MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR Angie Richard Ms. Koelln Vincent Massey Secondary School NAME: Angie Richard TEACHER: Ms. Koelln COURSE: Career Studies (GLC 2OH) DATE: May 22, 2003 The career I have chosen is Martial Arts Instructor, particularly an instructor in Kenpo Karate. I chose this career for many reasons, the most important reason being how rewarding it is to share what you’ve learned. To be a teacher is to give back to the community. This is so because, not only are you training people to fight and be able to defend themselves, but also because you are training your students to become good, moral people, who will show respect and kindness to the world around them. Another reason why I chose this career was how fun it can be! You compete in tournaments, judge tournaments sometimes even run them, you teach a wide variety of people and make a lot of new friends, as well, you can go on trips with your classes; to seminars and demonstrations. Usually it is a self-run business so you are in charge of how much fun you and your students can have. That also means you are in charge of advertising media, gaining a reputation for your school and making money, all tough tasks at times. As an instructor your job is to inspire your students to succeed at, and value all that is being taught to them. You must share and teach what you have learned about your martial art with joy and enthusiasm. Instructors teach many things such as techniques, forms, sparring, body mechanics and most importantly values; respect, self-discipline, honesty, integrity etc. Most of these qualities are required to reach your black belt (in kenpo this is referred to as “the seven principles of the black belt” which are : honesty, humility, courtesy, integrity, self control, perseverance and indomitable spirit ). An instructor can also be called a sensei or master (depending on the art form of course). As a sensei you can teach adults or children or both, usually in different classes. Each class every day is different! Some days you might focus on techniques others you might focus on drills and warm ups, maybe theory the next day and if you have class on Friday and game day, for drills and such turned into fun games. To be a good instructor you should be organized, approachable, confident and very adaptable. This is a type of job that will only be as rewarding and as fun as you make it. Some educational requirements for this career track are as follows. First and most importantly a previous education in a karate or other such martial art form, and to be an instructor you must at least have a first degree black belt in the art you wish to teach, to be an assistant instructor you may be a lower belt however. You can have taken many forms of karate this will in the end help you to become a better teacher because it will help you understand what you are teaching and understand the principles you were taught. It will help you to have taken a course or courses in first aid, as even though it is a controlled sport injury does occur. You also might find it helpful to take a course in physical education to maximize the efficiency as well as safety of your workouts, stretches and warm-ups. Safety, meaning the prevention of muscle or joint damage. Becoming an assistant or junior instructor is very important to gain many of the skills required to teach a class on your own (should you chose to go on your own). Lastly a course to consider is public speaking; you will be talking to a lot of people! Though most of these courses are not necessary, an educated instructor will be much more successful. You need to have many qualities and skills to be a sensei. The six skills and qualities I will bring to the job are as follows: Positive attitude- I feel that it is very important to have a positive attitude towards life, it will affect how well you do and how well your students will take to you. I have a positive attitude, my example is one time I failed a math test I was pretty discouraged but kept a positive attitude and was determined to study what I didn’t get on the test that night. Good organizational skills- I always feel the need to be prepared and have my to-do list up to date and very organized, I keep an organizer for my homework and have all of my subjects divided up into morning and afternoon classes. This is required for the job, especially if you plan to start the business yourself as you will need to take care of all the current members of your academy. Self-confidence- is needed to do the job right. I believe in myself and my abilities and that is very important when it comes to teaching others. I had a lot of self-confidence when I got in front of the class to play a guitar test I had prepared very hard for, I knew I could do it. Dedication- this quality is needed because you have to show students to be dedicated so naturally the teacher has to be. It will help inspire them to succeed and won’t let them give up when times get tough. I feel that I am very dedicated. I felt that I did very poorly in a soccer game because I got three foul throw-ins, I didn’t give up and kept tryign and eventually in the game I helped out the team with my throw-ins! Responsibility- Is very important. You need to be able to take responsibility for your actions and for your students actions should anything go wrong. I’m very responsible, I have many responsibilities and set my priorities accordingly. I was accused of breaking a bike helmet and went to investigate. I didn’t realize I had and went to the owner to ask if I could replace it. Turns out it wasn’t broken and they were impressed with my responsibility. Patience- Something you need a lot of! You need to be able to teach all different types of learners and be very patient. You cannot show anger or frustration with them. I’m very patient. I was teaching a particular group of students in karate who just weren’t getting the material and they were goofing around to top it all off. But instead of getting angry I told them that we could play a game if they did well and proceeded to start teaching from the beginning.