What do you strive for?

Luther unleashed · Brown Belt

As an instructor, what is the one thing that you focus on to really find tune in would you consider makes you a great instructor, or your program a great program?

Personally, being the one who runs the program and decide exactly what the curriculum will be, it's very challenging to keep things fres personally, being the one who runs the program and decides exactly what the curriculum will be, it's very challenging to keep things fresh. It would be quite easy for me to come in and teach things the same way over and over, but my constant goal is to find new and fresh ways to teach the same techniques. As I do more than one style together, I always have to find a good balance so in the previous class if I worked on kickboxing combinations, then in the next class I make sure I do something more traditional like traditional hi blocks low blocks center punches and so on. Anybody could come in and have them drop down into a horse stance and drill them until they're blue in the face, the challenge for me is coming up with new ways.

I'm curious to hear from all of you as to how or what you focus on and how it relates to your personal success as a martial arts instructor.
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bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

I am not a head instructor currently, so I don't get to make any decisions on how the classes are really run, or what the curriculum is. But, if I did have a choice in it right now, I would really try to focus more on digging into self-defense applications, either from the forms themselves, or just through technique application and principles in general.

Aside from that, I like to really work on the technical aspects of TKD, making techniques better, breaking them down to teach them, and then advancing them through the basics behind each of them. I always appreciated the technical and physical challenge behind TKD.
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Luther unleashed · Brown Belt

I like that, I am very very into self-defense also. I have had some previous conversations with people hear about teaching applications two forms of things like that, I have tried it out personally and what I found was based on a great suggestion from somebody here and I can't remember who it was. I now kind of follow the guidelines that self-defense from applications in forMs should be reserved for good karate. Or good taekwondo LOL. When students are performing technique sloppy it is really hard to teach them quality application.

I think I would enjoy your class if you taught it will Chit I think I would enjoy your class if you taught it, that stuff is right up my alley. Me being primarily a kids teacher, not because I want to but because the rec center has always been a very hard place to pull adults, I have to balance it out and keep it more interesting. However, even when I trained personally I enjoyed when we mixed things up and I never imagined it would be such pressure to come up with new ways to teach things to people. If your hope is to be a head instructor, I hope you achieve that goal and I'm sure you will see what I mean. Even if you teach under an organization that has their standards, it's still up to you to package it and present it in the better you do that the more entertaining and interesting your class will be there for the more successful
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JR 137 · Black Belt

What I learned in physical education...

Define what skills you think a student must have by graduation (in this case, by black belt). Plan downward from there. If all those skills are required to test for black belt, then make appropriate requirements for brown belt, green belt, etc. all the way down. Then look upward from your first test standards and look for issues.

Plan in blocks instead of day to day. If you test every 3 months, plan out those 3 months. Weeks 1 and 2's focus may be teaching new kihon. 3-4 may be new self defense techniques (if you do prearranged stuff that's tested). 5-6 might be kata. 7-8 might be kumite strategy. 9-10 might be kata bunkai. Obviously, you should review new and old stuff throughout, but more time is dedicated to your area of focus. The last two weeks could be used to review the syllabus.

One thing I learned the hard way - failing to plan is planning to fail. Be flexible with it the first few times you go through it to make sure you've got a solid plan, then stick to it once it's been proven to you a few times. Just be prepared to change it when necessary. Kids are kids, and just because something worked very well with one group a few times doesn't mean it'll work with every group or even the same group every time.

Get into a solid routine, then know when and how to break that routine.

I've worked with some very good teachers that went by the seat of their pants. They'd have been far better/great teachers if they had a more solid overall plan rather than take my it day to day.

tallgeese · Black Belt

Great question.

From my vantage, the things that matter the most are a) being able to meet the student where they are for what they are there for. This can be critical to making them learn anything at all. Talking to someone there for a workout and socialization about ripping a guy apart with mindset on every single rep will ensure that they don't learn anything and that they will leave.

b) having a deep enough understanding of the art to break down each technique or tactic for the individual based on what they are physically capable of doing. Making sure that each and every individual can get thru the requisite steps, even if they have to do it with adjustments.

Not easy stuff, but the ability to communicate these things will make you an effective instructor in addition to martial artist.
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Lupin1 · Black Belt

Exactly what JR said. I'm not a head instructor (or even a full instructor yet), but I do have an education degree.

Define what you want kids to know by the time they get to X point and plan how you're going to get them there.

Don't try to do too much. Our head instructor, who only runs the adult program right now, tends to just do whatever cool new technique or application he found on the internet in class. This isn't terrible considering almost the entire class (besides me) are black belts with over 20 years at the school. But for someone trying to get the basics, that kind of jumping around and not going back to practice things before moving on to the next thing just doesn't work well (which is why I started going to the kids classes in addition to the adult class).

Try my article from two years ago-- Filing a Flight Plan http://www.karateforums.com/filing-a-flight-plan-vt46033.html

sensei8 · KF Sensei

I've a little experience in this area, so I'll see if I can help.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel!! That's already been done!! However, while the wheel can't be reinvented, nor should it be tried to, it can stand to have a look at just how many ways the wheel can be used for.

You've got your core syllabus/curriculum! CHECK!!
You've got your knowledge! CHECK!!
You've got a student body! CHECK!!
You've got your own Sensei to tap into, if needed! CHECK!!

What's missing?

YOU!!

Are you enthused...STILL?!?!?! If you're not, then get off the floor until you are!!

Are you there for the ENTIRE student body, or just for the adults...or just for the kids...or just for the black belts...or just for having a national tournament team...or just for students above green belt...so on and so forth??!!

Define why you're there in the first place!!

Are you going to go for quantity or for quality!! NOT BOTH; one or the other, whilst the former, imho, isn't a good reason to strive for. But, that's just me.

Challenging?!?

By challenging, I'm not speaking towards asking for the impossible tasks to happen each and everyday from your student body. Challenge them in small ways...those small ways build up to large rewards. But how?

Drills!! You're only limited by your imagination!! Different drills keep the student body excited and enthused and educated and so on and so forth. Yet the drills must be age and rank appropriate. Use some drills often, while others, not so often, while at the same time, put the most popular one on the shelf from time to time to build up its anticipation of when it might reappear.

*I use tennis balls for Awareness Drills...for all ages!!
*Up and down drills have to have challenges built up in them...simply adding a new technique can be enough to challenge the student body!!
*Revenge on Sensei with a specific technique as well as doing whatever technique they want to do...for the kids!!
*Lunge Punching FOR THE ENTIRE CLASS WITHOUT STOPPING!!
*Kumite Minus for Familiarity Drills...for all ages!!
*Kumite Drills for the adults and for the black belts only!!
*3-5 minutes on the Hanging bag!!
*ETC. [This is where having a great imagination can come into play...I'm nothing more than a big kid that loves a challenge]

You see, we teach the three K's [Kihon, Kata, and Kumite], and I have to tell you...that's a lot of material, and with a lot of material to garner from, the skies the limit with an active imagination. JUST DON'T BE CRUEL...TEACH AND HAVE A PURPOSE!!

BE TRUTHFUL...DON'T EVER LIE TO YOUR STUDENT BODY ABOUT ANYTHING...EVER!!

You're the CI, not the student body...however, a great CI has an open door policy so that ideas can be considered. You run the dojo, but the student body can assist in running the floor as far as what type of drills would they like to see and what they don't want to see anymore...final decision remains with the CI in ALL things!!

I've not even scratched the surface, and to shorten this post, I'll leave it at that, for now!!

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