Top 5 things Instructors can do to keep Student Retention at their Dojo

One thing that all dojo owners, martial arts instructors face after awhile is how to help with keeping the retention of their student body up. Many people come and go within in a dojo. Reasons for this can vary. Unfortunately, the majority of people who start on a martial arts journey, end up quitting before they even reach a green belt. This is why it is so important for a Sensei, Instructor, dojo owner to help prevent this from happening as much as they can.

1. 1. Know your students. This means ,know their names, their family members, and details about them. Know how long they have been training, what belt level they are at, their strengths and weaknesses. This is so important to a student. They do not want to be lost in the sea of students. They want to know that their Sensei sees them as the unique individual that they are. Too many schools grow so big that sometimes instructors lose touch with their students. Often times Head instructors only teach senior belts and leave the kids and junior belts to Senior Belt Instructors. It is important that a Head Instructor keeps in touch from the youngest to the oldest, junior belts to the most senior belts of students. Keeping this personal relationship with your students is a sure way of gaining a life long student.

2. Make sure your dojo is running smoothly at every level. This means from the aesthetics and cleanliness of the building to the business operations to the actual teaching of classes. Parents and students want to be training in a facility that is clean and that is in top working order- including equipment. Be in touch with your business and what each student needs. Stay on top of renewals, and post cards to students who have not been in for awhile. Don’t be afraid to call them to see how they are doing if you haven’t seen them in class in a bit. This personal touch makes a difference for students. Know what is going on with each student and their training. This means keep accurate record of gradings and stripes. These are important to a student and sometimes students can get forgotten about when it comes time for stripe testing and gradings. Not keeping in touch with this can lead to students feeling discouraged when they do not see their progress. Make sure you make a point of working with every student in each class. This can be as simple as watching their basics in warm up, watching their kata to teaching them a new kata or technique. You may not have enough time to personally work with everyone in every class, but you have time to personally connect with every student in every class. Continue learning new ways to make your classes exciting. Learn new drills and techniques. Remember, there are always great ideas out there. These help keep classes interesting and fun.

3. Create excitement in your dojo! This includes, seminars, tournaments, movie nights, bring a friend to class, parties, new classes etc. When things get stagnate, people lose their motivation. It is your job as a head instructor to make sure energy is created within your dojo. This will attract new students, and ignite the fire for current students.

4. Have regular staff/instructor meetings. This is very important- especially in larger dojos. When there are many staff and instructors it is important for the Sensei of the dojo to keep everyone on the same page. Make sure all staff are trained on how to greet a new student, take a phone call and the basics of office procedures. Make sure issues are addressed during these meetings. Teach your instructors how to be a good instructor and connect with the students to make them all feel important.

5. Keep drama out of the dojo. This happens in all group activities. Personality clashes, people’s attitudes etc are all to blame. However, when a Sensei learns to address issues such as these in a professional manner and communicates with all parties involved effectively, this helps to reduce the drama factor. No one likes drama. People come to a dojo to forget about their personal dramas and just want to train. So make your dojo an environment that keeps drama low and helps to motivate each other.

The relationship between an instructor and student is a synergistic one. When a student is happy, feels part of a family, is enjoying their training and progressing and learning, they usually make it a life long commitment. When an instructor never loses site of why they started teaching, gives their very best to every class they teach, makes it about the betterment of the student first before their pocket book, is positive and friendly, they help to create life long student.

Tracy Warrener has been fortunate to have been raised within the Martial Arts since the age of 4 years old and is a 4th Degree Black Belt in Goju Ryu Karate. She has had the opportunity to study with some amazing Martial Artists. Sensei Richard Kim, Sensei Peter Urban, Professor Don Jacob, Sensei Jim Wilson, Professor Wally Jay, just to name several. Of course her main Sensei is her father, Sensei Don Warrener. Throughout the 40 plus years of her involvement in the Martial Arts, she has worked her way from being a student of the martial arts to a Martial Arts Sensei ,teaching hundreds of students. She has ran and managed martial arts schools teaching students of all ages, worked within the community teaching at fitness centres, schools, businesses and Women’s Shelters, the benefits of Karate. One the causes close to her heart is teaching and empowering young girls and women the importance of self defence and awareness. Her program called Look Strong! Act Strong! Be Strong! focuses on easy self defence techniques and mind self defence techniques. In 2013 she was awarded The Silver Lifetime Achievement Award in the Masters of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame in California for her contribution to Women in the Martial Arts. She is also a Certified Reflexologist and Reiki Master. She has starred in three of her own DVDs produced by Rising Sun Productions on Reiki, Reflexology and her Look Strong ,Act Strong ,Be Strong Self Defence Program. tracy.warrenerentertainment@gmail.com

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