Instructor's Shadow

The Semantics of Martial Arts Vocabulary (Mixed/Blended/Hybrid Styles)

2008-09-02T09:36:00.004-05:00

Choosing our School: When my brother and I started at Rosenbach’s Warrior Training Branch in Fremont, NE all those years ago we knew that what we were getting was something exceptional. My brother did the research, and sure in small town Fremont, NE Rosenbach was the only game in town but to our good fortune our hometown had a martial arts instructor who was presently having his articles printed and reprinted in several national monthly publications. I could walk over to the book store (which used to be in the Fremont Mall) and pick up a martial arts magazine with a pretty decent chance of finding an article that my future instructor or one of his black belts had written. That just doesn’t happen every day. So many martial arts schools are content to do what they do and feed into an organization. That wasn’t the case with Mr. Rosenbach and his colleagues.

The Early Days: Rosenbach and his partner instructors were onto something big, and it was getting them press. They had trained for several years in multiple styles but rather than teach several styles, instead of cashing checks and double and triple dipping on their client base (by awarding belts in 2-3 arts. They took the information that they were teaching their students individually and blended it into a new style which incorporated the stances, movements, combat and philosophies of Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Ninjutsu, and Weapons Training into a new adaptable and comprehensive style under the guidance of Sensei Robert Bussey and Sabum James Rosenbach.

When I started training with Rosenbach it was a very exciting time. I was particularly excited about the weapons training. Many styles do not train in weapons; or if they do train weapons they usually charge an additional fee or cost for their classes. Rosenbach’s school did not. Not only was weapon training common place, it was required for belt testing.

So What Kind? Then and Now…: After being in the system for awhile my friends and family started to ask questions about the brand of martial arts that my brother and I were learning, which has always been a hard thing to describe. When someone asks “What kind of martial arts do you train in” it’s like making small talk, they often expect to get a one word response. But what can you do when your style doesn’t fit neatly under one name? Well, back then it was easy enough to say that it was a “mix of martial arts styles.” These days however if you say it is a mix of martial arts someone immediately draws a connection to MMA and No Holds Barred fighting. (Don’t get me wrong we do train several aspects of the sport but we are not training FOR the sport.)

Dissecting the Terms: The term “Mixed Martial Arts” (or MMA) has been relatively vague for quite some time, however in recent years it has started to mean something very specific. Recently my instructor was awarded a black belt rank as an instructor of “Mixed Martial Arts” and of course (as is commonly the case) internet critics came out of the woodwork to scoff at the idea of a MMA black belt. The reason it is a hard idea to grasp is because many people have a singular and potentially erroneous concept of what it means. They think about fighters, fighting promotions (like Ultimate Fighting Championship), and title fights. To my knowledge you cannot be awarded a UFC black belt. To my knowledge UFC doesn’t even have an official school… (Unless you count the reality show Ultimate Fighter as their de facto school) But for these people who are having a hard time of thinking outside of that box, I guess I would ask the question… what do you call it when someone teaches and promotes a mixed style? If an outside source (Like a Professional Martial Arts Organization) wants to honor those Instructors with an award for their accomplishments what else could you call it? With animals we don’t make a distinction… If you breed a German Sheppard and a Black Lab we say it is a Sheppard/Lab mix. For some reason there are certain groups (or subgroups) in our martial arts culture that have decided (on their own) that it’s just not going to acceptable to use Mixed Martial Arts as a descriptor for anything other than the sport anymore.

It seems like silly semantics that I should have to say that I study a blended style (which makes me think of Starbucks coffee drinks) or a hybrid style (which makes me think of corn) when it’s clearly a mix of styles.

Interestingly enough, the phenomenon of MMA fighting which has been the largest proponent for the existence of these blended styles and programs, yet it has also become (in my own opinion) the largest source of confusion to its own definition and evolution.

