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The Martial Arts Instructor's Toolbox
The Martial Arts Instructor's Toolbox is an indispensable tool for every martial arts instructor. Mr. Kovar shares the keys to becoming an outstanding martial arts teacher. He starts by outlining the ideal mindset for instructors before they step on the mat. He goes into detail on 16 essential teaching techniques, tactics and tools that will make every martial arts instructor better at their craft. The middle section of the book takes your skills to the next level, focusing on topics such as dealing with challenging children and parent/student communications. In the final section of the book, Mr. Kovar dedicates 17 chapters to sharing some of the most valuable lessons he's learned in over 30 years of teaching martial arts. The Martial Arts Instructor's Toolbox is your manual for becoming a great martial arts instructor. By following Mr. Kovar's teaching systems, even a novice instructor can quickly develop into a highly competent professional martial arts instructor. Learn more about Mr. Kovar's systems for running a successful martial arts school at www.KovarSystems.com
164 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2012
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11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 21, 2019
I have read this book before and have attended a couple of Instructor College sessions and a number of ProMAC events. As such, much of the content of the book was familiar. Some has already become part of my training and my teaching. Here I will discuss some overarching thoughts and my favorites.
Part of what first drew me to Kyoshi Kovar and his organization/teaching was his insistence on being a martial artist first, an instructor second, and being a business person third. This is consistent with how I have always tried to run my studios and has resonated with me deeply. Though this particular book addresses our role as an instructor it is consistent with the overall approach and I appreciate that.
It is also important to note that this book approaches the discussion of how to be a better martial arts instructor initially from a strategic or ‘mindset’ standpoint. Thus, rather than simply being a compilation of disparate teaching tactics as some books are, it is a directed guide of how to approach being a better instructor followed by some guidance in the form of specific recommendations.
Leading this approach, of course, is the instructor’s creed. The instructor’s creed sets the stage for a good class by way of setting the mindset of the instructor. Though I have my own personal rituals and have not incorporated the creed verbatim into my personal teaching, I do teach it and advocate it to my staff. I particularly enjoy the supplemental quotes supplied here about caring and leading by example that I haven’t seen in other presentations of the creed. Overall, by the creed, I am reminded of a magician from the 1920s that I once read about, who prior to every evening’s performance would silently thank the audience for “allowing me to make my living in such an agreeable fashion.”
As mentioned, having powerful mindsets is far superior to specific tactics. Having a plan to clean the studio on a particular schedule is not nearly as robust as simply adopting the mindset, “We are the cleanest place in town.” You don’t have to refer to a schedule to decide if it is time to clean, you just have to look around. Likewise with being the friendliest, teaching great classes, communicating well, and recruiting continuously. The five vital mindsets outlined in chapter one by themselves could transform a mediocre studio into a good one overnight. Though we do not have these in the specific order and layout, we have always strived to exemplify the same spirit. I often joke that all of your time should be divided between provided great service to your existing students and looking for new students to serve!
Chapter three presents a number of powerful tactics, from being friendly on purpose, to pre-framing, and the importance of using influence instead of authority. However, it begins with a powerful introduction explaining that everything matters. All of us who have been teaching for a while can tell fun stories about the person we met by chance who enrolled and then enrolled their neighbor, who slipped on the ice and fell safely because of their training, who then was so excited, they invited us to teach a class at their office, which got their co-worker involved, who credits their martial arts training to keeping their Parkinson's symptoms at bay. All because of someone we met by chance. Everything we do matters, from meeting people and inviting them to become involved in how we treat them while they are students, to how we treat them if they ever decide to quit. These are powerful tactics to help us operate at our best.
In chapter four, discussing communication, I particularly liked the section of addressing communication breakdowns. They are good strategies and again I appreciated that they are presented as high-level strategies rather than low-level tactics. In the hand-written notes I took while reading I wrote: “feedback is the breakfast of champions.” I’m not sure if that is a direct quote or my summary, in either case, I like it.
This book, like most others in the genre, emphasizes teaching children. This is to be expected based on the numbers. However, I worry that as our industry increasing views martial arts as the pursuit of children we will alienate more and more adults. In line with that, there is a question of standards. My perception is that as we teach more children and fewer adults we increasing emphasize encouragement and positive feedback. These are powerful tools and should definitely be utilized — for all age groups. However, I feel they must be balanced by appropriate standards. Exacting standards without encouragement will sound a death knell. However, I also feel that encouragement without standards will, in time, do the same.
Perhaps my favorite tidbit — which I will use in teaching, training my staff, as well in parenting — was simply, “If you finish first, help someone else.”
I also greatly appreciated that this book included the five questions from Ben Zoma. Again, I have heard these articulated by Kyoshi Kovar at events in the past but it was wonderful to have them in written form where I could really pour over them. If truly internalized these five simple questions and their answers can teach us most of what we need to know to be a successful martial artist, instructor, business-person, and person.
Overall I was grateful to have another opportunity to read this book. As Zig Ziglar used to say, we don’t need to be told, we just need to be reminded. So, while it is true I have encountered most of the material in some form or another before, it is always beneficial to look it over again and see it with new eyes.
