Winning With Words

By Sharon Tosten
Amerikick® Martial Arts

Sharon Tosten along with Dennis Tosten and Mark Russo head Amerikick ® est. 1967- one of the Fastest growing martial arts organizations in the country. Amerikick®  is known for it’s cutting edge curriculum, international tournaments, and top rated teams. They were recently joined with Bob and Jill Leiker who bring years of experience with their NFL martial arts program, and Nationally recognized Take Defense program.   Amerikick® -the fastest way to grow your school.

I stand on the edge of the mat as an instructor attempts to enroll a student in the
upcoming Amerikick tournament.  As often happens with newer instructors, what he says next makes me cringe, as I see near future where that student may never take another martial arts class.

 Instructor: "Hey Joe, you are going to bring me home lots of first places right?"
Joe age 5: (Nods happily) “Yes Sensei!”

 What happens, as chances are, when Joe doesn't win any first places?  Most likely, we lose a student because he is embarrassed that he disappointed the instructor.  He may not even want to come back and face that instructor again, so he quietly stops coming... and the instructor never knows why. Of course there is better way:
 Instructor:  “Hey Joe.  I hear you are going to the tournament.  You are a winner just for getting out there, and doing your best, and just by going your skills are going to get so much better.  I’m really proud of you.  High five!”

I have often wished that I had a magic sword that I could “knight” young instructors with and they would instantly develop the verbal skills needed to effortlessly converse with students and potential students, enabling them to always choose the best word to inspire young minds, and perhaps immediately enhance their vocabulary with dozens of synonyms for Awesome.  Yes a magic sword that would allow them to know when to stop answering a phone caller’s questions and book the appointment, and permanently remove the words, “Um…” and “Uh…” from the beginning of their sentences.  Of course there is no magic sword, though I have heard other owners express the wish for a similar object, “just to clunk their instructors on the head with.”  But alas, the pen is mightier then the sword, so as painstaking as it may be, the best method to instantly bring an erudite vocabulary to even the most tongue tied young trainee, is to give them a written script of exactly what to say in every possible circumstance that may arise in a martial arts school.  Over the past years we have written word for word, exactly what a young instructor should say, when trying to enroll a student for a tournament, answering the phone, handling a walk in, warming up class, teaching each stance, each kick and each punch, and especially when explaining the quote of the week.  Yes, this task takes time. I found the best way to conquer it is to video tape every instructor who does it properly, write it all down and rewrite it, again, and again, compiling the best from each. 

Another great way to quickly improve their teaching style and word choices is the video review; film all of your staff as they work with students.  I always watch the entire video myself first, so I am ready to contrast and compare everything they do right, and everything they can do to improve.  This works especially well to help instructors learn to speak louder and to show them the importance of demonstrating every move to the best of their ability.  Another eye opener is to have someone film you while you are teaching.  The first time I had myself filmed, I realized that sometimes I speak a little too quickly, and used the word “excellent” a few too many times.  This not only improved my own teaching, but immediately inspired me to use the tapes to help the young instructors improve the cadence of their speech.  I also handed out a work sheet, listing every possible synonym I could come up with for the words “Awesome,” or “Excellent.”  It’s become a fun working project as different instructors have added their own words to the list: such as: That’s a “Home Run” or that deserves a “Gold Medal.”

As a final method to help your staff and yourself find new words and new methods to make classes more exciting, is to get out of your school!  Visit other martial arts schools and observe what they do right and what makes their classes interesting.  My husband Dennis Tosten and I have traveled all across the Untied States and to six continents (there are no martial arts schools in Antarctica) studying martial arts and martial arts teaching methods.  I am always excited to bring something new to Amerikick from one of our travels.  We’ve taught Mauy Thai as a part of our curriculum for many years, but in our last trip to Thailand I picked up an unusual knee drill from one instructor I couldn’t wait to teach in class. We often do an instructor switch and send our instructors to another location, so they can pick up new ideas and reinforce others. They always come back enthusiastic and sometimes even have a new word or winning phrase they can bring to spice up their teaching. 

AMERIKICK®  is currently inviting qualified school owners to become a part of the strongest brand in the business.  To find out more please give us a call today at 1-866-38 KARATE    www.amerikick.com  and   www.amerikickfranchise.com