Marketing your school does not have to be expensive. The Marketing chapter of the Low Cost Marketing for the Martial Art School gives you 100s of ways to recruit new students and retain current students with little or no cash expenditure. If you implement even one third of the ideas over the course of the next year, your school will grow and thrive like never before. Below are 10 sample ideasto get you started.
2. Create a Product Display. A product display can be as simple as pinning up patches, headbands and pins on a bulletin board or as complex as furnishing a glass display case. The important part is how it looks. Use your imagination to create a low cost display of the supplies and equipment students can buy at the school. If you have time, create monthly themes in your display. Be sure to include item names, descriptions, sizes and prices. And don’t forget to secure the items (or permanently mark them in some way) so they don’t “walk away.
3. Have a free giveaway. For example, everyone who drops by to tour your school and pick up information receives a free headband, key chain, sticker, trading card, poster or patch. The gift does not have to be expensive, especially if the recipients are children.
Read MoreReader Question:
I am an experienced martial artist and I intend to pass my knowledge on to my 5 year old son. I have never taught someone of that age (let alone my own son), I am seeking some advice on some reference material that I can use to make this as fun for he and I as possible.
Thank you,
Dave Ruhl
Read MoreExcerpted from TEACHING MARTIAL ARTS by Sang H. Kim
Deft management is an integral part of teaching. How you manage your school atmosphere determines how your students perceive your teaching skills. A well managed classroom is identified by four characteristics.
- Students know what they are expected to do and are generally successful at it.
- Students are busy in teacher led activities.
- There is minimal waste of time, confusion or disruption.
- A no-nonsense, work oriented tone prevails but there is a relaxed pleasant atmosphere. (Brophy, 1979, Good, 1982)
The first three are directly related to your ability to accurately set clear objectives and to plan a course of action. However, number four is perhaps the most difficult and deficient area for martial arts instructors. Many instructors create a work oriented tone in their school, but few can combine it with a pleasant atmosphere. Often the atmosphere is tense and harsh. Punishment is meted out frequently and junior students are subjected to the demands of their seniors without regard for their welfare.
Read MoreExcerpted from Martial Arts Instructors Desk Reference by Sang H. Kim
The behavior problems associated with ADD and ADHD tend to lead to other problems. Children who are disruptive in school are quickly labeled troublemakers, ruffians, bullies or just plain dumb. Children at the other end of the ADD spectrum are labeled lazy, stupid, underachieving or spaced out. To make things worse, these children often have trouble understanding why their behavior is wrong. This explains the ADD child’s tendency to look genuinely shocked when he gets in trouble. One of the biggest challenges to improving the behavior of the ADD child is teaching him to recognize the consequences of his actions and to see things from other peoples' point of view.
There are some steps you can take to help manage the behavior of students in your class with ADD or ADHD including:
1. Identify problem behaviors.
Objectively identify what problems are the biggest impediments to the child’s learning. These may not be the most annoying behaviors or the ones you would most like to correct, so take an unemotional inventory, perhaps involving other instructors or the child’s parents. Making a chart can help. For each item, list the behavior, when it most frequently occurs, what triggers it and how disruptive it is on a scale of one to ten. Try to be as specific as possible. For each problem, write down at least one strategy from this report for eliminating or changing the behavior.
Read MoreExcerpted from Low Cost Marketing for the Martial Arts School
Marketing your school does not have to be expensive. The Marketing chapter of the Low Cost Marketing for the Martial Art School gies you 100s of ways to recruit new students and retain current students with little or no cash expenditure. If you implement even one third of the ideas over the course of the next year, your school will grow and thrive like never before. Below are 10 sample ideasto get you started.
2. Create a Product Display. A product display can be as simple as pinning up patches, headbands and pins on a bulletin board or as complex as furnishing a glass display case. The important part is how it looks. Use your imagination to create a low cost display of the supplies and equipment students can buy at the school. If you have time, create monthly themes in your display. Be sure to include item names, descriptions, sizes and prices. And don’t forget to secure the items (or permanently mark them in some way) so they don’t “walk away.
3. Have a free giveaway. For example, everyone who drops by to tour your school and pick up information receives a free headband, key chain, sticker, trading card, poster or patch. The gift does not have to be expensive, especially if the recipients are children.
Read Moreby Sang H. Kim | Excerpted from TEACHING MARTIAL ARTS
1. Planning
The foremost element in teaching is careful planning. Plan the objectives for each class and delegate the amount of practice time you will allow for each. For effectiveness and safety, carefully consider the type and number of exercises and skills you will teach in every class. Set goals for each class. Students can perform better and learn more quickly when they have goals to work toward. In setting your classroom goals, it is best to identify each individual’s strengths and weaknesses whenever possible. This insures smooth progress and avoids unnecessary frustration. For the greatest motivational value, goals must be specific and reasonably difficult to accomplish. (For a more detailed discussion of planning, see Chapter 5)
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