Teaching materials?

[u/Mr_EveryDay]

I am looking at starting a Riichi club on the base I'm at (what better way to spread the game than with military members who move everywhere). I am however in desperate need of teaching materials, things like PowerPoints and lesson plans. Are there any good resources for this?

[u/mysteryspydetective_]

I found this thread where someone shared slides: https://www.reddit.com/r/Mahjong/s/62C6IDXL1O

I skimmed through it and it's pretty good. The images are good, explanations clear, and the information is correct. The first three sections teach the tibet method (albeit with a quick progression, and as it happens this is almost exactly the way I taught the game to some friends, and it worked great). I think the idea with these slides is to have a practice game after each section.

My only criticism is the 4th section presents the rules in a somewhat disorganized way imo. Having a full explanation of scoring sandwiched between dora and furiten mechanics is a bit perverse. I'd say if you have the chance to teach the game in increments the first three sections are perfect, and for the fourth you may want to insert some of your own slides and reorganize it a bit. Maybe skip full scoring for first practice games, but definitely include dora and furiten. If you can't teach in increments and you need an all-in-one slideshow, you might want to find something else.

Here is a simplified riichi cheat sheet that I think is perfect (under 'teaching sheet' in the folder): https://www.reddit.com/r/Mahjong/s/GHuBadaF6Z

This is my favorite video teaching the essentials of HK mahjong without scoring, which could work just as well for riichi basics: https://youtu.be/_JGsb87PEIo?si=IgfZt7y6U2xfdHC-

[u/Mr_Blarney → u/mysteryspydetective_]

Yeah, I definitely struggled with how to assemble the fourth deck, since there is quite a leap between the generalized Eastern Mahjong rules and all of the additions that sets Riichi apart from the base ruleset.

My thought process for the order of mechanics was that you could play with simplified scoring after introducing Riichi and Dora, and then bring up furiten as required when it comes up. But I didn't like having the rest of the scoring explanation in a separate place since it is a part of the core rules, so it just ended up being sandwiched awkwardly between those sections.

As an aside, I want to note that those slides are also accompanied by notes that elaborate on the slides' content to provide additional clarity and guidance. On the 30-fu slide I do note that beginners could just start with that simplified scoring setup, but I suppose it's not a particularly clear callout. Maybe it would make sense to revise the deck so that there's a gap between introducing simplified scoring, and then going on to introduce furiten and full scoring rules.

EDIT: I revised simplified scoring to its own "Intermission" section after Dora and moved the full explanation until after furiten. I like to avoid introducing information that players have to later un-learn, but I think it's a fair step to use the streamlined table to onboard players and save full scoring for players who are ready to handle the full ruleset. Thanks for the suggestion!

[u/mysteryspydetective_ → u/Mr_Blarney]

I think everyone's going to have different opinions on what order to teach riichi concepts, it's difficult game to understand at first even after you've read all the rules, at least that was my experience... I might consider teaching furiten before other concepts, as it might stick in people's mind's better that way, and it can marinate while they learn the other stuff. Furiten plays a role in yaku (furiten riichi, or cutting 1 from 123 to force tanyo), but not vice versa, so it may be helpful to learn scoring with furiten already in mind. But then again, scoring actually sets a goal for what the player is trying to do in the first place, and furiten doesn't have to be enforced so strictly for learners, so having it later makes sense too. Hand patterns are more on the 'fun' side of riichi, compared to furiten.

I will make one more nitpick, sorry to be a pain: I think the 4th section could use a second preview slide that lists the main riichi concepts that will be gone over. This helps people recall the most important ideas they just learned and separate the big idea from the details.

Well done on the simplified scoring chart, the adjusted numbers in red is a nice touch. Overall the images in these slides are really good, and particularly helpful for someone like me who gets overwhelmed with visual stimuli (for instance, those other cheat sheets with the one I posted make my head spin) so bravo! I would say this is certainly one of the best condensed riichi guides I've come across, on top of that in a very convenient format, so thank you for making it and continuing to work on it and I hope it gets traction.