Big Batch to Promote Skating and ICP in China

ICP Level 1 Shaoxing, China 26-28 April

By ICP Examiner Mike Tang

For the first time I brought my wife and elder son with me from Singapore to Shaoxing, China  so that they can see what I do when I am away from home examining for ICP.  My wife is always worried when I go away so this was a chance to have her see and experience what I do first hand and for me to have my wife and son by my side. Although there seemed to be endless meetings and hours preparing for the course my wife was happy to be close by and we were always able to meet for dinner and spend the evening together.  As you can see from the picture below taken at the airport before we departed that my son Eason was so excited to be coming along this time too! ;-)

As usual for China the program was quite large with over 30 candidates taking on the course.  There were quite a few candidates that came from areas far from Shaoxing and spent many hours traveling to participate in the program.  Many of the candidates were there on the recommendaiton of current ICP instructors and some had already been teaching for some time before even hearing about the certification process through the ICP.

Some of the candidates shared that they have found that their clubs or skate schools have been unable to progress and retain their students after a while and felt that they needed to learn more themselves to be of better service to them and the sport.  After this course, they realised that there is so much more to learn and that that they can greatly improve the student's skating foundation and skating experience if they have a better structure for lessons and lesson plans.  

 While this batch of candidates had strong skating skills overall, in general  they lacked a firm understanding of the fundamentals of edging and edge control.  However, when technical guidance on the 'what' and 'why' of skating had been explained and modeled they immediately improved their understanding of not only edging, but the mechanics of skating as a whole.   Their ability to how best to break down and present various skills improved and through this practical experience gained an understanding of why the ICP recommends a particular framework for instruction.  

Although they believed the weekend to be effective and beneficial to their teaching, many would have liked to see the program extended so that they could improve even more!   It is always a rewarding experience to have an opportunity to posiviely impact the growth of the sport by helping others teach more people to skate.  It was all the better this time having both my wife and son by my side!

A special thank you for Chen Yuan Gui for cooridinating locally and Brent Tay for taking the lead on organizing and assiting in the instructional and examination process.