei might utilize to encourage his students: kawaigari. Kawaigari translates roughly as “tender care of the dojo” implying the intentions behind this form of traditional correction. The most common image of this tender care can be found typically in dojo teaching either sword, aikido, or karate. A student will perform a movement incorrectly and sensei will tap the budoka (martial artist) ever so carefully with a shinai, usually leaving some pretty colors to reflect on later. A shinai can be described as lengths of split bamboo bound together and capped with a leather tip and handle; basically a bamboo sword. But, kawaigari goes far beyond the shinai.

In an American world where we're taught early on that positive reenforcement is the one way to achieve positive results, it's no wonder that such a tradition has been lost to most American Martial Artists. I suppose the ways and theories of education and discipline are as varied as the martial arts themselves, and they should be. The discipline and correction style of an art should reflect its ultimate philosophy. Arts that focus on knowing how to redirect an opponent's energy to create technique will benefit from the same method of correction and discipline. If a student requires this attention, redirect the encounter so the focus is on what the student did right and simply mention what was incorrect. A very hard style of martial arts might find the use of almost boot camp-like methods useful since their martial art may be observed as meeting hard with hard. Somewhere in the middle lies a great balance. Martial arts aren't about being fluffy and cute. Sometimes martial arts require a harder edge.

The importance of positive reenforcement is evident. Constantly cutting someone's self esteem down will not create a good student, nor will it help to retain students. Even the Cobra Kai eventually learned this. But back to reality. Positive reenforcement should be used to stimulate correct behavior while traditional correction could be used to change unwanted behavior. The key to traditional correction is to apply it without emotion. The most common mistake instructors make with this is getting angry. Anger and traditional correction don't mix. In fact, it creates a very bad situation that could even be seen as abusive. However, appropriate use of traditional correction can create great results without being abusive to the student or the position of authority.

Taking anger out of the equation is fundamental to making this work. Second is being very aware of what you're doing. Correcting behavior like talking while sensei is talking and an incorrect movement in kata are two very different scenarios. Kawaigari can be used for both. It's understanding how that makes the difference. In these two scenarios the importance is to keep emotion out of the equation. The only focus here should be the Instructor's desire to help the student better understand what is going on. Kawaigari is a great tool for correcting incorrect movement. Let's examine a basic punch. Say the student is getting lazy and dropping his guard while also throwing weak punches. There are a few ways to address this. First, always give a verbal correction. Make the student aware of what he's doing wrong and give him an opportunity to process it consciously and correct it. If this fails, we have an opportunity to apply kawaigari. First observe the guard arm. Stand out of the student's direct line of sight. Peripheral vision can work in your favor because the student will be focused on doing it right if you're standing near them. This will act as a second “point” of bringing the movement into consciousness. Again, if the student continues to repeat the incorrect guard, we are offered another option from the traditional perspective. We discussed the common use of the shinai. This is partly because it would take some extreme effort for it to damage more than soft tissue. The shinai has the capability of creating some serious bruising and even muscle spasm. Other options could include a bokken/bokuto (wooden sword), a bo or jo (staff), even an old white belt (the clothing, not a person). The belt may bring up other issues in certain arts, but if your art recognizes a belt as a belt and not something worthy of almost ritualistic worship, this is a good option for creating the desired results without the long term discomfort.

The guard can be corrected, after other efforts, using the shinai, bokken, or staff. As the student's guard drops, tap the triceps quickly, but gently. This will bring the student's attention to the area that requires attention. However, now it is done quicker and more subconsciously than before with the verbal “warning.” Why is that important? Because now you're reaching the student on another level. We've all seen how fear can debilitate a student's abilities. Eliminating that fear is the job of a good martial arts instructor. In the same way that you can help to eliminate fear to create good technique by reaching the student on another level, you can use traditional correction to teach a student something from another level. It is abundantly important to understand that using this technique in conjunction with fear will produce very negative results. Students need to understand what is happening and why and they should not fear this correction. Sure it's unwanted, but fear is the result of an instructor abusing the authority and misunderstanding the correct use of kawaigari.

Often times, this slight tap will correct the problem. If it doesn't, it's acceptable to follow up with up to about three more taps gradually getting firmer, yet not destructive. Herein lies the key. If you introduce this method and students are going home with bruised bones or worse, you're doing it wrong. At the level of instructor, you should understand quite well the power behind each weapon you wield as well as the anatomy of that weapon. For example, the bokken can be used for this correction...with great care. Striking with the “blade” surface of the bokken will produce a very sharp and potentially dangerous strike. Whereas, using the side of the bokken will create the awareness within the student, maybe even leave a bruise, but it is something that will go away.

As crazy as it may sound, bruising can prove beneficial as well. Remember, the idea is to create awareness about something. If a student has a bruise that he looks at everyday between classes and it draws his attention to the movement that was “corrected” he will be thinking about that movement. Consciousness. This simple reflection can result in some amazing transformations.

Weapons aren't the only way to provide this correction. Again, with care, the hands can be used to correct things just as effectively as a bokken. We've corrected the guard hand. Now let's address the lazy punch. I need to reinforce how important it is to first give a verbal “point” to bring the student's consciousness to the issue and then stand near them to provide the second “point” to draw it closer. Assuming this doesn't work, a great technique for a lazy punch is flicking the side of the neck. The natural reaction is to draw the shoulder and arm upward. It will also annoy the student, thus bringing the consciousness back into the equation.

The most effective forms of kawaigari aren't about beating the student. They're about correcting the body using the student's subconscious and natural reactions. Elbows too far away from the ribs? Poke the ribs. See how quickly the elbows are drawn in. Want a wider stance? Use the tip of the jo and tap softly on the inside of the ankle. The natural reaction is to move away from the discomfort. Using this method of correction properly will even help you to better understand your martial art by better understanding the body and its natural reactions to certain stimulus.

Kawaigari is not about hurting the student or making them fear you as a superior. Instead it is about correcting the consciousness of a student to reflect the consciousness of a martial artist and attaining that knowledge on a deep level. Only provide this correction to a level you're comfortable with and always with the most loving of intentions. A student's job is to learn and an instructor's job is to guide them along the path.