10 Major Deficiencies of Martial Arts Schools

Every Martial Arts School has its strengths and weaknesses. After years of extensive research, here is a list of what I consider to be major deficiencies in most other schools.

1. Instruction/Training Programs: This is the backbone of ANY Martial Arts school. If the quality of instruction is sub par, nothing else is really going to matter. Make sure the schools are delivering whatever they are promising. Too many schools make false claims about what their training programs really do. They could have the nicest equipment and facility, the nicest staff, the most impressive belt ranking and it would not mean a thing if they are not capable and cannot actually teach effectively on the floor. If classes appear undisciplined and unfocused, there is very little chance the instructor can properly teach. Many schools do not even have a formal instructor training program. Many will use the "monkey see, monkey do" method of instructor training. I often get complaints about older kids instructing at other schools who were never formally trained on how to instruct. It is fine for older kids to help out so long as they are properly trained but they should never be in charge of a kids class without proper supervision. At AKKA, ALL our instructors at every level are required to attend regular training sessions.

2. Business Practices: Many area schools have very poor business practices. For example, most do not even have a service agreement. Having a service agreement sets expectations from both parties which prevents problems down the road. Many have hidden fees and NO service agreement explaining that there are additional fees. Almost all professional services have some sort of service agreement. Most will not even do business with you without one. The list in this category is too extensive for this particular post. Hidden fees are addressed in a another post in this blog.

3. Professionalism: Since most schools have very little staff if any, important things like phone calls get neglected. Many have no formal training on customer service and have the "get to it when I get to it" attitude. A great deal of instructors lack vital people skills and have a hard time dealing with the business challenges of today.

4. Systems: A major problem for most Martial Arts School owners is a lack of systems. One of the most significant examples is collecting tuition. Too many are just collecting payments over the counter each month and spend a foolish amount of time chasing people for payments all month long. It is much better for the owner and the client to be set up with auto payments so the staff can focus its efforts on teaching instead of who owes money. This way the owner does not have to be in a bad position to ask people for money and the bank makes the payment for the client. Easy! Systems is another topic too extensive for this post. I address this in another post in this blog.

5. Training: All too often, the instructors get burnt out and neglect their own training time. This drastically effects the instructor's enthusiasm. Very little time is invested in staff training and instructor training because they are too busy just trying to get through the day. Very few make the time to go to training seminars and trade shows making it almost impossible to keep up with today's fast changing world. Beware of instructors who claim their classes teach things like physcial fitness and perseverence when they do not even perform a proper warm up/work out for their classes or if they do it is very unchallenging.

6. Ego Driven: Too many schools revolve around how "great" the owner/master instructors is at their Martial Arts skills. I certainly agree that the leadership of a successful organization should be capable and credible. There is a fine line between confidence in once ability and arrogance. It is fine for the leadership to tastefully establish credibility so long as it does not translate into poor service to the clients. See the post about Ego Driven vs Student Driven in this blog.

7. Facility/Location: Martial Arts schools are unfortunately notorious for moving into undesirable facilities and locations. Many are filthy, ill equipped, have little or no parking, inadequate signage, or are simply tough to get to. Some are even on 2nd floors, basements, garages, etc. Others like to operate out of fitness centers, community centers, or church basements which I believe takes a great deal away from a quality Martial Arts Experience. These are usually part time instructors who are too afraid to open up a store front to give their students a home. So much for self confidence!

8. Pricing: Most Martial Arts schools undercharge for their services. If the school is going to properly take care of its students, it is going to need resources. It costs money for rent, insurance, staff, equipment, training, computers, professional services like attorneys and accountants, maintenance, cleaning, etc. Undercharging leads to lower quality all around and in most cases, a lot of corner cutting. The school needs to stay open, deliver service, and make enough for it to be worth while. You WILL get what you pay for! See the special post on pricing in this blog.

9. Character Education: Most Martial Arts schools claim to teach character development yet very few have a system to do so. Their training is hap hazzard at best. Learning about qualities like self control are very important when learning Martial Arts. If lessons like these are neglected, students could get the wrong message about how they are supposed to use their potentially dangerous skills. We at AKKA have a monthly Power Word program that involves discussions and application of positive messages. This way the students constantly get positive reinforcement of empowering messages. It is another way we build more value into our training programs at American Kempo Karate Academy. It is like getting 2 world class programs in one!

10. Leadership: Most of the area schools have weak leadership. Some of the "grand masters", or founders have fraudulent credentials or claims to fame. Some have major character flaws and bad habits. We are all human but an instructor that goes outside to smoke cigarettes with parents during a class is probably not the kind you want influencing your child. Some love to brag about how long they have been training and what great instructors they are but they have very few, if any, talented students/instructors under them. Even worse they are still teaching in some low quality facility. Some are grossly out of shape. Others love to brag about how great they were back in the day. I heard a great saying, "the older you get, the better you were." This could not be more true for old Martial Arts Instructors. The leadership should practice what they preach and lead by example. All the talk in the world will not replace the walk that needs to be made.

Some schools will only have one or 2 of these deficiencies. Some have them all. You just have to be aware of these and decide for yourself what you are willing to deal with. No one runs the DIVINE DOJOS but we at American Kempo Karate Academy are working constantly to make sure we are improving at delivering the best Martial Arts Experience possible for both kids and adults. Visit us at http://www.akka.com/

Casualness Leads to Casualties

If you really expect to reap the great benefits from training in the Martial Arts, you have to decide if a school can DELIVER on its claims and promises. Not every school is for everyone. Schools that have systems in place to run their classes and their business have a much better chance of long term success. System driven schools have taken the time to think everything they do through to help students have the best experience possible. This includes training and administrative work. Having systems creates expectations from both the client and the staff which helps minimize problems.
Martial Arts schools who just try to get through the day are simply working in a house of cards. It is only a matter of time before they implode with problems and unhappy clients. Too often owners of these types of schools just try to focus on one or two components of their operation and grossly neglect all the others. This makes it very difficult to set goals and grow. For example, if a school does not have a functional website to provide existing clients information, this means there is a major problem with their communications system within their school. Lack of proper communication can lead to all kinds of problems. In today's day and age, you have to seriously question any business that does not have some kind of website.
At American Kempo Karate Academy, we have spent years and years of time and effort systematizing our operation so that we can focus our efforts on providing top quality instruction and less energy on administrative duties. This also allows us to set goals to move forward into the future. Visit www.akka.com for more information.