I enjoyed PE so much that I wanted to do it outside of school - that's when I found martial arts.
I’m Shola, I’m 18 and I’m training to be a karate instructor.
At this community centre I help teach karate sessions for younger kids.
I wear a Gi which is made up of a top, trousers and my belt.
After I get ready I’ll take out extra equipment including things like crash mats and punching bags. It's really important to have safety equipment or else you can possibly get injured.
Before every lesson we take quite a long warm up and we work all of our neck muscles, shoulders, wrists, waist all the way down our legs and even to our feet. That's to ensure that we don’t pull any muscles or break any bones while we’re training.
I really enjoyed studying PE and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to do it outside of school and that's when I found martial arts.
I also really love Science and when I studied Biology I was able to find out how controlling your breathing is really important to controlling your body.
I also learnt how muscles move your bones and I was able to put that into practice because martial arts is all about controlled, powerful movements.
So I studied for over ten years until I got my black belt and at that point my sensei asked me if I could be his assistant.
Shola is a credit to our martial arts school, confident, committed a good role model as well for children within our school.
It's really great being able to use my knowledge of science in my karate training. I think it's helped me get as far as I have especially getting my black belt at the age of fifteen, which has been my proudest moment.
I'm Shola. I loved PE and Science at school. I started martial arts as a hobby and now work as an instructor, helping others to learn karate.
Biology helped me because I learnt that controlling your breathing is really important for controlling your body. I also learnt about how our muscles move our bones. Both of these things help me in karate because martial arts are all about controlled, powerful movements.
I teach my students how important it is to warm up their muscles properly before a karate session. This helps lessen the chance that they will hurt themselves.
A similar role to a karate instructor is a martial arts instructor. Martial arts instructors teach martial arts like karate, jujitsu and judo.
What to expect if you want to be a martial arts instructor
- Martial arts instructor average salary: Variable
- Martial arts instructor typical working hours: 36 to 38 hours per week
What qualifications do you need to be a martial arts instructor?
You could get into this role via a college course or an apprenticeship.
Sources: LMI for All, National Careers Service
This information is a guide and is constantly changing. Please check the National Careers Service website for the latest information and all the qualifications needed.
For careers advice in all parts of the UK visit: National Careers Service (England), nidirect (Northern Ireland), My World of Work (Scotland) and Careers Wales (Wales).
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