rockdan

We don't have any display of rank on our belts they are just solid black with no embroidery, in general kyu ranks don't know if we are a 1st or 5th degree unless they ask or are present for promotions. However, we are a small system and know fellow black belts by sight and as black belts we are aware of who outranks us and who doesn't. We do wear different colored uniforms, however, all kyu ranks wear white uniform tops and bottoms regardless of rank and all black belts wear black uniform tops and bottoms regardless of rank.

Much like Tori, we have the 10 Basic Rules posted inside the Dojo for all to see, they include the standard rules about clean uniforms and bodies, no talking out of turn etc. The rules for everything else are learned as the students are in class and exposed to more and more. The guidelines for rank vary very little between ranks and are explained as necessary. The only handout we have is regarding uniform regulations so that new students know what patches they need and where they need to be. I would say that mostly students learn by example from those that are higher ranking and when they need to learn something specific they are told.

joesteph, I think I would call us medium-sized. Depending on time of year we have anywhere from 50-80 full-time students, the majority being kids under 15. We have 4 - 1 hour long kids classes and 8 - 1.5 hour long adult classes each week, with Friday nights as a open workout night. We run beginners classes on a regular basis, so there is always at least one group learning, if not two. Basically, each month a new beginners class starts. We have it staggered, as an example, in January our Mon/Wed 7-8pm class will start and run until the end of February...and in the beginning of Feb our Tue/Thurs 4:30-5:30pm class will start and run until the end of March. The cycle continues all year round. Sometimes they will have 12 new students, sometimes they will have 2, it all depends. Our brown belts and black belts are requested to help out for some nights of the beginners class, especially for rolling, throwing and sparring. In general, we have at least one person in addition to the school owner helping in the beginners class. On the sparring and throwing nights, we will have anywhere from 2-6 additional upperbelts helping. We just started with the new promotional and advertising stuff because we only recently started having competition in our area. The school has been here for 13 years and pretty much ran on word-of-mouth but just within the past 2 years, two other schools have opened within 15 miles of us. Our instructor has a good system and pulls no stunts or punches with the students (no pun intended ) In fact, in the past 2 months we have signed ~25 new students to the beginners classes even with the crazy economy. We will just have to wait and see how long they last in the regular classes!

I can understand both sides. I have trained in a karate style for 8 years and I have been an instructor at our school for the last 3, but I have also been a student in other schools in the last three years because I have moved around and gone to school. As an instructor, I see the need to understand a students limits and abilities, however, even if they fess up to experience it does not mean that they are going to be a strong student, they could have come from a black belt factory. I don't agree with the argument regarding insurance or safety, mostly because all new students should be watched and guided, not just those with no experience. I have been to three different schools over the past three years, all of them were in different styles than the style that I have my black belt in and I can completely understand why she would not want you to know about her previous experience until she had a feel for your school. I have never lied about my experience, but my experience had me uncomfortable in some instances, which is partially my fault and partially the fault of the instructor. What I have decided for the future, if I find myself in a new school again, is to simply be straight forward and honest with the instructors. It is much easier to sit down and talk with someone about expectations and experience to make sure both parties are on the same page. I don't think she meant any disrespect towards you or the arts but I do not see what she has done a good thing because a lie by omission is still a lie.

Our school recently started pushing for new beginners as well. Some of the things we have been trying are: -Commercial at the local movie theater before the movies start. It was a little pricey, but it seems to be working because we are getting quite a bit of business from it. -Referral program: the students get referral cards so their friends can try the beginners class free for one month. It is nice because students get to try it out and see if they like it and it also encourages current students to let people know about the school because they get $10 gift cards for the school for every person they have sign up. -Free uniform with a two-month sign-up for the beginners class. -We also have an 8-week beginners class that runs for an hour twice a week. It allows students to meet some upper belts and get comfortable with the basics before they move on to the advanced classes.