WKF Rules 6.1 Update

As a subscriber to the KarateTips / KarateTeaching
newsletter I’m sure you like to know about what’s going on
in the larger karate world...

One thing that I’ve been meaning to mention for a while now
is the recent changes to the World Karate Federation
Competition Rules. There are some SIGNIFICANT changes
that will DEFINITELY affect you if:

- You compete under WKF rules (or variations thereof)

- You have students who compete locally, nationally or
internationally

- You are a coach trying to stay up with the most recent
changes for strategy/tactical reasons

- You are an official and want to know what changes were
approved and made by the WKF this past January and when
that might (if it hasn’t already) affect you...

You can download the summary and the latest version below.

With these updates we are definitely going to see changes
in tactics and strategies. For example, what was hugely
successful for World Champions like Aghayev, Lefevre, etc
was the slipping of the attack, grabbing the legs and dumping
your opponent on their back... this is just one example of
what's no longer allowed under the new rules.

There are also changes to what happens if the match is a
tie, and a simplified scoring system.

For the summary go here:
http://tinyurl.com/cwukq6

For the full version 6.1 go here:
http://tinyurl.com/dhxqw6

- Jason

Your role as a tournament coach...

Yesterday I had a handful of kids enter a local karate tournament.

For most of them it was their first competition and the results were good - one gold, two silver and a bronze, so I was happy for them - and they were stoked.

One thing however that happened yesterday (which happens far more often than it should) was a screw up at the official's table.

One of my young fighters won his first fight 8-1 which was a great result. The referee announced him as the winner, "Aka. No kachi!" and signalled to his side indicating victory. So far so good, Bryan was through to round 2.

Bryan took a seat with the other kids at the side of the tatami and patiently waited for his name to be called for his second fight. As I had other kids competing on other arenas I was trying to keep an eye on 3 courts at once.

When I returned to Bryan's court after watching one of the other kids I asked him, "Bryan have you had your second fight yet?"

"No", he replied.

"Hmmmm", I thought as I saw another competitor come up for his second fight.

I told Bryan to listen carefully for his name and that I'd be back in a moment.

When I returned and saw the same kid fighting his THIRD fight, I again asked Bryan, "Have you had your second fight yet?"

"No", he repeated.

"Has the kid you defeated in round 1 had a second fight?", I asked thinking something was up.

"Yes", said Bryan.

"Ok. Wait here a second", I told him as I jumped over the "caution tape", ran over to the official's table where I looked over the shoulder of the guy in charge of the draw. From the draw sheet I could see that they were just about to run the final. I also saw that in the first bracket of the draw, they'd circled the WRONG fighter (the kid Bryan had beaten) as the winner.

Needless to say that after much embarrassment from the officials and many apologies, they verified Bryan as the winner of the round 1 fight by asking both him and the kid he fought who had won. Thank goodness Bryan's opponent was honest!

The head referee fixed the problem by having Bryan fight the kids that his first opponent had fought. As it turns out my student placed third in his division, which was ok for him. The issue is that he WOULD have placed 16th had I not been keeping an eye on his court!

Mistakes happen, but your role as a coach is to ensure that when they do they get fixed quickly. Don't be afraid to speak up, question the officials, or do whatever you have to do to ensure the correct action is taken.

As the head referee said to me yesterday, "Thanks for bringing it to our attention. It's better we found this out now and NOT after the medals had been given."

Success Key #3

The final key I want to share with you for a successful martial arts school is to have...

A Good Record Keeping System!
I realized as soon as I got 20 students that trying to keep good records of who had paid, when they trained, their personal details, etc. was going to be a nightmare if I was going to keep paper records, or even electronically with MS Excel. Files accidentally get overwritten, lost, names get mispelt, computers crash, yikes!

That's why I went and built the KarateTools Dojo Organizer that runs my dojo. It's simple to use and keeps everything organized, secure in one place, accessible from anywhere 24/7, and is backed up daily.

Warning!! It doesn't play happy birthday when your students arrive at the club, nor does it teach class for you!

It does the basics like student data tracking, student grading certificates, attendance tracking, emailing of receipts, etc. and it does them well to free up your time, and relieve your frustration.

Plus if you use some kind of credit card processor/merchant gateway/recurring billing company, the Dojo Organizer can now interface with them and insert your payments directly into the Dojo Organizer system (that means no more manual data entry for you), woohoo!

There are of course other products on the market that are great, like JackRabbit starting at $45/month. These programs are fantastic and can schedule instructors, keep inventory, etc, and of course you'll pay for those added features (more than double the price for the KarateTools service).

These kinds of programs have everything you can imagine and they charge accordingly. Also be aware that many companies like JackRabbit charge you based on the number of TOTAL students, not ACTIVE students you have in there system. If you're like me and like to keep your old student data, then it can get pricey quickly. For me to use their system it would cost me $155/month. With the KarateTools Dojo Organizer there are no restrictions on student count and you can get started for less than $20.

If you're a small school owner and don't need to schedule instructors, don't need to keep masses of inventory, or have happy birthday played when you're students arrive for class, but are looking for a solid program to reduce your headaches then I might just have what you're looking for.

http://www.karatetools.com

Of course I'd love you to use my system, however the mesage I'm trying to get across is that good record keeping can be easy and is a critical factor if you're looking to reduce your administrative tasks and grow your school.

Failure to get organized will lead you nowhere... yet so many instructors refuse to change their bad habits, yet expect to be successful and have a great karate school.

It reminds me of that famous Albert Einstein quote about the definition of insanity...

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result"

Isn't it time for you to get organized?

- Jason

Key #2 of a Successful Karate School

My apologies for going AWOL last week... there were a few things on the personal front that needed my attention of which I'll spare you the details...

Anyhow, I wanted to give you the second key to creating a successful karate school.

This one is so, so, so important - yet so many instructors and school owners make a half hearted attempt, or miss it altogether...

One frustrated instructor asked me, "Just tell me, how the @#$# do you keep students?!"

Here's how...


Provide Excellent Customer Service!

Don't take your students for granted. Look after them and show that you CARE.

Randomly call your students from time to time to see how they're doing and if there is anything they'd like to ask you or talk about relating to their training. After class spend time getting to know your students and families.

Shock!! Wait a minute! Did you say call them? You mean I actually have to talk to them?

Yes, you might even enjoy it, and make a friend or two!

Be sure to answer your student's concerns, reply to their emails, return their phone calls. If you don't, they won't be YOUR students for long. Go the extra step and you'll develop a strong bond with your students.

Loyalty is of huge importance - particularly in the current economic times.

Stay tuned for part 3 next Monday...

- Jason