The Future of Karate Instruction. Not the total future, but a part of it. In the conference room in San Diego, I was having a casual chat with one of the invitees to the meeting.
We discovered we both had degrees in marketing. He owned a marketing company and I had at one time done the same. I pointed to the years that had passed since I had earned my degree and my skills were from the age of Magellan. He responded that his marketing skills were out of date too, as of that afternoon. His point, the world is changing fast. Here is the future of karate instruction.
To stay relevant in such a fast-moving field as marking takes effort. It is incumbent on people to keep present, to stay up to date in their skills. We understand this, we need to sharpen our skills daily.
Here is an Update for Karate Instructors
It is a simple act, yet necessary. A rule of thumb in marketing for a new product was you needed to present the product name seven times. Seven times was the magic number before a person remembers the name of the product.
This was the introduction of the name of the product. After the seven-time name familiarity process, you begin to share the value of the product. The product made things cleaner, brighter, better, last longer, etc.
The Modern Mind is Different
The number is not seven anymore it is thirteen. You need to be in front of somebody thirteen times before the product name sticks. The easy culprit for this is people lack focus, screens, big and small, lack of interest. You can add more to the list.
Teaching a movement, an idea in martial arts you should adopt this idea. Start to present in higher repetition. This isn’t about if the need for repetition is necessary or not. It is necessary. And it is one of the elements of the future of karate instruction.
It is Necessary, Because it is The Future of Karate Instruction
This is not a lament on how the world has changed, or students aren’t the way they used to be, etc. it is a statement of fact. And as Dr. Drew Pinsky is keen to say. “You have to deal with reality on realities terms.”
Being creative in this presentation, change it up, bury the message in a drill, say the message in different ways, demonstrate it from different angles. Meet your student where they are and then turn pointing down the road, saying, “Go that way.” Hopefully, they will become the future of karate instruction,
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KRIS WILDER
Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession with Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.
