I know a Karate instructor who is trying to keep the teenagers motivated..any advice?

Question

Seems like a few young black belts are especially unmotivated and it is an attitude that is affecting the other students. Any advice?

Answer 1

Today's teens are watching UFC, street fights on Youtube and pretty soon EliteXC on primetime TV.  Karate isn't holding their interest like it used to, and frankly it doesn't deserve to.

Your teacher should look into cross training them with some basic grappling and jujitsu.  It will do wonders for his retention.

Answer 2

Cut them form his roster.  We're talking black belts here. sounds to me like "politics".  He needs to get them out of his school A.S.A.P. there should never be any reason for an experienced pratitioner to become disloyal and yes I said disloyal to his dojo or sensei. Are these Black belts that just discovered drugs or what? Never the less it's under mining the teacher so it's a no-brainer they have to go no ifs, ands or buts about it.  Everyone knows from jump street that "conduct" is everything while learning no matter what dojo or what form you're studying.  At black belt we're talking at least 15 months of attending right?  They already know the way things work...they need to go!!!

Unmotivated = Probationary Period at least no matter how hard core the arofesiad may sound.  15 month students acting like that? ....unacceptable!!!

UPDATE: I've noticed that a few comments below me say that you're getting bad advice, but what else can be done.  A subordinate is a subordinate any way you cut it.  Title some one student or fellow co-working the concepts are the same. Your either serious as a teacher or you're not and the same holds true for the student.  The teacher's job may never be finished when it come to teaching, but in the same token the teacher is management here and sometimes tough decisions have to be made especially when such practitioners have been around for such a length of time. We're not talking lower rank belts here, we're talking future management them selves are we not?  Where does this school's "seriousness", "dedication" and "hard work" go to "collectively" in the eyes of newer students who are all watching this unfold?  Why should a teacher have to motivate the motivators of the rest of his calsses?  He shouldn't have to deal with such none sense. Would a Japanese Master put up with this knid of behavior out of future school management candidates? Any one who teaches with half a brain knows what the answer to that question is. Sorry if I sound too brash here, it's not me it's the times in which I live that make me sound like a "mean" person. Purhaps if I were a "feminzed youth" I would come off sounding all feel good about what this poor teacher is going through.

Answer 3

I'm just here to find that same answer. For me it's Jui jitsu and MMA students who've mastered so much but don't have a competition to get ready for. They seem uninspired to workout or do any drills and drag their feet when doing review. I can't find a competetion for them so classroom stuff seems to be a drag. Any ideas?

Answer 4

Wow...that is a lot of horrible advice you are getting here...

I will toss in some ideas to try and help you out.

First and foremost, presentation is a big deal. A big drawback of a lot of karate schools is that they repeat the same drills over and over (ad nauseum) and say that it is proper training.

You can make it seem all brand new, fresh and challenging by changing a few things. A few examples:

1. Most schools do forward and backward stepping only. Try adding turning! Add angles! How else can you change the view? Make it more useful?

2. Most schools just do normal counting. Try using a drum or a whistle. Try having the students count. And not at a constant speed. Change the rhythms! Help build better reflexes and have fun at the same time! Try music! etc.

3. Five minutes at the end of a class to try something fun (and "useless" if not looked at closely) can be a big tool to get them leaving class with a light and fun feeling. This makes it easier to come back.

Try blindfolding exercises. Try different types of games and challenges (tag, jumping, etc).

There really is so much that can be studied and given to challenge the students - they are young and only 1st or 2dan, right? Jeez... My teacher gives us stuff and we have all been training for 20 or 30 years. There is lots of "new" stuff every week or so.

Answer 5

They have to ask themselves this question: Why did they start martial arts on first place?

Is it the parent who pushed them into it?

Some silly movie or MMA new found popularity?

Want to be strong or beat out a bad guy at school?

If one or more of the above is true then no wonder why they aren't motivated. They reached the black belt at a age that they barely understand what it means. Especially in a world that everything is so easy to get with minimum efforts. I don't know about that Dojo but if reaching black belt is not that hard then the kid doesn't obtain the self-satisfaction and drive to achieve higher ranks. Why would be? He got his black belt now, what more to get? It's one of the hardest time to find motivation when you reach the black belt for people who had superficial motivations.

After I will range with some of the answerers. If the class is boring and it's always the same routine it might be hard to anybody, teenagers and adult alike. But for me finding the balance about making it a circus and having meaningful interesting exercises is important.

However, besides my rant I'll try to give that small advice to your question. One thing that was helping the motivation in the school, especially with teenagers, is to have outside school social activities. It might seem weird but the fact that they have fun and bound outside of the school make them want to eagerly come back at the school. And that positive attitude transmits to the class itself.

Answer 6

Howdy,

I live in Japan and I teach Capoeira. It is hard to keep students motivated in Capoeira since belt testing is done only once or twice in a year. Most martial arts schools give belts away every 2 to 3 months so people stay happy. The only thing I do here is a lot of performances out in town and for the community, and also replace students with new ones. Research would tell you that only 50% of the people who join the school will stay for at least a year.  That's the people that join.  After a year, goes down drastically. Best bet is keep advertising for more students to replace them. I email students a couple of times, but that is it.

Answer 7

How could somebody become a black belt if they are unmotivated.  Seems to me that they shouldn't be black belts...

Answer 8

This is why I hate teaching children and why do teenagers have black belts anyway?  I hope they are at least 16 if they have that rank.