As a professional martial arts instructor for over 33 years, I am constantly assessing my students' progress. Part of this is to determine when they are ready to advance to their next stripe or belt, as these are great motivators for encouraging students to work hard and keep improving their skills.
I also keep a close eye on how my students are doing because it's really exciting, not to mention rewarding, to "catch" them doing well or having a breakthrough moment.
This requires almost constant vigilance on the part of the instructor because gaining new skills and abilities is never a linear process; rather, a student can train on a skill for many months with minimal progress until suddenly one day they "get it"!
Of course, they didn't learn that new skill in one day but it can seem like it.
That's why the secret to being successful at something comes down to having Perseverance.
No "Overnight Success"
I was recently watching one of our childrens beginner classes and one student was standing out above the others - her punches had speed, her kicks were precise and she was really focused on her performance. But what really got my attention was how much she had improved - it was like her abilities had jumped to the next level!
Since I am very aware that this is how everyone progresses, one of my main jobs as an instructor is to keep my students training and challenging themselves until they reach these moments of improvement.
This requires that I have a "toolkit" of different drills - we call them games in the kids' classes - that add variety to the training while still allowing them to get in the reps they need to improve. While they think they're just having fun, I know that they are slowly learning the value of perseverance.
When I see a student having a moment of success, I will usually point it out to their parent so that they can see the progress as well. It's reassuring to parents to know that their kids are improving over time; we all want instant success but there are no short cuts to expertise.
Confidence and Discipline are Skills, Too
It's easy to see when a student is punching or kicking better, but not always as easy to spot improvements in Self-Confidence and Discipline. But just like the physical aspects of martial arts, these life skills follow the same rules.
Children who are lacking in confidence, discipline or focus won't develop these traits over night, but they can greatly improve them through repeated and sustained exposure to lessons and training that help encourage them.
The lessons and experiences my students receive are specifically designed to train their ability to focus and concentrate, accept challenges with confidence and discipline themselves to achieve things they might not have considered within their abilities.
But this takes time and consistent effort.
Those parents and students who are ready to commit to the training will be rewarded with life skills that will benefit them in any endeavour they choose to do, even after they have moved on from attending karate classes.
Confidence and Discipline are skills that last a lifetime!