The Present: I don’t like it but I’ve become very conscious about how I describe my style of martial arts. I dislike the semantics of it nonetheless I’ve started referring to my style as “blended” just to remove the stigma and pigeon-holing that goes along with being associated wrongly with the MMA. I watch UFC fights when I get the chance, I enjoy the fights and I respect the fighters. Our school however should not and cannot be judged with the same eye as the one who judges the sport. If you look at our school and think MMA you’ll walk in and see a safe Family Friendly Martial Arts school.

The Point: These mixed styles used to be really unusual. Only people like Bruce Lee could get away with creating their own styles, and even then when he first did it he made a lot of people mad, now its becoming the norm. Some schools are set up without rank guideline in mind and are purely for creating a stable of competition grade fighters or for training like competition minded fighters. Because these schools exist it’s important that we acknowledge their existence and realize that the nomenclatures of what our styles are termed are affected by their existence. It’s not a world where we can say “We’re a mixed martial arts school” without evoking a certain idea and persona. I’m not saying that you can’t call yourself a mixed martial artist, just know that there is a perception and a stigma either good or bad that comes with such a naming.

Update 2-9-09: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_martial_arts

Web Presence Part One: What is it? Why Have One? And Social Networks.

2008-06-08T21:13:00.001-05:00

This blog is staring you down right from the heart of the internet which means I really should talk about web presence. The following is going to come right out of my head, so please take it as one man’s perspective and opinion.

Internet Love it or Hate It?

In 1999 I set up my martial arts web site. (www.rwtb.org) The “dot com boom” had come and was on its way out. Online vendors were making it possible for you to buy just about anything you wanted. I loved the internet! Fast forward to 2008, I’ve gotten into some ugly online discussions, I’ve been conned, I’ve suffered internet related identity theft, I’ve connected with some really cool martial artists both nationally and internationally, I’ve generated some sign-ups for my Head instructor and his school, and I regularly keep in touch with friends and loved ones. With less of the naïveté I still cautiously enjoy the internet very much. In this increased state of globalization it becomes hard to shrug off the very lucrative opportunities that the internet provides, but it’s so important to approach the internet carefully because the risks are very real and very present.

Think of the internet as a large city. Much like the public library, there are places where you can get what you need legally, safely and free. There are also places where you can get into trouble, there are places on the internet that you should avoid, and there are places that are just plain dangerous.

Without losing the point of this essay I think it is worth noting that awareness is really key to keeping yourself out of trouble when surfing the web.

So Why Have a Web Presence at all?

Some people will avoid the internet entirely. My instructor is one who avoids using his internet except to check on the website I run for his school and to make a few pedestrian stops along the way. Otherwise he has little use for the internet and the things that happen there. Does that hinder him? No. His business was successful before the internet started and his business would not suffer without a web presence.

However, that’s where I come in. My website, blogs, and online social networking have individually streamlined some additional operations and has generated some marginal traffic into the school which has in some cases resulted in sign-ups. Having a presence on the web (a.k.a. web presence) creates another relatively cheap avenue for people to find you and/or your business.

So then why not, sounds harmless. Right?...

Yeah it does sound harmless. However, the thing with the internet is that anything you throw out there becomes public domain. That dorky vanity website you created in Jr. High, the book reviews that you posted at your favorite online bookseller; your wishlists that you set up; that ugly debate you had in an online forum; your online wedding registry; your Myspace/Facebook profiles; everything is there and available to anyone who has the know-how to access it. This can make you vulnerable if you aren’t cautious.

Social Networks: Probably the first things I want to cover because they are incredibly popular now are social networking sites; some of the most popular sites are: Myspace, Facebook, and Friendster. These are tricky, because when you start an account you start by putting together a profile which has certain information and photos which identify who you are, where you are, and how you can be found or contacted. That information is at your option to provide, and can be either a benefit or a burden. It’s a calculated risk that you are taking any time you post personal information which can be potentially accessed, collected, and then passed on. Now many of these sites do offer privacy settings, but in many cases the defaults allow open access (meaning that anyone with internet access can view your page) and in order to limit access you will have to go into your account and manually change those settings for yourself.

