Curriculum vs. Syllabus

Many of you have questions and concerns since I moved our syllabus offline. Ideally I would like to have our syllabus online for your reference but there are some things we as students and instructors must first address before the syllabus will properly serve its purpose.

It has been my observation over the past couple of years that students are tending to train to stripe as opposed to training to master kung fu. In order for you to understand what I mean, we must first be on the same page when it comes to the definition of syllabus and curriculum.

The term Curriculum refers to the overall course of study that is geared towards reaching an objective. It is the philosophical ideal of the product our school is striving to produce. When a student masters their curricular requirements they will be ready to begin the black belt phase of their training.

The term Syllabus refers to the tools and requirements of a particular course or class. The syllabus for each belt level contains specific techniques and requirements that the instructors and students can use to achieve the ideals of the curriculum.

Mastery of the curriculum is the student’s ultimate goal and the syllabus is a tool that can be used to achieve that goal. Class time and practice sessions should address the curriculum requirements of the school through mastering the techniques of the syllabus, but not exclusively, as a means to further progress toward achieving the curriculum ideal.

The above words should give context to the attached video. Please post any questions you may have on this thread so everyone can benefit from the discussion.