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Dealing with Misbehavior in the Martial Arts Class

by | Offline Marketing & Sales

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.

When I was coming up the ranks, it was not unusual to witness a student being executed. This typically was a case where a student showed a bad attitude at a tournament or while visiting another school. Somehow the word got back to my instructor, Walt Bone. Mr. Bone would pair the student with a talented black belt who would beat the student into the ground. Most would quit. A few stayed on. This  article does not suggest that as a course of action.

It’s a common misconception that ignoring misbehavior by praising students who are behaving—is the best form of intervention. But ignoring misbehavior makes it more likely that the behavior will persist and expand. Like a small fire in the classroom, your goal is to address misbehavior quickly—the first time it appears—to keep it from growing.

The Six Levels of Intervention
NOTE: This are not in order, but the first two is the sweet spot to start in. However, some cases require skipping down the list.

1. Nonverbal intervention. Gesture to or eye contact with off-task students while teaching the others.

2. Positive group correction. Quick verbal reminder to the group about what students should be doing and not what they shouldn’t be doing: “We’re practicing our forms”; “Everyone is practicing their forms.” This is used just as student attention appears on the brink of wandering.

3. Anonymous individual correction. Quick verbal reminder to the group, similar to positive group correction, except that the anonymous individual correction makes it explicit that not everyone is where they need to be: “We need to focus.” “Please check yourself to make sure you’ve got your eyes on your partner.”

4. Private individual correction. When and if you have to name names (you will have to, especially when you are setting expectations for under-ranks), seek to correct privately and quietly. Walk by the off-task student. Lean down confidently to get as near to him as possible and, using a voice that preserves as much privacy as is possible, tell the student what to do quickly and calmly. Something like, “John, I’ve asked everyone to focus on forms, and I need to see you doing it too,” will usually be enough. If you need to return, it’s time to put the student on notice about consequences. Again you want to do this privately: “John, I need you to focus so you can learn. If you do not focus, you will have to do 10 burpees and say “focus” every time you come up. Do you want that? I don’t, so please show me your best so you can learn this faster.”

Keep the focus on purpose not power. You’re not exerting your authority as much as helping John to succeed.

5. Quick public correction. You will be forced at times to make corrections of individual students during public moments during class or in exams. Your goal is to limit the amount of time a student is “onstage” for something negative and focus on telling the student what to do right rather than scolding what he did wrong. This also helps remind the class of your expectations as the instructor.  Saying something like, “John, I need your eyes. Thank you, John. Much better,” is quick, confident, and more effective than a five minute speech to the class on the importance of eye contact and focus.

6. Consequences. The goal is to solve a case of noncompliance quickly and with the least disruption to the class. In the long run, it makes an instructor stronger when he or she only occasionally uses external consequences. Solving issues without external consequences reinforces the instructor’s position power and control of the class. However, if a situation cannot be addressed quickly and successfully without a consequence, the consequence must be given so that class is not interrupted.

Ideally an instructor has a scaled series of consequences from which to choose, so he can match the significance of the response to the disruption and ensure his own ability to administer it quickly, decisively, and without wavering. Minimum consequences include sitting out a drill or game to more serious consequences like being held back from testing or expulsion. Holding students back from testing doesn’t have to be an entire testing cycle. It could be just a few days or a week. The following week, as the just passed blue belts are learning something new, the held back child can’t participate. This can create more work for you to finally catch the child up, so take these measures judiciously. It much easier to manage holding a child out of  fun end-of-the-class game than a belt exam.

As professional instructors, we’re in a delicate place where the parent of a student may object to our consequences and pull the child out. Parents do not like to pay for their child to sit in the corner so make time out short. Many instructors resort to push ups or some kind of physical consequence. The danger is in making exercising a bad thing rather than something fun and healthy. However, there are some exercises like a plank or burpees that are simply not fun for even the most enthusiastic people. Burpees and planks seem like they were designed to be punishment, so use them in small doses.

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