Now just like anything on the internet these social networks are constantly changing and constantly evolving. This blog could be irrelevant by the end of the month so I’m just going to cover a few key points that you might need to consider as a Martial Arts instructor who might want to create a profile on one of these networking sites.

One reason that it’s important to monitor these sites is for the photos; both for the ones that you post personally and for the ones that others post of you. The scary reality is that it is so easy for pictures of you to wind up on the internet anyone with marginal internet skills can upload photos. They can do it with their digital camera, they can take pictures with their phones, they can put it on a disc and load it, and they can even scan an old photo! Any photo EVER taken of you can be put on the internet. Additionally In a social network people can “tag” you in photos that they posted or that someone else posted. Tagging a photo will identify you in that photo regardless of what it is that you are doing. Often tagged photos of you will be lumped together and can be easily viewed with a courtesy link set up by the social networking site. Good news? In the privacy settings for Facebook you can limit who has access to Tagged photos. That still won’t control who can see untagged photos so in some cases tagging photos might be the wise choice (if your privacy settings are at a wise privacy setting). Probably the best option in the event of a questionable photo posted is to contact the poster and to politely ask them to take it down before any problems have a chance to manifest. On the positive side, a good picture can be dynamic and really describe the type of school you run or the type of person you are. Try to keep the photos you load relevant to the type of persona you want to put forward.

These networks are exactly a network. People can search for you and you can search for others. You create a page with information for personal purposes, for recreational purposes, and even for business purposes. So there are opportunities to connect with potential clients with the help of these sites. You are going to have a hard time limiting that. As a martial arts instructor your young students will be able to find you just as easily as adult students, so it’s important that your profile and its contents are appropriate for all ages before you add them to your network (also called your “friends list”)

Applications are fairly new to social networks and seem to have started with Facebook. These applications are developed by sources outside of the network administrators and often link to other places. Some of these allow you to list and rate movies, some allow you to put music on your profile page, and some even let you post videos! Something to think about when adding applications is, again: “is it appropriate to the people who I want visiting my profile?” If it’s a business profile site do they need to see “What Super Hero you are most like?” or the “Bumper sticker” declaring your disdain for the current President? Will these things help you to earn the respect of potential students, or lose the respect of current ones? These are important things to consider before you just go ahead and click “add”.

In writing this article I realize that the internet is too vast to cover in a single article so I’m going to wrap this up with one last question you should ask yourself and that is:

Do you already have a web presence? Vanity search yourself! It’s important that you figure out what’s already happening with your name on the web. Even if your web dealings are fairly limited you might find that if you’ve ever been in the newspaper, most have gone online and print their stories both in print and on the web; which may be good or bad depending on the source and the story. That wild office Christmas party where you had too many adult beverages? Someone may have taken some choice photos of you and added them to the web. If someone else searches for you and sees that first, it will send a message or even create a first impression that you don’t really want to make. To do a vanity search I suggest going to Google.com and typing in your name surrounded by quotes (ex. “John Doe”). The quotes will limit the search to your name specifically. You might find that someone else shares your name and you might have to dig to find anything that matches the real you, you might not find anything but it’s good to know what is and what isn’t out there. Still not convinced? What if someone was pretending to be YOU? Don’t think it can happen? It can happen and it has happened to countless individuals. Vigilance is the only true defense for something like that.

That being said a web presence isn’t necessarily bad IF you are careful to craft the kind of presence that is a benefit to you and your martial arts school, and not a detriment.

Attention Hog

2008-02-14T16:02:00.002-06:00

I received a call earlier this month from the local paper about an art program that I’ve been involved in at one of my elementary schools.

The reporter on the phone asked me a number of questions about the program, about my feelings on the program, and about my involvement in the students’ development and motivation.

I wish I could tell you that I gave perfect statements, that I thought I said absolutely everything that I could possibly want to say on the subject and that I represented everything that I should have, but the honest truth is that I had just gotten done teaching a painting class to a group of rowdy Kindergarten students and was still rattled and decompressing from that when I answered the phone.

I don’t think the conversation went poorly, I didn’t embarrass myself and my profession, but I didn’t walk away from the conversation feeling like my thoughts were as put together as they maybe should have been.

