Martial Arts
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
BUSINESS australia’s ONLY martial arts industry magazine
how to boost
female membership
THE LAWS OF ATTRACTION
7 leave
reasons students
And how to prevent it
DOJO
101
from plan to action How to kick your
business plan into gear
Secrets to a successful school + master teaching principles + branding your club: the legalities + movers & shakers: industry news
SEPTEMBER 2016 www.blitzpublications.com.au
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CONTENTS
WHAt’s in every issue
ISSUE 0101
10 6 THE WARM-UP > Publisher’s Letter Blitz CEO Silvio Morelli talks martial arts business
> Movers & Shakers News and insights from the martial arts industry in Australia and beyond
> Gearing Up New products and services to help the martial arts business owner
> Success Story Martial arts industry leaders share their motivational stories and tips
> Digital Done Right All things in the digital realm to help your business; from advertising to managing a social media community
DOWN TO BUSINESS FEATURE TOPICS > Managing Your Business Experts in the field reveal how to better your business skills and run a smooth and successful outfit
> Healthy HR Get the experts’ tips on how to staff your business for efficiency and effectiveness, and create an inspiring work environment
> Systems for Success The industry’s innovators and business leaders outline their systems for running a better business at every level
> Bomb-proof Marketing Those who’ve been there, done that and sold — not bought — the T-shirt show how to promote your martial arts school more effectively
> Growing Your Membership
REGULARS >
> The Rules of Student Retention Gaining more members is half the battle; the other half is keeping them. Discover the keys to keeping students loyal
Martial Law Legal experts break down the laws that affect instructors and martial arts business owners
Case studies and advice from those who have cracked the code of how best to attract and convert new members
>
Principles of Success
ON THE MAT > The Art of Instruction Renowned martial arts instructors and experts explore best-practice teaching methods to get the best out of students
> Up-Skill An in-depth look at training programs, certification courses and seminars that will add to your skill set and syllabus, and beef up your business offering
> Body of Knowledge Experts in biomechanics and strength and conditioning for martial arts give tips on best fitness practices for your school
> Drill Masters Got a great drill that gets students excited while teaching functional skills and/or fitness? Share it here!
The martial arts industry’s high achievers reveal key principles and personal development tools to help you succeed
contents | www.martialartsbusiness.com.au • 3
CONTENTS
WHAt’s in this sample issue
ISSUE 0101
THE WARM-UP 06 Publisher’s Letter Blitz CEO Silvio Morelli introduces the martial arts industry’s new go-to business guide
12
08 Gearing Up New products and services to help the martial arts business owner
10 Movers & Shakers Martial arts industry news & insights
DOWN TO BUSINESS 12 7 Reasons Students Quit US martial arts business guru Kyoshi Dave Kovar outlines six key reasons students leave their martial arts school, and how to stop that happening
14 From Plan to Action Hapkido instructor and Black Belt Business founder Nathan McDonald reveals four key principles for putting your business plan into action
16 The Law of Attraction Freestyle martial arts instructor Shihan Matt Charnley reveals the steps he and his staff took to increase their female membership and maintain it
14
16
22 Martial Law: Martial Arts Brands Barrister and martial artist William Lye looks at the power — and the legalities — of branding your martial art
ON THE MAT 24 A Will & A Way: Master Teaching John Will explains the keys to mastering the art of teaching martial arts
4 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au | contents
24
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publisher’s note SILVIO MORELLI
getting down to business
W
elcome to the first issue of Martial Arts Business magazine. As a martial arts instructor for many years myself, I know the challenges faced by anyone wanting to make their passion for martial arts into a sustainable career. It isn’t easy to run a full-time — or even part-time — school and really make a good fist of it, so to speak. It’s for this reason that it gives me a huge buzz to be launching this free publication designed to educate, inform, inspire and assist hardworking instructors and school owners out there to achieve success. Having been involved in martial arts for more than 40 years now, and with our consumer magazine for martial arts, Blitz, now in its 30th year, I have seen and experienced many changes in our industry, and learned as much from the ups as the downs. Like most instructors then and now, I began teaching as I was coming up through the ranks. This turned into 25 years of instructing professionally, and opening one of Victoria’s first full-time martial arts schools (in Boronia). I invested my all into that 3000 square-feet dojo, but after five years I had to close it down. Like many other sensei I knew, I was a hard instructor but not a good businessman. I then ran a chain of about eight part-time schools for many years and, having learned a lot more, I tried again (in the late 1990s), opening up the Blitz Martial Arts Centre, then one of the biggest centres in Australia. With a set-up cost of almost $100,000, failure was not an option, so I began researching business methods and marketing strategies used in the health and fitness industry, and applying them to the business of martial arts. However, it didn’t take long to discover that what worked in the health and fitness industry did not necessarily apply to the martial arts. Next I tried researching the successful martial arts business operators in Australia — however, the few instructors who seemed to be operating successful schools were very guarded and unwilling to share their strategies and systems. This led me to look abroad to the USA, where I knew the martial arts industry —
