Luther unleashed

Just thought this was a cool idea to see how everybody does, and I'm curious how we'll I'm doing as a new program according to other programs. OverAll I lose a few students each month. Typically the ones I lose where in their first month and it seemed it wasn't for them. I retain a good 90% of student base though. I've grown each month as follows.. • 1st month - 7 students • 2nd month - 14 students • 3rd month - 20 students • 4th month - 20 students • 5th month - 21 students • 6th month - 31 students • 7th month - 26 students • 8th month - 33 students • 9th month - 37 students • 10th month - 31 students • 11th month - 34 students •12th month - 34 students •13th month - 32 students These are total student numbers, I have lost about 2 to 3 each month and gained the same or in most cases, more then lost. How does your school perform and what do you guys think about my numbers? I'm in a rec center so that should be taken into concideration when judging total numbers as an average school may have more students. The previous program that taught at my location maintained 33 total students pretty consistently and was there 9 years before closing shop!

I had this conversation In Another thread and it's been a while since a post but I wanted to share. I recently started my own program (7mnths ago now) and when I did this I had a decision to make, "what to teach"? I have a very mixed backround in martial arts. I hold rank in multiple martial arts, some black belt levels, some as low as orange belt levels, but even at the lesser levels I learned things I found valuable to a potential program. I decided to create my own style in a sense I suppose. I mean, I created my program to be how I wanted it, and not teach any one way I learned from any one instructor. I use "Tang Soo Do" as the foundation martial art, and incorporate other things I feel are beneficial to the program. I chose to keep Tang Soo Do as the primary martial art being studied because I personally enjoyed this training the most, and I felt it was very much the direction I wanted the program to go as far as what Tang Soo Do is about and that's the very core values that I believe in. Respect, honor, discipline, mental cultivation. So in the end, different degrees and stages incorporate different styles but no matter what other style is taught, Tang Soo Do is always present. Instead of calling it "LEX KWON DO" I simply call it "integrated Tang Soo Do"! This way the students understand that they are not learning "Traditional Tang Doo Do" but a blend with a foundation in Tang Soo Do. This way I'm free to create, add, and take away as I see fit without worrying if I'm being true to a specific style, and freedom IMHO is what creates beautiful art, I prefer to be more open minded then a specific style and I believe my program has a better chance of getting better, because it's more open to new things. Basically I'm saying do what you want and I'll respect it personally. Just sharing how I dealt with a similar idea I had. Good luck to you, and keep in mine that you can always make changes down the road if you wish. Take care.

I don't know how you guys do the multiple quotes and one reply, anyways Bushido_Man you are right that there is a thin line between having some fun and having a goof off session, if you watch the video though which you stated you did, and you will notice my interaction with the students. I am not yelling at them however my voice is not quiet, I am very much motivating and controlling the situation so even when I see a student not working hard I tell them to keep working. This is to me, and effective way to make sure it does not cross this line of goofing off. It is for the instructor to control the environment. Lupin1, I really like the idea about tagging each other and then having to do the form, I might give this one a shot. If I do it I will try to post a video of it because I think it's cool to see how easy we can influence A person's class potentially across the globe. I did another drill that is similar, I had the kids do rock paper scissors in the loser had to run down and perform different striking combinations and what not. Overall it went pretty well. The greatest challenge for me is been to consistently make class fun while maintaining that balance of effective learning and discipline and of course controlling the class environment. When I was starting out six months ago a friend of mine who cared nothing about karate said to me that my advantage over other places will be to try to be more fun than them, because if the kids loved it and the parents are likely to keep them going. Still a work in progress haha

I think the major factor is that the person has to be willing to change. In my experience, far and away, most individuals aren't willing to make the change, or make the sacrifices necessary to facilitate those changes. I love to see the success stories, because they are so few and far between. Great post, I would like to state even though this is a very solid post that I have a Little voice in the back of my head always say "don't give up on people "! In the end though I'm wrong more than I'm right but there's always those few!

Personally, I try to avoid the titles myself, Mr. is just fine with me. I also try to avoid the title of Mr. even outside of the class setting.I hear you, also keep in mind because I don't always clarify in every post but I teach almost all children. When I was 17 years old I dreamed of running my own place as I was training and I always envisioned myself teaching adults. I just can't seem to get a salad adult program going at the recreation center, The previous program was there nine years and also let it go after a few years so I guess that should say something about my location. But, my point is that when I say they referred to me as Mr. Lex, because it is children we are talking about part of that is simply respect for an adult, and not a title as a martial artist.

