James Alexander is sitting at the desk of his dojo, in front of a wall displaying his black belts and other achievements. He is sharply-dressed, has impeccable manners and is well-spoken, with a certain vaguely southern pace of delivery. His face reads a bit younger than a man of his responsibility: full time government employee, husband and father, and coach to the US National Kudo team.

Attuned was lucky enough to be able to sponsor James and the Kudo team at the World Championship tournament in Nagoya, Japan in early December, as they approach their greatest stage yet: representing the sport as demonstration at the 2020 Olympic games.

WHAT IS KUDO?

Kudo has its origins as an offshoot of Kakuto Karate (Combat Karate) and was formally established by Takashi Azuma in 1981. Grandmaster Azuma still keeps careful control of the sport. He meets and personally evaluates all potential branch chiefs like James in person at the KIF headquarters in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

Kudo will make its olympic debut in 2020 as a demonstration sport. Though the KIF has more than 60 member nations, it is not yet mainstream.

 What especially differentiates the sport from other MMA is the helmet. The helmet allows training in a diversity of (sometimes dangerous) techniques that otherwise scare would-be-practitioners off for fear of injury.

James notes:

”What a lot of people don’t realize until they get in here is that (the helmet) allows people who may not want to be a competitive martial artist -- they don’t want to go fight in the ring -- to learn legitimately how to fight. It allows them a venue to practice dangerous techniques, learn to apply them realistically, and not get hurt. So if you’re an office worker, and you want to learn a hardcore martial art, this is a way to do it without going in to your board meeting the next day with your face all busted up.”

MOTIVATION

1. JAMES AS COACH

Looking over James’s motivator profile, it is not difficult to understand his interest in sport and teams. James had been practicing martial arts for years, and even spent time in Japan intensively studying the language along with his technique.

In the US, there was only one real Kudo school, run by Dan Kendall in Detroit. Kudo’s presence in the States was nearly snuffed out by a car accident that left Mr. Kendall unable to continue his dojo.

“Really, once he shut down there wasn’t going to be any real Kudo presence left in the US. After training in it for such a long time and seeing what it had to offer...I had such a belief in the martial art itself, so that’s what drove me when Dan was retiring, to go ahead and contact headquarters (to become a branch chief).”

“That was the last time the world tournament was held, because it is held every four years. And we’d had several students who were preparing to go fight in the world tournament and I didn’t want Kudo to die and for us to not get that opportunity.”

2. EXPLICIT MOTIVATION

The fighters training with James at his dojo, Iron Forged Martial Arts, have a diverse set of experiences with the sport and an equally diverse set of explicit motivations for fighting.

Bryant started training in the sport with James at his original dojo in Ohio. He then moved to Colorado to continue his training.

Abby, presently the only female fighter in the dojo, walked in after seeing some of his advertising. Originally from Florida, Abby had prior martial arts experience. She was looking for a school to train in when she relocated to Colorado.

Darian, came in with no martial arts experience, just as a stroke of luck.

Juan came to the dojo fully trained. He had been a professional MMA fighter in the past. As a personal trainer at a gym, he met Bryant (a fellow trainer) and Christian (a client). Both Juan and Christian were subsequently introduced to the Iron Forged Dojo by Bryant. Christian has previous experience in Muay Thai.

Mike is the oldest fighter, at 50. He owns his own Sambo gym, a Russian Kudo look-alike sport. He is the current Pan-American Combat Sambo Champion. He is driven to compete one last time.

How James motivates his diverse team

When asked what his approach to motivating such a diverse team has been, James’s answer is compact and all-business.

“I tailor my motivation techniques to each individual fighter. The fighters' reason for competing differs from person to person. Some of the fighters like Abby or Darian are competing in the World Tournament as a means to test themselves. Others like Bryant or Juan are competing to be World Champion and make a name for themselves.

From a coach’s point of view, it means I motivate by reminding the fighters why they are training. What will be the rewards for success. And what will the cost of failure mean.”

TEAM INSIGHTS: INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

What we learned from the Attuned reports

James’s motivator profile (indicated by the purple dots in the chart above) is aligned with or evenly spread across the spectrum with his team in large part. Potential blind spots we noted and discussed as key opportunities were in feedback, progress and status.

As James does not necessarily require feedback to stay motivated and engaged in what he does, one member of his team scores as a need to have. He could be a more effective coach for this fighter by making sure he is thorough and detailed in his feedback.

In a similar vein, two fighters scored well into the “need to have” range on progress, while James himself less so. These team members will be more engaged if their efforts are measured in a way so as to make improvement very clear, as well as being pushed beyond their perceived limits.

At first, James was a bit surprised by a few high scores in the “status” motivator. For Kudo, status is achieved by winning bouts, earning degrees toward black belt status, and championships. As branch chief, James has already attained most of these points. It makes motivational sense that his score would rank neutral, while some of his fighters would still be powerfully intrinsically motivated by the status within the sport -- in fact, it goes hand in hand with the need for progress.

LESSONS IN TEAM MANAGEMENT

I asked James whether or not he had made any clear missteps when trying to motivate his team in the past. Protecting his team, he declined to divulge specific stories, noting that, “I have never made a misstep so big I couldn’t correct myself.”

Going further, he adds, “The short answer is I thought one of my fighters would be motivated by external factors such as money, fame, or plain old public recognition, but in reality, they were purely motivated by some personal demons of their own they were struggling to overcome.”

On what it means to be coach, his answer is fully aligned with his high score in “altruism” as an intrinsic motivator.

“As the coach, I can never show weakness or vulnerability. When we are in training camp preparing for competition the physical, mental, and emotional burden on the fighters is huge. They rely on me as the coach to be someone they can come to when they are struggling and want someone to give them a pep talk and tell them everything is fine and they are doing great.

Since I am also a competitive fighter in this competition on top of coaching, I am going through these same struggles, but I don't have anyone to play this role for me. This means that no matter how bad I'm hurting, how tired I am, or how emotionally broken down I am, I have to portray an image of calm and control to provide that stability to my fighters.

I don't get a day off, I can't skip training. I am supposed to be the rock they can depend on.”

What does "team" mean in Kudo?

"So Kudo as a whole is a very community focused martial art. Like many Japanese martial arts, we have a formal code or "dojo-kun" we are supposed to strive to achieve. Kudo's dojo kun is "Through the pursuit of Kudo, we will develop great physical and mental strength. We will educate ourselves and gain intelligence. We will form bonds with those around us to enrich our emotions and cultivate our personalities. We will become positive contributing members of society."

These principles of Kudo teach us to strive not only for personal improvement but also to form strong meaningful bonds with the people in our lives. When it comes to the sport, team means your national group. During this big international competitions, your team are your fellow countrymen and women. Your team acts as your support structure while you compete. Your team helps you warm-up, cheers for you when you fight, celebrates with you in victory, and consoles you in defeat.

Even though each member fights alone in the ring and their results affect no one but themselves, it is still a team sport. You know you have those individuals supporting you who have struggled and suffered with you through all the training and preparation."

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