6 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au | EDITORIAL
and, in particular, full-time martial arts professionals and academies — were well established. This I knew from my almost yearly travels to America to train with some of the globe’s top martial arts instructors. I spent time in some of the USA’s most successful centres and eventually realised that many of them were using particular systems and strategies. I also found several organisations that provided these business systems as a service, leading me to licence the NAPMA (National Association of Professional Martial Artists) program from its originators in Florida. I began distributing and promoting the NAPMA program to martial arts schools around Australia while also applying it at the Blitz Martial Arts Centre. Within months of putting the program in place, we took our Blitz Centre from 150-plus students to more than 250 students, and over the next few years our membership grew to almost 500. Fast forward a few years and the owners of NAPMA in the USA found themselves in a lawsuit, which unfortunately spelled the end of NAPMA in Australia. Now, a few more years down the track, we are set to bring back some much-needed support of Australia’s martial arts business professionals through Martial Arts Business magazine. In order to bring you the knowledge and contacts you need to be successful, we have sought out some of the most successful operators in the field, both from Australia and abroad. What you’re looking at here is just a sample of the first issue — the full edition, which you’ll have in your hands by October, will feature more contributors and more articles across every section. We welcome your feedback — and if your business can benefit from speaking directly to other martial arts business owners, I encourage you to contact us about getting involved. Yours in prosperity,
Silvio Morelli, CEO of Blitz
Publications & Multi-Media Group, co-founded Blitz magazine in the late 1980s. Morelli is a lifelong martial artist and founder of Geido Kai freestyle karate.
@BlitzMartialArt blitzmartialarts
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movers & shakers
Krav maga vs road rage
A 3D view of aikido Three world-class aikido sensei gave their unique perspectives on aiki combat principles and applications at a recent seminar hosted by Melbourne’s Aikido Shudokan Springvale. Sensei Paul Cale, Shihan Joe Thambu and Sensei Jon Marshall showed students streetwise applications of aikido with a direct, no-nonsense approach that many reported had greatly expanded their perspective of how to think about and practise aikido. Former Australian Special Forces sergeant Paul Cale drew on his military experience of applying aikido in life-or-death battle to
demonstrate ways of using and adapting aikido techniques to deal with modern threats. Practising osteopath Sensei Jon Marshall taught the biomechanics of joint locks and how to use the skeletal structure rather than muscles to make techniques work. Shihan Joe Thambu, 8th Dan, taught students the subtleties of balance-breaking, body positioning, leading an attacker and making effective alterations to aikido techniques. The three insructors plan to deliver more ‘Aiki Perspectives’ seminars around Australia this year. For more information, visit www.aikidoshudokan.com.
Join Kyokushin’s big bash The Independent Kyokushin Alliance is set to host Canberra’s biggest-ever Kyokushin karate tournament this spring. Founded by Shihan Glen Gibbons, the second edition of the Independent Kyokushin Alliance National Championships will be hosted at the Australian Institute of Sport’s Combat
Centre on 22 and 23 October. Day one will see competitors compete in kata and controlledcontact kumite, then on day two the semi-contact kumite and fullcontact kumite will take place. For more information, visit www.ika1.com.au or the Independent Kyokushin Alliance Facebook page.
Arnold Kyokushin Classic winner Ben Lyon in action
8 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au | THE WARM-UP
Former Australian Federal Police agent Paul Johnstone, founder of Street Edge Krav Maga and owner of Brisbane’s Jissen Dojos, is developing a training curriculum for dealing with road rage and car-park rage, which he plans to make available for other martial arts/defensive tactics instructors to incorporate into their curriculums. Johnstone, who has served in the Australian Defence Force and as a private security contractor in Afghanistan as well as with the AFP, has lectured and trained police, military and security personnel from Australia, USA, Afghanistan, China, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and several other Pacific Rim nations. The former law enforcer Street Edge Krav Maga’s was recently invited by Paul Johnstone the Queensland University of Technology/Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety Queensland to present a seminar on self-defence, use of force and various types of crime affecting Australia, including road rage. Johnstone also outlines road-rage defence strategies in the August-September edition of Blitz Australasian Martial Arts magazine (Vol. 30 No. 6).
Reality-based kata classes Leading exponent of applied karate and kata application (bunkai) Sensei Iain Abernethy will return to Australia for a series of workshops in March 2017. Abernethy, from Northern England, holds 5th Dan Black-belts with both Karate England and the British Combat Association, founded by reality-based self-defence (RBSD) pioneer Geoff Thompson. Abernethy has long been renowned for his study of karate kata from an RBSD standpoint and has produced a wealth of articles, videos and podcasts on the topic. “Taking the techniques of the kata into your sparring is a must. If you do not engage in kata-based kumite, you will be unable to apply the techniques of the kata in live situations,” says the Shotokan instructor. For more information on hosting or attending Abernethy’s seminars, email matt@blitzmag.com.au.
