My name is Kevin Geary and I teach a forward-thinking martial arts curriculum at Karate USA Windermere in Cumming, GA and I am a Positive Coaching Alliance certified coach.
About me
I was born in Mesa, Arizona on Independence Day 1983, though I spent most of my time from birth to 3rd grade in Winterhaven, Florida. I moved to Georgia in 3rd grade and currently reside in Sugar Hill with my wife and American Pit Bull Terrier, Noami.
I started my martial arts career at the age of 12 in Olympic Taekwondo and have been training in some form of martial arts ever since. I have a Black Belt in Olympic Taekwondo and have studied Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wing Chun, Kali, and Aikido. I am currently training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Paul Creighton.
Business philosophy
I believe that the martial arts industry has gone in the wrong direction; away from quality and too far toward quantity. This has undermined the value of martial arts and the rank of Black Belt.
Unfortunately, most of the schools that focus on quality don’t focus enough on business. And when a school doesn’t make a profit, the students end up suffering as the school cannot offer an optimal training environment and often goes out of business completely.
I choose to operate with the belief that a school can be highly successful without sacrificing quality, but it requires healthy and confident leadership, a well-trained staff, and a forward-thinking curriculum.
Teaching philosophy
Martial arts training has the potential to radically transform the lives of students. Unfortunately, today’s instructors lack the tools needed to teach relevant and forward-thinking material and to connect with students on the level necessary for meaningful change.
The most important concept I teach my leadership team (instructors in training) is that to be transformational in someone else’s life as a leader, you must first transform your own life. The most effective leadership is done through modeling and mentoring, and that’s impossible unless you’ve lived the change you want to pass on.
Besides the obvious things like understanding martial arts techniques and training methods, today’s martial arts instructors must also:
- Be physically fit and knowledgeable about real nutrition.
- Develop healthy relational skills.
- Understand healthy internal and external boundaries.
- Model what it means to be a functional adult.
- Possess a high level of emotional intelligence.
- Have above-average understanding of child development and psychology.
- Have above-average communication skills.
- Practice servant leadership.
These skills are imperative for two reasons.
One, as martial arts instructors are viewed as authority figures and often assume a position of power over their students, this dynamic has the potential to create situations that are physically, mentally, and emotionally unhealthy if the instructor does not possess the proper skills along with unwaivering character.
Two, martial arts instructors must have a deep understanding of these skills themselves if they ever hope to pass them along to their students. And I hope they do, because our students, for the most part, are not being taught these skills in school or at home.
Training philosophy
Martial arts instructors must also be martial arts students. Forever.
The best way to pass on any skill is to model it. But too many instructors are overweight, out of shape, and out of practice.
The master instructor (not a title, but a way of being) is in shape and constantly sharpening their tools.
I still practice Taekwondo and often spar with my students, especially my competition team. By getting on the mat with them, I not only stay sharp, but I am able to pioneer new strategies and tactics.
I am also active in training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I do this because I enjoy it, but I also want to make sure that I never forget what it’s like to be at the bottom and to have to learn new and difficult things. I also want to be able to pass along unique skills to my students.
Coaching Philosophy
In 2005 I founded TEAM KUSA, now one of the most respected Olympic Taekwondo competition teams in Southeast. Over the last 7+ years coaching at the National level, I believe I’ve learned what it takes to create a successful and sustainable team.
In my opinion, the foundation of a quality team is laid by teaching our team members to respect themselves, each other, their opponents, and their opponent’s coaches at all times.
From that foundation, athlete development — specifically, meeting each athlete’s physical, mental, and emotional needs — comes next. We create winners not by focusing on winning, but by focusing on incremental improvements over time. With this method, winning and losing are both temporary events seen solely as information to be used for improving the athlete.
There is no system of rewards or punishment and I rely solely on cultivating intrinsic motivation to boost performance. I also employ personal mentoring to create a positive training atmosphere and help meet the psychological needs of my athletes.
Rank Philosophy
The following is written in generalities and is not insinuating that all students or parents fall into this mold. However, it does detail a consistent and pervasive issue within the martial arts industry.
The ranking system in martial arts is both a gift and a curse.
For older students and adults it tends to be a gift in that it fosters a sense of accomplishment, pride, and cultivates a sense of needing to perform to the rank they’ve been awarded. As they get ranked higher, they tend to work harder and get more focused. They feel bad if they don’t think they are performing up to the rank they’ve achieved. They want the ability, not the belt.
For younger students, who typically possess a simpler mental capacity and understanding, it’s often a curse. They see belts as carrots (rewards) to be achieved at all costs and are often content with getting them by doing the minimum amount of work possible. They often don’t see belts as correlated to ability, but merely as a status symbol bestowed to them because they showed up a set amount of times. They start to hyper-focus on ranks and forget why they’re training in martial arts in the first place: mental, physical, and emotional development. Every day becomes more about the next rank and less about quality training.
As an instructor, coach, and mentor, my job is extremely difficult and communication is key. I have to work hard to create a culture of working for your own personal benefit rather than working for ranks. I must help students see the value in training by itself and understand that belts without ability are meaningless.
To maintain quality and avoid selling out (like a large portion of the martial arts industry has done), I must foster a culture of excellence in the student body and hold their feet to the fire to perform up to their potential and then push the limits of what they thought possible. Only then should they be promoted.
However, this also has consequences. If communication is poor and/or I don’t have the backing from parents, students respond poorly to the array of challenges martial arts training puts in front of them and they ask to drop out. Parents, identifying with their child’s emotional response (rather than stepping up as mentors and explaining the significance of overcoming challenges through hard work and perseverance), quickly give in and submit their cancellation notice. This makes it difficult to grow the school and provide a high quality training atmosphere for current and future students (after all, you need profit to grow, invest in better equipment, and employ high quality instructors). It also communicates to children that when times get tough or you don’t get what you want right away, you just give up.
It’s a catch-22: People want to say they go to a high quality school that produces amazing students and actually make you earn a black belt, but once they’re inside that system they fight to make it easier, cheaper, and faster. Consequently, if we make it easier, cheaper, and faster, the Black Belt isn’t worth anything when you finally get it.
Adult students tend to understand this and rise up to the challenge.
Younger students have a harder time with this because martial arts training is the hardest (and longest) thing they’ve ever done and it challenges them in ways they never imagined. After all, if you ask a child whether they’d rather go to class and do 50 pushups, sprints, practice forms, get kicked and punched, get thrown and choked, punch and kick wooden blocks, and learn discipline OR sit and play video games, what do you think the obvious choice would be?
Without deep support from instructors and parents, the success rate is very low. For parents of younger students, being on the same page with me and being a solid part of your child’s support system is imperative to their success. This is going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done (either as a student or parent). But it’s also going to be the most meaningful. And it’s worth it. So let’s work together to create a climate for success.
