• Planning:

Careful planning is one of the most important details when you are teaching. You need to plan the objectives and lessons for each class and also delegate timeframes for warm-up, stretching, drills, techniques. You also need to consider what to teach for the class.
• Lesson Plans: Should be a simple format. You need to schedule time for a warm-up, training, and a cool down. In an hour long class, ten to twenty minutes are often sufficient for a warm-up with conditioning exercises and stretching. The second section, training, should consist of about twenty minutes to a half an hour and cover the new material with a proper explanation and ample time to work it out on fellow students. The third section can cover the remaining time and has been called the cool-down and also the burnout period. Some instructors use this to run a variety of drills that will tire the student out and make them really work.
• Curriculum: At least in most Kenpo schools, the curriculum is pretty well laid out. The kids curriculum has not been as well developed except in isolated schools. But you also need to learn how to teach the curriculum. I would not recommend teaching a blue belt technique in a class with one student going for that rank and ten white belts except on special occasions. The beginners may get frustrated with the advanced material. Instead, have a beginners class an intermediate class, and an advanced class assuming you have the students to fill the classroom.
  
  
• Motivation:

Having students who want to learn will make your job so much easier and more successful. The students need to have a desire to learn new skills. The easiest way to have motivated students is to be motivated yourself. You need to have a desire to learn and to change and to ask questions.
• Seminars: An excellent way to show your desire to learn and acquire new skills is to have a seminar. Bring in your instructor for a special weekend class. Invite in other seniors who have skills in a variety of areas (in other words, invite instructors from a variety of associations.) Invite instructors of other arts so you can learn and have them teach their drills (Tai Chi, Escrima, etc.) And participate. By showing that you want to learn your students will want to as well.
You need to also encourage students and praise them when they do something correct. Encourage them to try again because they will probably not have it perfect the first time around. You also need to clearly state what their goals are and present tasks in small steps. Don't teach Long Form 4 in an hour and expect it to be perfect. Failure is also something that be used as motivation if they see it as a stepping stone to success and not as a failure.
 
• Recognition of Individuality:

Every student has their own style and their own predisposed choices of movement. Some may be real fast kickers, others may prefer to use to their hands. Encourage their preferences and successes but don't let them forget their weaknesses. You need to see every student as an individual and as a part of the whole. Everyone learns at their own pace and everyone learns in a different way. A seminar instructor could say something slightly different than you and it will click with them.


• Practice:

Just because you are the teacher doesn't mean you can stop practicing. It may mean you will do yellow belt basics much more than your advanced material, but by practicing, you are showing advanced material and show them you are continuing to learn, just like they are.

Practice will keep your own movement crisp and clean. It will help you stay in shape and prevent injuries. The best bet is to keep working with an instructor. Just because you are the teacher doesn't mean you shouldn't a student. Go to seminars or work with senior instructors who can help you achieve your personal goals.



• Assessment:

This is used to check the students' progress and correct errors in their performance. This can be a test for a new belt and include a physically grueling test or a mentally draining test. But this should be looked at as more than a test for a new belt. This idea should be applied on a daily basis.
• Appraisal and Analysis: These are two separate steps, but are also related. You should watch the student's performance and determine his current skill level, noting the improvements that have been made. The analysis side needs to be focused on what they are doing well and what they can work on.
• Feedback: This means you tell the student how they are doing. Correct mistakes as you see them. Give physical reminders to check students. Give positive feedback for correct actions.
• Reinforcement: Performing well may be enough reinforcement for some but give external reinforcements as well. This is similar to feedback but there is some exchange here. Positive reinforcement includes praise or even a material reward (patches for kids, etc.) Negative reinforcement can be ignoring or discouraging the undesirable behavior or even punishment (i.e. push-ups, or sitting out) if the behavior can make the classroom unsafe. You should strive to use only positive reinforcement and use negative only when a person fails to respond to positive.
• Follow-up: This is where you can ensure that the errors have been corrected or are on their way to correction and make sure all the students are performing as they were taught to.

Works Consulted

• Martial Arts Professional. National Association of Professional Martial Artists- NAPMA