5 Things to Make Your Martial Arts Instructor Happy (And Stand Out from the Crowd) Martial arts students, beginner and seasoned alike typically truly want to make their instructor happy. It is natural, and a lot easier than you probably think. Listed here are what I believe to be the top five things you can do to make your instructor happy.
Practice
The first item of the 5 Things to Make Your Instructor Happy is practice. This is probably the single most common thing I hear from instructors regardless of style. For every ten students who sign up, maybe one will put in any practice time away from the training hall. If you rely solely on class time for your training, your progress will be much slower than it could be.
Simply set aside some time every day that will be devoted to practice. It only takes a couple of weeks for this to transform into a habit. Eventually, you will notice the difference in how you feel when you do practice versus when you don’t practice. Even at my age, with the injuries piled up, I feel better when I practice.
Getting started today, makes it a habit. Your instructor will not even need to be told; they will see the difference. And it will make them happy.
Give us your 100% best effort
Everyone has good and bad days. Everyone has days where they have more energy than others. Maybe on a given day, you will show up and only be 70% of your normal energy. Give us 100% of that 70%! This attitude will go a long way in developing your mental toughness. If the day ever comes where you need to rely on your training to defend yourself, the ability to give all that you have will make a tremendous difference.
Predators don’t attack you when you are at your best. They are not looking for a fight. If you are ever targeted by a predator, you will assuredly not be at your best. That is when you need the ability to dig down and find that spark that will drive you to give your all.
As an instructor I can tell you, I find great joy in seeing those students who really, honestly give it all that they have.
Remember that we are human too
Bob Ross is a personal hero of mine. His show, The Joy of Painting, is so peaceful to watch, and his manner of teaching is something I hope to one day have and a constant. I fall short, but I always try.
Maybe due to the way so many of the martial arts masters in the movies were picture perfect in how they lived, we sometimes think that our instructors must be perfect human beings.
Nobody is perfect.
I remember the shock I had when I found out that my Instructor…drank alcohol. Gasp! It took some time getting over it. As a teenager raised on Kwai Chang Caine, there was a bit of adjustment time needed.
Your instructor is human. They may shout, or drink, or cuss, or any other number of things that might surprise you. Don’t expect them to be a saint. It is one of the finer points to 5 Things to Make Your Instructor Happy
Enjoy the ride
You have to have a goal, and martial arts a well equipped with short- and long-term goals built right into the handy-dandy colored belt systems. Many students focus so strongly on the end result that they forget that the journey is where you will find meaning. The journey is where you will build the memories. If it were all about Black Belt, the best martial artist would be the ones who got there fastest, and we know that isn’t the case.
Enjoy the ride. Look around. Take in the feeling of working with, learning with, and sweating with those around you. Pause when you have those moments where, after a ton of hard work and failure, you finally got something right! It is a great feeling! It will be going quickly. Savor it when it happens.
Never forget; the door is always open
You will eventually stop showing up. There are as many reasons why students stop training as there are students who start training. And most of the time it boils down to life getting in the way.
Your instructor, if they have been an instructor for any length of time, already knows this. There are always students that we do not want to see go, but we never believe they will stay. When you quit training, do not lead yourself to believe that your instructor is mad, or would let you start again, even years down the road.
The door is always open. You will be greeted with a smile and probably great joy. You will possibly have forgotten some things, but it will all still be there, waiting to be rediscovered. And your instructor will be happy to help!
About the Guest Author Wallace Smedley
Wallace Smedley describes himself as “a life-long martial artist, so far”. With a background in westerns arts of boxing and wrestling and training in eastern arts including Chinese Hung Gar (Tiger and Crane kung fu) and Korean Taekwondo, he has a range of experiences. He has been a bricklayer and a bouncer, a security guard and a teacher, a professional wrestler and a manager.
You can connect with Wallace at his website or Amazon Author Page by clicking the links below.
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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 of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.