The other side to this coin is for some guys like me it's very normal because we use it so much. If I refered to my instructor as anything but master so and so it would feel weird. I also look at it as a rank thing and similar to education. I.E... A "masters" degree! I don't hold master rank though but if I did I wouldn't care personally, I just don't have a problem calling somebody else this. In korean martial arts anyways this is very common. My kids call me instructor Lex, or Mr Lex. This is very casual and informal but I'm ok with it. I control a class like you think I am strict and I'm master blahblah, so I'm ok with a name that doesn't demand a certain level of respect.

Yes I would have the same question. Style? I have taken people in at same rank before. Just depends on the schools and style and your personal situation and if somebody will work with you.

Congrats kanku65, hope it goes well for you! Wastelander, You can always look into korean sword (haidong gumdo) as it is derived from Japanese sword just as tang Soo do looks almost identical to Shotokan! Also broad sword is Chinese and is really cool as we'll. you should see if there's something in the area or you pick one of them up! I just mean, if you have a passion for it there are other avenues to learn sword!

So I thought it would be fun to have a thread where instructors can bounce ideas off of each other to possibly implement in class. I am always looking for ways to make training fun for the kids. Not because I want to create a place that's all silly instead of disciplined, but because it not only keep some training but it also makes learning easier for kids when it's fun. Here is an excersise we did the oter day. We always do a 10 minute workout before class, and instead of just doing a plank and holding it, I gave the students a challenge to drop their partner was still staying up. It keeps the excersise challenging, interesting, competitive and interactive all in a few minutes of class. https://youtu.be/YsJsYhQ0phM What do you guys think, and what do you guys do for kids classes that keep learning fun? The class I struggle more with is the four and five-year-old class which I just started teaching this month. Dying to hear what other people do.

Sensei you always have well thought out posts and I'm envious of that ability. Nice post. All you guys great posts. I wonder how many people train just to stick with it, even after they are bored with it? Some people just don't like to quit. I thought of Another benefit I receive from training D keepers me training, it is that my whole family does it, as it's a great tool to keep us doing something cunstructive together.

I teach mostly children as I have a great deal of patience. I have a new one recently that likes to do push-ups, he hasn't stated that but his attitude while I'm teaching class is what makes you do push-ups. And he does a lot. It's not undesirable though, I want that. I want to have an opportunity to influence kids to have a more apropriate attitude. I do however have undesirable parents. Ones that have attitudes that I can't change and have that opportunity because they watch class and don't take it. Ones that ask me for their kids to skip belts and get upset when I don't do it, or get mad because they feel their kid is ready but most instructors would agree they are not. Yes, I have undesirable parents BUT as luck would have it, they have removed themselves from the program more often then not, as if it wasn't up to their standard what ever that is. It's not for everybody and that's fine. I just reach for the idea that people show respect weather they continue or not.

Really good answers so far, but "looking like Bruce lee" takes the cake haha

I'm 38 years old. I have been in a great deal of street fights as a kid. I am not proud of this today, I am just being open with my fellow forum members because I think that honesty is a great form of respect. It's easy to fight, and I enjoy the challenge of not fighting more. Everybody's life experiences are different and thus they have different reasons for practicing martial arts. I am so confident in my ability to NOT FIGHT that self defense is one of the last reasons I practice. The body strengthening, and improvement in skill I can see, the discipline that I myself and fellow martial artists display, the sportsmanship as we'll. I love the health benefits, mental focus, and exercise. These are the reasons I train. I teach for similar reasons I might add. It's simply a passion I have always had. How about you, what is it that makes you interested, or keeps you interested, what draws you to martial arts and what is your goals?

Wow I missed this. Really cool looking drill. I use the shoulder lock shown here quite a bit and have for many years. This is a really good looking way to practice it. Glad you posted this, very cool!

