What does a martial arts instructor do?
A martial arts instructor helps people understand the philosophy and history of their chosen martial art and teaches them the skills needed to take part safely. They train students in combat techniques, mostly for recreation or for self-defense. They develop individual training programs for their students, coach the students, develop and practice their own skills, ensure a safe and healthy training environment for their students, observe and assess students, and offer feedback on their progress.
Martial arts instructor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real martial arts instructor resumes:
- Manage aspiring mix martial arts (MMA) fighters.
- Lead children's classes, training kids in kicks, punches, self-defense and how to avoid physical confrontations.
- Certify in CPR, first aid, and AEDs.
- Train casual students and MMA fighters.
- Plan lessons and clean the dojo every evening.
- Teach defensive class for DMV point reduction and insurance discount.
- Prepare classroom work for insurance certificates and DMV notification through sponsor.
- Help clean and maintain the dojo, ensure high levels of customer satisfaction through excellent service.
- Teach boxing, kickboxing, submission wrestling, muay Thai, and mixed-martial arts to students.
- Develop adult and child martial arts instructional programs in jujitsu, karate, Thai boxing, mix martial arts.
- Demonstrate principles and techniques of leadership and their applications to problems in areas such as race relations and substance abuse.
- Play the role of a referee when kids are sparring and grappling with one another to make sure everyone remains unharm.
- Organize and instruct a women's self-defense seminar for women 18 and older resulting in awareness and experience in self-defense situations.
- Conduct numerous hours of combat conditioning sessions.
- Develop experience in personal leadership, self-discipline, organization skills, professional communication skills, and work ethic.
Martial arts instructor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 27% of Martial Arts Instructors are proficient in Kids, CPR, and Seminar. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Communication skills, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Martial Arts Instructors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Kids, 27%
Play the role of a referee when kids are sparring and grappling with one another to make sure everyone remains unharmed.
- CPR, 21%
Coordinated and supervised CPR certifications for the University at Albany Police Department.
- Seminar, 14%
Organized and instructed a women's self-defense seminar for women 18 and older resulting in awareness and experience in self-defense situations.
- Law Enforcement, 10%
Worked closely with Law enforcement to develop and teach defensive tactics.
- Dojo, 10%
Established Independent dojo for training in Classical Japanese Martial Arts and Practical Self-Defense
- Self-Defense Techniques, 3%
Demonstrated self-defense techniques for YouTube marketing campaign.
"kids," "cpr," and "seminar" are among the most common skills that martial arts instructors use at work. You can find even more martial arts instructor responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a martial arts instructor to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "many fitness trainers and instructors sell their services, motivating clients to hire them as personal trainers or to sign up for the classes they lead." Martial arts instructors often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "lead in the instruction of children and adult classes * maintained studio cleanliness * pos transactions for student and customers"
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling martial arts instructor duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "fitness trainers and instructors must be able to clearly explain exercises that they demonstrate to clients." According to a martial arts instructor resume, here's how martial arts instructors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "used verbal and non-verbal communication strategies to instruct international military forces on physical fitness and combat martial arts techniques. "
Listening skills. This is an important skill for martial arts instructors to perform their duties. For an example of how martial arts instructor responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "fitness trainers and instructors must listen carefully to what clients tell them in order to determine the clients’ fitness levels and desired fitness goals." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a martial arts instructor: "instructed 20-25 students * coordinated activities for kids * communicated with students and their families".
Motivational skills. For certain martial arts instructor responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "motivational skills." The day-to-day duties of a martial arts instructor rely on this skill, as "to keep clients coming back for more classes or to continue personal training, fitness trainers and instructors must keep their clients motivated." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what martial arts instructors do: "managed classroom behavior to ensure an enthusiastic and motivational atmosphere to maximize student learning potential. "
Physical fitness. A commonly-found skill in martial arts instructor job descriptions, "physical fitness" is essential to what martial arts instructors do. Martial arts instructor responsibilities rely on this skill because "fitness trainers and instructors must be able to lead classes and to demonstrate exercises to participants or their clients." You can also see how martial arts instructor duties rely on physical fitness in this resume example: "developed detailed course outlines including daily training schedules containing dynamic warm-ups, teaching self-defense techniques, and customized physical conditioning drills. "
Problem-solving skills. Lastly, "problem-solving skills" is an important element of what a martial arts instructor does. Martial arts instructor responsibilities require this skill because "fitness trainers and instructors must evaluate members’ or client’s fitness levels and create appropriate fitness plans to meet their needs." This resume example highlights how martial arts instructor duties rely on this skill: "evaluated instructor performance and effectiveness of training programs, provided recommendations for improvement to program/project manager to ensure quality training solutions. "
The three companies that hire the most martial arts instructors are:
- Young Champions Of America6 martial arts instructors jobs
- YMCA of Austin2 martial arts instructors jobs
- Tapout Fitness
2 martial arts instructors jobs
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Compare different martial arts instructors
Martial arts instructor vs. Dance teacher
Dance Teachers are responsible for leading dance classes to teach individuals or groups of people various dancing techniques. Dance Teachers are required to help their students improve their dancing skills by participating in amateur or professional dance competitions or performing in social events such as high school reunions. They must teach one or more dance genres such as ballet, ballroom, or hip hop. They must also be physically fit and should possess a good sense of quality music.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, martial arts instructor responsibilities require skills like "kids," "cpr," "seminar," and "law enforcement." Meanwhile a typical dance teacher has skills in areas such as "hip hop dance," "role model," "musical theater," and "dance program." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Dance teachers tend to make the most money working in the hospitality industry, where they earn an average salary of $51,036. In contrast, martial arts instructors make the biggest average salary, $36,569, in the education industry.On average, dance teachers reach similar levels of education than martial arts instructors. Dance teachers are 0.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Martial arts instructor vs. Voice teacher
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that martial arts instructor responsibilities requires skills like "cpr," "seminar," "law enforcement," and "dojo." But a voice teacher might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "stage presence," "music education," "musical theater," and "music lessons."
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Voice teachers tend to reach higher levels of education than martial arts instructors. In fact, they're 13.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Martial arts instructor vs. Private music teacher
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, martial arts instructors are more likely to have skills like "kids," "cpr," "seminar," and "law enforcement." But a private music teacher is more likely to have skills like "mathematics," "language arts," "cello," and "in-home."
When it comes to education, private music teachers tend to earn higher degree levels compared to martial arts instructors. In fact, they're 7.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Martial arts instructor vs. Guitar teacher
Even though a few skill sets overlap between martial arts instructors and guitar teachers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a martial arts instructor might have more use for skills like "kids," "cpr," "seminar," and "law enforcement." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of guitar teachers require skills like "learning process," "songwriting," "ran," and "music lessons. "
Guitar teachers reach similar levels of education compared to martial arts instructors, in general. The difference is that they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of martial arts instructor
Updated January 8, 2025
