How to Motivate Your Students in Three Easy Steps

If you’ve been a karate instructor for any length of time you will no doubt know that your success in retaining your students comes down to one key factor – keeping your students highly motivated to continue training.  How do you do this while still maintaining your focus on delivering a high quality program?

The majority of karate clubs have a wide range of students usually starting at around age 4 and going all the way up to 74 or older in some cases.  Often within this student base there are the highly-motivated and gung-ho hardcore students who would practice running up a wall backwards if you told them it would help give them the edge over their fellow club members.  Then there are hobbyists who approach their training from a slightly more balanced perspective.  Generally this group of students practice pretty hard and come to class regularly but karate is not the number one item on their daily to-do list.  The final group of students is made up of those who say they want to get their black belt but are strangers to the concept of blood, sweat and tears.

So how do you motivate this diverse set of individuals?  Here are three simple tips to get you started:

1.       Set your students up for success

As human beings we all need to feel like we are being successful.  We like our efforts to be recognized and we seek approval from those who we respect.  Your karate students are no different.  Positive praise produces positive progress.  There is nothing more powerful than a genuine comment from you that praises something about your student’s effort in class or your student’s recent improvement.  We’ve all heard the phrase “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”  Show your students that you genuinely care about them and that you truly want the best for them in their training.

2.       Disguise repetition

Repetition is the mother of skill but at the same time one definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again with the expectation of different results.  As a karate instructor your job is to make sure that your students’ skill level is constantly improving through repetition while making it seem to them as if they are constantly learning something new each lesson.  This is achieved by developing multiple drills and teaching techniques that focus on the same core competencies that are needed to grow as a martial artist.  By doing this your students will always look forward to coming to class because they will be excited to see what they will be studying today.  Doing the same lesson in the same way over and over is a sure recipe for low student retention.

3.       Implement an effective ranking system

The path to black belt is a long and arduous journey and a large majority of students won’t make it.  Therefore it is necessary to recognize the importance of an effective ranking system so that your students have regular “success stepping stones”.  These “success stepping stones” are your different colored belts.  Make sure that you have a clear belt system that students can strive for with regular testing - usually every three months.  However be careful not to overwhelm your students with multiple stripes and sub-ranks that only serve to confuse them even more.  Keep it simple and clear so that students know exactly what is expected of them.

With these three simple tips you can go a long way to effectively motivate your students.  There are obviously many ways to motivate students, so why not let me know some of the effective methods that you are using with your own students.

5 Common Mistakes That New Karate Instructors Make

Becoming an instructor in a martial arts school is often a really exciting time because in many ways you feel like you have made it.  In order to teach others you must have already mastered the basic content and now is your chance to “give back” your knowledge and continue the progression of your style.  This is a great honor but it is not without its pitfalls.  As any experienced instructor knows, teaching martial arts and practicing martial arts are in many ways two completely different things.

So if you’re a new instructor listen up and pay attention because, although you are probably a competent black belt student, you are a beginner in terms of teaching.  Here are some of the most common mistakes that new instructors make.  And by the way, if you are an experienced instructor reading this please don’t forget to tell some of your own horror stories to your assistant instructors so that they can learn from your mistakes too.

Mistake #1: Showing up to class without a lesson plan and “winging it”.  This is a BAD idea for any new instructor.  Planning is critical in all aspects of life and in any job.  Being a martial arts instructor is no different.  Just because you are good at your chosen art doesn’t mean that you can instantly snap all of the puzzle pieces together and teach an awesome class without a lesson plan from day 1.  Even many experienced instructors refer to some type of lesson plan or overall structure before teaching each class.  A lesson plan will guarantee that you are organized, that you don’t “freeze” on the spot, and that you aren’t constantly thinking “OK, what shall I do next?”  If you’re thinking this, it means that you’re not focusing on your students!

