Video: Martial Arts Instructors, Are You Making This Common Mistake?
Are you making this common mistake in class?
The First Half of Class
Do you tell your students to:
- Aim your punch!
- Hold your punch out in the air!
- Pull the other hand back to your hip!
- Square your shoulders to your opponent!
- Keep the chin up for good form!
- Get into a deep balance!
The Second Half of Class When the Students are Sparring
Do you tell the students:
- Don't telegraph your punch!
- Snap your punch back to guard!
- Pull the other hand back to your cheek!
- Turn your body sideways to protect your center line!
- Tuck your chin down!
- Keep your feet under you so you can move easily!
Which is it?
Too many instructors contradict themselves in every class without knowing.
I’ve been teaching martial arts since 1976. This is all I’ve ever done since I was 17.
It wasn’t until 1985 that I started to see that I was enforcing bad habits in the first half of class and then trying to eradicate them in the second.
I started to eliminate the basic blocks and kata. I replaced them with more practical blocks and combinations that were far more effective in the street or sport and a heck of a lot easier to teach and learn.
My enrollments and retention went through the roof. I remember counting 52 adult white belts in class. It was so crowded we could only do knees and elbows, which was fine because that was part of the curriculum.
I’ve refined this curriculum into Empower Kickboxing to be a full white-to-black belt martial arts curriculum that schools can use to augment their curriculum or replace their traditional martial arts program.