How to Teach Taekwondo?

A good instructor is always there to pass his knowledge, guide you, and correct your mistakes in martial art. They help students when they are down and forget the tenet’s humility.

In taekwondo, trainers can easily abuse their position either intentionally or unintentionally. In this martial art, whatever you say to your students, they take it onboard. If you say some words, even in humor can make or break students in martial art. Your job as an instructor is not only to teach martial arts but also to produce mentally strong students. 

Must-Have Character Traits for an Instructor

A trainer or instructor must possess these character traits to teach their students. 

You must have the ability to deliver your message to each and every student. For this, you don’t have to be a public speaker. Communicate in such a way that students can easily get your point. A great thing about taekwondo is that it is a universal language, and you don’t have to tell your students much what to do. If you are not good at English, don’t worries you can still teach them with movements, and they will understand.

If students are not picking your point through moves, pick up a student who is good at demonstrating and it will do the job. Whether you are teaching taekwondo or anything else, students will copy you, so if you are doing anything wrong, they will do the same. So, pick up student, which is good at demonstrating techniques irrespective of the grades. 

If you are not disciplined during class, students will not respect you. Giving respect and getting respect is something different while in a taekwondo class, your job is to instruct in a safe environment and get the best results out of each student. You can be strict and you have every right to be. Treat students as you expect them to treat you. By giving respect, you will set an example for your students to follow. 

Patience is a key in any work we do. As long as your student is trying to learn things encourage him. Even though he does something wrong a hundred times, be patient, and encourage him because he is trying. During teaching taekwondo, don’t raise your voice. Shouting or raising a voice can set bad example for the rest of the class. Every student should be treated as an individual because students learn according to their age and aptitude, and learn at different rates. Try to convince student’s taekwondo or any other martial art is not a race, so don’t compare yourself with others. Take your time and learn it properly. 

Taekwondo is all about building self-confidence and controlling your ego. Even a single wrong word from you can break the student and destroy his confidence. Unnecessary praise can also go wrong, so try to maintain a balance. 

While teaching, be flexible. It is not true that everything will go well. Find out what is going well and what’s not working. Some techniques and methods students will pick and learn early, and some will take time, so be flexible and take your time. You can teach each move differently. So try to identify where students are struggling and try to teach the same exercise differently. 

For pointing out goods and bad in students, a critical eye is required. Politely tell students what they need to improve, and it will help them to gain some confidence as well.  Too much criticism can destroy confidence, and too much praise can lead to a big head. Never let bad habit to go unnoticed. As an instructor, it is your responsibility to stop students from going on the wrong track because it is not easy to correct a bad habit. A good instructor can easily correct all the incorrect techniques. 

Every instructor is different, and teaching style will also be different. It is good to plan lessons. In taekwondo, it might go wrong. Instructors must have long term goals and at least spent 20 minutes practicing a single lesson. It can help you to see which is a weak technique and needs to be improved? Always keep things and lessons fresh and keep checking what your students want to learn. 

Tips and Advice for the Instructors

Follow the below-given tips to become a good instructor. The first and most important thing is to treat your students with respect irrespective of their age and grades. 

It is important to be in touch with your students. Tell them why we are practicing this technique in this way. If they can understand the explanation, they might do things right. Interacting with students will help them to learn things technically. 

The mistake that most of the trainers make is they consider all students the same. Treat them and take them individually. A teaching method that works well for one student might not work for the other. The job of a taekwondo instructor is not an easy one. Those students, who have the same abilities, try to keep them together. Don’t worry about their grades. It will help students to push each other and get the best out of each fellow. 

If the class strength is low, then it might be hard to swap different partners. If the partner is the same during each lesson, the students will go into their comfort zone. So, try to change partners as much as you can. 

If the students are working together and supporting each other, it can help to create a good class environment. The lax atmosphere can build laziness, and it is hard to get rid of it. So, always keep your class energetic. Ask your higher grade students to set an example for the others. 

It is not easy to get maximum out of the students. So, set targets and ask them to reach and achieve those goals. It will motivate and encourage them to achieve their goals.