Choose a discipline

Before you start instructing, you have to decide what discipline you are going to teach. Too many Taekwondo instructors do not seem to know what they are teaching. They try to teach a little of everything, and end up teaching little of anything.

Many instructors try to be a Taekwondo instructor, an aerobics instructor, a weightlifting trainer, a fitness coach, a diet consultant, and a nutrition counselor. If your aim is teach Taekwondo, then that is what you should teach, and not try to teach these other disciplines at the same time. If people want to learn Taekwondo, then they should know that you are the person to seek. If they want to learn aerobics, then they should take aerobics classes; if they want to get stronger, then they should join a gym with a weight trainer; etc. If an instructor tries to teach a little of all of these disciplines in an effort to gain more students, then the students will not get proper training in any of them. This is not to say that these subjects cannot be mentioned in class from time to time, they may and should be mentioned at appropriate times. However, they should not be the focus of a class nor should they of concern.

As a result of Taekwondo training, most students will find they begin to get into get stronger, eat better, and lose weight, but that should not be the purpose of your Taekwondo instruction. Also, in desire to get better at performing Taekwondo, such as becoming better at sparring, many students will stop smoking, cross train in these other disciplines at home, or will take additional classes that concentrate in one or more of these disciplines. This should be encouraged and these disciplines may even be offered in separate classes at the Taekwondo school.

Some students take Taekwondo classes in an effort to achieve one of the above goals, lose weight, get in shape, etc. These students will complain when a Taekwondo class does not concentrate on their training goal and will become unhappy with the classes if they are not achieving their goal. Realistically, their only complaint should be when they are not receiving top quality Taekwondo instruction. If the instructor structures classes to accommodate students with these secondary goals that are not directly related to learning Taekwondo, then he or she is cheating the students who are taking the classes to learn Taekwondo, and many of them will gradually drop out of the classes. Even if they do not drop from class, they will certainly not be achieving their potential in Taekwondo as soon as they should have.

So, if you choose to teach Taekwondo, then teach Taekwondo.