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In The Martial Arts Instructor’s Toolbox, Kyoshi Dave Kovar shares the keys to becoming an outstanding martial arts teacher. Drawing on his 30 years of teaching martial arts and development of eight successful schools, Kovar discusses the ideal mindset for martial arts instructors and details 16 essential teaching techniques, tactics and tools that will help the instructor hone their craft. The book also covers highlevel people skills including dealing with challenging children and parent/student communications, and Kovar devotes 17 chapters to the most valuable lessons he’s learned in his teaching career. Supplier: www.kovarsystems.com Price: $17.95 (Kindle $7.83)
DOWN TO BUSINESS
7
Reasons Students Quit and how to prevent it
Multiple Black-belt holder Kyoshi Dave Kovar is the owner of eight successful martial arts schools in the US and founder of Kovar Systems and the Professional Martial Arts College (ProMAC). Recognised as an innovator of best practices for martial arts schools around the world, here he offers some insights on the perennial problem of student retention. by dave kovar
A
s martial arts instructors, we’ve all lost students for a variety of reasons. While we’d like to think that these reasons are beyond our control, that’s not really the truth. There are many reasons why students quit, and many of those reasons are avoidable. Having students leave can be frustrating, but it’s also an opportunity. When you can figure out why your students are leaving, you can take the steps needed to prevent it. The following is a countdown of the seven most common (avoidable) reasons why students leave. Take a look at your school and see if these are areas for improvement for you and your team.
12 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au
7
No Retention Systems and Procedures
One of the most obvious reasons students leave is that there are no checks and balances within the school to keep track of each student’s progress, attitude and attendance. Without clearcut procedures in place, many students may end up falling through the cracks. To fix this, consider implementing regular meetings with staff to discuss student progress, calling or texting students who have not shown up to class recently and having a tracking system for students who are in their first 100 days of training (one of the most common periods when a student quits).
6
No Life Skills Curriculum
Personal development has always been a part of martial arts, but if your school does not take the time to teach character skills, students may have a difficult time understanding the value they are receiving from your program. Today’s top-notch schools teach more than just self-defence and fitness, they are teaching life skills like conflict avoidance techniques, stress management, self-control and positive communication, to name a few. Consider rounding out your curriculum to include: » A student creed » A message of the week » A Black-belt oath
5
Students Don’t Feel Safe
A quick way to lose students is to have them injure themselves in class. In the modern martial arts school, strong safety policies must be adhered to. Teaching class in a safetyconscious way not only decreases potential liability, but it increases retention. The successful schools are interested in the long-term progression and improvement of their students. They are aware of the healthiest (i.e. biomechanically correct) warm-up and stretching procedures. They are wise in how sparring is introduced and practised. They require the use of safety equipment and are careful in pairing off students appropriately for sparring and while doing bag work.
4
Schools Set Unrealistic Goals
Failing schools often demand too much from their beginning students and not enough from their advanced students. If students feel they are falling too far behind or not being challenged enough, they will consider leaving the program. Schools that succeed all have progressively higher standards. They teach their curriculum in a way that allows students to progress in a logical and consistent fashion. As most everyone is aware of, belt testing is probably the best retention tool there is (if done correctly). Some important things to remember are: » Have a set schedule. Everybody tip tests or belt tests at the same time. » Have frequent tip tests, once every four or five weeks. » Make sure students know exactly what they will be tested on. » Make sure to distribute your curriculum evenly over various tips and belts to avoid bottlenecks.
“Successful schools are interested in the long-term progression and improvement of their students”
3
Poor Training Environment
You can be doing everything else right, but if your training environment is substandard, then success will be hard won. The key ingredients for a proper training environment are: » Adequate heating and air conditioning
» A safe training floor (preferably matted) » Sufficient instructor-to-student ratio » Well-maintained equipment » No safety hazards (missing electrical box covers, broken mirrors, sharp edges, etc.)
2
Unenthusiastic or Poorly trained Instructors
When instructors are not enthusiastic about teaching, the interest and energy level of their students goes down. Having motivated and enthusiastic instructors is not enough, however. The instructor must be well trained in teaching methodologies as well, with a large arsenal of teaching tools in their toolbox. A few examples of important teaching skill are: » Always choosing ‘influence’ over ‘authority’ as a teaching style » Knowing the curriculum » Mat vision: being aware of everything happening on the floor » Focus anchors: making frequent use of several different focus points to keep the class on track.
1
Poor Quality Classes
While all of the reasons we’ve discussed are incredibly important to the success of your school, this last reason is paramount. The trick to student longevity is making sure students are enjoying the process. Boredom must be avoided at all costs. The curriculum taught at martial arts schools varies dramatically from one instructor to another and one system to another, but all schools can improve the way they teach. Changing existing drills, disguising repetition, and constantly challenging your students in a safe and fun way will keep them for the long haul and make teaching more fun.
