I opened my first karate dojo when I was seventeen in a small country town in New South Wales, Australia.
I was a fresh black belt but full of ambition and I knew in my heart what I wanted to do even though I had no idea how to do it.
I just knew what you shouldn’t do because of the way I was treated by my “teacher” at the time.

I don’t know where the courage, drive or determination came from.
I wasn’t obsessed with martial arts like a couple of my friends were even though I did enjoy it.
It was something I was just drawn to and I truly believe that this is the path God has had planned for me all along.

It wasn’t easy being a seventeen-year-old martial arts instructor.
No one took you seriously and I can understand why.

As a seventeen-year-old, there’s very little life experience.
Wisdom only comes from learning from temporary defeat and the lapse of time, and I had neither at seventeen.
Only wisdom in very basic matters like how to get yourself off to school without my parents telling me to.
Even though I opened my first dojo at seventeen, I can honestly say that no one under the age of 40 should own and operate a school of martial arts; and here’s why.

Being a martial arts instructor places great demand on someone.
Training is no longer about you; it’s about being of service.
Sure, you may get paid for that service, and so you should.
What has worth is worth paying for but the moment you start putting the love of money over the love of teaching, you’re no longer a martial artist.
You’re a businessman.

If you are true to the art, then you will upset someone at some point along the journey.
In modern day society, people don’t want to suffer for anything.
If they can’t have it now, they don’t want it.
Your job as a Sensei is not to give grades away for the love of money.
You promote people based on their depth of character first and their ability second.

You may have the world’s greatest fighter training in your dojo but if they are shallow and lack depth or they haven’t done the difficult work of growing from the inside out while they have been training with you, it’s not the kind of student you want to be running around in society armed with the knowledge you have given out.
You want your black belts to be a representation of you and your character, so you need to be very careful with who you allow to progress through the ranks in your dojo.

The truth is, very few will have what it takes because most people plateau at novice and quit OR, you’ve upset them by not promoting them, so they go down the road where it is easier.
A sensei who is true to the art will upset or offend people.
It’s like a revolving door of people who think there’s something wrong with you.

It's not that a sensei doesn't mistakes.
I've made plenty of them but like anything, leadership and being a sensei is the art of learning by doing; trial and error, especially when you don't have a mentor you can sit down with face to face and in person to get advice from.
The hard part is, learning from your mistakes so you don't repeat them again.

One thing that is hard to do is to tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.
This is why you upset a lot of people.
You’re not there to lie or beat around the bush; you’re not their friend.
As a Sensei, you’re there to help them grow and you can’t do that when you tell people what they want to hear.

One thing a lot of martial arts instructors don’t realise is, your students are your best teachers.
You learn from them in so many ways but one of the most important lessons you learn as a Sensei is the art of leadership and in my experience, the best style of leadership is servant leadership; helping people get what they want first.
As I said earlier, teaching and being a sensei is no longer about you.
It's about putting other people in a position to win, achieve and succeed in life.
Not just in the dojo, but life in general by offering wisdom from life experience so that your students learn from your mistakes.

It’s very difficult being a dojo operator and a sensei because you are the senior grade.
There’s no other person that you can pass the buck to.
It stops with you.
It teaches you ownership, accountability and responsibility and that's how we stop living with a victim mentality.

Being a sensei is such an honour and a privilege because you are in a position to help other people in more ways than just physical training.
You're making a positive impact on the lives of people who trust you to guide them.

As a sensei, I can't tell you how much I have learned about human nature and behaviour, in other people and myself.
They entire journey has come at a great cost but has been the most rewarding when it comes to personal growth and development.
It has also opened a lot of doors and created a lot of opportunities for me to live up to my true and fullest potential.

I can't recommend it enough.

I hope you find this of value, my brothers.

Keep winning!