CogTools - Learning From Afar Is Not Far From Learning

Learning from afar is not far from learning:

Happy eighteenth birthday, Hotel-November.  I love you.  Trust in the Lord, you are smart and you press yourself and I know you will go far.

My journey as an adult learner has been particularly enriched by the blessing of having two daughters.  I have both a sophomore and senior in high school.  In addition to all the parental learning (and learning of myself and who I am,) over the last eighteen years I have had the wonderful experience of learning from and through my children as they explore and thrive in their learning experiences. 

From the time until my older daughter was eight and the younger was 5, they grew up as military brats.  While I detest that term, I use it only to denote that their experiences in their younger years were a mix of moves and up-rootings from schools along with the social and family stresses that come along with their sacrifices for military service.  We were able to send them to private school until they got older.  Regardless of how one may feel about private schools, we were able to appreciate two distinct benefits.  

First, their schools were private Christian schools which we feel provided a positive atmosphere of faith and caring in addition to learning. (Both their Mom and I were blessed to have attended private schools growing up and we wanted to provide the same for our kids, Mom = Lutheran, Dad = Catholic, but it’s all good. ;) ).  Secondly, private schools offer a more concentrated student to teacher ratio which can be very beneficial to depth of learning.  

Now they attend a large public high school and they both are both in primarily honors and A.P. classes with classes of limited size and (largely) limited to students of a similar level of intelligence.  Specifically, I mention this because they both are learning many concepts I have never learned.  The expectations of their projects and writing level rival the organization and depth required of my work at a junior college (and some undergrad work,) from twenty years ago.  The requirement of them to utilize technology and grow with their teachers in challenges to learn more is astounding.  The most significant point of all of my mentioning of this is that they are up to the task.  

Today’s children and youth are up to such a high level (through technological prowess and manipulation,) that in many ways they are begging to learn even more.  In the past, I had believed that one had to be soft when teaching youth, to take your foot off the accelerator from teaching them and let them relax from learning all the time.  While it is certainly important “for a kid to just be a kid sometimes,” I am finding that I reject my former perspective more and more each time I learn from my girls.

CogTools - Learning Is Just Different When You're Learning How To Stay Alive

Learning when your life or others may depend on it:

While I wish I had the time, research, or inclination to study and write a longer post on the subject; I nonetheless want to write a couple quick notes on what or how I feel this kind of learning is beneficial and different to other types of learning.

First, while I realize we as humans learn a great many things that are crucial to our safety or to our preservation of life; this post is not about those obvious or trivial learning's throughout our lives.  Instead, the following are observations about learning and training for the specific purpose of the preservation of one’s safety and life with a focus on military training.

In regards to training, the military is often a great example of mindfulness to 1) acknowledgement of the time constraints to teach required material, 2) adequate knowledge level of instructors conducting training, 3) pertinence of training given or offered, 4) using student experiences and examples to enhance the training experience, and 5) application and use of training material to further trainee success.

One is usually very motivated to learn skills that will help keep them and others alive.   

This is a gateway into the seriousness with which those in the military undergo their training.  For those who undergo military training; whether it be first-aid, nuclear-biological-chemical (NBC) warfare training, combat skills, or survival training, or any others… it is a whole different brand of learning.  For most; studying literature, business, mathematics, philosophy, art, history, psychology, or drama, will never have the impact or depth of ability for one to recall pertinent facts as one training to properly identify an agent and know if one needs to take pyridostigmine bromide tablets or not.  The whole point of training in the military is successful application of skills (learned and/or otherwise adapted upon,) to succeed at the objective and (hopefully,) preserve the safety of those in your team to achieve further successes.

As I go through and study about different learning methods, theories, and techniques I am reminded in my perspective that I believe that there are two different repositories of where humans store what they have learned; 1) Intelligence-level matters of history, philosophy, math, art, and similar matters, and 2) Learned observations and training that are more connected to our human innate survival and preservation of health/safety matters.  It is doubtful I will ever pursue post-graduate work someday, but this is where I would/will focus.

CogTools - The Beatings Will Continue Until Morale Improves

I have been interested in seeking out formal training to learn fighting techniques, offensive (and possibly defensive) fight tactics, and how to deal with weapon employment and retention issues for some time.  Affordability has been the main reason I have abstained from undertaking training in the past.  As I researched the plethora of martial arts brands, I was immediately drawn to Krav Maga.  The term, Krav Maga means contact combat (basically hand-to-hand combat).  

Krav Maga is NOT a martial art, it is a fighting system.  This system was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld for the Israeli Defense Forces as the fighting technique for use among military personnel.  His techniques and training were later adapted for civilian use and comprise what is modern Krav Maga.  (http://www.kravmagafederation.com/krav-maga-origins.html ).  Krav, as it is often known, is such an easy and successful training system to learn that many U.S. police departments use it as the fundamental basis of much of their tactics and fight training.

Krav Maga as a Community of Practice (CoP):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJAOowwrQG4&feature=youtu.be

 

In Krav Maga, contact among those training is an integral part of participation in learning this fighting system.  These participants are valued contributors to the overall training of tactics and fighting techniques.  An appreciated attribute of Krav is that contributors input and insights into potential situations one may encounter while in a fight are used by instructors and trainees to further their scenario training.  Instructors and those undergoing training share information and work under expert trainers to develop skills.  

These specific CoP members have a shared vision to train and learn how to adapt their skills to survive a fight and return safely to their loved ones. The centralized space they use to gather and train is typically a gym containing man-sized training dummies, fight pads, protective gear and a variety of strike pads to train in different striking techniques.  There is an understood hierarchy of their community; Expert (certified) instructors lead class members in training sessions and scenarios, seasoned, knowledgeable trainees often augment instructors by helping other members with techniques, and all trainees and instructors actively participate in the learning and adaption of skills.

Pursuant to our CoP project, I joined this CoP (with Aurora Krav Maga) and I am set to start training with my daughter when I return to CO.  I am excited to say the least.  In addition, I have looked into and will be sending my girls to their specialized 10 week training course to teach them skills (needed by all women,) to combat aggressive predators.