A lifelong martial artist with Black-belts in 10 styles, Kyoshi Dave Kovar is recognised worldwide as an innovator of best practices for martial arts school operation. He oversees the operation of eight Kovar’s Satori Academy schools and is the founder of ProMAC, the Professional Martial Arts College. Kyoshi Kovar is the lead instructor for Century’s Martial Arts Industry Association (USA) and he has published over 100 online business and teaching videos for the Educational Funding Company (EFC). He can be contacted via www.kovarsystems.com www.martialartsbusiness.com.au • 13
DOWN TO BUSINESS
From PLAN to ACTION Rules for making business plans happen
We may know what we want to achieve in our business, and maybe we’ve even got a good plan to make it happen…but implementing those plans can quickly turn into an unexpected trial. Even the best-laid plans can end up tattered, torn and tossed in the too-hard basket when unexpected obstacles arise — but Black Belt Business founder and 4th Dan hapkido instructor Nathan McDonald has some advice to help you turn your plans into reality. by Nathan McDonald
A
s the start of a new financial year rolls through, people often get the planning bug and begin to dream big… or of things being bigger and better than last year, at least. But most of the time — let’s be honest here — those plans fall by the wayside and the dreams remain just that. People just go back to their old ways and go through the same motions as before: they let life get in the way, they let their customers dictate how they run their business, and they don’t achieve everything (or sometimes, anything) that they wanted. But it need not be that way — here are four easy rules to follow that will make sure you smash your business plans this year.
Don’t Tolerate Failure
Every time I do a business planning session with a client, this is the first thing I tell them: You deserve what you tolerate. Think about that for a moment. Then think about this when you’re implementing your business plans: are you tolerating having your life and business method being dictated by others — by customers/clients? Have you simply learned to put up with not 14 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au
having the results you want from your business? Most people do. So, when you write down your business plan, focus on that thought: I deserve what I will tolerate. And with that in mind, write down next to each step in your plan what, if anything, is likely or possibly going to stop you from getting there, and how you are going to navigate your way around those roadblocks. What skills, resources, thought patterns, time, etc. can you draw from your arsenal to combat the common assaults on your plans? If you’re reading this, you probably care a lot about your business, you probably put a lot of energy and effort in, and therefore you deserve to get the best out of it. So go and get what you deserve; look within and define what’s important in your life — in and outside of business and in order of priority — and make plans that fit with those priorities. Once you have decided what you will and will not tolerate, be resolute.
Own Your Time
With the aforementioned steps complete, you must adopt the mindset that you’re not going to compromise on any part of your plan. Let’s use
time management as an example. When planning your day, week, fortnight or month, you must include ‘no compromise’ time or activity for your key priorities. You set it up in your diary and that’s it — you give the allocated time to the specified activity of importance, without compromise. It’s irrelevant if a customer wants to come in and use that time; you turn your phones off, lock the door, put emails aside and focus totally on achieving an important task. My Black Belt Business clients allocate at least 20 per cent of their working weeks to no-compromise time in order to achieve those things that normally fall by the wayside due to poor time-management habits and patterns. Funny thing is, most still fit a full week’s worth of work — those day-to-day tasks that are part and parcel of working in a business — into that remaining 80 per cent of time. And the growth in business that results from that 20 per cent of time taken to work on (as opposed to in) the business without compromise will inevitably bring in more than enough revenue long-term to cover any overspill of tasks that must be outsourced to keep the 20 per cent free.
Set Tasks & Deadlines
Think about each task that you’ve actually got to do for each part in your plan. Break it down, prioritise the steps and put each one in your diary. Most clients simply whack a big goal up on their whiteboard or they write it on a bit of paper, or at best they’ve got a few steps listed in an Excel spreadsheet, and occasionally go back and look at it. Instead, take each one of your goals and
the key steps in meeting them, and give each one a starting and completion date. Put them in your diary; this way, you know you’ve got to start that task and so mentally you will switch on to thinking about achieving it. Some people like to map out every single step in detail, task by task, and can spend days doing that, but I find that doesn’t work for a lot of clients because life is too unpredictable to allow for being too inflexible — as in martial arts, you might have a plan of attack or defence, but when things go awry you have to roll with the punches and come at it a different way. So instead of plotting every minute detail, I advise clients to not think too much about the many tasks at hand — because that gets very overwhelming — and just worry about the next key step and when you’ve actually got to start it. Diarising helps prioritise each step, and when the next one hits the top of the priority list, you must allocate the necessary ‘no compromise’ time to get it done.
