I would be interested to find out from other members their views on what the positives and the negatives you may feel by the playing of music during training and is this common to most Dojos. For example some positives may be, it helps rhythm, creates atmosphere,where as negatives may be, difficult to hear instructions, harder to concentrate or distracted.

Thomwells,

Firstly let me say in all the dojo's I have been to (and thats quite a few) music was only played once and that was during a school holiday class and it was a "special" occasion. I have never used music during a class at my dojo. So I would have to say it is not a common practice at all.

Onto the subject of wether it is benificial or not that depends. As an educator I can vouch for music being used as a learning tool. However I would not use it for long period. Only short periods and in the correct context and setting.
People's learning styles tend to fall predominatly into one of the following 3 categories

Visual
Audio
kinaesthetic

The Audio learner would benifit greatly from the use of music. THe others though would in general find it a hinderenace.

I have toyed with the idea of playing music in a game for the kids like musical chairs. However I am have not yet figured out how I can turn musical chairs into a karate orientated game

I believe this should be in the karate forum, so shall move it there if theres no objections.
(didnt think you were posting here anymore ozlink....great to have you back )

we train to music at kung fu ALL the time and once you've been doing it a few times you dont notice it anymore
you DO notice if its not playing though.

we train to all different types of music.

the kids and the thai chi classes are all done to soft, relaxing thai chi style music (which can really put you off at times by making the mood slow and relaxed and not putting enough emphasis on training hard). the first level (beginners) classes are on at the same time as thai chi so they also train to relaxing music.

however intermediate and advanced classes are all done to a variety of music.
from metallica to jimmy barnes, elvis presley and meat loaf.

i have found this type of music to be beneficial to my training as it does create a more active mood.

at first it was a little distracting but i dont know how i'd be able to train with out it now.

if you are finding it distracting thomwells, give it a few more goes. if you still find it difficult speak to your instructor. maybe you can come up with some kind of comprimise.
maybe the music is just a little loud and needs to be turned down just a little.

dont let it distract you to the point of quitting though. im sure they'll understand your worries.
the best method is to ALWAYS speak to those in charge of the class first.

I know.
I did say I wasnt going to post anymore, but what can I say

The topic was of great interest to me especially as tomorrow I am doing a learning assessment on someone at work were VAK will be the primary focus of my assessment.

Havent seen anywhere GKR that plays music, but Im not against the concept. My old school had music playing every class (quite loud sometimes) and I found that it lifted the mood. I found that once class started it drifted into the background and I never even noticed it, I did however notice it when they forgot to turn it on. I know some people didnt like it and it occassionally made it hard to hear, but on the whole I miss training to music.

GKR halls can sometimes be big echoey things, so if its making things hard to hear tell your instructor to speak up a bit like we used to. They may not even know.

I suppose the cardio classes at the hombu would have music, but I think the policy of GKR in general is that a karate class is not an aerobic class and music is not appropriate.

Some schools have music, others do not. I guess it is up to the organisation or senior instructor whether they play music during a class or not.


Mick

Music? WOW! What a great idea. B)

I haven't found any dojos that play music yet.
Is this something I can suggest to my instructors to add to the class?

I'm sure it would take the edge of the silence while we're waiting for instructions. It should also keep the children more in line. Sometimes I really get sick of the little ones playing up like they do.

AAARGH!!


as long as its not Avril Lavigne its okay, really

I get so focussed when training that I don't hear the music anyway. Does anyone else go off into the twilight zone when training?

Hey yeah, music. Great idea! Crank up the volume to drown out the moans and groans during the stretches.

It's shocking how much some of these kids groan like little old folk when they do stretching.


Mick

I think that training to music is a great idea but only if it doesn't get so loud that you can't focus. I think that the music should just be background noise so you can still focus on your training and trying to improve your technique.

I asked my instructor if there were any chances of training to music.
He said it wouldn't be a good idea.

He says music in our hall would be too overbearing and distract the students too much.

I don't think it would, as long as it remained background music and didn't take over the class. It could be fun to train with something in the background.
Sometimes it just gets too quiet for my liking.

Maybe training to music at home by myself would be a good start.

What kinds of music are good to train to?

I think music is a fantastic idea.
something in the background to muff out the silence.
There should be more of it.

music?

.... yeah!!!!!!!

that would be so cool
the class is so boring when no one is talking or doing anything
too many silent breaks.

bring it on... B)

Why would you have time when nobody is talking, asking questions or getting an explanation, or doing stuff? If you're not doing then there should be some discussion or explanation, if there's no talk then you should be doing. IMO anyway.


Mick

I have trained both with and without music and IMO it distracts the student from focusing on what they are doing. In fact a lot of recent research into music at while working out supports this theory.

Yeap, they have music in GKR in the fulltime dojo in Brisbane. But we are talking about Queenslanders here, I mean the attention span of a cockroach

Anyway, if you want music while you train go do tae bo or something like it. If you want to lean a real martial art... then listen to your mind and your body... that's what your there for...???? maybe???

Big

lol - really?
I'd love to see your source.
Ever seen people study these days? They cant do it without music in the background. Silence actually distracts them.
Why the hell does music mean your not doing a "real martial art?" Does music sap the skill of your instructor?

Hmm is that why some people talk all the time? To fill up the silence?

Wouldn't you be better to get an AM radio and tune it off-station and listen to the white noise?

People are strange


Mick

i suggested training with music to my sensei...

he is willing to give it a go as long as I supply the music AND the tape deck.

is a little portable ok?
what type of music is best to train to?
i like heavy music, can you train to that or should it be lighter, boppier, or calmer than that?

im really looking forward to this and i dont want to stuff it up.
otherwise he wont let me bring music in again.

