Does your school have contracts?

OOOHHH man! This is going to be a hot one. This is one of those hotly debated topics that make me feel all squishy inside. Contracts, or no contracts? There seems to be two major components of this argument. The first one says," If they were serious and committed, signing a contract is not a big deal." And on the other side, there is the "if they want to come, they will come on without any financial obligation." I personally struggle a lot with this. As a person who will be opening a school soon, this is a topic that really interests me. I have gone back and forth with myself a great deal in the past couple of months, so I will tell ya what I think.

First of all, contracts are not so bad in and of themselves. The reason that I think that they can be good is simple: paperwork. If you are doing your own accounting, dealing with 100 different checks a month, every month can be a headache. Keeping track of who has paid, and who has not can be a real nightmare. So setting up a contract with automatic withdrawals can be a real life-saver. On top of that, most people who join gyms area almost expecting a contract, since that seems to be the norm in dojos these days.

Now to make my serious gripe. I think that there is no reason, and I mean NO REASON to have contracts longer than six months or a year. People don't like contracts that long because they don't want to feel that they are locked in to something. A lot of very unscrupulous folks have these contracts that are unbreakable. If I may paraphrase a quote from a guy named Steve Doyon," I don't even consider someone a student until they have signed a one year or three year non-cancellable contract." Does anyone else find this disgraceful. A lot of these contracts must still be paid even if the person moves out of the state, or even the local vicinity of the school. Martial arts are supposed to be about fairness and understanding. What is so understanding about making someone pay for something that you are not benefitting from? I personally do not see a whole lot of compassion there.

If your services and your teaching are so good, why do you have long contracts? If you believe that your product is better than the rest, why can't your students join a gym of dojo in the same city? If you believe in free enterprise, then you should not be afraid of straight up competition. Well, I am going to go folks, I have to listen to some people grumble about how they have been lied to by their sensei.................

Do you break boards at your school?

Brothers and sisters, the moment of redemption is at hand...... Wait a second, no it isn't. Sorry folks, I get carried away sometimes. Here is the question I have for the day. That question is (insert drum roll) do you break boards at your school? I don't. I have never felt the need to try it either. A lot of folks look at board-breaking as some kind of miracle feat, or exhibition of power. That is all fine and dandy if that keeps your school enrollment up I guess. But to me I only think, "dang, how hard can it be if kids can do it?" There is not a whole lot of things that adults should be impressed with, if their kids can do it. Maybe doing the splits, or somersaults is worthy of your admiration. But board breaking? Come on now. That is martial marketing, NOT martial arts. Striking WITH the grain of a pine board is not a big deal. Try striking against the grain. It becomes a much more interesting proposition. Or take away the spacers in-between the boards. Or for goodness sakes, just realize that if our bones were not more dense than the boards, our hands would break instead of the wood.

I don't mean to pee in anyone's pool, but this really makes me mad. People look at board breaking as a sign of martial arts mastery, and it is anything but that. It is an event in most compettions, and I think that it is pathetic. We need to do more recycling anyhow, so breaking boards is more of an ecological waste, than it is anything else. If I may quote Bruce Lee," boards don't hit back." How true is that statement? 100% of the cases I have seen involved the boards NOT hitting back. Besides, with all of the chi focusing, and heavy breathing that goes on with board breaking, it is really a waste of time. If somebody has to prepare themselves for two minutes so that they can break the wood, where is the practical value? Do you really think that you opponent is going to sit for two minutes while you get ready to shatter their limbs? If you do, I have this nice beachfront condo in Arkansas that I know that you will love. If you cannot generate enough power to do real damage immediately, than maybe you should take up boxing instead.

Wait..... what is that buzzing sound? Oh, I can hear it a little more clearly now. "Breaking helps kids build confidence. It gives them something to shoot for." Well call me silly(and some of you have) but I know that there are a lot of ways to build confidence that do not involve lumber. How about maybe increasing the difficulty of basic drills? How about helping your students achieve a full split? How about teaching them how to use a classical weapon? Those thing would work just fine I imagine. Or, and you might want to hold on to your hat here, make achieving rank in your school difficult? If your students are being promoted in a legitimately difficult curiculuum, then that will build confidence like nothing else. How about when you look your student in the eyes as you put a stripe on their belt and say," I remember when you couldn't even throw a correct front kick. Now you are able to throw a front kick, roundhouse kick, and follow it with a spinning back kick." I will bet dollars to donuts( and I love my donuts) that their confidence level will jump big time.

See, I am a firm believer in what is real. For the schools that tout breaking as a highly valued skill, let me lend you my 2 pesos. I have seen a lot of kids do a breaking demo, and then later on carry their trophy around as if they defeated Bruce Lee, Mas Oyama, and Helio Gracie all at the same time. It is pitiful, really pitiful. If I may quote Bruce Lee just once more today," Boards don't hit back." Breaking boards doesn't make you a champion. It teaches you how to break something that anyone can break if they have the correct training. Not worth the effort in my book. If you can give me a really practical reason to break boards, I would love to hear it. I will be sitting right here, waiting...........

