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Okotoks club bringing martial arts home

Ryujin Martial Arts offering online training during pandemic
Ryujin Portraits 0320
Ryujin Martial Arts owner and head instructor Ben Hollins has taken his classes digital during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Brent Calver/Western Wheel)

Martial arts continue to be practised in the Foothills – it’s just being taught through a computer screen.

“It was an immediate effect within two days,” said Ryujin Martial Arts owner and head instructor Ben Hollins. “When the government said places like our facility have to close down, it was like ‘okay what are we going to do?’ Because we’ve got so many students.”

Hollins sought inspiration from his circle of friends in the United States, who had already launched online training platforms, to continue the education with the social distancing procedures in place.

“I thought, why not? It kind of makes sense,” Hollins said. “We initially offered it, we did three weeks of twice per week online classes with set packages for this is what we want you to do at home. We opened it up free of charge to anyone and it was posted all over Facebook and we actually had quite a few more kids from other martial arts clubs that have stopped.

“And kids that had never taken up martial arts before that were coming onto a zoom call with me twice a week and going through an online lesson.”

By the end of March, the club had to switch to a pay model, open to both its members and those seeking more opportunities to train and get moving while everyone is asked to stay home as much as possible.

“I have to pay my bills,” Hollins said with a chuckle. “We drastically reduced the monthly fee and put it to our members who want to take advantage of it. And then I created through the company that provides me with my dojo management software and put in a student portal.

“So all of the ones who’ve continued get two times a week of online classes where I will go there and physically run a class for them. I can observe them, criticize them and then I’ve added videos, PDFs and challenges onto their portal so they can practise all of that at home.”

The students’ videos are also posted on the portal, giving the instructor the opportunity to analyze, encourage and teach the students with the information provided.

Teaching through a webcam rather than in-person is not a new phenomenon for Hollins, a vastly experienced trainer with black belts in wado-kai karate and krav maga.

Though observing students through the computer screen does take some getting used to.

“I’ve taught that way before through a previous job, but the hardest thing I find is trying to maintain observation on every single one of them,” Hollins said. “At one point we had 30 screens going and 30 participants and a lot of the houses there were multiples, you would have a brother and sister or siblings in there so I’m giving the class and then stopping to go have a look at the screen and see what I can see.

“There was a bit of learning there were I would give them something to do and have them demonstrate it. I actually brought my daughter in to do the demonstration, and I would go and watch the screen and verbally criticize them or give them encouragement as they were going through it.

“It’s a steep learning curve.”

Though the business has adapted during COVID-19, the bottom line has taken a hit.

Hollins said the club has lost close to 60 per cent of its active membership during the pandemic.

“You know what it’s like, most people have lost their jobs and they have to cut back financially,” Hollins said. “We don’t have any new students that decided to sign up, but when we were running it for free we had lots because it was a way for the kids to keep active.

“It has certainly affected business tremendously.”

Those who have stuck with the club are certainly appreciative of every opportunity to get moving at a time when it’s challenging to do so.

“One of the challenges we set last week was for the students to video themselves actually teaching a parent or another sibling how to do their favourite technique,” Hollins said. “And that was really cool to see, they would send me the videos and I would see mom and dad trying different techniques out.

“So it’s keeping everyone a little bit active, which is awesome.”

Hollins encourages anyone to join the online training, including those from other clubs who might not have online platforms running and those who want to try out even on a short-term basis.

For more information on Ryujin go to facebook.com/RyujinOkotoks


Remy Greer

About the Author: Remy Greer

Remy Greer is the assistant editor and sports reporter for westernwheel.ca and the Western Wheel newspaper. For story tips contact [email protected]
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