Mistake #2: Trying to teach everything you know in one class.  It is very tempting as a new instructor to feel the need to stamp your authority on a class and to prove yourself to your group as being very knowledgeable.  Consequently in your first class you drill your students in every possible basic technique, all of the different forms whether they know them or not, and numerous partner work drills to the point of overload.  This causes major stress to your students as they feel completely overwhelmed and, not only that, when you go to teach your next class you won’t have anything left to give them that’s new.  There are very good reasons for a structured curriculum and a solid lesson plan.

Mistake #3: Teaching class so that you get a good workout.  There is a difference between leading by example and training with your peers.  In every class that you teach your primary focus should be on the needs of your students and not on your own personal needs.  It will be inevitable that you will get a pretty good workout just by demonstrating the different techniques, forms and partner work drills to your students and it is also important to model these things well, but you must also allow yourself to watch your students so that you know which students need help.  In this way you position yourself to give valuable feedback rather than just working up a good sweat.

Mistake #4: Being too hard or too easy.  There are very often two types of new instructors.  Type 1 is the drill instructor who wants to put the students through hell so they know who is boss, and type 2 is the friend who wants everyone to like him and is overly nervous about how well he taught each class.  Try to find some middle ground here and work your students hard by holding them to high standards but also develop strong and respectful relationships with them and show them that you care.

Mistake #5: Allowing your students to decide on the content for the class.  This is a BIG mistake because so many things can go wrong.  First of all you can’t please everybody and by asking what your students want to study you will get requests for everything possible within any group – forms training, sparring, pad work and target training, and self-defense.  You can’t possibly fit everything into one class and nor should you (see mistake #2).  Also you are setting yourself up for failure.  What would you do if they asked you to teach something you don’t know very well yet, like an advanced form or some knife defense that you may not have studied yet?  You are the leader of the class and your students expect you to know what they need to study.  Don’t abdicate your responsibility to your students and allow them to dictate the class.

These are some of the most common mistakes that new instructors make and there are of course many more.  Keep reading my blog for future articles on teaching and how to become a better instructor, coming soon!

Five Simple Tips for Making Each Lesson Different

Often one of the biggest challenges for a martial arts instructor is coming up with different ways to present the same material and create varied lessons each week.  Finding a good balance between teaching the required content and making your classes fun and different is not always easy.  Have you ever felt like you’re teaching the same thing over and over again?  Have you been frustrated by using the same old practice drills each week?  Even worse, do you sense that your students are getting bored and are losing interest?  First of all, rest assured that you are not alone.  All instructors at some point in their development feel the need to take their classes to the next level and change things up a little bit.  So if you are at this point but are unsure how to inject some fun and excitement into your classes, then start today by implementing these 5 simple tips for making each lesson different.

1.       Brainstorm all of the different training drills and teaching methods that you currently use in class and write them all down.  Now you have a starting point for organizing your content and your delivery methods.  Next organize these drills and methods into similar categories such as basic training, kata training, sparring drills and additional content.  From here you now know what your base content and methods are and you can gradually begin to build your teaching repertoire and incorporate new drills.

2.       Make a monthly schedule of what needs to be taught each class and then plug in your training drills to each lesson.  By making a monthly teaching schedule of which content you will cover in which lesson, you now commit yourself to focusing on different content for each class and you will not allow yourself to fall back into the trap of teaching what is most comfortable to you.  This method still gives your students what they need and it also forces you to stretch your content knowledge and overall teaching skills.

3.       Change the order of lesson components.  If you have done step one and two and you still find that you have several lessons that cover the same content, a simple way of making the lesson different is to change the order in which you present the content.  For example if you are used to beginning with a warm-up, then teaching basic techniques, then going to kata training and finishing with some partner work drills, why not begin by using kata training as a warm-up, then move to partner work drills and finish with basic techniques.  There are several ways that you can change the order of your content and consequently make each lesson appear to be different despite essentially teaching the same stuff.

4.       Adjust the pace and focus of the lesson.  Another easy way to make your lessons different while covering the same content is to first change the pace of your lesson and then adjust the focus.  For example if you want to teach punches in two separate classes, the first class could focus on being a detailed explanation and practice class on the fine points of each punch and the second class could be a fast-paced workout with multiple repetitions of each punch.  To adjust the focus you might want to use line drills in your first class and pads and targets in your second class.  There are lots of additional ways to adjust the pace and focus of your lessons.

