Rank Up: Become an Elite Instructor and Grow Your Martial Arts School

It's time to lose all of that wait! Today I will walk you through a program that cuts the excuses and helps you take action on the most critical thing in your life. There is not time to waste. Inside: -Understanding the power of now (not later). -Getting that fact that you already have everything you need to be a success. -You're either all in or all out (how to commit). -How to hold yourself accountable by ousting yourself to others. -The biggest regret of the dying. Question of the Day: Why is now a great time to become a professional martial arts instructor?

Would you like to never again worry about having enough money, energy, and love in your life? You can. Stop worrying. Today I will show you how you don't "get more abundance", but you actually embody it, now. -Trying to get more and create more abundance (to have more money, more time, a bigger house, more stuff, etc.) - is a fool’s errand. -What abundance really looks like in life - being a channel. Abundance is all about circulation. -The opposite of abundance is lack and scarcity. Let’s look at some behaviors that you need to stop. -We’ll look at some behaviors to start doing, which allow you to step into a mindset of abundance - now. Question of the Day: How can I be different from the school down the street?

Today, special guest Sensei Jon Hodge, a black belt instructor with more than 20 years of teaching experience (and my father), presents his unique formula for personalizing training and grading for your students. Today we'll cover: -Why you should follow a personalized format rather than squeezing everyone into a box. -Sensei Jon's unique "pyramid method" for helping students build the foundation that they need. -How to implement this in group classes and testing. -How this does not decrease the quality of your students, and actually leads to much higher retention. -How to hold the vision of black belt for your students in a very real way. Question of the day: What separates a novice martial arts instructor from an experienced martial arts instructor?

It's time to gain precise clarity around who you are meant to help, and how you can do that. Today you will: -Define your "dream life." -Discover who you are meant to help. -Realize the outcome you can give your tribe/clients/students. -Develop an impact statement. -How to create a business model unique to your personal purpose - which is financially successful. I go over actual examples of leaning into your impact statement and how it can shape your entire business and life. Question of the Day: Do you fail students at an exam?

Your mat is overflowing with students - what a great problem to have! I have handled this poorly in the past, and lost many of the new students. I then learned which staff members to hire. Learn from my experience, as we cover: -How to know that you're at capacity. -Steps to take before hiring staff. -Intelligent scheduling and class design. -Job roles and who you should hire. -What you should outsource. -Big mistakes that I made with my own staff.

How can you objectively evaluate your performance as a martial arts instructor? Not just by looking at retention, students quitting, and the numbers. In this episode, I will take you through an entire classroom evaluation, one that you can use as a litmus test to check yourself (before you wreck yourself). -Ways to evaluate your performance without a mentor. -What to look for in every section of the class (before class, warm up, skill drill, curriculum sections, mat chat, game, announcements). -What separates world-class instructors from no-class instructors. Question of the day: "What is your favorite equipment to use during class?"

We go deep below the surface, straight into your soul to find the answer to this question. By knowing why you were born you can completely align your life around your true purpose. That which fulfills and gives you the highest success possible. In this episode: -Why was I born? -The 3 skills you are meant to give to others/the world. -The 3 biggest challenges/obstacles/traumas that have actually empowered you to live your mission. -Discovering who you are most meant to help. -And deciding on the best medium for doing this. Question of the episode: What are some of your favorite books?

Did you realize that you're wasting 80% of your time? And sometimes, I am too! This episode is about making you more productive - doing the right things - and less of the things that are interrupting you, and taking you out of deep work. -The four zones (incompetence, competence, excellence, and genius). -Immediate actions to increase productivity. -How to use your smartphone, instead of letting it use you. -More intelligent ways to use email and communications in general. -Personal hacks that allow me to get more things done than the average person. -How to actually do the work that you love doing.

