Inspire.

Within this blog we will be exploring the second step of The Warrior Method, the significance of sustained ‘inspiration’ and its power in optimizing your child’s development. You will find out how martial arts provides a huge amount of inspiration to children, how martial arts is naturally predispositioned to deliver inspiration and how The Warrior Method’s structure provides the framework to ensure Inspiration is abundant for each student.
What Makes a Black Belt Mentor?
“The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates.
The great teacher inspires”
– William Arthur Ward
We can all look back at that one teacher who inspired us in school or in a sports club we attended. They brought out a spark within us that encouraged us to become fully engaged, to become creative, to raise our aspirations and to fully enjoy what we are doing so that we persevere through difficult times, plateaus or roadblocks within the learning. We look back and remember the teacher not the lessons, because the teacher is the heart of the educational system. Without a doubt an inspirational teacher or leader can be a powerful driving force for a young person’s success in life.
In our modern problems chapter we discussed how the educational system often lacks a personal touch and seems more distant now than ever before, that many parents are struggling to find a personal, holistic education that goes beyond the physical and focuses on the mind, body and spirit while catering for the individual needs of the student.
We’ve discussed how martial arts tuition focuses on the development of character, which requires the cumulative development of the mind, body and spirit. The relationship between the teacher and the student is vital to develop trust and a long term solution to this modern problem.
What I have found to be particularly special about Martial Arts is the very normal development of a student-teacher relationship, it’s something I have found other sports or arts often struggle to develop. In our Warrior Method we call this Black Belt Mentoring and the term represents this special bond. In our clubs, It’s created through the style in which we ensure our Instructors teach and it’s typical amongst high level martial arts instructors, sensei’s and Masters.  
To become a Black Belt Mentor a teacher must first practice what they preach and inspire through their own work. Previous experience is absolutely fundamental and can be drawn upon for every lesson, from correcting technique to analysing the mindset and redirecting its course onto a positive path. The process of mentoring a student far more powerful when a Mentor can share their own life lessons on how they overcame failure and can truly empathise with the student on how they are feeling.
A true Martial Artist see’s martial arts as a lifelong pursuit. There is no “End Goal”. Most students enter with the belief the Black Belt is the end goal, the epitome of Martial Arts success. This couldn’t be further from the case. After the typical “Black Belt” there is only more learning. There’s a huge crossover between the learning of martial arts and the “pursuit of perfection” and this endless pursuit almost always results in the position of teaching for the individual. This leadership role will be explained in far more detail later, but for now, let’s understand that within martial arts there is a natural flow from student to teacher, a position earned through experience and from this we can understand that the all important “Personal Experience” required to be an excellent mentor is naturally present in martial arts instructors.
In our next blog we will be discussing role of curiosity and creativity in inspiring our young people!