Teaching and feedback

I've been practicing karate since 2008, got my black belt in 2016, and I am now a 4th degree black belt. Every week I spend half an hour sparring with my instructor and if you listened in, you'd hear a lot of critical feedback, given in the moment:

• What was that?
• You stepped with your front foot
• You leaned
• You're unset
• You didn't have a plan
• That punch wasn't straight
• That kick was toe-y
• No
• Do it again

There's also positives:

• Perfect
• Beautiful
• Nice timing
• You got me
• Good one
• Straight punch
• Good kick

There's also laughing, and chat. Other instructors wander through and drop in their commentary sometimes, or just pile on to what my instructor said.

My instructor fought on the world circuit for 5 years as a black belt, with some of the best fighters in this country. He retired as world ranked #2 in his weight class, and if I score a point on him in sparring, it's usually because he let me. The combination of positive and negative feedback works really well for me now, often I'm calling myself out for leaning or a non-straight punch. In my early sparring days, it was discouraging, and I had to work hard to get to the point where I liked playing the game with my instructors.

Teaching is not the preserve of those who "can't do." If you can't do it, you can't teach it. If you can do it, not everyone can teach it. My instructor can do, and teach, even the complex things like independent motion and the Joe Lewis fighting system (continued and modified by Dave Hofer over the years, a 9th degree black belt in the Tracy's Karate system).