Forget Why, Focus On How
A lot of people talk about knowing your ‘why’, your purpose. When I ask clients why they want a business plan, most say it’s for their family; they want a better lifestyle. That’s great. It’s good to know your deeper reasons for wanting what you want — keeping that in mind can often help motivate you when plans are proving tough to implement. But don’t spend a lot of time on it. Why? Because a lot of plans do not get implemented and the key reason is not that the planner doesn’t know the ‘why’, he/she doesn’t know the ‘how-to’. So stay focused on the how. How do we implement each one of these items? What do we need to do? If you can focus on the how rather than the why, you’ll find that you’ll have a lot more success in implementing your plan. I have many more functional and effective tips to share when it comes to implementing a business plan, but these are the most vital, no matter how simple or complex your plan. In a coming issue we’ll look at the process of planning itself, and how to make sure your plans are workable with the resources you have.
“Every time I do a business planning session with a client, this is the first thing I tell them: You deserve what you tolerate.”
Nathan McDonald, 4th Dan hapkido, is the founder of Black Belt Business and has more than 20 years’ experience in business growth and development, and 18 years in martial arts. He can be contacted via www.blackbeltbusiness.com.au
www.martialartsbusiness.com.au • 15
DOWN TO BUSINESS
The Law of Attraction how to raise and maintain your martial arts club’s female membership
Since its inception, long before its establishment in the West, martial arts training has been all about the blokes — and within the walls of many clubs it is still very much a man’s world. But one Melbourne school has made a concerted effort to coax more women to its mats and has achieved startling results. Shihan Matt Charnley reveals how Hoshiki Kiritsu Martial Arts has achieved and sustained a 60 per cent female participation rate for more than 20 years now. by Matt Charnley
W
hen I began training in the early 1980s, having a female in the class was quite often an anomaly. For most of my formative years training in various martial arts, the class would invariably consist of 20 to 30 people with only one or two being females. This participation rate of 10 per cent or lower always seemed strange — and certainly not representative of Australia’s 52 per cent female population. So when in 1995 I formed Hoshiki Kiritsu Martial Arts, it was a very specific goal to create a school where women would make up 50 per cent of the participants in all martial arts, selfdefence and kickboxing classes, both at a junior and senior level. Having always been blessed to have my wife, Sensei Maree Charnley (4th Dan), by 16 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au
my side right from the inception of HKMA, I had access to a very informed opinion as to why more women did not persist with, or even begin, martial arts. So we set about finding out what the major inhibiting factors were for females. By doing this we could actively combat these barriers to ensure that the talent of more than half the population was not lacking in martial arts.
FEARing THE UNKNOWN
The first factor we unearthed was fear of the unknown. By talking to many female students and of course Sensei Maree, we found that a lot of women were in no way familiar with what a martial arts class entailed. To address this we embarked on an extensive campaign to target women’s groups, aerobics classes and girls’ high schools. We found that by including a
Renshi Maree Charnley, 4th Dan, practising on husband and HKMA chief instructor Shihan Matt Charnley, 5th Dan
detailed written breakdown of what the first five classes consisted of, the women could at least visualise not only what was involved but also how long each activity would run for. Here is a typical example of what was handed out to any prospective students: » First class — 90 mins » Introduction to the dojo/class » Brief history of Hoshiki Kiritsu Martial Arts » Instructor’s history and qualifications » Aims and objectives of martial arts » Questions from students » Basic warm-up » Basic stretch routine » Basic skills — balance/stances and awareness » Basic strikes — focus and technique » Basic self-defence applications » Cool-down/visualisation » Questions from students. We found that by removing at least some of the uncertainty, the women were much more likely to take that first tentative step into the dojo.
blokes, blokes & more blokes
The second obstacle was the fact that the classes were so heavily populated with males. This meant that any prospective female students were always in the minority. So tipping the balance and then retaining the female students and instructors became a priority. Once this was achieved and females became more prevalent within the club at all levels, it became the norm rather than the exception that females made up the majority at HKMA. This in turn perpetuated further female participation.
false perceptions
The third reason for low participation rates that we deduced from our female students was that a lot of women held the false preconception that strength and endurance were needed to properly participate in and/or execute some of the techniques within martial arts. To dispel this false notion it was crucial that a fundamental part of the Hoshiki Kiritsu curriculum was centred around easy-to-execute techniques that used economy of movement, accuracy, balance and timing, and were effective against www.martialartsbusiness.com.au • 17
Renshi Maree Charnley (centre) leads a large team of female Black-belts
larger opponents. This is not to say that females didn’t participate in the more rigorous drills — they absolutely did; in fact, a number of our female students have gone on to be very proficient full-contact fighters and kickboxers. It is about giving options so that no one feels that martial arts is only for the big and strong.
everybody needs friends
The fourth barrier identified was that females were far more likely to participate in their first class if they were with a friend. This is something that is more or less out of the club’s control; however, a higher proportion of females to males already on the dojo floor means that a training partner can be instantly found for any women who join on their own. Similarly, the active promotion of martial arts within women’s groups greatly increases the chances of two females commencing their training together.
