When I think of Tai Chi, I often think of people practicing in the park. A nice warm sun. Some pleasant birds flying around. This is what I’ve done in my Tai Chi classes. One instructor I have worked with loves to teach her classes in the park every summer! And when students don’t come, we train at the park together. But what’s the difference between a dojang and the green grass of the local park?
What’s it like teaching at the park in summer?
Teaching in the park is fun! It adds a whole new set of challenges that a regular dojang lacks. As well as many perks to it. Part of the reason it is fun (for me, at least) is the summer weather. The varieties in temperature and weather mean that I often have to improvise. The lesson plan I had? Gone. The back up plan? Well, I didn’t expect sudden rain, that’s for sure. I’ve also discovered that the local meteorologist is not right 100% of the time. And it’s never convenient when they are.
So why is the summer weather fun? Because of the chaos. I’ve found teaching taekwondo day in and day out can get quite boring. Especially if an instructor is not very creative. Training at the same dojang at the same time every day leads to monotony. Want to switch it up? Join nature. Nature doesn’t care about your schedule. Trust me, I’ve tried to negotiate with mother nature. It doesn’t work out!
Don’t believe me? Here is another reason why I like it. It’s very real. A complaint I sometimes get from some of the students is that taekwondo training is not “realistic” enough. As anyone who knows me (or really any experienced martial artist) knows, this is a silly complaint. Training at the park certainly appeases these critics. What is more realistic than training on actual grass? It’s certainly not as nice and flat as the dojang floor.
Being in nature certainly changes the class mentality. It’s much more casual. I’m not usually one to be too casual, but with the kids I like to relax the rules . I’ve found that when teaching at the park, if I don’t relax, I’ll get embarrassed. I’ll give an example. One time I was getting students excited to see me do a flying side kick. Pretty cool, right? Well, right as I’m about to kick, I slip on some mud and land flat on my back. Very anti-climactic. After my students stopped laughing (it took a minute) they got very excited and definitely enjoyed the exercise. It was a great cool down exercise for them!
How do students react to learning in the park?
Kids are kids. They love to play. After all, why shouldn’t they? Playing is fun! What’s a fun place to play? The park. Running around on some grass on a nice warm day is amazing. I’ve found that training in the park in the summer is fantastic for the smaller students. They can play at the park before, during, and after class. Well, not during. They’re too busy focusing on their forms. At least, that’s what I would hope students are doing! But some see taekwondo class as play. To each their own, I guess.
The instructor whose dojang was based at the park was very family oriented. A lot of the adults that trained with us were parents of the kids. Our family class was very popular. For the adults, it was a great opportunity to spend time with other adults while their kids trained and played. After class, of course.
Why do you train in the park?
So why train in the park? Simple. It’s free and pleasant. Many instructors can attest to how costly a dojang is. It isn’t cheap. You know what is cheap? A publicly available park!
Another perk of the park: there are people. I suppose I’m a hypocrite here. I’m not much of a people person. That’s why my dojang is this blog, not your typical taekwondo school/gym! Nonetheless, people are a necessary part of life. Because I taught in a park, I ended up meeting many people, some of whom have become good friends. Others of whom have become students. Regardless, parks are a great way to run into people!
So…
So, as you have discovered, parks can be a fantastic place to train. Sure, they’re not as consistent as an established dojang, but parks have their benefits! For one, they’re usually quite pleasant in the summer. There are exceptions of course, but aren’t there always exceptions? I’ve found that teaching in the park can be quite pleasant. My students enjoy it, I enjoy it, my colleagues enjoy it. Everyone enjoys it!
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