Taking Your Martial Arts Out Of Your School And Putting Into The World

     When I decided to open my own jiu-jitsu school some years ago I did so with the purpose of creating something unlike anything else out there. I wanted to redefine the conventional definitions of what the martial arts means to its students and families, as well as the communities they serve.

     What I saw was that for the most part, the majority of schools out there were all pretty much the same, with the same marketing and mission statements. What I wanted was to get in there and shake things up, to set new definitions and standards I wanted to put together a program that would truly transform my student's lives in a profound and lasting way and positively impact the community we serve as well.

     I wanted to instill in my students, not just the typical attributes we associate with martial arts training. Things such as resilience, self-confidence, problem-solving, fortitude, mental toughness, and perseverance. Along with these attributes I also wanted to cultivate within my students a personal practice of doing for others and their community. I also wanted to challenge the established and narrow criteria we use to define self-defense. Included under the umbrella of self-defense should be such things as our physical health,  nutrition, and exercise, our mental health, stress management, proper understanding and expression of our emotions, our environment, understanding what constitutes a healthy relationship, setting appropriate personal boundaries. Lastly, I wanted to come up with a way that I could not only document what my school's mission was about but also concretely demonstrate it!

     For me, the catalyst behind starting my own school and my own program came down to this one overriding thought. The martial arts are in a uniques position to profoundly impact lives and make a real and substantial difference not just in the lives of its students but its community, county, state, country, world! It has to be about more!   

     

                 

     

    

  To transform your work as a martial arts teacher, I can think of no better way than to cultivate a desire in your students to serve others, to perform purposeful acts of kindness, and to link these ideas to the very practice of your “art.”