Part of what first drew me to Kyoshi Kovar and his organization/teaching was his insistence on being a martial artist first, an instructor second, and being a business person third. This is consistent with how I have always tried to run my studios and has resonated with me deeply. Though this particular book addresses our role as an instructor it is consistent with the overall approach and I appreciate that.
It is also important to note that this book approaches the discussion of how to be a better martial arts instructor initially from a strategic or ‘mindset’ standpoint. Thus, rather than simply being a compilation of disparate teaching tactics as some books are, it is a directed guide of how to approach being a better instructor followed by some guidance in the form of specific recommendations.
Leading this approach, of course, is the instructor’s creed. The instructor’s creed sets the stage for a good class by way of setting the mindset of the instructor. Though I have my own personal rituals and have not incorporated the creed verbatim into my personal teaching, I do teach it and advocate it to my staff. I particularly enjoy the supplemental quotes supplied here about caring and leading by example that I haven’t seen in other presentations of the creed. Overall, by the creed, I am reminded of a magician from the 1920s that I once read about, who prior to every evening’s performance would silently thank the audience for “allowing me to make my living in such an agreeable fashion.”
As mentioned, having powerful mindsets is far superior to specific tactics. Having a plan to clean the studio on a particular schedule is not nearly as robust as simply adopting the mindset, “We are the cleanest place in town.” You don’t have to refer to a schedule to decide if it is time to clean, you just have to look around. Likewise with being the friendliest, teaching great classes, communicating well, and recruiting continuously. The five vital mindsets outlined in chapter one by themselves could transform a mediocre studio into a good one overnight. Though we do not have these in the specific order and layout, we have always strived to exemplify the same spirit. I often joke that all of your time should be divided between provided great service to your existing students and looking for new students to serve!
Chapter three presents a number of powerful tactics, from being friendly on purpose, to pre-framing, and the importance of using influence instead of authority. However, it begins with a powerful introduction explaining that everything matters. All of us who have been teaching for a while can tell fun stories about the person we met by chance who enrolled and then enrolled their neighbor, who slipped on the ice and fell safely because of their training, who then was so excited, they invited us to teach a class at their office, which got their co-worker involved, who credits their martial arts training to keeping their Parkinson's symptoms at bay. All because of someone we met by chance. Everything we do matters, from meeting people and inviting them to become involved in how we treat them while they are students, to how we treat them if they ever decide to quit. These are powerful tactics to help us operate at our best.
In chapter four, discussing communication, I particularly liked the section of addressing communication breakdowns. They are good strategies and again I appreciated that they are presented as high-level strategies rather than low-level tactics. In the hand-written notes I took while reading I wrote: “feedback is the breakfast of champions.” I’m not sure if that is a direct quote or my summary, in either case, I like it.
This book, like most others in the genre, emphasizes teaching children. This is to be expected based on the numbers. However, I worry that as our industry increasing views martial arts as the pursuit of children we will alienate more and more adults. In line with that, there is a question of standards. My perception is that as we teach more children and fewer adults we increasing emphasize encouragement and positive feedback. These are powerful tools and should definitely be utilized — for all age groups. However, I feel they must be balanced by appropriate standards. Exacting standards without encouragement will sound a death knell. However, I also feel that encouragement without standards will, in time, do the same.
Perhaps my favorite tidbit — which I will use in teaching, training my staff, as well in parenting — was simply, “If you finish first, help someone else.”
I also greatly appreciated that this book included the five questions from Ben Zoma. Again, I have heard these articulated by Kyoshi Kovar at events in the past but it was wonderful to have them in written form where I could really pour over them. If truly internalized these five simple questions and their answers can teach us most of what we need to know to be a successful martial artist, instructor, business-person, and person.
Overall I was grateful to have another opportunity to read this book. As Zig Ziglar used to say, we don’t need to be told, we just need to be reminded. So, while it is true I have encountered most of the material in some form or another before, it is always beneficial to look it over again and see it with new eyes.
June 28, 2025
The info in this book is not bad...or incorrect... but there's not much of it.
The book is rather thin, has BIG fonts, double spacing, and a generous helping of repetitions and slogans. It's a broschure that's been blown up - with some effort - to an entire short book. The emptiness within the pages is what pulled the grade down from the third star.
It's purpose seems to be more about getting and retaining paying customers. More about the bussiness and keeping a good relationship with demanding parents than the training. No doubt that is also helpful but it was not what I was looking for. It should be called "The dojo-owners manual".
The book is rather thin, has BIG fonts, double spacing, and a generous helping of repetitions and slogans. It's a broschure that's been blown up - with some effort - to an entire short book. The emptiness within the pages is what pulled the grade down from the third star.
It's purpose seems to be more about getting and retaining paying customers. More about the bussiness and keeping a good relationship with demanding parents than the training. No doubt that is also helpful but it was not what I was looking for. It should be called "The dojo-owners manual".
July 18, 2017
Repeats himself every other chapter. Literally has a chapter on repetition, within which he repeats himself... which is the point... but still.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews