AS INSTRUCTORS
As instructors, we often think about teaching in the context of how it benefits our students. We help them understand how to protect themselves, defend and escape.
Through their training, they begin to improve in many ways. Their confidence soars, and they see changes in themselves that they never expected. These reflect some of the exceptional benefits that students discern through their training, thanks to their instructors.
Do not be fooled, though. Students are not the only ones who reap great benefits. Martial art instructors gain just as much from teaching as students do from learning.
KEEP ENGAGED
A great benefit to teaching is the opportunity to keep in shape. The best way to keep engaged as an instructor is to work out with the class. You will improve flexibility and strengthen yourself, while sharing your great martial art talents with others. Do not offer commands, but demonstrate how and why techniques work. This is a great teaching approach which will always keep you engaged.
When I warm up with the class, it prepares me to work out for the rest of the class. There may be times when you need to work twice as hard as your students to demonstrate or assist them, which in turn will keep you fit and healthy.
If you actively participate in the classes you teach, your students will appreciate you and want to practice because they see you as a role model and leader. Until recently, I was teaching five martial art classes a week, which were five chances per week for me to keep myself in shape.
Teaching always gives you the opportunity to continually improve and reinforce your own skill sets.
WAY OF LIFE
Once you have a few years of teaching under your belt, a martial art becomes much more than your attendance at a class that you teach or a series of techniques.
Instead, it becomes a way of life.
Teaching is a unique experience. It becomes such a part of who you are from the outside in that you cannot separate it from how you live your life. For me, martial arts are a part of my daily life, my family, my way of thinking. I practice, write, and share about it.
Martial art instructors create a presence in the community. You will stand out because of your desire to help others learn. You solidify the importance of martial arts in the world through the changes you help others create in their own lives.
This way of life feels good. It is a great commitment and a great accomplishment. Knowing that you are doing something that positively affects others for years to come, makes all your effort and dedication worth it.
THE REWARD
You may notice that my reasons for teaching a martial art and the benefits I have discussed do not necessarily include compensation or making money. Do not get me wrong. It is incredible to get paid for a passion. I personally hope to earn money from my passion of martial art teaching and writing because it is a lot of challenging work and effort. School owners deserve every penny and more as long as their hearts are in the right places.
As long as making huge amounts of money is not your total ambition in teaching, you have every right to earn money for your expertise.
Beyond the marketing and business aspects of martial art teaching, however, the truth is that teaching a martial art is my reward. Because I love it and believe in it, I have my heart in the right place. That is where good teaching starts, and where it must always remain.
TEACHING IS ABOUT YOU
In the process of teaching and offering these life-changing benefits to your students, you will learn more about yourself than ever before, and from there you can grow, achieve, and succeed. The great martial art tenets that everyone talks about rise to the surface in you, such as perseverance and indomitable spirit, and they become more than just a mantra.
In the beginning, you step into teaching thinking it is all about the student. What you eventually realize is that you become a better, braver, more positive person in the process, and that is the beauty of teaching a martial art.
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Thanks for sharing.I have found it extremely helpful.
Osu and thank you!