The point for martial arts instructors is that you won’t always know when you might get a call because of your position in the community, because of the impromtu nature of “the news” it becomes really important that you think things through before hand. If a reporter asked you “How did you get into martial arts?” what would your story be?

Anyhow it’s a different way of thinking, and as I learned it’s something that you should prepare for because you never know when your 15 minutes of fame might come.

I’ve come across a good blog on this matter already:

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2002/10/14/if-you-want-to-be-well-known-learn-to-talk-to-the-press/

Another matter to consider is getting a hold of the press in the first place. I’ve been looking at a certain magazine lately which is all about my fine state. They do articles on old businesses, art from the area, and all sorts of interesting things that pertain to the state. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why an article has never been done about my Instructor. He’s a Hall of Fame martial artist, and co-founder of what was once the International Martial Arts Organization known as RBWI. However through it all he’s never left the state. He’s been teaching in his home town for over 35 years! It occurs to me that the only reason they haven’t written his story is because they probably didn’t know that there IS a story. So in that case someone should call them or maybe… write a press release. But what is a press release? How do I write one? Who do I send it to?

Here’s a good website about Press releases and how to write them: http://www.publicityinsider.com/release.asp

I guess the point this week is, don’t wait until the press comes knocking on your door to think of the things that you want to say, it’s easy enough to be misquoted when you DO know what you’re saying that you really don’t want to be caught without well thought responses. Also sometimes you have to let people know when you are doing something interesting. Last year there was front page article on a family that gives blood every year! Wow... don't you think the last martial arts tourney you attended might be a little more newsworthy? Don't you think that time you volunteered a Free self-defense class to a ladies church group might be good news? I do.

But reporters are not fortune tellers... they do not know when you are going to do something interesting... they need to be told. Sometimes a press release is a good way to get the word out.

Schedules

2007-11-05T14:55:00.000-06:00

SCHEDULES

This weekend my wife and I drove from Fremont to Omaha to attend our first Dog Obedience course. I was a little apprehensive because I didn't know where exactly I was headed, I had a rough idea because google maps and mapquest are pretty good for that. Regardless of the apprehension I was fairly confident because we had given ourselves some extra time to make sure that we could find it, and still be a little early.

So what?! Instructors, why does this pertain to schedules? You're about to find out... Well we found the place with about 5-10 minutes to spare, which we really didn't think was much but we came to find out it would be more than adequate considering that our class didn't start for another 45 minutes. According to the sheet that we had in our hands we were right on time, as were the rest of our fellow dog loving classmates. However the people in charge of scheduling did not have the right times, and our instructor had no idea that we had been sitting there until someone got fed up enough to walk across the street to the Main building.

As we sat there I got to thinking about how irritated I was that the schedule was disrupted. I didn't have to be anywhere... but... what if I had needed to be! We sat in a room together for 45 minutes, before an instructor showed up! This experience tells me a few things that might serve as a good lesson for our martial arts instructors.

Punctuality:

Showing up on time is important! Being late does not look professional, making up the time is not always the issue either... if you start late fully expecting to make it up by running overtime you will have students that NEED to leave and they will NOT get that time you were hoping to comp for them. Being late is never a good deal, if for some reason you know you will be late it is a good idea to set up someone who can unlock the school, and who can warm-up/manage students until you can arrive. My Instructor is very good about this, in fact sometimes he's too good in that he'll get 2-3 instructors lined up for the same reasons... but at least the bases are covered. It becomes really important especially in extreme weather conditions because you do not want your student body loitering outside of your school when it's -2 degrees or 102 degrees. Again if something went wrong you might be deemed liable.

Double Booking or Overbooking

I am no saint when it comes to this topic... I am notorious for taking on more than I can handle. It is the number one cause of my absence during regular weekly classes. It's a good idea to have a master schedule, as well as a portable version which you can carry on you. It's important to cross check your portable schedule with the master schedule (daily if possible) to make sure that both remain up to date and accurate.

