Ambush Teaching

Only one day of class this week before the Thanksgiving break. I've repeatedly told my students that I do this for my entertainment, and if I get bored, I'll quit. So far not much danger of that though I do find it exhausting. To teach. You tell someone the most important and exact thing that they need to know at the precise point in their life they need to hear it....and they haven't the ears for it. Locked in a drama. Young. No money. Texting. Weaning themselves from their parents, (or being weaned, or NOT being weaned!), ignorant, no connections, no skills, blah, blah.

Gotta love 'em.

So today on this orphaned pre-Thanksgiving session I went to the tennis center, introduced myself as a photo instructor and said I needed a favor. The favor was: I needed to borrow some tennis balls. I was asking an older, experienced coach. The kind of guy who obviously has a wealth of life skills and wisdom. He asked if we were going to take a photo of tennis balls. I said, "Nope. I'm going to teach them to juggle."

I can get folks jugging in about 30 minutes. It's really simple but it's the kind of thing, like walking barefoot on hot coals, that generally is not believed to be simple and easy. Not that juggling is EASY...but if you learn the technique in the order I present it, in about 30 minutes you are juggling three tennis balls.

First your head learns, then your hands learn, then you are juggling.

Of course I'm not really teaching juggling. It turns out to be photoshop or some other terrifying inscrutable life skill or information block, but once they learn to juggle they get ANOTHER lesson about the limits they put on themselves. Or not. We'll see in a bit.

Early class was in the hallway working on technique and a young lady needed to pass. I couldn't get her to just WALK through the bouncing balls to get out the door so we all paused...but when she got by everyone three tennis balls at her.

Works best if you spring it on them. I set my watch. Anyone juggle? No? In 30 minutes, in the finest traditions of adjunct instructing and Tyler Junior College, you'll be juggling.

Update:  A video.  Not as simple as my instruction, but you can see what is going on.

  I think anyone interested in martial arts ought to be able to juggle a little.