Why does a martial arts school need a Student Creed?

A martial arts school is a pillar for the community and a symbol of how people can be the best versions of themselves. Every organization has a pillar of beliefs that helps them govern themselves and show the outside world who they are deeper than the surface level. Martial Arts is more than kicks and punches, it is a way of life. A Student Creed is a summary of the core beliefs and a way to guide a school owner in doing business. It’s a rallying cry for others and the glue that brings us together and builds everyone up.

In this article, we will explore:

• Examples of successful creeds
• How to come up with one
• How to build one of the beliefs in your art
• What is my student creed?

The best teachers are perpetual students at heart. Be sure to have one that YOU can follow yourself. The Student Creed should be the thing that YOU get up and live daily. This will make you a better teacher, leader, and overall, a better human. Strong humans with strong convictions are great martial arts instructors who have an amazing impact on the world. We do more than kick and punch, we build a better society one student at a time.

 

Successful Creeds

At West Point Academy, it’s just 3 words: Duty, Honor, Country.

It’s simple. If you carry out your duty with honor while serving your country to the best of your ability, then you are exemplary. Anything outside of this could be considered nonmilitary or against the conduct of the society we serve.

For the Postal Service: Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. Everyone knows a version of this. For a while I gave thought to being a postal worker, this creed is not an official creed, but it represents that no matter what the job will get done.

These are two small examples, but these are good examples to think of as we build our Creed. I could go on with more and you can probably think of others like the 10 commandments or even the presidential oath of office. It must have a presence and you must be able to live it.

Let’s dive into how to put one together.

How to put a Student Creed together.

Look at the world around you and the world that you thrive in. What in your life brought the best out of you? Who brought the best in life out of you? It possibly wasn’t a Sensei, parent, sibling, or schoolteacher. You must try not to stick with your teacher in the dojo. Do not put your past Sensei on a pedestal! You need to challenge yourself to go outside the box and make something that represents what you want to be and what you want to see in others. Your Student Creed will be longer than the others I mentioned above but it must reflect your core beliefs for what you want to see in others. You can do this by asking yourself a few questions:

In your past, who represents the best in humanity? Who brought the best out of you?

For me, one example was a 7^th grade teacher in my small town, Mr. A. At 12 years old I was becoming aware of what life was like as an adult. My parents were not happy with their jobs, and I thought you got older, you got a job and that was it. I wasn’t looking forward to getting older, to put it mildly. I didn’t care for the bus and my dad’s work schedule allowed me to be driven in on his way to work. Mr. A would meet me in front of the school with joy walking in at the same time. A happy adult? Wow!

I was lucky enough to have him in class and every day he just loved his job. I can’t remember much of what he taught us, but the biggest lessons were to find joy in the day no matter what, and somehow find joy to keep sanity. I was a shy dude in the day at school, but his class always brought the best out of me, his class was one of the few I spoke in. Mr. A was truthful, courteous, and very forward-thinking. He maintained composure in the classroom even amongst the craziest 12-year-olds.

I had the pleasure of having an amazing boss for close to 11 years in a day job. Renee taught me a tremendous number of lessons over the years. I was a supervisor of a sales team, and she was my direct boss in charge of my development and the office. Early on in my job, I had a few employees who were not great. For this purpose, I will not go into why but I went into her office and we had a conversation that I will never forget:

Renee: How’s it going?

Me: (blank stare)

Renee: what’s up

Me: (mention employees) … I am done with them; I want them off my team

Renee: No

Me: Why?

Renee: If you have issues you need to talk to me about it, but you can’t pick and choose who you work with. Tough people will make you a better person and leader. You must find a way. Don’t let them break you down.

We grew close and could talk about a lot of things over the years but if there was a moment that I wasn’t my best, she would put me back into place. Not in a harsh way but reminding me who I am and making me the best possible person that I could be, therefore I was a better leader.

She said one phrase over and over that stuck. “Be the leader that you would follow.” That phrase has been on the back of my door to my house for about 7 years now at eye level. It reminds me of being the best person I could be, even when no one is looking. Renee would be the first to admit that she is not the perfect person, but I always felt that every conversation was about building me up to be better. With that, she was a perfect teacher.

I could give you several more answers to these questions. These are a few examples, but I challenge you now to stop reading and write down who are the people in your life who brought the best out of you. It’s not just your best qualities like being nice and a good dresser, but who brought the best out of you that you want to see in others.

Let’s now go back to your past schools and look at the creeds that you may or may not have followed.

What were your past creeds like?

Some of us had many schools before we opened our own. A successful school (however you interpret that) is what made us want to open ours. As mentioned above, strong influences in our past made us better people, and many influences made us great teachers.

I grew up in two schools. One I will not mention the name of, and the other was Gifford’s Academy of Martial Arts.

The school that I won’t mention had a Student Creed, do I remember it? Hardly. Because It wasn’t lived out. I remember that it included something about treating others with respect. There were other things as well but the creed was the same as other schools. I remember when we hosted a tournament, other schools were oddly looking at us because our rally cry wasn’t truly ours. The result was that while the dojo was successful and there were some great times, most people did not stay after a while. There was no pride in where you came from.

Gifford’s Academy, on the other hand, I can recall the smell of the floor and still stay in touch with the family on Facebook.  The Academy creed was based on the 5 tenets of Tae Kwon Do Courtesy, Self-Control, Indomitable Spirit, Perseverance, and Integrity.

The Academy had the rallying cry of respect for each other and oneself, demonstrating good manners and control in society, no excuses just finding a way, finally doing the right thing even when no one is looking. As Sensei Gifford would say, bring the receipts!

Sensei Gifford followed his rally cry, and so did I.

Your school’s creed is to be so powerful that you can’t help but follow it yourself. These are principles that set the culture apart from others and are a truly unique rallying cry that allows your dojo to be the pillar of the community.

Please take a moment and think about your past schools and see what worked before moving on.

Now that we have looked at the last two questions and you hopefully have the answers in your mind, we can move on to putting it all together.

Putting together your Creed.

We have the answers in this exercise at this point. People who gave us examples of how to live and find the best in ourselves outside of the dojo (if possible) and helped us be better people. We looked at our past school(s) and saw what worked.

Now that we have those answers we can begin putting one together. I will show you how I put mine together.

1^st step is to take elements from the people who taught us how to be better. From Mr. A, it was finding joy, and seeing the good in life. From Renee, this was about facing tough challenges with grace and dignity. Also doing the right thing, even if no one is looking.

2nd step is to look at what stuck with you from your past school(s.) For me, always finding a way forward, no excuses. Maintaining Self-Control and being the best person possible.

3rd step is to write these down as “I will” statements. An easy tip is to take elements of the past school(s) and elements of your past inspirations, from there write down the “I will…” and make them only 3 or 4 lines. Remember that this is your rallying cry. As a student of life yourself, it should be for your students but also yourself.

Taber Fitness Academy student creed is based on the 7 tenets of Cha Sin Do:

Courtesy, Self-control, Indomitable Spirit, Perseverance, integrity, Honesty and Humor.

I will have courtesy to myself and others as I maintain control of myself in all situations.

I will maintain high spirits in life, always working through tough challenges.

I will always do the right thing even when no one is looking while speaking truthfully and always acting as my true self.

I will find joy and work on seeing the good in life as I can.

This will be your creed that will follow you in life in every aspect. Not just the way you do business but the way you treat family, friends, co-workers, and anyone else you come across. From here you will make you truly unique and your students will follow.

In Conclusion, A student creed is needed for the school to be a pillar of success for the students, and community.