high standards & safe spaces
The fifth factor identified was the physical environment. Today’s modern facilities allow us to train in much better equipped and safer environments. Many of us would remember what it was like to train on freezing cold hardwood floors for three hours at a time in the middle of winter. This was always seen as the norm, a rite of passage or even a badge of honour 18 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au
for any serious martial artist to expect physical discomfort. However, with the abundance of air conditioned, fully matted and well-appointed gymnasiums and personal training studios, people now expect a certain level of safety and modernisation. Now that we have a fully fitted-out and air conditioned honbu dojo, I would never want to revert back to the old halls and courts we once used. We haven’t done away with discomfort, as it’s necessary for personal growth, but we have greater control of when and how people experience it. I know that many of our female students over the years have commented on the overall atmosphere of the dojo — both in a physical and spiritual sense. Spiritually they feel that the dojo is a sanctuary where they feel valued, important and comfortable. Physically they feel that the environment is safe; the matting, temperature control and amenities allow them to train hard without fear of injury or dehydration.
an introduction to impact
The sixth but by no means least important factor is the fear of being hurt. Many women have never participated in any sport, much less an activity involving physical contact and impact. Similarly, very few have been taught even the basics of striking with a hand or foot.
Marie Charnley during her 4th Dan grading
When entering a dojo for the first time and seeing how much power and speed a well-trained male can deliver, many women are simply frightened. To overcome this obstacle, HKMA uses a two-pronged approach. Firstly, with the new female participants it is reinforced that learning martial arts does not require force. They are also encouraged to speak up immediately if a training partner
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(male or female) is using more force than they find acceptable. Secondly, with the other members of the class, we emphasise one of the key principles of Hoshiki Kiritsu: control. By this we mean self-control in every facet of our technique: power, speed and accuracy. Members are instructed to take the size, strength and experience of their partner into account. We find that the first few months of training are critical in helping female students overcome their fear of physical force. As they progress, they gradually become accustomed to delivering and receiving forceful techniques and learn how to do so without undue discomfort or injury.
“We found that by removing at least some of the uncertainty, the women were much more likely to take that first tentative step into the dojo.” opening doors for women
By far the best way to attract long-term female martial artists is focusing on the participants who have recently completed our women’s self-defence course. We have found that once the women have completed eight weeks of self-defence, they understand how simple yet effective the techniques are. More often than not they also display a desire to learn more, not just in the way of physical techniques but also the deeper, more philosophical and spiritual side of martial arts. This deep thinking and appreciation of active meditation (kata) and visualisation is something that I have found many of our female students really take to; so when the self-defence course is finished, the only way to extend and deepen their experience of martial arts is to commence formal training in the dojo. This then builds naturally — the more self-defence courses we run, the more women join HKMA. The more women who join HKMA, the more
qualified instructors we produce, who can therefore teach more self-defence courses. It is one thing for a fit, physically capable male to stand up and show self-defence techniques, but when teaching a women’s class, the women are far more inspired by a woman teaching and executing the techniques on a male partner.
input & ownership
Another motivating factor that has provided our female students and instructors with much inspiration hangs on the entry wall to the dojo — our lineage chart. This threeby-two-metre chart traces Hoshiki Kiritsu’s lineage back some 260 years to White Crane kung fu, which was developed by a woman — Qiniang Fang — in 1750 in Fujian, Southern China. This serves as a constant reminder as to how imperative it is to regularly consult our female instructors and students to help shape the destiny of HKMA in every possible way. Some of our female instructors will devise and teach particular techniques for self-defence that do not require strength but still have the same effect as other techniques used by male students that do require strength. These techniques are useful to all students, as there will always be someone who is stronger. With Sensei Maree constantly providing leadership and vision, the ladies within HKMA are inspired with confidence and the expectation that their contributions will be taken into account and valued. Over the past 20-plus years, the contributions of females to all facets of HKMA has been invaluable. From forming the junior and senior philosophy, grading requirements and curriculum to developing Level 1 and 2 self-defence courses and handbooks, every element of HKMA has had a balance of input from both females and males. As a result of this we have always managed to maintain a 60 per cent female participation rate and these students and instructors know that they are very much an integral part of the club’s future. Of the 55 Black-belts that have graduated through HKMA, 32 of them have been female; this is something I am immensely proud of, as it has reversed the trend of my first 15 years of martial arts training.
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on the Brand-wagon MARTIAL LAW | William Lye
Brand awareness is pivotal to your dojo or martial arts style being considered by potential students.