I would say music with hard beats, coz for me it's the loudness of the beat that makes me going. I trained once with music with almost non-existent beat, for 1/2 hour I didn't realise there was music being played till someone yelled about changing the song.

Agree - gotta be doof!

I think that some heavy metal music is ok. BUT!!! I suggest mix it up a bit. Maybe make a compilation cd of your own. download songs and them put them on a cd so u can get a whole range of music. Get some new stuff, some heavy metal and some oldies stuff if there are people that like it. In my class we really enjoy training to music and it doesn't lower our training. we don't get distracted etc. well not too much.

I've noticed that when music is playing everyone seems to do the basics especially a lot faster and harder. I think it's a good idea, but not during kata's and combinations when you have to concentrate a lot.

It depends on the type of music that's being played. If it was something like chinese or japanese instrumentals to set the mood of calmness and tranquility, it may work for the entire class.

But if it's with words, the karateka may be too busy listening to the words instead of training.

I like that idea Brodius. It really would make it seem more authentic. I've trained to music recently and have to say it dissipates to the background and I dont even notice it. I reckon your idea would be so cool.

Music can also be very inspiring and can help stimulate you to do better Karate
Nigel

i just started training with music playing in the back ground, and as rebecca said when you start training you don't hear it at all,well i don't anyway. might be i'm getting old and my hearing is going but .

The perks of getting old, eh?

lol it has it's advantages, like sorry sensei but my hearing isn't what it use to be, i must have missed some of the instructions :thumbgrin: one day you will be getting on in age to brodius then you will have the perks to .untill the no excuses for you dude.

Speaking as a long term muso who's been playing for longer than some of this forum have been alive (which is a scary thought!!) I have very mixed feelings about music and karate training.

I really "tune in" to music and find it either quite distracting or hypnotic - in particular if it's a heavy beat I just slot in with the timing, particularly going thrugh basics. I don't think this is good, because I stop thinking about what I'm doing, which kind of defeats the point of being there!!

Also, good kata relies on "breaking the rhythm" rather than plodding along all in time - so again the beat gets in the way of improvement.

I DO like Brodius concept of the Japanes calm and tranquil music - the more I do Karate the more I appreciate that it is much more about your mind than your body.

Cluttering up my head space with heavy beats doesn't give my mind room to expand!!

Nick

does anyone have a copy of any japanese calm and tranquil music so we can give it a go?

im sure if we ask S. Grant he may let us play that.
our 'other' music is definately out of the question though.

try kazaa or winmx

Jees - sprung by my music playing sensei within an hour of posting!!!

I've got something called "Train to Okinawa" on the CD player right now which is very airy and and mind expanding. Will chuck it in my training bag and bring it along Monday and see what people think.

Might be a tad cosmic for the kids though (and Ben!)

A tad cosmic? What kind of oriental music is that anyway? It's not oriental music from the 70's, is it?

Seventies? Good grief! The CD is less than two years old and is a recording by a couple of very talented Freo artists who do a lot of good stuff round here - playing in this case Japanese flute and Cello!!

Maybe I should have said serene instead of cosmic.

Maybe you'll understand when you're older......

Well, I had the CD there on Monday night but (for the first time I can recall) we didn't have a Sensei Suzan and hence didn't have sound system. Will try again Saturday.

By the way Suzan, the hall has it's own PA system so we could use that instead of the ghetto blaster. We just need to talk to the key holders so we can get the right cupboard unlocked to get to the hardware. This will mean we really have to find out the right music to add to the training experience!!

You tell her Nick!!
She missed last week as well



prob best if we do this before Ben gets there.......

okay - Ive insulted my fellow instructors enough....

okay - this is now a poll

Gah, I feel so isolated. All of you guys seem to train at the same dojos...

Anyway, I vote has been made.

My dancing comp is over now so that's not an excuse anymore

(and for those who care we won third place for our trap troupe)

i'll look into the stereo system at the school.
cant promise anything at this stage but i'll look into it.

Thats Perth for you Brodius - a big country town. However most of us have actually never met, although we may have crossed swords at a tournament or two and not realised it

Why not get some of your fellow students in here and have a say?

What's a trap troupe, Matt?

And Deano, most students I train with aren't that interested in using computers... O_o

Well done Susan :thumbwink:


Mick

Why did I say Matt?? I meant Susan... Susan, what's a trap troupe?

oops

it was late
i was tired

i meant to say TAP troupe

as in tap dancing
shoes with little bits of metal on the bottoms of them.

Tap dancing... Oooohhh. Congratulations!

Well so far it appears the dance crowd has it.

With music not sure how it would work with traditional though ..... The local boxing club have music on and it gives I think a much better atmosphere ... When we had music in our club everyone felt more upbeat and everyone trained harder and with greater enthusiasm .... In my garage where I train I always have music playing and without doubt it has an effect ..... If you go into a lot of Gyms they have music playing .... If you train on your own then play your fav music or something with a get up and go effect even if its Motorhead .... If I want to relax and fall asleep then its time for the Japanese river music hahahahha

Who keeps bringing these old topics back up

When this thread started (over 18 months ago) it was in response to us playing music in class. We had to stop this when a fulltimer came in and saw it, then dobbed us in to the regional manager (still annoys me...she'd been with the club about 3 weeks.... ). As a result we were instructed not to do it any more. We then proceeded to lose most of our students. Now I hear people saying "well your teaching must be crap to rely on music" but I believe it was the music that gave the class some extra life and gave us one of the highest retention rates going. When it stopped everything seemed so bloody sterile and quiet, which was a shock compared to what they were used to. I found it helped keep people focussed and and bigben said train harder.

Gee I was impressed when the zone director had a class to music about 3 months afterwards...