My secret to simplifying new student enrollments, scheduling, and for large new student gains in one morning - mass intros. In this episode, I don't just tell you what it is, but I give you the exact system that I use to enroll 90% of all mass intro participants - every single Saturday morning of the year. -How to promote a mass intro. -Scheduling appointments (painting the picture in advance and overcoming any future objections). -Mass intro preparations (have it all ready). -The actual class - what to teach, and how it works. -The closing presentation. -The enrollments. -Overcoming common objections. Question of the week: "What does your typical class outline look like?"

Imagine giving a school talk that is full of energy, powerful character topics, metaphors, and excitement. A school talk so good that the principal, teachers, and PE teacher have to tell other schools about you. A school talk that is so good that, whenever the kids get home, they bug their parents non-stop until they call to reserve their spot at your upcoming class. This is possible. I've done this over and over again. You just need to the presentation, the right mindset, and a positive attitude. I'll give you the nuts and bolts in this episode. I also answer the question: "How do you become a better instructor?"

At my school, we have the goal of doing a full school presentation every week or a flyer approval. One year, I personally presented to over 20,000 students in the area, which resulted in many new students! Not to mention, becoming partners in education with all of my local schools, which are invaluable relationships for years to come. In this episode, I will teach you how to: -Create your own school presentation. One that is so good that schools would want to pay you to present. -Schedule the presentations. Exactly who to contact, what to say in the email, in the phone calls, and follow-up steps. -The types of school talks that you can do. -Alternative methods for becoming a partner in education with a school. And, this week's question: "Can you discuss some important legal compliance related to starting a school?"

Today I will go over 17 of my biggest instructor pet peeves. I've seen my own instructors do these in the past, and not only do these actions annoy me, but they raise a big red flag. Are you doing any of these? -Checking your phone during class. -Allowing for kids and spectators to run wild before or during class. -Doing the same warm up every class. -Having your students remain idle during a drill. -And we will discuss many more. Plus, I answer this week's question: "Do I really need a black belt to provide self-defense classes?"

In this episode, I break down exactly how I run my part-time, private academy with only 6.5 hours a week. And how, even when you account for marketing, management, billing, accounting, teaching, and communication - it comes out to $100 an hour. Included: -My weekly breakdown of tasks -My monthly tasks and why they are important -Which holidays I close for, and the importance of vacation time -Actual income comparison from my current school and my previous full-time academy -Why you should be the best at one thing -Exact tools that I use to run my private academy -Question of the Week: What is the best way you have found to market your kids classes?

You're ready to go for it and launch your school. How will you fund it? Even if you already operate a school - how can you expand and invest into growing it? We will discuss the 5 funding options, including a way to mitigate nearly all start-up expenses with a pre-enrollment campaign. Some other useful topics: -Bootstrap or do a full build-out? -What type of location and lease should I choose? -What should my first expenses be? -Launch marketing to get you your first 50 students -Ways to bring in your initial revenue -Listener question: How do you deal with parents who are lazy when it comes to getting their kids to class?

Let's look at 5 different business models you could have for your martial arts school. In this episode we will go over the pros and cons of each, and talk about how you might be wasting time and money running a big school, when you could be happier (and have a higher relative income) with a private academy. -Part-Time School -Full-Time Commercial School -Private Academy -Online School -Private Lessons Only We finish with a question: "How did you create your own martial arts style?" -Referring to Ultimate Bo (American Bojutsu), created by Michael Hodge.

In this episode, Michael Hodge (the founder of the GMAU and lead contributor of the Certified Martial Arts Teacher course), takes you through how and why you should organize your curriculum. What you'll learn: -Why you need a curriculum. -Linear curriculum - the pros and the cons. -Rotating curriculum - what it is, how to create one, and the big benefits. -Use upgrade programs to teach your advanced material. -Why making curriculum changes on a whim is a very bad idea. -The importance of having all of your instructors on the same page. -Why you should have a video curriculum, and how it greatly benefits you, your students, your instructors, and your entire school. -A question from a listener about changing a traditional curriculum. Should you adapt or be more conservative with your curriculum?