I have found that, on average, a traditional martial arts instructor doesn’t necessarily make a good martial arts (MA) fitness instructor. The reason for this is because traditional martial arts and MA fitness are two completely different animals. Teaching traditional martial arts has very little to do with teaching martial arts fitness.
The elements that make up a good MA fitness class are not the same as a traditional martial arts class. The key elements of a good MA fitness class are consistency, simplicity and intensity.
Consistency is important for martial arts instruction, but traditional classes must keep changing as students advance in rank and learn more material, so the classes are inherently inconsistent.
Consistency in your MA fitness program is a key element to its success. Your fitness students must be able to count on the consistency of the workout. For example, what would you guess is the most popular form of aerobic conditioning at a fitness center? Aerobics, step or maybe spinning? No, it’s a treadmill!
Yes, the dreaded treadmill is still the most popular equipment for aerobic conditioning because people can count on the consistency of the workout. They know every time they step on the treadmill they will receive a real workout.
The next key element is to keep it simple. Traditional martial arts is not simple. Achieving a Black Belt is a complicated process, compared to practically any other sport or activity.
A martial art fitness class must be simple. People don’t want to have to think too much, while they work out. They must be able to enter the aerobic zone where they can push themselves physically by performing repetitive motion with little thinking. Basic techniques can be added one at a time to build to a simple combination, so students don’t have to stop and think about what they are supposed to do next.
Another key element to your MA fitness programming is short, but intense, classes. Most schools have intense traditional martial arts classes for their mid- to upper-belts, but think how long students must train during the majority of their classes before they stop learning and start working out at an intense level.
In fitness, the shorter and more physically challenging the class, the better. The hardest classes are the most popular classes; plus, the average adult just doesn’t have time for a 20-minute warm-up and a 10-minute cool-down. They want fast and intense. If students don’t feel the class is physically challenging and lacks intensity, then they will not participate. The problem with intensity is that everyone is different. What is physically challenging for one person is a cakewalk for someone else.
You must have class structures that allow the students to vary the intensity. This is why my Ultimate Bodyshaping Courses (UBC) kickboxing classes are heavy-bag workouts. Student can hit the bag five times in a minute or fifty times a minute; it’s their choice. Everyone is doing the same activity, but at different intensity levels.
The point I’m trying to make is that martial arts instructors must understand that what they do during martial arts classes will not work in a fitness kickboxing class. This refers to the needs of your students and why they are at your school. Your martial arts students are there to learn and achieve their Black Belts. Your fitness students are there to lose weight and re-shape. Different needs require different approaches.
Traditional martial arts is a personality-driven business. Because of the complexity of martial arts, it takes a unique leader to be able to teach and motivate enough people to follow him or her and make his or her martial arts school successful.
A good MA fitness program should be about the system, not the instructor. Take my UBC instructors, for example. They can choose from a variety of basic combinations, but they cannot teach new material or change the structure of the class. The instructor is only there to motivate and to make sure the class flows from one technique to the next, without requiring that students stop, pause and think about what to do next.
The best part about running a MA fitness program is that it’s much easier to create a system that is consistent, simple and intense than it is to find that unique leader to teach traditional martial arts.
