Who taught me How to Teach

Over the years I have met many martial arts instructors, some great, some not so great.

As I’m all about positivity I’m not going to dwell on the bad ones.

The great instructors all had one thing in common, passion fueled by conviction about what it was that they were doing. They loved their martial art so much you could not help but get infected by their enthusiasm. It was impossible not to like them as they beamed with confidence, and charisma,

As the instructor of that art or system they had to be the ambassador of it because your first impression of their martial art comes from them. An instructor might be teaching the best system in the world but if you don’t like them, the odds are, you won’t continue your training in it.

The great instructors bring out the best in their students, by enhancing their own will to be better than they were the day before, in hope that one day they will be as confident and well meaning as their instructor.It was these qualities that lead me to want to teach martial arts at the age of 14.

 

I was never very confident in anything growing up, and I was far from charismatic, so the reality of teaching a class for the first time terrified me, even though I had always wanted to do so.Thankfully Grandmaster Martin had more faith in me than I did. Up until that point I had only trained my friends in martial arts on a one to one basis so the prospect of taking a full class was daunting to say the least. I never felt like teaching came naturally to me (especially teaching children). GM Martin started me as an assistant Instructor, taking the class warm ups and lining up the students, my main job was to watch how he and his instructors conducted the classes.

At the time there was the 3 of them, Mr. Andy O’brian, Mr. Jason Wylde, and GM Martin who all had different teaching styles but got the results.

I was growing in confidence in the adult classes, but losing it in the children’s, because I couldn’t keep class discipline. A few children would always misbehave, where as if any of the other instructors were teaching they were good as gold.

When I was 24 years old, Grandmaster David Martin offered me a full time job as a martial arts instructor at his school in Maidstone. I knew i still had loads to learn but experience and guidance would help me through.

 

I would often ask GM Martin for advice on how to keep discipline in the children’s classes, and I would get it, but somehow almost everything I tried didn’t work for me, not because it was bad advice, but because I did not command the respect from the younger students.

I asked him “What if I make them do extra push ups or tuck jumps as a punishment?”, to which his response was “You can’t do that I’m afraid, because the moment you use an exercise as a punishment the child will see all exercise as a bad thing, and we want them to see the good in exercising”, I completely agree with this, as it makes perfect sense. It just irritated me that no one ever told this to my old P.E. teachers at school.

 

I tried emulating GM Martin by acting as he would, but the children could somehow see through the act.I tried impressing them with my martial arts skills, but quickly became a performing monkey, not really gaining any real respect from them.I was beginning to think that maybe I was not cut out to teach martial arts but i wanted to persevere and succeed.

 

One day I was assisting in one of Mr Wylde’s class’s, his approach was very different to GM Martin.

Mr Wylde was all about fun, he would be silly, and playful but he always kept control.

His lessons were not as technical as GM Martin, but no one really minded because everyone was having fun, even the parents in the viewing area.

I’m not saying that GM Martin’s classes were not fun, they were and are fun, the difference was Mr Wylde wanted the children to have fun and learn something, where as GM Martin’s approach was for the children to learn foremost and then have fun.

Both approaches had great results, so I wanted to be a mix of the two, but I knew that the last time I tried to emulate a teaching style the children saw through it, so I was at a loss.

 

I would also watch how Mr O’Brien tackled adult classes with various abilities within them.

MR O’brian was the everyman, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. He would always retell the difficulty’s he faced while learning martial arts, reminding the students that even instructors were beginners once.

In telling people about the difficulties he had faced in the past, he would always share his coping mechanisms, in order to help them learn quicker.

I found this approach refreshing, as most of the instructors from other styles and systems seemed invincible, like they always had the answers, as if they were born a Master, which in hindsight was obviously not the case.

 

There was so much to take in from these instructors but what should i do, i would contemplate.

Until I watched School of Rock on D.V.D. at a friend’s house (I had seen it before at the cinema but was not that thrilled by it). This time viewing it with the experience of trying to teach a challenging class, it rang some bells, and made me seriously laugh.

At that point I had an epiphany “I’m going to be all the positive parts of Jack Black in School of Rock blended with GM Martin, Mr Wylde, and Mr O’brian”.

The Next week I went to work Channelling all four characters. I was using GM Martin’s attention to detail, while trying to present the class to all levels and abilities, with a relatable humility emulating Mr Obrian. I would reward the children with some of the games Mr Wylde would use at the end of the class. All in the hyper enthusiastic style of Jack Black.

 

It worked, I finally got the full respect of the children in the class.After I had their respect, I didn’t have to worry about discipline because they liked me and only wanted my approval.

Don’t get me wrong it was not always without incident, but on the whole it was miles better.

Over time I stopped emulating other people, my confidence had grown with experience and my personality began to change, I became more fun and light-hearted.

Before I was portraying two different characters, one for the adult class’s and one for the children’s, now I am just me in all classes, I just change the content of the lessons.

 

Don’t get me wrong there are plenty of other factors that go into creating a great instructor, i.e. studying N.L.P. (Neuro Linguistic Programming) which helps you understand the different ways people learn.

In depth study in learning difficulties, this never stops as new research and studies increases understanding of the issues people face, with new treatments, and medications creating possible side effects.

You also need to have understanding in body mechanics, balanced with empathy. No one’s body is completely same, some students have past injuries or medical problems that need to be taken into account. They may not be able to do a specific technique of exercise, but that doesn’t mean the instructor can’t modify the task to create the same desired effect.

Other students suffer from undiagnosed psychological issues. Now this one is a tricky issue, because it’s not the instructor’s job to treat medical or psychological issues, but you don’t want to cause them any unnecessary distress. A student might have been attacked in the past leaving them with a fear of conflict situations. Self –Defence is all about resolving conflict situations, so the instructor has to tread carefully with patience and understanding.

I remember assisting on one of GM Martin’s lessons, while I was watching the class practice I folded my arms, later he quietly pulled me aside and asked me not to fold my arms, because it makes me look stern and unapproachable, or to some that I might be bored of being there.

Great instructors like Grandmaster Martin, never overlook anything, no matter how small it might seem. After that I began to realise, small gestures and mannerisms can have a large effect on how you are perceived, especially on the mats in the training hall.

 

GM Martin, Mr Obrian,MrWylde, and Jack Black all contributed to how I would conduct the class, how I would relate to the class, and the rapport I had with the students, but ultimately you need to find your own individual way.

That being said, I am eternally grateful for all their advice and coaching in becoming an instructor.

I have since met many other great instructors, all with their own individual teaching style and flare.

Some are really entertaining, some are exciting and dramatic, some are super analytical and process driven, and occasionally you meet someone that has all these qualities.

They were all different because they had found their own way.

I found it was in the act of teaching, I learnt the most about people and how to instruct them.

I learnt that even though you’re an instructor you never stop learning, you are always faced with new challenges daily from where you learn more about yourself also.Experience helps you meet those challenges, but it’s having confidence with a willingness to meet those challenges positively that gets you through.

 

By Louis Tandoh Chief instructor of Family Martial Arts in Gravesend