Unorthodox Discipline Training

By Sir Nathaniel Rhine

Have you ever had a student or saw a student develop a bad habit simply because he refused to listen to the instructions given by an Instructor? For months even years, the bad habit has become part and parcel of the student’s behaviour or actions. What I am about to share with you may not be the greatest way to teach a student discipline, or to help break a bad habit, but it has worked for me.

This particular student had the bad habit of always scratching and itching. Not only did he scratch and itch, but he would do it continuously even while executing kicks, blocks, any and everything. At one time I would instruct him to give me 10 push ups when I saw him itching. One would think that would deter one from doing something displeasing to the Instructor, but it didn’t help at all.

Therefore, I thought about it for a while and I came up with this solution. In order for one to itch and/or to scratch, one must use their hands. So that is the solution. I decided to use an old Taekwondo belt, his old belt and I used it to tie his hands behind his back as he trained. That’s right, I tied his hands. So the only thing he could itch and/scratch would be his butt. So throughout the class he would perform all the techniques that were being taught. The only difference between he and his training mates is that he could not use his hands. But that was alright, for he was still able to perform all the exercise minus using his hands.

After about a month of having his hands tied behind his back he not only broke the bad habit of scratching and itching, but he learned to “master” his balance and movements without the use of his arms. So in the end I was able to achieve what I wanted and secondly my student improved in another area in which he also needed improvement.

Yes, it may be an unorthodox method, but sometimes such measures must be taken in order to get the results one wants. Try it you may agree with me in the end.