Last month, I cited our need, as instructors, to help our students discover their weaknesses or failings that we can then help them eliminate. That makes what we do valuable-and worth whatever we charge for it. Allow me to relate an example, knowing that it might upset a few music fans, but I feel it [...]
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the difference between the relationships I’ve established with my current students and how I previously interacted with my traditional martial arts students. The biggest difference, of course, is that my current students are adults. In a short period of time, I realized that for me to be successful teaching fitness [...]
We work in an industry that continues to change from year to year and decade to decade. Since we teach arts that are supposedly timeless, being ancient in origin, one would think that there would be less change. Of course, the goals that we set for our schools and ourselves drive that change. Many older [...]
Letter from a loving fatherDear Sons, You have learned your martial arts history from me as children, and now from your own study. You often teach me. You have learned how a man, Jigoro Kano, who was a member of the Japanese educational system, changed Jiujitsu into Judo. He took a Japanese martial art, modified [...]
Dear sons, now that you have decided to make teaching martial arts a career, instead of a pastime, please consider these words of experience. As you know, most traditional groups have an unwritten policy on how to handle their life-long relationships between students and teachers. I have often felt that traditional groups seem to be [...]
The air on the Santa Monica pier is usually alive with the emissions of countless biological organisms, giving it that fresh, faintly fish-smelling sourness that lets you know that you’re in the midst of life; and this despite the fact that tons of raw sewage are dumped from there into the Pacific Ocean every day. [...]
How to Maximize Fitness Results for your Students
The secret about fitness that no diet guru or so-called “weight-loss expert” wants you to know is that there is no one answer to fitness. You must understand this important factor when developing your martial arts fitness course because it’s the key to a successful fitness program for your students. Many of you are probably [...]
Transform Your Fears into Strengths—and Success, Part 2
You must feed your mind and heart with information that uplifts and keeps you on the “right-thinking” track, allowing you to be resourceful at all times. When you take the time to nurture your mind and heart, you will always land on your feet and make lemonade from lemons. From teaching woman’s self-defense seminars, I’ve [...]
