As I do every morning, I was listening to National Public Radio's Morning
Edition on the way into work, and they presented an
article about a failed educational experiment. The program was called the
"whole language approach to reading". The premise of the whole
language approach was that children were taught to read by teaching them
individual words. No phonetics, no clues as to how to decipher new words, just
whole words.
One of the proponents of the whole language approach was
interviewed. This person claimed that people could learn to read if they were
told what each word meant and then read it enough times. Isn't that analogous
to saying that children can learn not to play in traffic if you allow them to
get run over frequently?
This whole language concept boggles the mind. I mean, it
leaves no room for spontaneous perception or creativity. In a whole language
world everybody would have to rely on someone else to explain what new words
mean. Think about it. If you were taught through the whole language process,
every time you encountered a new word you'd have to find someone that knew what
the word was. Sooner or later, we would reach the point where no one knew the
words and language would atrophy.
Fortunately, the inadequacies of the whole language
approach revealed themselves in short order.
On the other hand, do we really recognize the futility of
the whole language approach? Think about it. How do we teach Judo? Most Judo is
taught through a "whole skill approach". In other words, most of the
time we see Judo techniques taught as isolated incidents. Coaches simply get in
front of the group and show Seoinage or Osotoagri without demonstrating how the
throw is related to the process of gripping, or footwork or newaza.
Worse yet, we almost never explain the building blocks of
skills. The building blocks of ALL Judo skills lie in the mechanical actions
that you use to execute a maneuver. Everybody knows about Mechanical Actions.
They’re the way you move and arrange your arms and legs. It’s how you get
yourself into the best possible position to push the opponent's back toward the
mat.
The Mechanical Actions of Judo are parallel to the
phonetics of language. When a young person is taught phonetics he, or she, is
able to "sound-out" new words and spontaneously expand his/her
vocabulary. When a Judoka understands the Mechanical Principles and Actions,
required to execute skills he, or she, can learn any throw, hold-down,
arm-lock, strangle or sankaku. More importantly, when a person understands the
Mechanical Principles and Actions he, or she, can expand his/her Technical Vocabulary
spontaneously.
"Those who forget the past are condemned to relive
it." The whole language fiasco has provided ample evidence that
development is based in a strong foundation of basic principles. Can't we see
that the same standard applies to learning Judo?
Hasn't the "whole skill" approach gone on long
enough? Can't we see that the whole skill approach to Judo does nothing to
further our sport?
Your players must be taught how to build their own
skills. Your players must be taught the relationship between the various
aspects of Judo play. Your players must be allowed to experiment and make
mistakes and ultimately create their own new Judo. If you deny your players the
basic building blocks then you doom them to the fate of the whole language
experimental group, which is fundamental illiteracy.
It's your choice. You can provide your players with the
tools to build Judo or you can leave them dependent on the limited knowledge of
others. I opt for creative Judo.
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