Consistency

It doesn't help to change the schedule monthly. Try to leave the schedule alone as much as possible you want to keep your business hours pretty stable, however from time to time it may become necessary to tweak or change the schedule. When a change is about to occur try to give your students plenty of time to adjust to the change in many cases students may need up to a month advance notice with several reminders in between. Changes should be as minimal as possible, for example if you currently train Monday Wednesdays and Fridays and have been doing this for the last 3 years, then you probably would be best served by staying true to those dates (if possible) rather than moving the dates to a new arrangement.

Well... folks my schedule says it's time for me to move on to the next thing. Hopefully this has given you a few ideas, which can help you maximize how your schedule works for you.

Safety First

2007-10-26T14:44:00.000-05:00

SAFETY

This seems like a no-brainer, as martial arts instructors we're constantly evaluating which techniques are safe to teach. Which techniques are valuable to keep our students safe, and what are the best methods that we can employ while teaching to make each learning experience the safest it can be, while still being dynamic and realistic.

For the first couple of installments I want to focus on safety, because there is so much to be said here.

EMERGENCY!

Instructors, hopefully it never happens to you but the fact is, the longer you are doing this the more and more likely you are going to witness some pretty bad injuries. All injuries can be prevented but most of them... will be out of your control. Think for a second... what would I do if one of my students collapsed and couldn't breathe. Do you know the answer? If you don't, or you had to take a few minutes to think, then it's a good thing that you are reading this blog. It's time to start thinking. As someone in charge of a Martial Arts school, you will be the one that is liable in the eyes of the law. If you do not act swiftly to the best of your abilities you can potentially be charged with criminal neglect. In this installment I want to go over some of the BIG issues.

911

Instructors, where is the nearest phone. If you need to call 911 where do you go to reach a phone? Anymore enough people carry cell phones that finding a phone is easier than it has ever been. However, not everyone does carry one worse what good is a cell phone that isn't properly charged? If you are asked about the physical address of your business, can you rattle it off at a moments notice? Can your assistant instructors? Having a 911 policy is good to have.

Click Me for more information about Calling 911 The preceding link is from About.com and gives some great ideas for what to expect when calling 911 and some good protocol for what to do and what to say. This information could easily be used to make a policy or can be passed on to assistant instructors so they have an idea of what to expect.

FIRE!

What if the building is on fire?

Alarms: First does your building have smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and/or a central fire alarm system? If you do, what does the alarm sound like? Would your students recognize the alarm and know what to do if it sounded?

Evacuation Plan: Do you practice fire drills? Do you and your students know where all of the potential exits are? Is your plan posted for new students, parents, and guests? Click here for an About.com article concerning fire evac plans.

Fire Extinguishers: Do you have a fire extinguisher? Where are your extinguishers located? Are your extinguishers up to date, and appropriate for the task? Some extinguishers are only good for certain types of fires while others are good for all fire types. Do you know how to use it? And do your assistant instructors know how to use it?

Tornado and Storms?

Tornado conditions are similar to fires in that an established plan should be set, your instructors should know it, and your students should know the appropriate response. For storms it is good to have a radio with good batteries and flash lights with good working batteries. click here for about.com's best places to go in Tornado weather. In cold weather the kinds of storm kits you might need would change dramatically. In many cases these storms can be predicted and you might develop a calling tree to let parents know when and how classes will be cancelled due to hazardous weather.

CPR and First Aid

If your student passes out or breaks and arm... what can you do? Are you or one of your assistant instructors certified to perform CPR or to practice First Aid? Do you or your instructors know how to manage and clean up large blood spills? When should you and when shouldn't you move someone who is prone? These are all questions that can be answered by attending a training course for First Aid or CPR. Many of these courses are offered at varied times throughout the week, and can be completed with minimal cost. Through American Red Cross, click here to look at the American Red Cross Web site for more information.

How about first aid kits? Where is it located, do your other instructors know where it is located? When was your kit last checked?

