Hi All, I'm interested to know if any of the instructors amongst you obtain any additional Certification (outside your Martial Arts credentials) to supplement your knowledge in areas such as Sports Science or Nutrition or Personal Trainer/Group Trainer certification from NASM or ACE etc. If so, are there any you certifications/courses you specifically recommend and have found to support your teaching knowledge as well as individual Taekwondo training? Thanks!
1st Aide, any Education Science classes on the methods of instruction & the learning styles was the greatest help for me. Also any sports science can be of benefit as well as philosophy Good luck!
i'd go down the physical education degree route (for more prospects) and maybe a PT course with an advanced first aid course. sport science degree are, IMO, useless you find the right S&C course. but for the amount of money and time you're putting in - it doesnt give you an advantage on the market place or any better understanding of your sport than a PT course would.
Good question This. Also, you could look in to leadership skills and teaching skills to assist in your lesson planning and management, as well as that skill of being able to adapt each lesson (on the fly) for the individuals in that particular group to try to balance 'group learning' (getting everyone to the same level) with the 'progression of the individual'. I think Tony Robbins offers courses and seminars in this area, and so could be well worth looking up. He may also offer audio CDs/downloads if you can't attend something in person. I am lucky in that my dad used to train school teachers ("teacher training" if you want to search for it), so he has given me a wealth of knowledge for this kind of thing, albeit I did not go on a specific course...
My wife and I split up the knowledge. She instructs, so she has fitness and nutrition, ACE pt, an art major. (Just to make her well rounded) and of course MA training..... I am under used first aid guy wit a boX of colorful band-aids. O.k so I do nothing but loom good for the camera...... o.k so I just train there. ; (
In the UK - UKSCA accreditation framework (ASCC) is a biggy if you want to focus on fitness work (specifically weight lifting). PT qualification pathway should look something like: Gym Instructor (REPS 2), Personal Trainer (REPS 3), then any specialisations (which lead to REPS 4). I focus primarily on rehabilitation of combat athletes so I went the route of PACE (Postural Assessment and Corrective Exercise). Degrees (at least Master's level) are necessary if you want to charge higher rate, imo.
REPS is probably a good way to go. once you start getting to the Master's level creds or UKSCA then screw just fitness work - go work for a team and do private fitness work! double the moneys at least again though, for the amount of time you have to put into UKSCA (long case studies, modules in everything), its probably not worth just teaching a few MA classes unless you're going to work specifically in S&C. and if i was going to work in S&C and be involved in MA then i'd need to have been involved with an olympic sport (TKD, Judo, Wrestling) at a national level and have good contacts, which is probably a perfect position for van zandt. actually breaking into S&C without being involved with a national team is very difficult (E.G. british rugby s&c coach was a national team wrestler).
First Aid & CPR/AED Instructor, EMT Instructor, Law Enforcement Defensive Tactics Instructor, Police Instructor, And Self-Defense Instructor.
