JUNIOR CULTURE MANAGEMENT

Junior culture management is extremely important for our junior programs for a large variety of reasons. Firstly a big reason for parents bring their children into martial arts is to help teach them the important qualities of discipline and respect.

During these formative years we can help instill important qualities such as respect, discipline, confidence and paitence that a child can carry through into their adult years.

Here at Infinity Martial Arts we understand how important of a role we can have on a childs development and we pride ourselves on the quality of our classes not only in fun, safe and quality instruction but in our ability to use martial arts as a vehicle for positive human development in our mission create a fantastic next generation that we can all be proud of.

Concept for Teaching Small Classes

Examples

When building a new academy
Private lessons
Intro classes
Day time classes
Classes on a weekend

Important Notes

Everything below applies to both kids & adults

You must understand that there will be little to no atmosphere in the room it is up to YOU to create the atmosphere.

Classic mistakes

Often when classes are smallest the instructor’s involvement in the class decreases when actually it should increase.

If there is only one person don’t have him warm up while you supervise, warm up with him. This is the same in small groups of two or three, I have often watched or been involved in classes where the instructor just stands and watches these groups and it feels like a scene from Boogie nights where the couple are fucking with all the cast is watching, as you can imagine this makes for an awkward environment that everyone including the instructor can feel.

Structure

Firstly, get your hands dirty! If its Guard concepts you are looking at that day warm up using guard drills. If there is one person demonstrate on him/her/it do a few reps yourself then switch and coach him/her/it through the exercise change back do a few more your self then change again, this is actually very important for the students learning as they will feel your movement and see your movement and then whether consciously or unconsciously they will mimic you, this will speed up the process of learning which ultimately is your job.

If there are two people in the class I would still work with them in a three rotating getting equal amounts of time, this I feel is important because all the above still applies but as instructors watching you will always tend to drift of and get bored the students will feel this but if you are working with them it will keep you engaged, and the students will love you for that gift.

If there are 3 people in the group I would select the least retarded members and place them together and I would work with the remaining student, in this scenario I would sacrifice my reps in order to make sure I could check on the other pair, I would also try to rotate partners through this process.

Any number after this point I would look to take more of a back seat and coach in a more classical way not having much involvement in the class other technical input.

When it becomes time to free spar/technical spar I would make it my responsibility to spar with the new students first, if there is only 1 in the class obviously just spar with them, if there are 2 people in the class I will spar with one let the other rest then spar with the other and if I feel they are capable I will let them have a spar with each other, another tactic when there are odd numbers is too play games rotating through partners.

The most important thing

When there is no atmosphere you have to create atmosphere, You must talk to your members encourage them constantly praise them, give them information in short bursts so you can get them achieving something complement them then add to it a little get them achieving again and complement again.

Last but not least

Please remember that most people perceive the activity a certain way they will value that activity based on that perception, most see martial arts as self defense in western countries most see that as punches and kicks but they will be open to looking at the problem from a different perspective providing the new view is not to radical, remember this when selecting what you teach new intro students need to learn basic techniques taught in a environment they can understand so if you are teaching a double leg show how you can use this when somebody wants to attack you, then you can also explain how you then can practice it sportively to perfect it.

Grading Requirements

Why are Grading’s important?
What are the Grading requirements for juniors & Adults?
What are we looking for in our students?
Preventing Disappointment

Please remember that grading days are a celebration and a test of skills, knowledge and heart that all the family can share in!

We recommend that gradings are conducted in a very public environment, they are a very important and effective for building self-confidence in your members. The grading provides an environment for the student to display their progress in public under pressure, the reward they receive for facing and conquering this challenge will inevitably improve their confidence and self-worth.

Improving confidence is one of our tried and tested methods for preventing our students from being bullied or worse, becoming a bully. Remember it is very hard to have confidence without achievement and it is very hard to achieve without commitment.

We advise for kids grading’s that you hand out invitations 3-weeks prior to the grading day, invitations should be given to children that are attending regularly and progressing with their personal Jiu Jitsu journey.

Each BJJ coloured belt has 4 stripes, all of these stripes are individual ranks that must be earned before you can progress onto the next belt level.

For adults our advice would be for you too hand these stripes out during big classes or as part of the team training held twice yearly with our head instructor.

Both kids stripes and belts can be earned at your grading’s which we advise you to hold every 8-weeks.

On the Adult side coloured belts can only be awarded by the Head Instructor at the pre –arrange team training day twice yearly.