Summary

This is just a quick blog, filled mostly with questions that hopefully you already knew the answers to. If you didn't know the answers to some of the questions hopefully I made you think a little about it. No matter how prepared you think you are for an Emergency it may not be possible to plan for everything; but having a good start, just might make the difference. We work with so many students that it may not be possible to know who has the peanut allergy, who has trouble with their bladder, and who has respiratory issues, but planning for the "big things" is a start.

Welcome to Instructor's Shadow!

2007-10-22T13:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Instructor's Shadow! This is a feature that I've wanted to develop for a long time. I've wanted to write some articles that would be a benefit to our existing RWTB instructors, but to be honest I don't have a huge amount of time. I do however, usually have enough time to blog once in awhile...

Now I do plan to maintain my live journal blog as my primary blog it will continue to have those little news bits and information about the general news and goings on both in RWTB Fremont and in my life.

This blog will see a much more limited update schedule as I intend to use this space for Instructor specific content and most of my entries will be more theme specific and (hopefully) organized.

Students and Parents this blog is available to the general public because the content that I'll discuss will be very broadly based. It will not likely contain anything that will help nor hinder a student's development in RWTB unless they have plans of one day becoming an Instructor.

That being said it's time to lay down the foundation of what to expect from this blog...

Mission Statement: It is the mission of this blog to present topics that are relevant to Martial Arts Instructors (specifically to RWTB instructors) as teachers and mentors who care for the well being of their martial arts students.

Instructor's Shadow Will Not Be: About Money. I am a teacher, if I knew anything about money, I would know that teaching is still not the quickest nor most efficient way earn it. Some Instructors do make enough money at Martial Arts to support themselves... I do not. I don't come from that angle. I make a little money here and there but if you want to learn about business tactics then you probably want to hear it from people who know or care. I am neither of those people. Yes my time is worth money, no I don't make that the emphasis of what I do.

What makes you so credible?: That's a valid question, and you should be asking yourself that! You should never accept advice blindly not even from me. Take what I have to say at face value, one man's opinion based on one man's experience and perspective. I'm going to try to keep things broad enough that the topics should pertain to most instructors, but I may get to a point where I suggest something that just doesn't work for you or your situation. Take what you can use and discard the rest.

But Jesse, you're ducking the question... why do you think you are special enough to write this blog? I don't like to blab my credentials but here goes... as of this writing I've been active in Martial Arts instruction since 1997. I've been awarded black belt of the year for my organization twice, I've been honored by the U.S.A. Martial Arts Hall of Fame as Self Defense Instructor of the year for 2006 and Head Instructor of the year for 2007. But aside from awards, what really matters is that I've dedicated the majority of my adult life (since high school) to teaching. I've taught in the Fremont, NE public school system at both the middle school and elementary levels since 2002, I have my Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, and probably the most important thing I can say is that I love students (from Kindergarten up to adult). I love teaching.

I care about people, and I won't knowingly lie to you. I'm not asking for donations on this page, I'm not getting paid to write these words so I have nothing to gain from this experience other that to hopefully connect with other great Martial Arts instructors that consciously want to keep their students safe and make a difference in their lives.

Jesse, you didn't state your rank... I'm a black belt instructor. In my system I've been awarded 5 levels beyond black which in some systems would put me at a 6th dan, I'm currently training towards my 7th. But my prowess as a fighter will not be the emphasis here, hence it's the last thing I'm worried about stating.

Sources: Once in awhile I may reference something very specifically if that is the case I'll post as much information as I have available. I'll try to give any credit where it is due. In many cases however I may not be able to remember who told me that story or when did that happen in which case I may not be able to say. I will also not use real names in this blog other than my own(unless permission has been granted in advance to writing) in an attempt to protect the identities of students and instructors past and present.

I can't lay claim to everything that I say or do because it's all shaped and created by the instructors that have come before me. Many of the best things I know or do came from a master teacher, I've learned some cautionary lessons based on the mistakes of teachers that were not. I am a shadow of my Instructors. (Which is something that my instructor has stated about Black Belt martial artists repeatedly)

I hope that you enjoy this blog! Feedback will always be welcomed!

Look forward to the first installment soon.