Black belts for kids?

Alrighty then folks, I am back after a little time off. I am sorry to have been gone so long. I guess that this post could have gone into my challenging the masters series, but I have had enough of that. I am going to address something that burns me to the core. That my friends, is whether or not kids should have black belts.

I am going to say HECK NO!!! I think that it is absolutely ridiculous that children should be awarded black belts. Now before some of you start telling me about your child prodigies, let me add this disclaimer. There is a VERY small number of kids, (5% maybe) who are worthy of a black belt. I don't mean small kids, I mean 16, or 17 years old. Fact of the matter is, that a black belt is about much more than how well you can fight. If you don't think so, or if your teacher doesn't think so, then maybe you should rethink the value of the belt you wear. A black belt should have a higher sense of ethics, and have the maturity to understand the reality of violence. I don't mean to knock any kids, I was a kid before too. But the fact is that at a certain age, kids just do not have the maturity needed to be a legitamate black belt. From a physical standpoint, sure, kids are definitely more capable of performing certain techniques. But is that the essence of a black belt's skill? How about, WHEN to do the techniques? How about the legalities of certain techniques. Are these things that a child with martial arts skill can understand? About 9 times out of 10, Anthony says "no way."

What? What was that? Oh I hear it now. "Well what if he starts at 6 years old and trains hard the whole time?" Well, I say that if he is doing all of that, he will certainly understand why he will NOT get his black belt until he is 18. He or she will know that martial arts is not about what you wear around your waist. It is what is in your heart, and in your soul. Honestly, don't you get a little tired of watching 9 year old black belts perform tired katas and lackluster form? I know that it kills me. How much of an indicator is a black belt, if a kid can get one? Would you give any credit to a university that had 12 year old kids with doctorates? I would bet my car that you would not.

And while I am good and angry, let's talk about Black Belt Clubs. These are guarantees that a student will have a black belt, if they pay "x" amount up front. RIDICULOUS!! That is just downright pathetic. What if the student is uncoordinated? Will they still get their black belt in 3 years? What if the kids don't try hard? Or let us be real for a moment, what if they cannot afford to pay for the lessons front? To me, this just sends another message to the haves, and have-nots. That message is, "if you can afford better treatment, you will get it. If not, tough luck kid." I always thought martial arts was about brotherhood and sisterhood, regardless of financial standing. I have seen some affluent kids that absolutely sucked in martial arts. And I have also had some amazing workouts in a garage, or in a park somewhere. Does price determine how well you are going to teach someone? If it does, I am glad that I don't work out with you. Because I think that you are a loser. A martial arts program should make everyone feel equal and welcome. And I mean EVERYONE. That is from the kids all the way to the adults. Just remember, don't give those kids black belts!

Challenging the Masters part 10: Why do you bow?

Oh man,
I can feel the tension building! Folks are going to have their underpants in a know over this. I know, because I have already been yelled at for my earlier postings. But since I have way more guts than common sense, I am back on my mission. I feel like I need to end this 10 part series with a bang. So load up the old shotgun folks, we are going for a ride.

Now, the one thing about martial arts that almost everyone is familiar with, is the bowing to your instructor, or bowing as you enter and leave a school. There have been raging debates over this for a long time, so I am going to go ahead and tell you why bowing is a good idea.

Bowing shows respect. Respect to your teachers, respect to the school, and respect to the pioneers that created the arts that we so fervently practice. It is NOT a show of inferiority to your instructors. Anyone who DEMANDS that you bow to them needs to check their ego issues, because they have them. If you notice, your teacher bows to you in return. That is a MUTUAL show of respect. Now, tradition calls that you bow slightly lower to someone of higher rank, but that is not such a big deal. In America, we are taught to "respect your elders." So that idea is not so novel at all, is it? When you bow to your teacher, you are acknowledging that you are all brothers and sisters on the same path. You are saying to each other with every bow," yes I am glad to be here with you. Yes, I love the training. And no, I will NOT try to hurt or injure you while we train." A sincere bow says all of these things. So don't be afraid to bow. It is not to show that you are subservient. It is to show that you have nothing but decent intentions while you train.

Now, I am going to tell you why we should not bow. Bowing is an Asian tradition. And while some traditions do have their merit, this may not be one of them. Americans shake hands. And while it may not have the same meaning as bowing, it seems to work for us. And remember, America is not just one ethnicity. There are literally dozens of nationalities and ethnic backgrounds that live here. There is not a single unifying ideal prevalent in America. Some Americans don't mind the idea of bowing at all. Some may find it embarassing or demeaning. When you run your classes, it is generally NOT a good idea to force or push a tradition or idea upon your students. It would be a shame to lose a student, or students over something as simple as a misunderstanding about bowing. IN the scheme of things, there are much more important issues to discuss.

For what it is worth, here are my 2 cents. I suggest that you just explain to your students why you bow, or why you don't. That way you can circumvent all of the nonsense before it even happens. But if you do bow, make it sincere and do it like you mean it.