Remember the grading is by invite only so the students are constantly being assessed in class.

Grading’s are one of the main ways that people especially children learn about setting and achieving goals in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training. They learn that with effort and persistence comes reward.

Junior Ranks

There are no maximum number of belt colours that can be skipped if you are prepared to put in the time and the dedication.

How the Stripe system works

Stripes are attached to the black bar on the end of the belt and represent different levels of achievement and progress through the ranking system.

1st stripe – You have successfully shown that you understand the techniques for your belt level.

2nd stripe – You are able to demonstrate the techniques at a higher standard for your belt level.

3rd stripe – You have shown improved efficiency in all the techniques for this belt level.

4th stripe – You are fluent in the techniques for your current belt level/rank and ready to start training towards the next coloured rank.

Stripes are accumulated at each grading, by the time you reach your 4th stripe you should be ready to move onto the next belt level, if you are not ready the instructor will advise you of your options.

Attributes you should look for in your students

Leadership skills in class, time spent on the mat, performance in class, performance in competitions and performance at the grading.

Preventing disappointment

Inform students that they are aiming to progress one level per grading. You should try to manage the student’s expectations so to avoid disappointment. If they happen to achieve more than a stripe or belt it is an added bonus for their efforts. Remember student’s train at different levels, some student’s train twice per week and some up four or five times per week. This is why managing expectations is very important. It is better to be fantastic at your belt than to be average at your belt. As an instructor you can assist in managing your students expectations it will help in keeping their confidence and self-esteem high.

This is also a fabulous time to impart a life lesson for your student – that effort leads to reward!

Stretching and Warm Up Procedure

The story of Steve and Lucy. Steve is a member and Lucy is trying out your kids class for the first (or second) time today.

We should all be working to ensure our assistant instructors are running the stretches at the end of class and the warm up at the beginning of class on their own. That is their most important job, and it allows you to do your most important job at the same time.

The ideal procedure for this part of class is as follows:

THE STRETCH DOWN FINALE: the main instructor calls the students into line or a group and then tells them that the assistant is going to take the stretches
- note: don’t let the assistant try to get all the kids in line on their own, the main instructor should help them with this. Once they are all lined up and the class is quiet, then the main instructor is free to do their REAL JOB!.
THE BEST FRIEND: your job (one of your most important jobs) as the main instructor is to ‘meet and greet’ prospective members. If there are none there, then your job is to talk with parents of existing students – tell them how good their kids did today, or how much they have improved lately. Smile, laugh, interact with them. Talk to them about some upcoming camp, grading, event, competition, whatever!!! This helps with retention. It is a daily chip-away that will lead you to being ‘friends’ with all of the parents. The key here is don’t get entangled in long conversations – just short bursts of small talk and spread your time (don’t always talk to the same people – vary the conversations).
- this is also the time you should be helping to fill in forms – for a prospects first class (student about to try the next class), or going over to the parents of the kid who is trying out and asking if they want to join him up.
  - I ask twice if they want to join (ask the parents before the kid is even finished the class – sometimes they sign up before they even talk to their kids, and then I go over to the kid at the end of the class, tap him/her on the shoulder and ask them (within hearing shot of their parent) “you did great today! Did you enjoy the class Lucy?”
- THE AWARD: You should then cut what you are doing at the appropriate time, and run back onto the mat for a quick mat-chat at the end of class. This should ALWAYS, EVERY DAY, include some encouragement to the students – highlight what they did positive that day, or even quickly talk about one technique and then hand out a sticker for best in class. This whole point should take no longer than 40 seconds!
  - example: “okay guys, we focused today on the escape from mount. Remember in this position it is important to bridge your hips high… today I saw that John was doing this really well – congrats Steve – best in class for today!” [lead a round of applause for John]
- THE PROMO: Now you move on to another extremely important part of EACH and EVERY class – the promo. Promote whatever it is that is coming up. Your job as the main instructor is to MAXIMISE the number of members we have attending gradings, camps, team training days, BBQs, whatever the fuck event is coming up… this is where you ask them ‘do you want fries with that?’
  - this should only take around 30 seconds also…. so you see between the award and the promo you are only spending 1 minute! But that is amongst the most important 1 minute of your day…
- CHANGEOVER: Now you should dismiss the class with a big smile on your face. You should have built the energy in the room in that previous 1 minute to a point where parents are smiling and you have control of the room. Your job is to now very quickly find Lucy, rush over to her and start a chat. Make sure you are within ear-shot of her parents when you say: “you did great today Lucy! Did you enjoy the class?” (remember: compliment then question – it works for a girl you are trying to impress at a party and kids on a BJJ mat in the same way!)
  - of course she will say ‘yes’ almost all of the time, so then hit them with the sale (but do it in a way that the parents almost cannot say no) – “let’s get you started then, how does that sound?” or “let’s get you on the team then”
  - give them the member details form and ask them to fill in Lucy’s details. This will give you time for your next quick job:
- The next job is to help get the next class on the mat very quickly and lined up. This should take only 30-60 seconds maximum before you have the assistant instructor warming them up, and you are back in the waiting area being THE BEST FRIENDRead over THE BEST FRIEND again – this is you!

