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Setting And Maintaining a Standard for Conduct in Your 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.

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This is part of a series of lessons on how to teach martial arts. While most every teacher is a skilled martial artist, few are ever provided the tools, tactics, and strategies of a great instructor. MATA is dedicated to providing the resources and education to fill that gap.

The 100 Percent Rule
There’s one acceptable percentage of students who do what you tell them to do, 100%. That’s a standard, not a goal. Anything less than 100% and your authority begins to diminish.

The danger of allowing less than 100% risks a toxic culture of students thinking that what you say is just a suggestion and not a command. This is the opposite of the discipline inherent in a good martial arts class. It causes students to see noncompliance as an option. It also violates your promise to teach focus and self-discipline.

Good instructors get 100% compliance in a controlled, authoritative manner. Those who don’t, are often clueless as to who is and who isn’t participating in their own class.

Some instructors teach as though everyone was participating when many are not. It’s like he/she is teaching to a wall. They just don’t notice or care. That’s a recipe for an eroding classroom and energy. When 100% of students are engaged, the energy is much higher than if 85% are and the others are just looking around or making faces at themselves in the mirror.

The Time Between the Notes
Musicians talk about the time between the notes as being just as important or more important than the note itself. For a martial arts instructor, the technique is the note. The time students spend focused on you, in good posture, remaining silent, and respectful is the time between the notes.

The process of learning teaches these traits, not the techniques we teach. It’s a quality of perfect practice.

Take What You Say Seriously
If some students are non-compliant, the instructor has to establish authority. You must take your own commands seriously. If you don’t, why would your students?

The first step to achieving a 100% conduct standard is to notice when it’s not happening and address it instantly, firmly but not aggressively or by shaming.

Let’s say that in your school your rule is that when you speak, everything stops. Every student turns to look at you.

Many instructors will say to the kids, “Eyes on who?” And the students respond with, “Eyes on you!” That’s fine as a blanket command. But a top instructor needs more tools when that is not getting 100% compliance from individual students.

When speaking, the instructor is asking for two things from the students; turn to him/her and be silent. The turning includes assuming a “parade rest” posture with the hands behind the back and eyes on the instructor. This means that just turning the head is not enough.

Students have four possible responses to the instructor’s command to shift attention to him/her:

1. Turn and not be silent.
Sample response: “Joey, when I am speaking, no one else speaks. I want you to learn this kick. If you are not quiet, you won’t learn it and the students around you won’t hear me. That’s disrespectful to your classmates and me. I know you’re better than that. Tell us, why do I want you to be silent when I speak?” “Correct. You’re a smart guy. You know this.”

2. Be silent but not turn and look at you.
Sample response: “Samantha, I want you to learn this, so you have to turn and look. Joey, show Samantha how to turn and focus. Thank you. Samantha, your turn. Show me how you do that. Thank you.”

3. Neither turns and looks or you.
Sample response: “John. Turn and focus on me. When I speak, turn and look at me. John, what do you do when I speak? Correct. Now show it to me.”

4. Turn and become silent.
Sample response: Carry on. You have compliance.

Notice that the instructor did not lavish the student with “Good Job” or “Awesome.” The kid was non-compliant. That does not warrant false praise. Your goal is not to make the student feel good. It’s to teach them important focus skills without embarrassing him/her.

Also, in every case, the instructor has the student feed the rule back physically and/or verbally. This helps to anchor the rule, but it also puts the rest of the class on alert that nothing less than 100% compliance is acceptable.

If you advertise that you teach focus and discipline, you have to teach focus and discipline.

[HDquiz quiz = “474”]

Offline Marketing & Sales

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