In my 46 plus years of being connected to martial arts classes, teaching martial arts, women's self defense, I have seen the good the bad and the ugly. Teaching on the Matt isn't as easy as some make it look like. As a matter of fact, typically you'll end up teaching in a similar fashion as you were taught. Now, depending upon where you are in the world you're teaching style has to stay current. What I mean by this is that old world teaching techniques may not be applicable in today's environment. Now I live and teach in California and I can say with some level of authority that old world techniques, that is teaching techniques, are absolutely not applicable here. Unless of course you like to be sued. Old world, we could actually hit our students as a form of discipline, but those days have long since gone. I'm not an advocate of that form of correction however sometimes it has its place, as ugly as that sounds, to help reset a student’s attitude or focus.
The first rule of teaching is simple; no one likes to feel stupid on the mat. When you get everybody onto the mat, and it comes time for a demonstration or the like, no one likes to feel stupid. It's your job to have your students feel as comfortable as possible on the mat, such that they are ready and eager to learn. Learning can only start when you're comfortable. Other really stupid things I have seen is in regard to visitors. Many teachers will actually pull visitors out onto the mat and demonstrate how stupid the visitor is plus how smart a martial arts instructor is. Frankly, I see that more often than not and it's disgusting. So embraced the first rule of teaching and that is "no one likes to feel stupid".
The second rule of teaching is that people have to have fun. Let's face it, adults are really just big kids. Your lessons need to be fun and if you can achieve that you will set the groundwork for learning. So when you do your lesson plan, make sure that you can add the component of fun to your lesson. If you fail to make your class fun, in the long run, you won't have many students, particularly long-term students. Remember, the visitor that sitting in your visitor section, and they see how much fun is going on with your teaching on the mat, they naturally can't wait to get there. Frankly, it's one of your best sales tools. Regardless of your teaching women's self defense, martial arts, or even weapons training, fun needs to be at the center of your lesson.
The third rule of teaching is in fact people need to learn something. I don't care if you were doing an exercise class they need to learn something. If a student first off feels comfortable "not stupid", and they are having fun in your class, the last piece or key to success is in fact they walk away with some jewel of knowledge. When you think about it, what our students there for? They're there to learn, have fun, and not feel stupid.
So in summary, you can see that teaching, or rather legendary teaching, it is no accident. Fundamentally, people want to have fun and learn, and if you fail to do this you have failed as a teacher. Worse yet, because they didn't learn anything or they were embarrassed, they could get damaged or injured out in the real world because you didn't teach them. You didn't set the foundation for them to learn properly and therefore their experience on the street has a direct relationship to you as a teacher. Teaching isn't for everyone. But a good legendary teacher embraces these three rules and teaches at a level that is typically unheard of. You must teach every class, better than the one you did before. And if you can do this as a teacher, you will be surrounded by students for the rest of your life.
Master Peter Brusso
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