Imagine this: You’re standing in a boxing ring, the harsh glare of the overhead lights illuminating every inch of the canvas floor. The air is electric with anticipation and echoes with the roar of an excited crowd. But you’re not there to fight; you’re there to coach.
Your heart races, not with fear, but with passion. This is your arena, your sanctuary, where you inspire, guide, and mould young lives through the art and discipline of combat sport.
And yet, as much as you love what you do, there’s a nagging question that won’t leave you alone:
- “Can I really make a living out of my passion?”
- “Am I even worthy of being paid for my work as a combat coach?”
Let’s face it. We live in a world where turning your passion into a paycheck often feels like a far-fetched dream, especially when that passion is about giving back, like coaching.
But what if I told you that earning more money as a combat coach could actually enable you to change more lives? Sounds a little counter-intuitive, right?
In fact, you might have just gotten an uncomfortable feeling in your stomach that even thinking about charging for your services is somehow wrong.
Well, fasten your seat belt because we’re about to challenge that mindset and show you how making more can mean helping more.
Combat Coaching Goes Beyond Physical Training
To the untrained eye, combat coaching is just a physical activity. But it’s so much more than that. It has many psychological benefits as well, including:
- Building self-esteem and confidence
- Developing a sense of personal responsibility
- Enhanced focus, concentration and problem-solving skills
- Heightened resilience in the face of adversity
- Better stress management skills
These are the kinds of life-changing skills that can help someone grow, not just in terms of martial arts but in all aspects of life.
But, to do this kind of work effectively and professionally, you have to be paid a fair wage. Otherwise you won’t have the resources or energy needed to make a meaningful impact. And that’s where charging for your services comes in.
➜ Related Post: How Teaching Your Kids Combat Sport Sets Them Up For Success Later In Life
The Money Taboo
Let’s address the elephant in the room – the guilt associated with charging for your coaching services. Society has conditioned us to believe that wanting to earn from our passion, especially when it involves helping others, is selfish.
But is it really? Or is it just a taboo that needs breaking?
The truth is, when you charge for your services as a combat coach, you’re doing more than just making money – you’re investing in yourself and your work.
When you invest in yourself, it means that you can put more time into honing your craft, developing quality programs, and providing top-notch service to your clients, which for the majority of coaches, are adolescents.
In turn, this allows you to reach more people and make a bigger impact.
More Money = More Impact
So how exactly does charging for your services increase your impact?
It Gives You More Financial Security
Most combat coaches do their work 1 on 1. This is because many of them feel that personalised coaching is the only way to ensure their clients get the best out of their experience.
Given that most coaches do coaching as a side job, the amount of time they can afford to dedicate to each client is limited. This means that even though they are highly passionate about what they do, their impact is often restricted by their financial situation.
By charging for your services, you can gain more financial security and have more freedom to focus on your coaching work. This allows you to take on more clients, which will allow you to reach a larger number of adolescents and help more of them find their way out of the dark.
It Gives You the Resources to Create Programmes
When you have more financial security, you also have access to better resources. With these resources, you can create amazing programmes that will help your clients reach their full potential and provide them with the support they need.
This could mean creating specialised courses or providing extra equipment for training sessions. Whatever it is, these resources will give you an edge and help you make a bigger impact.
You’re In a Better Position To Build a Team
Charging for your services can help you build a team of coaches. By investing in yourself, you can hire other coaches with experience, knowledge and qualifications that can help you reach more people as a group rather than just one-on-one. This means that you’ll be able to offer your clients more support and guidance while also making sure that they get the best out of their experience.
How Can You Start Charging For Your Services?
At this point, you might be thinking “This all sounds great, but how do I start charging for my services?“
Generally speaking, there are two business models you can choose for your combat coaching business:
- One-to-One: This model involves providing individual coaching sessions to your clients. You can charge them an hourly rate or a package rate for the duration of their course.
- Group Coaching: In this model, you can offer group classes where several people sign up for the same course. Here, too, you can charge per hour or opt for a package
When you’re first starting out as a combat coach, you might want to start with one-to-one coaching and build your confidence before transitioning to group coaching.
However, one of the most common traps coaches fall into is sticking to the one-to-one model for too long.
Yes, individual sessions are great for building a personal connection with your clients. But there’s only one of you and only so many hours in the day.
By diversifying your offering and taking on group coaching, you can reach a wider audience and generate more income while also impacting more lives.
Not Sure How To Get Started? Become A CounterPunch Facilitator
At CounterPunch, we understand the struggles that come with branching out from a one-on-one coaching model to a group coaching model, so we’ve created our CounterPunch Facilitator Program.
The program is designed to empower coaches who are passionate about helping adolescents by giving them the tools and resources they need to expand their skillset and become successful group coaches.
Tools such as:
- Proven techniques to engage your clients
- In-depth knowledge of positive psychology and the science behind it
- Professional guidance on how to create programmes that are tailored to each individual’s needs
Our goal is to help you become an effective, professional counterpunch facilitator so that you can make a deeper impact in the lives of the adolescents you work with.
If this is something you’re interested in, we invite you to consider applying for the CounterPunch Facilitators’ Training program and take your coaching business to the next level.
Final Thoughts: Take Charge of Your Worth and Create Lasting Change
When you charge for your work as a combat coach, you’re not just getting paid for the physical effort it takes to train someone—you’re also being compensated fairly for the time and energy it takes to help someone grow and develop these important life skills. Not only that, but it’s a sign of respect to yourself—and your clients—that the work you do is valuable and worthy of being compensated.
But more than anything, charging for your services allows you to charge what you’re worth—which means that it’s possible to make a living out of doing what you love. And by making money doing something meaningful, not only do you get to pay your bills, but you also get to touch more lives and make a lasting impact on the world.
So, don’t be afraid to knock out self-doubt and take charge of your worth.
Start charging for your services—and become a paid combat coach making real change in the world. You won’t just be helping people with their physical skills—you’ll also be helping them find strength in themselves. And that’s something money can never buy.
Sláinte,
Merc