B
ig businesses recognise the power of brands. They are often a company’s most valuable asset. So I ask martial arts teachers, how have you developed, strengthened, defended and managed your ‘brand’ of martial art? Some may recoil from the use of the term ‘brand’ in association with their martial art, as it may seem to diminish its value beyond being simply another commercial service, and pay insufficient regard to its greater social contribution and deep history. However, the notion that there’s no such thing as having a brand of martial art is misconceived, because many people equate brands to an image they can relate to, as much as to any product or service. In fact, often it is the buyers’ or clients’ identification with the attitude or feeling the brand and its slogans project that makes them want to buy the product or engage the service, rather than the product or service itself. And even non-profit organisations and grassroots sporting organisations — for example, Oxfam and Auskick — need to develop strong brands. Effective branding is important, no matter the cause, especially in an industry where there is a lot of competition and potential confusion over which company or organisation is which, and what type of product or service each one offers. So, how do you develop your ‘brand’ of martial arts? In his book Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name, D.A. Aaker suggested a model of brand equity that includes developing brand awareness and brand image. The latter is the anchor to which potential martial arts students would like to associate themselves. It’s the familiarity or liking of your brand or martial arts style, and signifies substance and a commitment to support it.
creating your brand image In developing brand image, instructors ought to consider not only creating attributes, benefits and philosophies that would be embraced, but to strengthen the brand image by having appropriate legal protection in place. This is to ensure that the uniqueness of your brand association is protected when competing with others in the martial arts marketplace. Measures like trademark protection and copyright notices on all your written material (including online) would promote favourable associations with your brand of martial arts. Brand awareness is the ability to recall and recognise your offering. A good name is priceless and
22 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au | Down To Business
in the martial arts industry, reputation is vital. Given the ease with which one could just set up a dojo and begin teaching, the power of brand reputation is critical in distinguishing the great from the good — and from the bad. One only needs to think about Bruce Lee, and his art of Jeet Kune Do springs to mind. Arguably, the name Bruce Lee is also a brand — a great brand, as it has very strong brand imagery and awareness, being synonymous with kung fu and martial arts generally. Likewise, the name Gracie
Creating an instantly recognisable logo like those below — and protecting it under law — is key for strong brand awareness and recall.
is generic of Brazilian jiu-jitsu; Mas Oyama of Kyokushin karate; Muhammad Ali of boxing; and so on.
building brand awareness Brand awareness is a very valuable asset, and developing it, along with a sound brand image, is the foundation for cultivating strong brand loyalty. When you’ve spent time and resources setting up the legal structure to protect your intellectual property, you want to keep the loyal following of your students, otherwise your brand becomes worthless. Brand loyalty also provides you with time to respond to competition. Martial arts is no longer just about taking a journey of enlightenment by way of difficult self-protection training under your chosen master; it’s also a big business, ranging from providing school students with basic self-defence knowledge and confidence to producing elite combat sportspeople, and even delivering close-combat training for police, military and security teams. With the proliferation of reality-based self-defence and the like, the aperture of traditional martial arts is getting smaller; however, these newer forms of selfdefence lack the kind of brand image and brand awareness that traditional martial arts styles have developed. So, think about the name, the symbol/logo and the slogan of your martial art ‘brand’. Names are important, and you begin by protecting them either by trademark protection, business name and/ or company name registration, and by using them consistently in the marketplace. If you do nothing, your competitors might prevent you from doing something in the future if they use the brand you created but never legally protected.
“Brand awareness is a very valuable asset, and developing it, along with a sound brand image, is the foundation for cultivating strong brand loyalty.”
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fostering brand loyalty Consistently maintaining a strong brand loyalty isn’t easy, but if you treat your students correctly, stay abreast of their needs, constantly measure and manage their level of satisfaction with their learning and progress, and provide additional training and resources for growth, they will not only stay with you in the majority but will help build your brand through representation and word of mouth. Finally, it would be remiss of me not to state that having a strong martial arts brand doesn’t necessarily mean you deliver the best martial arts. Reputation really comes down to the customers’ perception of the overall quality or superiority of your martial arts instruction. If, however, you achieve for the students what they perceive to be the intended objective of the training, then you have gone a long way to building brand image and awareness among your students.
William Lye has been a practising barrister at law for 28 years and has studied several martial arts. He can be contacted at wemlye@gmail.com
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master teaching A will & a way | john b. will
If you’re a teacher of martial arts, knowing the elements of effective instruction can only make you better equipped to succeed on the mats and in business.
T
eaching. It’s such a simple, ordinary word, but to me, it’s imbued with meaning and importance. We are all teachers in some way, shape or form, at some time or another. We teach our friends, we teach our students, we teach our children — we teach ourselves. But what does it mean to be an effective teacher? What makes a teacher rise from competent to great, from great to extraordinary?
