sweetpea0525

We have several activities, they help not only parents to bond with students but students to bond with each other. We host an annual picnic at the end of summer, food drives, and fundraising sleepovers. They all been successful and create more of a family-oriented atmosphere.

I am mixed about this one. If you had asked me a year ago, then I would have said contracts are very bad, but over the last year, due to many students taking off for a month here, or there and not really concerned about paying, or slacking on payments, or complaining about the scheduling and fees, our school has decide to compete more with the market of the area and offer credit card services, direct debit, and contracts starting the first of '06. The difference being it is not sent to a third party and it will not be sent to collections if not paid, and if you are out due to injury or illness for more than one month, you will be reimbursed or credited the amount. The nice thing though, is that the student will have the option of payment form. They can sign 1 year, 6 month, or still remain on the monthly basis. If they sign the yearly contract they can pay all at once, or it will be the $60 fee that is currently the monthly fee. If they sign the 6 month contract, they will pay $70 monthly, or in a lump sum. If they decide to remain on a monthly basis and not sign any contracts, then they will be paying $80 a month. We will also continue to have free friday nights and you can attend as many classes as you want, so there are some good things too. This is a decision that has been in debate in many of our meetings, but is now going to be put into effect.

Testing wasn't easy, i will say that much, but it does depend on how your school or style tests. At my school we tested from January through July and were promoted in August and we only tested with our head instructor, with all kinds of physical, mental and emotional challenges, while other schools have a long test over one day or several days and that may have a panel of high ranking Black Belts that will decide your fate. The only thing I can say is that you will only achieve it if it is something you truly desire to put yourself through, if not, you will not pass.

Ours is similar to most others. we go to the front of the room bow, remove obi when necessary, recieve certificates, go down the line and bow to all the higher ranks in the front of the room. Continue like that until all those being promoted have been called up, we then take pictures, we then gear up for sparring. Your promotion night you get your own ring for the whole night, and everyone gives you a special promotional beating. Nothing too terrible, just wears you out and pushes you a little bit more than we did before. The only time there is a difference in the routine is for BB promotions. There is no sparring, and all black belts from our system are invited and most of the students of the school come and it is a great big ceremony with lots of bowing. But it doesn't happen very often, so we do make it special when it comes around.

i know it may be a source of pride that makes you embarrassed when you mess up but what i do when in front of the class, is laugh. Crack a joke, tell them you are nervous, explain that even though you are of high rank you are nervous, you may not be loud enough and that you could possibly screw things up royally. It helps. I was very nervous when i started leading classes because I thought I had to be perfect. But what i soon realized is that is impossible. I have done it all, forgotten how to count, mirrored wrong, said the wrong exercise, but when I do, I make a joke of it. i don't know why, and you may not be able to do that, but it is what has helped me. Sometimes just telling people you are nervous helps them to understand if you mess up something. Also remember that it is not the end of the world, you will get better over time, just try not to put so much pressure on yourself. You may tell your instructor too, that way if you do mess up or it is too quiet, then maybe he will not say anything and he will be supportive.

When i first started assisting in class, i too was nervous about saying something or being too hard on a student, because people react differently to someone in charge when they are not the normal person in charge or when they are a friend, but my instructor was very helpful. He told me that he always has my back, that is why he allows me to assist in class, also that if a student doesn't come back because of something I would make them do, or say to them, they are not worth having in the school.

A meeting with offending parent might be in order, or maybe a general meeting with all parents explaining that they need to be quiet or leave. And if they do not want to do that, then they can take their child with them. It may be hard for smaller schools, but the instructor needs to be in control of the class, if the parents are watching the class and they are a distraction then it is not safe for class because the focus of the students should be the technique and instruction of the teacher. However, the rules need to be set first, embarassing a parent in front of class is not the first option, but the last, because their child is in the class and you do not want to embarass the kid because of the parents actions.

Yes, men fight women, women fight men, kids fight adults and vice versa. Each fight is a judgement call, if you are fighting a whitebelt then you need to fight according to their skill level. If you are a bigger person fighting a small person, then again you use your judgement. You do not want to break someone, but you do want to give them a challenge so that they can learn something. I have watched my instructor fight little kids, females and males and he fights some of the females harder than some of the males because he knows what the individual can do. The individual is more important than the gender, because that is what determines the intensity of the match. I am a 20 year old female and do not expect a male student to take me lightly just because I am a female otherwise, they will get run around the ring. It is one thing I have come to appreciate because I can more accurately judge the effectiveness of my skills.

We do several events throughout the year. Some small, some larger. Our biggest event is a picnic and it is outside of regular training, on a summer sunday. The event we have the most fun at is our sleepovers, they are a fundraiser for our karate charity, Project Action. We just had one on friday with 41 students under 12 and 23 staff/students over 12. It was a blast, it gives the younger kids and the newer students a chance to bond with each other and it also allows some of the older students the chance to interact with the kids. The events are always positive and fun, they create bonding activities and fun memories. They also break from the seriousness of the training and allow us all to cut loose. If you are uncomfortable about going to events then you may want to talk to your instructor about it, or maybe another student you are comfortable with. Even if you don't want to go for the entire duration, maybe you can go for an hour or so and see if you like it and if not you can leave but I think you may be surprised.

My instructor will never ask us to do something that he would not be able to do himself. He does his own workouts during the week when he has time, he may not look like a body builder but he is still very strong and fit. He does not usually join class for regular workouts, but for sparring he does the rounds with us, especially on promotion weeks, where there are 6 different classes, and each class spars for at least an hour with continuous 2-3 minute rounds. That is alot of rounds, so as you increase in rank you are encouraged to go to as many promotion classes as possible, to support the students but to also increase your endurance.

I have never missed class because of my monthly friend. Tampons are a great invention, accidents are something very rare among the women of the school, and very discreet. If it does happen, no one else is going to know about it. Our instructor is very understanding of everything after raising a young daughter. Also, it would be very difficult for the women at our school to miss class every month, and your road would be very long since part of qualification for promotion is attendance. More common than menstrual problems are those said by JJ, bladder problems with jumping jacks and other exercises.

It may just be a manner of experience, the owners of most good schools, and the men you see in the magazines, have many years of experience in the martial arts under them. However, few females have 20-30 years of experience. Hopefully, in the future, since more and more women are joining, and at least in my area, more and more are achieving higher levels of rank, that you will eventually see more women owners. However, there is also a bias in our society and many people, including some women, do not believe that women can teach martial arts or self-defense. I don't know if there is one thing that brings out the best in female students, but the rule in my school is that women are treated no differently than the males. In class, we are all karateka.