| The changing world of martial arts | |||||||
| by BUDDY AMATO | |||||||
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The martial arts has grown quite rapidly in the last twenty-five years. I, myself, have been in business for over thirty years, and I have seen the arts grow in leaps and bounds. We are now at the point where almost everyone you speak to has trained or knows someone who does. Some of my oldest students, that started with me when they were only young children, have married, and now I am teaching their children, and pretty soon I will be teaching their grandchildren. What I have noticed about the martial arts, in the last few years that sticks out the most, is that many instructors have lost sight of the true meaning of what they are teaching. Sometimes, I also find it necessary to reassess exactly what I am teaching to my students because what they need most sometimes differs from what they are being taught. What I see is that many children lack self-confidence, and we, as martial artists, push the self-defense aspect of the arts instead. Many people may think that if they are taught the self-defense, the self-confidence will just come with it, but, in many cases, this is far from the truth, because many children can be taught the confidence aspect in only a few months, whereas the self-defense will take, in some cases, years. Self-confidence can be instilled into a child by simply making him or her feel that they are important to the school/DOJO, and other students. You can put confidence into a child simply by letting the student be in front of the class while you are teaching and letting the student be a helper, or, for lack of better words, a junior teacher. I try to pick a different child each class to do this and the parent always tells me that it did wonders for the child. Once you have instilled the self-confidence in a child, everything else will come naturally. One other development in the arts is the lack of interest in tournaments. At one time, everyone would crowd into a gym to compete, and the average tournament would have at least three hundred competitors. Nowadays, you are lucky to break one hundred competitors, and I have been to a few tournaments just this year that had even less than that. The reasons for this are that insurance for these events is hard to get, and there are many restrictions on the student. Many students get disqualified for simple contact because the tournament director is afraid of getting sued. I have found that there is more competition at a Dojo/school because of the relaxed environment and the student is more comfortable with how matches run. However, a few of my close friends run tournaments each year, and I make it a point to support them because open competition is healthy, even though many schools are having in-house tournaments. These work out great, too, because the instructor is more aware of the students abilities because they deal with that student every week. Another big change I have noticed over the last few years is the fact that many instructors feel the need to use long-term contracts with their students. This is something I still stay away from, and hope that I will never find it necessary to use. I understand, however, why some schools use these contracts, but I still think it is something that should not be used with children. I have found that by keeping your prices down, the student is more apt to sign up for longer periods of time simply because of the lower rate. At my school, for example, you can come almost every day. However you should not force a child to take more classes than they are capable of handling. Three classes a week are more than sufficient for any child, and it will only cost you $1,800 for fourteen months. Many schools are charging more than twice that for two classes a week, and you have to sign a contract and finance it through a bank, at that. I still think that four month programs are the way to go with students, especially in the beginning to see if the student is going to stick with it, or just stay for the mandatory time and then go on to something else, like many children do. When you make a person commit to a year program, and after a month or so the child does not wish to come, enforcing that contract becomes pretty nasty and your business can and will get a bad reputation down the road. If you treat people with common respect and the way you would want to be treated, they will refer many students to you. Making them pay for lessons for, in some cases, a year or more when the child does not want to be there, can do nothing but harm to you and your school's reputation. Another big change in the Martial Arts industry is the lack of respect many instructors show each other. In the circles I travel in, I would never show any disrespect to another fellow instructor. However, belly-crawlers do pop up now and then because they don't stand behind Gojuryu, Isshinryu, wado ryu or taekwondo styles of martial arts. Instead they hide behind a fast new art, that is growing rapidly, called their lawyers so they don't have to bring it to the mat where martial art's problems were settled in the old days. Buddy Amato is a Hazlet business owner, who operates Amato's Karate and Weapons Academy. For more information, call (732) 671-9555.
Copyright Buddy Amato Amato's Goju-ryu Karate, Nunchaku, Bo-staff, Aikido, Sword, Kendo, Sais, Kick-boxing, Tai-Chi and more 589 Palmer Ave, Keansburg and is the author of Buddys Animal Kingdom, NJ 07734 (732) 671-9555 |
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