John Will getting his point across at one of his recent Brazilian jiu-jitsu seminars
Over my martial arts career, I’ve studied what it means to be a teacher. I have always been driven, to some extent, by outcomes. I want to get results; I want to see improvement, an evolution, a step forward. In applying effective teaching strategies and developing unique and better teaching methodologies, we can achieve better outcomes, and that has always been important to me.
passion inspires attention Teaching begins with passion. If we are passionate about our subject matter, we can infect others with our enthusiasm and set them on the road to effective learning. This sounds easy, but I’ve seen many a teacher become bored with their chosen field of expertise, which all but guarantees that they begin teaching on autopilot mode and just ‘go through the motions’. Teachers who wind up here have forgotten the cardinal rule: firstly, know thyself. An effective teacher must first keep themselves motivated and enthusiastic about their own subject matter (i.e. their training); if the teacher is bored with what they are teaching, they cannot be effective. So, as teachers we need to continually invest in our own development and learning — we are students ourselves and we cannot afford to forget that. We need to stay curious, inventive and always aware of the fact that while we may know a good deal, there is always much more to know, both about our chosen disciplines and ourselves.
trust enables leadership A good teacher should, in my opinion, know how to engender trust. There is a very simple formula for this: Make small promises and keep them; such a simple thing, yet so powerful. If we tell a student that we will do something for them (lend them a book, send them a web link, etc.) then we need to follow up and actually do it, every time! If we make a promise and fail to keep it, we engender distrust, and that is the beginning of the end for anyone wanting to be an effective teacher. A good teacher should be congruent, as much as possible, in all things. That is, if we are preaching health and fitness, we should be healthy and fit. If we are talking about loyalty, then we ourselves
24 • www.martialartsbusiness.com.au | ON THE MAT
should be loyal. If we are telling others to invest in themselves, then we too should be investing in ourselves. Being incongruent comes across as not genuine, which, again, destroys trust. The upshot is that a good teacher, to the best of his or her ability, should lead by example. At times this isn’t easy, or always necessary in every sense — you can be a great swimming coach without needing to win any swimming events, for example — but if you can lead by example wherever possible, then you become all the more credible. If the advice we give as teachers is good advice, then we should start by taking that very same advice for ourselves. In taking the advice we give to others, we better ourselves, and to some extent, show that the advice is effective and worth taking. Why, for example, would I listen to a financial advisor that doesn’t take his or her own investment advice? No, I am much more likely to take advice, of any kind, from someone who has taken the same advice themself, and made it work in their own circumstance.
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1. Payees complete an Ezidebit direct debit request form “A good teacher should, in 2. Payment commences on an agreed start date at your selected frequency Your reactions are automatic, my opinion, know how to 3. Once cleared, payments are transferred to your account daily www.ezidebit.com.au | Call 1300 763 256 4. You receive daily transaction reports giving you constant updates engender trust. There is shouldn’t your fee collection be? You also enjoy secure, online access to make amendments to account details a very simple formula for in real time. You can alter payments immediately - fee free. Call our team today and get Ezidebit™ collecting for you. this: Make small promises and keep them; such a simple Your reactions are automatic, thing, yet so powerful.” ™
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A good teacher constantly experiments with alternative methods to get their ideas across to the students — furthermore, the teacher should constantly be looking to learn and improve, not only in the skills they teach to students, but in their method of teaching as well. People learn in different ways, and to teach effectively we try to deliver our message by various means to It’scater amazing howofmuch and exactly for a variety learningmore styles. confidence No two people learn the you same have, way. when you’re in control. time A good teacher is always training to be a master of Apart from Ezidebit™ making it more convenient for people communication. This encompasses a whole range to ofmake sub-skills; payments, it gives you greater control because you schedule their from knowing how to engage the students from the very outset payments from the account of their choice. It’s really that simple. It’s amazing how much more confidence and to establishing and maintaining a positive learning culture/ So you get more time to do the things you enjoy. environment, to knowing how to have students take real time you have, when you’re in control. Andownership getting on board even easier we are trying to present. of theis information Apart from Ezidebit™ making it more convenient for people to make debit request to form 1. Payees complete an Ezidebit A good teacher gets ™ hisdirect or her students think. This, at payments, the it gives you greater control because you schedule their payments from the account of their choice. It’s really that simple. end of the day, may the most thing an effective 2. Payment commences on be an agreed startimportant date at your selected frequency So you get more time to do the things you enjoy. teacher canpayments do. By teaching his or to heryour students think critically, 3. Once cleared, are transferred accounttodaily And getting on board is even easier a teacher is empowering the student andconstant giving them far more 4. You receive daily transaction reports giving you updates 1. Payees complete an Ezidebit™ direct debit request form than what they probably came looking for. Teaching people to You think also enjoy secure, online access to make amendments to account details 2. Payment commences on an agreed start date at your selected frequency for themselves goes right to the heart of what in real time. You can alter payments immediately - fee free. 3. Once cleared, payments are transferred to your account daily it means to be a truly exceptional teacher. Call our team today and get Ezidebit™ collecting for you.
John B Will is head of BJJ Australia and teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu, shootfighting and self-defence solutions around the world. Check out his regular blog at www.bjj-australia.blogspot.com.au
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