Why not? Just curious. Do you have a desire to teach? Sounds like you have the experience in martial arts for sure. Is there no program in place for you to make this more accessible? Well, there are a couple of reasons. For one, I'm not the chief instructor at the school. Not my school, so I don't get to make the decisions on the curriculum. Another factor is that by and large, forms applications aren't taught a lot in TKD, except for a handful of instructors out there that really dig in and find applications on them. What I've gleaned from them is what I've researched in books by Iain Abernethy and Stuart Anslow, from which I'd start to experiment and study, if I could go that route.Got ya. I understand about the material taught and not being able to decide. This is one of the greatest advantages when I opened my school. I get to decide what we are doing tonight, I enjoy it although it can be very challenging to decide. Is my material stale, is it interesting, is it effective and so on. As far as Tae Kwon do forms and application I actually forgot until you said that. I never learned an application when I did WTF or ITF. I think that's part of the reason I never cared for forms until I learned Tang soo do forms, they became more fun to me. The artistic side of developing your own PRACTICAL applications are fun to me. Do you aspire to run your own school? If so do you feel you only want to do it with your organization? Just curious as I left my school to go out on my own, I had my reasons but I get the benefits of each decision. How about You? Here check this out, these are my kids creating their own applications, we'll some they learned in class and some I helped with but some they did as we'll really. It was something we/they did for fun. The form is pyung ahn oh dan. https://youtu.be/pNnYRvC54tE

Awesome! Glad you posted this!

This is a ridiculously great post here! Put very well, and before I taught I thought "how is that person a red belt, I understand now it isn't just a physical thing always. I love how you said "RANK IS A PERSONAL THING", I could not tell you how much I agree.

So, bushido man was the first one a few pages back (yup I skimmed the entire 4 pages) to ask about the instruction. I'm surprised everybody just went for cost and never thought if the services may be worth it. I'll put it out there how I do it, and maybe some will think of me as a Mcdojo and I can except others opinions. My monthly tuition is only $45.00 per month if you are a city resident. I receive $40.00 of this and the recreation center the other $5.00. It's a pretty good deal for the area, I turned down an opportunity at another location where the rec center wanted 30%. As most of you know $45.00 is much cheaper then the average. I have lived in a few states from Nevada, California, Illinois, a few others and now in the Phoenix area for some years now. I think finding a place under $100.00 is hard to do. I charge $40.00 for a color belt testing. I'm surprise so many think it's high. I do of course have to consider I make less then half of the average dojang so it should be more reasonable that my testings are a bit more but either way, should I not be paid for my time on a day there is a testing being held? I read a few that stated that their instructor doesn't charge for color testings and that black belt testing fees just cover the cost. Well, I wonder if my students want a place to train next month because I love what I do and I'd do it for free if I could but I can't. It's America and I have a family to feed as well and I don't see anything wrong with making a living teaching martial arts. I don't use tape, always a belt but the cost covers certificate, belt, the board they break and my time to be there. You pay the mechanic to fix your car and we don't think our karate/martial arts instructors deserve to be compensated? I'm left with about $25 dollars per student after testing material. That's 40 for the monthly tuition and 25 for testing which is 2 to 3 months depending. I left a career as a mechanic and hurting my back to the point of physical therapy to teach and go after a 20 year old childhood dream, why should I not be payed a fair amount for services? Old post but I see nothing wrong with the prices, I mean black belt fees for me are $200.00. Ouch I know, but after the boards required to perform breaks and speed breaks, a new custom uniform from Korea and custom black belt from Korea I'm left with maybe $50.00. $200.00 sounds like a lot, what about $50.00, does $50.00 seem like a rip off to compensate your instructor to drive to the dojang/dojo and create the environment where you test, to keep it moving with a high level of energy, sick, not sick, being dependable for his students? We'll that depends on weather he makes it worth it doesn't it? It's not like I am going to test more then 2 or 3 tops at a time for black belt. I will say 400 is high but if you must know the price at the most recent place I trained was $300, instruction Was great and I didn't hesitate because TO ME it was with the price. I read once before... Students conversation with his teacher. STUDENT: sensei, why do you allow some students to train if they don't work hard, and have attitude problems. TEACHER: I allow them to train here so that I can afford a place to teach students like you! Money also pays for equipment, and many other things so we shouldn't be so harsh On A school that asks us to pay, it takes money to run a Buisness and if the services are quality it's a no-brained, not a MCDOJO! I payed for an iPad which is actually where I do all of my Buisness stuff, I built a website, and Buisness cards and I make short commercials and many other things on it. Maybe the grandmother up the street would feel that an iPad for $500.00 dollars is a MCIPAD, but to me it's worth the cost. You guys see what I'm trying to get at here? Sorry for the novel guys, just get into some of these topics lol

Why not? Just curious. Do you have a desire to teach? Sounds like you have the experience in martial arts for sure. Is there no program in place for you to make this more accessible?

