Info for Martial Arts School Owners and Instructors

The Martial Arts Teachers’ Association (MATA) is a professional organization that helps martial arts school owners and instructors improve their teaching skills and grow their schools with proven marketing, management, and curriculum design.

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Setting Expectations for Martial Arts Students Upfront

Authority is highly influenced by emotion.

While your staff and students may intellectually understand that you are the boss and master instructor, they have to feel it, not think it.

It’s the emotional connection that anchors your authority on a deep level.

If there is one powerful moment in your role as a professional martial arts instructor, it’s in the enrollment conference.

While the parents may see you as the master black belt, they usually don’t have an authoritative reverence at this early stage.

The enrollment conference is a seminal moment for you to establish your authority and gain the respect and gratitude of the family you’re dealing with.

Presenting the programs and their cost to parents can be tense at times. Some parents want to negotiate. Others might object to the agreement. Some want a safety net in case their child wants to quit.

While it’s important that you are prepared to overcome any objections, it’s when the bottom line is signed and the initial investment is completed that you have a critical window to demonstrate your authority.

Many owners complete the transaction and gush with statements like, “Awesome. It’s great to have you on board. Johnny, you did an awesome job tonight. High five! Thanks Mrs. Jones it’s great to have Johnny as part of our family. Let me know if I can help with anything.”

Barf.

Who has the role of authority here? Mrs. Jones and her credit card. That was a missed opportunity.

Let’s try again. You would adjust this script to the age and circumstance, but here is an authority template for the enrollment conference.

Mom has just enrolled Johnny into the program.

You, “Johnny. You want to learn Empower Kickboxing, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. I want you to understand that your mom just enrolled you into a six month program. You are going to learn a lot of great skills and lessons. It’s going to be fun and sometimes it’s going to be hard. That’s the good part because that means you’re learning. So you have to pay attention and practice at home 20-minutes a day when you don’t have class.

Are you going to work hard and practice?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m glad. Your classes are Monday and Wednesday at 5pm. When are your classes?”

“Monday and Wednesday at 5pm.”

“Good. You’re a smart guy. That means that you have to be ready to come to class by 4:30 on Monday and Wednesdays so that you’re not late. Will you do that?”

“Yes sir.”

“No matter what you are doing, you will be ready by 4:30, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. The first lesson is integrity. Integrity means that you do what you say you are going to do. You keep your promises. You promise to work hard and be ready for class, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“No matter what you’re doing. Right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Great. We’re going to be so proud of you. Your mom just enrolled you, so please turn to her and say, ‘Thank you mom.”

“Thank you mom.”

“Alright. When someone does something good for you, you always say thank you. That’s called gratitude. What’s it called?”

“Gratitude.”

“Correct. So you’ve learned two important lessons today. Integrity and gratitude. What does integrity mean?

“Keeping your promises.”

“Yes. What does gratitude mean?”

“Saying thank you.”

“You got it! You are going to do great, I can tell already.”

“Remember, your class is…”

“Monday and Wednesday at 5pm.”

“When will you be ready to come to class?”

“4:30pm.”

“You have a good head on your shoulders Johnny. You’re going to be good at this.”

“Because you’ve showed your mom gratitude and you’re going to keep your promises, here is a school t-shirt for you to wear. Every time you put it on, I want you to think of integrity and gratitude. Will you do that?”

“Yes sir.”

“I just gave you a shirt. How do you show gratitude?”

“Thank you sir.”

As taught in the MATA Certification program, it’s also a good idea to let mom know that it’s important that she control what Johnny is doing around 4:30 which is the agreed upon to be ready for class.

If Johnny is playing with his friends or deep in a video game, it’s going to be harder to get him to get ready than if he is cleaning his bedroom or something he’d like to leave to go to class.

Keep in mind that mom is watching this happen before her eyes. What have you done to establish your authority?

  1. You’ve provided her with a language pattern that both her and Johnny understand. This is huge.
  2. You’ve given mom the “integrity” framework to deal with any reluctance to go to class.
  3. You’ve provided her with a strategy to engage Johnny in less fun activities so that going to class is an easy decision.
  4. You’ve laid out when Johnny should get ready for class without complaint.
  5. Before her eyes, you taught her son important lessons with real world examples. No doubt, your authority sky-rocketed in her eyes and in her heart.

Look for places where you can make these kinds of strong emotional connections.

Demonstrate true authority and leadership. That will last much longer than a trite, shallow compliments like “Awesome! Good job.”

This will help your students to understand how and why they are training with the best school.

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John Graden

Executive Director

A protege of martial arts legend Joe Lewis. John Graden led the martial arts into the modern era by creating the first professional association, trade journal & instructors certification program.

Understanding Your Insurance Coverage

From Jennifer Urmston of Sports & Fitness Insurance Corporation

“It is important to remember that viruses are excluded from standard Commercial General Liability insurance policies. This means that insurance companies will most likely not pay members for claiming they contracted a virus at your school.

It is very difficult to track where a virus comes from, so it would be difficult to prove that someone caught a cold or the flu or the coronavirus from their martial arts school.

However, a martial arts school should still focus on cleanliness at all times to protect themselves from a claim of negligence.

At this time with the Covid-19 Coronavirus crisis, we recommend following the guidelines of your local health department and the CDC.

All third party claims of any type of injury including from a virus should be turned in to the school’s General Liability carrier for a claims adjuster to respond.

Viruses are also not a covered cause of loss under a standard Commercial Property Insurance policy.

A covered cause of loss is required in order to trigger Business Income Coverage on a Commercial Property policy.

Business Income coverage replaces loss of income sustained during a period of restoration, following a covered property loss.”

This is usually when a building is being repaired after physical damage has occurred.

Therefore, a school will not necessarily be eligible for business income-related insurance coverage even if that school experiences reduced business because students are fearful of contracting a virus.

Jennifer Urmston Lowe goes on to say, “Standard Commercial Property policies include an Exclusion for Virus and Bacteria that applies to Business Income and Civil Authority coverage. We recommend, however, that all business owners review their own specific policy language and file a claim with their carrier if they feel that they have coverage.

It is vitally important to maintain the power, lighting and security systems for your martial arts school at all times.

Your premises can have water damage, fire damage or vandalism and other physical damage during a slow down or shut down.

Finally, we strongly recommend that business owners do not let their insurance lapse at this time because these types of claims could be expensive and threaten the long term viability of the business.”

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We have spent the week working with Liberty Mutual to help our staff answer coverage questions and recommend appropriate resources related to the Coronavirus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). www.coronavirus.org.

CDC. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): How COVID-19 spreads.

CDC. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Steps to prevent illness.

CDC. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Stigma and resilience.

CDC. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): Information for travel.

CDC. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): People at risk for serious illness from COVID-19.

Environmental Protection Agency. EPA’s registered antimicrobial products for use against novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.

Examine.com. Summary of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

McKinsey & Company: COVID-19: Implications for business.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  Pandemic readiness.

US Department of State. Travel advisories.

World Health Organization. COVID-2019 Daily situation reports.

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