“Try to give your students the bigger concept of the game, not small ideas and techniques,” urged Takemiya Masaki 9P Thursday afternoon at a Teachers’ 
Workshop lecture at the U.S. Go Congress. “It’s very important to keep them enthusiastic about the game.” Takemiya, who had just arrived at the Congress Thursday morning, explained how his father taught him go and then turned over his training to a professional when Takemiya had learned everything his father had to teach him. “My teacher never praised me and that was smart, I think,” Takemiya said. He added that “Teaching is challenging, but sometimes maybe the problem is with the teachers, not the students.” The Teacher’s Workshop is new this year, and has attracted nearly 50 participants, who have been meeting each day to learn new teaching techniques from professionals like Lee Dahye 4P, who has taught Korean soldiers, students and multicultural youth, and is co-author of “Falling in Love with Baduk.” Takemiya said that “technique and tactics are where most players and teachers start but there’s so much more to the game.” Patting his heart, he said “It’s about how you look at the game, how you love it. This is the most important thing. It’s the key to opening the door to go further ahead.” One thing professionals and amateurs have in common, Takemiya said, “is that we both have only one life to live, so we must all make it count!”
– report by Chris Garlock, photo by Phil Straus