How I get my students is mostly demographics. I offer cheap classes in a lower income area. There is only one place other then myself, offering martial arts in the city I teach in. They are about a 15 min drive away and teach Tae Kwon Do. I advertise karate. I'm a smidgen less then half the price too and certainly don't see myself as half the quality. I'm self defense focused and discipline, they appear to be more sport focused which is common in some styles of TKD. Basically that's my edge, not much direct competition. That's why they COME to me. The reasons I keep them and have a low rate of students leaving is a different story, the sisters that try a free class after their brothers are students for a month, and join themselves is a different story as well. I don't know the reason and I could spend hours speculating but I say to my wife sometimes... "I must be doing something right"!!! I just keep doing that "something" which is teach like I know how, and after every class I get upset at something I could have done better to organize or speak about. I think that keeps me moving I. The right direction too. Seven students in month one, thirty one students in month six... It's "something" haha. I'm just happy to be able to have the students happy, makes me smile.

I agree, I always learned self defense from other drills and striking combinations. I teach that there are many uses for forms such as leg strengthening, coordination, and the direct applications such as the strikes. To me, it should be stated that the best self defense is often the more simplistic methods. I have practiced pyung ahn oh dan, for example, many many times. I feel if I'm going to practice something so much then I want to derive all of its capabilities of learning potential. Also, we are not back in the days where fighting was so common. Self defense plays less of a role in our age in the martial arts IMHO because the society we love in, and the angle is to create a sense of humility in students in most studios these days, so one should first try every means of not fighting anyways, at least that's what I teach. It's because of this, that I think there's a very relevant artistic side to practicing karate, or Kung of for that matter and forms certainly facilitate this side of things.

I get what your saying about trying to open a door for the student to develop their own. In a sense that is Absolutely what I am saying is well, just because I show a specific technique, doesn't mean I'm saying this is the only way, I'm just opening the door outside of the usual thinking that this may be a low block, or this may be a outside block. To me this does open doors. I don't believe that any of us have a really good grasp on the true intended applications. This is why so many applications have been developed because people experiment with the forms and this is exactly what people should do in my opinion. I agree with what you're saying about children and it is like a preparation for real training, in the end I really am saying the same thing, just in a different way. Teaching an application for basic form number one is hardly delving into advanced karate, so it is in this way I intend to open that door to preparation for real training. I do understand what you're saying. I simply like to expose them to all different aspects of the martial arts. As I said I like to experiment more, I may introduce a bit of sword (which I do) or a bit of night self-defense (which I do also) but only one or two techniques to give them a foundation. I do not believe that it will be extremely useful for self-defense now, I do believe however that it lays a very solid foundation for being better at these techniques later. That is my personal approach. I'm not saying I know that my way is the most effective way, I'm simply saying it is my focus anyway and my aim. As I said it's very similar to what you are saying because I'm really just laying groundwork for later.

Wow, I'm surprised that the general consensus so far seems to be to not teach application much at least, to the kids. The problem I have with that is I hate the idea of teaching forms without people understanding a practical meaning to them. Too many schools do this, ones that I've even been a part of, even with adults. Some schools just do not teach applications. I do however, see a reason why some people would not teach it to children though. I do a great deal of test work on my own children because I teach them. I have four children that all train and it is easy for me to see you at home with a pick up, although living with the sensei probably give them a leg up and is not the best example lol. For me personally, at the moment, I teach application to the advanced class only. The advanced class is about halfway through the ranks towards 1st° black belt, even in that class just as I did in the video, I was teaching applications for basic form number one in tang Soo do. In the end I'm the type of person that likes to experiment and find out for myself how far I can push my students. Only time will tell though!

So I guess what makes me interested in age groups here is that we aren't mentioning it much. I teach 75% kids. I love teaching adults but it's tough these days. Adults seem to more into mma then karate. The older kids especially, ages 15 to 16, they have such a hard time with the discipline and respect. Small things like bowing that are second nature to some of us, are a really big deal to them unless they have the experience. As we talk about how we teach application I think age is relevant. In my video I was speaking bit I have to actually keep those lessons to a smaller scale then I want to because if you watch the students, some with ADHD, you see it's the "boring" part of the lesson and they daze off.

This is really cool. I have never done too much traditional sparring, this looks like Shotokan to me. My sparring experience is more of a kickboxing nature. I really like your skills in this video though, real cool looking.