A few quick tips for aspiring martial arts instructors

I have had a small garage school for almost 8 years now. Before that, I taught privately to a very small select group of students on an individual basis. In this time I have discovered a few things that, personally, I wish someone had said years ago. If you teach, or are planning to teach Martial Arts of any kind, the following advice may hold some wisdom for you.

1: First, start with the TRUTH

If you don’t know something, how in the world can you teach it? Honestly asses what you actually know and how much drive/desire/ability you possess to pass the information along. Being a teacher can be one of the most rewarding experiences life has to offer, it can also be one of the most heartbreaking. If you are always honest with your students then you can always look back on your instruction with pride and integrity, no matter how much or how little you know.

Any school of thought, any training center of advanced learning must begin by teaching distrust, not trust. It must teach questioning, not acceptance of stock answers.

That which is true can withstand any scrutiny. That which is not, cannot.

2: Always defer to the truth

If you are confronted with a situation where you don’t know something, accept that right off the bat. That way, your students won’t hold you to an unrealistic standard of an all-knowing entity, and you won’t be constantly pressured to come up with an explanation for every little thing under the sun.

Present yourself as human and they will respect that. Present yourself as God and be ready for a crucifixion sometime in your future.

3: Get your head out of your ass.

Seriously, this stuff’s hard enough…Why obscure it with clouds? We get plenty of moonlight from the moon. No need to add the mystical (and often unattainable) elements that glamorize what you're doing. If your students can't throw a punch, they sure as hell won't be able to levitate. Anybody who holds a title of "Teaching Authority" (Sifu, Guru, Sensei, etc) has a responsibility to provide first-rate instruction, and produce knowledgeable, competent students. You need to ask yourself; "What should my students look and move like after five years with me? Eight? Ten?" If you don't have an eventual graduation plan for your students then I would venture to suggest you are lacking something in your teaching method. Similarly, if they haven't figured out the nuances of your style after 10 years, I'd say someone is holding back...and there's only two people it could be.

4: Honestly assess your motives

Some people want to teach for the joy of teaching, others do it for money, still others like the feeling of ego-gratification and self-worth it gives them. There is nothing wrong with that, by the way. Teaching because you want to earn money at it is perfectly fine, and makes you no less a gifted teacher, if you are such. But you must have a purpose, and you must KNOW YOUR PURPOSE. If you are trying to make a living at teaching martial arts (a risky thing at best) you need to formulate a game plan for overhead, finances, location, advertisement, etc. Love teaching? Think about what environment will pay off bigger dividends for you emotionally, so that you don’t lose that spirit. It could be that you are better suited towards smaller classes, or teaching children. Just like being in charge? Nothing wrong with that, just make sure that your ego doesn’t dwarf the needs of the student.

Sometimes a good teacher will be a combination of the above examples, sometimes it will be none of the above. But whatever the reason you are doing it, asses yourself with honesty.

5: Start Small

There is a price for being a leader of any sort. There is a burden of command. I have seen the demise of public storefront schools as a result of poor foresight. Think this through and prepare for the worst! Your best bet is to start a small garage school and run it for a few years. This will give you some serious time running and preparing classes, as well as stretch your teaching legs. You get to experience the joys and disappointments of being a teacher without any extra overhead or risk to your livelihood involved. If you have a family, this can be the best arrangement for both teaching and nearness to family.

Another benefit is that you build up a good, solid core of students that will be helpful to you as examples and assistants in your new storefront school. Starting off commercially with a knowledgeable cadre of students gives a good appearance to prospective customers.

6: Continue your education

Yesterday isn’t today. No one style has a monopoly on the truth. You don’t know everything. See a pattern here? You are teaching students. If you have assumed this role then you must carry the responsibility of leadership. Leadership means accepting responsibility.

Not every student will understand the same lesson to the same time. You will need multiple methods at your disposal for reaching students of varied learning abilities. Some students will get it the first time out, others may need a notebook. Still others might have to repeat the same thing a hundred times until they get it, but if you make everyone do this you will very soon have no students at all! Just because YOU learned it in a certain way doesn’t even remotely mean that THEY will have an identical aptitude for training.

Also, you must be aware of what is occurring in the world of martial arts around you. Your students have the internet, they will discover things faster than you will sometimes. If you are truly doing your job right, then they should approach (if not exceed) your level some day. It’s not a race, but you do need to consider this:

If your students evolve, so must you.

A common malady most, and I do mean MOST martial arts teachers have is the absolute lack of education. They know how to hit. They don't know how to teach hitting. It's not enough to strike a pose and say "Do like this". You can't simply ramble on and act as if you have just imparted the secrets of the universe to someone, and how dense are they that they didn't get it?

If you have decided to teach martial arts, then it is your RESPONSIBILITY to learn how to be the best teacher you can be. This will often take the form of education outside of your martial arts school. It's not enough to recite facts to a novice and then rest assured that you have done your job. The problem is that although from the teacher's point of view lot's of teaching is going on, from the student's point of view very little learning is taking place. Few teachers have the insight and wisdom required to emote, to put themselves in the shoes of their students. Fewer still posses the humility necessary to admit when they themselves don't know a thing, and must look further for the answer.

There is a responsibility that goes with being the teacher of others. As I said earlier, it's the burden of command. If you only have one method or technique of teaching at your disposal, you are negligent in your own education. If you have done nothing to improve yourself as an educator outside of the Martial Arts realm, SHAME ON YOU! You have no business standing in front of someone in the role of teacher.

On the opposite side, equal responsibility falls on the student to TRY HIS BEST. Not giving 100% effort in anything is a waste of time, period. A student who pays lip service to the requirements of training and slacks off when he's not at the school is cheating. The school is where you go to LEARN Martial Arts. You drill it in the time between classes. If the last time you did your form or practiced a technique was in class you are wasting time.

The teacher must give himself away.

So too must the student.