Masterful Retention - June 2018

by Christopher Rappold

Trust is a feeling, but, at times, it may be a bit hard to define. Kyoshi Dave Kovar, at a recent seminar, discussed the “5 C’s of Trust.”

After being reminded of this important lesson, I thought it would be of value to share with you. 

What are the 5 C’s? They are: Consistency, Competence, Confidence, Credibility and Character.

Consistency. Students want to feel a degree of “sameness” when they come to class. Providing enough repetition over time allows them to wire in the muscle memory to make the movement effective for their intended purposes.

Competence. Students want to know the techniques work and have been battle-tested for their intended purposes, be it competition, street survival, combat, etc. They want to know that the instructors teaching them have been correctly trained to transfer the correct information to get them proficient at what they are doing.

Confidence. Students want the information transferred to them by someone who is certain of how to execute the skills, someone who has the ability to mold their performance in a way that will make them better with each and every class they take.

Credibility. “Been there, done that.” Nothing is more important than a great example. Students deserve to be taught by someone who has taken the time to put in the work and repetitions to earn the high level of skill and fitness.

Character. We are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual beings. An instructor with a strong constitution who is “student-centric” puts the needs of his students above his own. He will enjoy the appreciation and gratitude for that from his students.

For as long as I have had my school, I’ve treated my students to the opportunity to learn from other instructors, not only from other martial schools and systems, but nutrition and fitness as well. While some may prefer to be the source of the wisdom, I’ve always enjoyed sharing the stage of teaching with other dedicated practitioners. I enjoy the learning experience for myself. Also, this way my students can see me in the role of student as well as teacher.

As I consider potential guest instructors, I find that, consciously or unconsciously, I have naturally leaned towards the people who live the 5 C’s. I encourage you to use this as a guideline when sharing talent with your student body.

While I’m a fan of sharing talent with the students in my organization, I always look at the knowledge, information and inspiration they share as the icing on the cake. The curriculum we teach on a weekly basis is the main core. If not handled well, believe it or not, it can actually hurt your retention.

I’ve seen school owners embrace a special guest’s instruction and discard what they themselves have been teaching, at least temporarily. They completely switched over to new skills that were used at the seminar, only to eventually fall back onto the way things were done before. Then they repeat this same process with the next guest.

Be careful! This can start to create confusion and doubts, and can eat away at the consistency and credibility of your program.

I have always preferred cohesive solutions to improving my curriculum, over borrowing a little from here and there. With this preference in mind and the urging of a lot of people, I created the Retention Based Sparring Program. It provides the kind of complete solution to teaching sparring that seemed to be needed.

It’s more than the latest fad techniques and tricks of the naturally gifted athletes. It’s an entire curriculum and teaching methodology that is step-by-step, easy to teach and easy to learn. You’ve been reading parts of it in my MASuccess columns. It will eliminate the revolving door of discouragement and dropouts by students who don’t like to spar.

If you’re looking to improve your sparring program, I encourage you join our movement and give the program a try. I can tell you for certain, the program has been built in a way that will elevate the earned trust of the 5 C’s in your school.