Importance of Web Presence for MA Schools

[Shorinryu Sensei]

shorinryu sensei, what you do is great, I went to a Korean MA class for one month, yesterday they sent me a letter ,they offered 3 options 1- blue belt for around $1000 2-brown belt $2000 3- black belt for around $3500, each belt test around $50 ,shodan test $200 or $300. of cource they have bills to pay i underestand but i just don't feel comfortable.

 

Comfortable? Man, I'd say "Are you kidding me?" and be leaving skid marks from my tennies on the way out the door! More expensive does not mean better! Especailly if it's TKD because you can walk around the corner and find another dojo teaching the same exact thing almost.

[DLopez]

I'm not a fan of commercialized dojo's that are in it for the money. 1) They tend to sacrifice quality for quanity. Since I don't care about money from my teaching (that's why I'm so broke all the time I guess), 2) I think I turn out a quality student because I demand a certain from them.

 

Having a lot of students does not equate to poor quality of teaching. Students don't need one-on-one training 100% of the time. Spend some time teaching them and then let them practice what they learned on their own. You can monitor them, sure, but they will generally not get new techniques down perfectly right away, so why watch them like a hawk ready to let them know at every instance when they're not doing it perfectly? This teaching style lends itself to having many students as you can deal with the questions as they arise while they're practicing, and periodically correct mistakes as you observe. But you must let them learn on their own for a bit so they can gain confidence in what they're doing.

 

As for demanding a certain amount from your students, the size of the group should have no bearing on that. IMHO, what makes an instructor appear to be a "quality" one is the end result of the students - do the students "get it"? Well, most of that is up to the students and how hard they apply themselves. If any student doesn't want to try very hard, then it will only take them that much longer to advance (while still paying tuition! ).

 

But ultimately, it is up to the students to work at becomming their best, not the instructor. The instructor only shows them how to do it, but the students must do it for themselves.

[Shane]

MA School web sites I think are a wonderful tool for people looking for schools, they can view photos and read a little bit about the school. Of course you cant determine how good a school is by its web site but it might help you decide if you want to go visit that school or not