5.       Alter the context in which you teach your content.  A simple change in the context of your lessons can very easily make two lessons that appear similar have a very different theme.  Let’s take kata training as an example.  In the first lesson your context could be to teach Heian Sandan and to focus on the performance of the movements and relate this to tournament participation and demonstration.  In the second lesson on Heian Sandan your context could be to look at the sets of movements within the kata and apply the different sets to self-defense situations.

So as you can hopefully see, these five simple tips can dramatically help you design multiple lesson plans for your students that focus on similar content but which are delivered in different ways with interesting and varied approaches.  These types of adjustments in your overall teaching methods can also lead to increased student retention and improved skill levels for all of your students.

Effective Lesson Planning for Karate Instructors

This article deals with the very important aspect of lesson planning.  Just as school teachers need to plan their lessons, I feel that karate instructors should also plan their lessons.  After several years of teaching experience the planning process naturally becomes easier and at this point it is less necessary but at the very least I believe that an effective instructor needs to refer to some kind of overall syllabus, curriculum framework and general lesson plan on a weekly basis.

There are several main objectives that I have identified as critical to the overall lesson content of karate at all levels. I view a complete teaching cycle as about three months, as that is usually the length of time between grading examinations at the lower levels. Of course it is not possible to cover all content in three months, but it is possible to touch on all of the listed objectives. These objectives are

·         element, which includes kihon, kata, and kumite;

·         type, which includes quality, quantity, fun, and serious;

·         level, which is beginner, intermediate, and advanced;

·         focus, which includes grading syllabus, bunkai/oyo(analysis and application), self-defense, target training, and general.

Generally, every lesson will include all four of these objectives. The components of each objective relate to the actual lesson content. By combining these components and making slight changes, each lesson will be interesting yet different while still sticking with the necessary content required at each rank level.

I will define each objective and its components.

Element

The element objective refers to what kind of content the lesson includes. Usually, each lesson will use one or more of the three k’s – kihon (basics), kata (forms), and kumite (partner work or sparring.)

Type

The type objective deals with how the lesson is delivered. Does the lesson focus on quality (detailed explanations of basic techniques, forms, or partner work), quantity (a hard workout using repetition of technique as the main teaching tool), or fun (a more relaxed atmosphere than normal, with activities such as target training, games for the kids, light sparring, or something completely different such as kata from another style)? Or is it a serious lesson—working on etiquette, posture, correct behavior and habits, traditional philosophy, and history of karate? Each lesson can, of course, incorporate more than one of the four methods of delivery.

Level

This objective shouldn’t need too much explanation, as it refers to the three main levels of students in class or to the level of content delivered in each class. Beginners are ranked tenth to seventh kyu, intermediate students are ranked sixth to fourth kyu, and advanced students are ranked third kyu and above. However, lessons, at times, could still include beginner content for advanced students, to remind them about the things they should already know. Likewise, advanced content can be given to beginner students. This gives them a chance to see what they have to look forward to if they stick with their training. In a club with a large membership, there may be enough black belts to warrant a black belt-only class. If so, there could be a distinction between brown and black belts as to their level of class. This is for the instructor to decide, depending on the membership and resources of his or her club.

Focus

This objective guides the reason behind the content. When a grading is coming up in the next couple of weeks, a lesson on the techniques that will be tested in the grading is obviously a good idea. When students have learned and memorized the moves to the kata they are studying, it is time to focus on the bunkai/oyo. Perhaps one of your students is being bullied at school, and you feel it is time to revisit some self-defense techniques. Maybe you just want to have a lesson that has a bit of something for everyone (general).