In summary:

THE STRETCH DOWN FINALE
THE BEST FRIEND
- either: signing up a new member or being ‘friends’ with current members and parents
THE AWARD
THE PROMO
THE CHANGEOVER

I can’t emphasise how important this stuff is! It is more important than what you teach (at least in so far as the health of the business goes). How good you are at this directly impacts on the overall number of students you have, and also on the average revenue per student. These are the two main drivers of profitability for a martial arts club – so get to it!

Why as Instructors you should train with your new students all the time.

Humans are inclined to notice how others are different from themselves and to draw on these differences to form opinions and to know how to act. You only need to open a history book or turn on the evening news to get a glimpse of how our differences spark conflict in the world or with ourselves.

Fortunately for us there is another force constantly at work trying to undermine this inclination towards comparing ourselves to others, Mimicry.

Mimicry, whether unconscious or conscious can have a very positive effect on our lives providing we are mimicking the correct people.

This is my primary reason for believing that as instructors we should be rolling with our newest students regularly, we should also be rolling with our most advanced students as well but how many academies are there where instructors don’t want to roll with their advanced students?

This is the reason why in the program the 4-7yrs students begin learning the technique one at a time with the instructor as the mimicry will be the primary learning mechanism at this age.

Because we are the books we read and people we associate with, Your students will progress a lot faster if they are mimicking the correct people this in a Jiu Jitsu setting is you the instructor, Also the advanced students will benefit from this through the development of a team/family that is very similar in its approach to training and learning this will improve the environment for everyone as their will be less conflict, which is usually the result of noticing how different people are from ourselves.

Live Learn Evolve

Teaching is all about the performance

One of cricket’s greatest commentators, Richie Benaud, once said that as a commentator you shouldn’t speak unless you can add something to the picture to the screen.

I believe that being a good instructor is just like being a good commentator – it is no good having the best technical knowledge if you can’t pass that knowledge on to your students.

Students will not learn if they cannot connect with you this is where you as an instructor need to perform you have to entertain them capture there imagination by as Richie says: adding pictures to the screen.

I find that one of the easiest ways to do this as an instructor is by using analogies, it is vital that the analogies you use paint a picture of the vision you want your students to see, but secondly I feel they should also bring humor into the situation.

Analogies will also allow you to be economical with your words.

One quick example to help you on your way:

If you want people to create a frame, using straight-arms tell them to place themselves as though they are at the ‘top of a bench-press’, this will help them manage the distance or space or as I would say keep their opponent at the edge of their bubble.

Kids are scientists!

Just want to share an epiphany I had this morning

Whilst doing the school run I noticed a small group of mum’s trying to organize the kids prior to the teacher arriving for class “Won’t Mrs Darr be so pleased if she arrives and you are all stood outside quietly waiting for her to let you in”

Two things struck me straight away

Mrs Darr would probably think something very strange was going on if she came to class and found a group of 8 year olds stood outside quietly waiting as though they were students in North Korea
Are the parents doing this for the benefit of the kids or themselves? I agree the kids we’re especially crazy this morning but isn’t that what kids do?

For my mind one of the reasons very young children learn so much so quickly is the fact that they are brilliant scientists they observe the world with all its complexity and then they run experiments (sometimes wild crazy ones) they collect the data and gradually they come up with the most efficient way or correct way of dealing with or thinking about a problem.

They do this largely by not having the constraints of adults with their pre conceived view of things, this seems perfectly acceptable when children are very young but the moment they reach an age where we can impose our view of things on them we start organizing them and controlling them often making them vulnerable to dictatorship or very strong leadership.

Don’t get me wrong I think we need to provide boundaries for our young but the boundaries should be there to allow them to grow as independent thinkers and leaders not as meek followers to rules and regulations and the rules should certainly not be there to make our lives easier.