Layouts
Chapter Intro
‘Success’ is not random. It is the outcome of a design, habits, and standards. A martial art school is no different. A successful school with plenty of students is essentially a large amount of people saying the same thing, every day for a long time: “I love those classes and need to have them in my life”. This may sound like a tall task to fulfill (and it is), but this is the job. If you have a method in place to ensure all your classes are great, then this task is not tall at all, but rather very simple. In this next series I’ll be sharing several core layouts I’ve used over the years for beginner, intermediate and advanced students and the nuances inside each of them that create student passion easily.
The Standard Layout
The Main thing:
Start low, Finish high
The standard class is a general class that hits all the marks: Strong physical challenge, paired with high quality instructions that creates passionate practice. Creating a passion for training and practice is your main goal and the standard class is the gateway to such an outcome from recreational students. A recreational student is one who needs to be refreshed; physically, mentally, and emotionally. So the class you produce must balance all three of those items: i) Productive physical training, ii) Mentally engaging instruction in iii,) An exciting atmosphere. The key to a good class is managing the direction of energy—that we always finish the class on a high so people are sent home in their best state.
Flow
The key is to create a cohesive class. That each section be i) Easy enough, ii) Hard enough and iii) Enjoyable in and of itself. If you conduct each section with this mantra, your class should feel like a great episode of an intriguing series you never want to end.
Gradually disappear
The sections tell us who we need to be and dictate our character in such sections. As we train our students, we must lead from the front: with a strong command, clear plan, and sharp eye. As we transition to instruction, our character must change into a teacher: insightful, provocative, and informative. If the drills we prescribe have good flow (easy and hard enough and enjoyable in and of itself) students will finish of the class independently out of an internal momentum and passion.
Section 1: Training
The main goal goal during the training section is to unify your class. A room moving in unison is a powerful thing. It lowers tensions, gives confidence to students who feel out of place, and sets a general team environment, critical for teaching. Here’s a basic checklist to complete during the physical section:
Warmup effectively. Elevate heart rate gently via aerobic methods: Jog, Skipping, Shadow boxing
Workout by blending General Physical Preparedness movements (calisthenics) along side Specific Physical Preparedness (Shadow Boxing) movements to serve as bulk of workout
Aim to create movement and strength is as many planes of motion as possible
Finishers are an opportunity to build team morale, so use as much partner work as possible.
Work the class to a crescendo, so that no excess physical energy interrupts their ability to learn for the next phase (Learning).
Always remember that your school is an alternative to mainstream gym facilities. They chose your school because they felt it was a better use of time and resources to achieve the same goals: fitness and motivation. People who choose to go to martial art schools simply believe that a focus on skill drives lasting physical results, so always maximize this section to achieve good physical results.
Section 2: Learning
The learning phase is mainly verbal, and mid level physicality. The teacher is introducing, defining, explaining and expanding a concept(s) from the curriculum, and the student kinetically applies to be familiar. Ultimately, this section is about raising a students level of competence within a given concept and/or task.
Instruct: Speak well. Your goal is to make the subject at hand interesting and palatable. Passion simply cannot grow unless one is curious, so speak in an intriguing way to create curiosity.
Static Drill: Remember the notion of ‘flow’; you drill has to be easy enough, hard enough, and fun in and of itself in order to create maximum engagement. Your initial drill, should be static and should be easier than it is harder so as to let the student discover the basic mechanics (how to move from one position to another). Ideally the tempo should be led by the instructor, so as to keep the class unified and on the same rhythm.
Dynamic Drill: Dynamic drills are more independent and less dictated by the instructor. Often including two or more elements to the drills and managed by time, this allows students to take over their own training and define their own time and pace.
*Transitions:
These are moments of temporary respite; necessary after hard pushes and allows for mental looseness to occur. Allow for looseness like banter and distraction without overrunning it.
Master your moments:
Knowing all the micro moments in class is key to having a great class. There is no room for average classes, nor is there any room for sub par classes. The martial art instructor must produce a class that is the best part of someone’s day, every day, all the time for years on end. This happens out of design, and not happenstance. You deliver a great class everyday systematically because you are sensitive to every single moment of training and know how to make the best of every single moment, as opposed to letting time pass by and drag on.