Planning a lesson

            Now that the four objectives have been defined we can look at planning an actual lesson.  Before any lesson can be planned the instructor must first know what level class he or she has been assigned.  Once this has been determined then the instructor should refer to the curriculum pacing guides and determine which week of which grading quarter the class is currently in.  In my club I have put together full pacing guides at each level which define the content that should be studied for each level class throughout the thirteen week grading period.  By doing this the instructor will then know what the class content of his or her assigned class should be.  Now the Level and Element objectives have been defined and all that remains is for the instructor to determine the Type of class that he or she would like to teach (fun, serious, quantity, quality, etc.) and the overall Focus of the class within the parameters of the class content (grading focus, application of technique, self-defense, etc.)  Now the four key objectives have been defined and the instructor can then make an appropriate lesson plan.  An instructor’s individuality and personal style can be expressed through the delivery of the content and the overall flow or theme of the lesson.  For example additional elements of martial arts training such as the importance of focus, discipline, self-confidence, health, fitness, self-control and other key words can be introduced into the lesson through the content.  This is especially appropriate for the kids’ classes but can also be good for the adult classes when related to everyday tasks, chores and responsibilities at work and at home.

            Here is an example of how this works:

Assigned class: Beginners on a Thursday night (family class – age 7 and up)

Current week and quarter: Week 6, Quarter 1

From this information the instructor consults the pacing guides and sees that the content for that evening’s class is:

            Kihon – Syllabus         Kata – Heian Shodan              Kumite – Gohon kumite #2

Now the lesson planning begins.  Already the two objectives of Element and Level have been defined, so the instructor should then determine the Type and Focus objectives.  After this has been decided the instructor can refer to the grading syllabus for 10^th to 7^th kyu content and decide which basic techniques he or she would like to teach that evening and what type of drills to use for those techniques.  The lesson plan might look something like this:

Element: Kihon, Kata and Kumite

Type: Quality

Level: Beginner (10^th to 7^th kyu)

Focus: Grading preparation

            Kihon:

1.      Oizuki

2.      Gyakuzuki

3.      Age-uke, gyakuzuki

4.      Soto-uke, gyakuzuki

5.      Uchi-uke, gyakuzuki

6.      Shuto-uke

7.      Maegeri

8.      Mawashigeri

Practice all techniques up and down in the lines in sets of five.  Explain the key points of each technique and let the students know what the instructor is looking for on the upcoming grading.

Kata:

            Heian Shodan

Practice this kata slowly step-by-step, then half-speed and then regular speed.

Kumite:

            Gohon kumite #2 (chudan oizuki attack, chudan soto-uke defense with gyakuzuki counter)

Practice this set to count, then all the way through and then with the attacker changing the rhythm of attack to try to unbalance the defender.

Finish class by verbally reviewing the grading requirements at the Beginner ranks (10^th to 7^th kyu) and give a reference point for further study (club website, etc.)

An alternate lesson plan for the same content could be:

Element: Kihon, Kata, Kumite

Type: Quantity

Level: Beginner (10^th to 7^th kyu)

Focus: Drill key techniques from Heian Shodan and Gohon kumite #2

            Kihon:

1.      Oizuki

2.      Age-uke

3.      Soto-uke

4.      Shuto-uke

Drill each technique up and down multiple times and then with a partner forwards and backwards with both partners performing the same technique simultaneously.

Kata:

            Heian Shodan

Run through the kata 8 times focusing on executing each technique with power and highlighting oizuki, age-uke and shuto-uke that were practiced in the kihon section of this class.

Kumite:

            Gohon kumite #2

Practice this partner work drill three times as attacker and defender and change partners and repeat.  Keep changing partners multiple times so that everyone has a chance to try their attacks and defenses against different people.

Finish the class by explaining the importance of drilling the key techniques through repetition and the importance of training with different partners to help increase the ability to modify techniques based on the different size, strength and ability of your potential opponents.

In conclusion, over time and with experience you will begin to know which drills and activities work well for both the students and for you as the instructor.  You will remember how you taught each lesson previously and you will also be able to modify and adjust your lesson plans accordingly based on the actual students who show up that night, the overall mood and energy of the class and the required content for that lesson.  At this point you are on the path to becoming a great instructor.