black belt attrition?

[taekwondomom]

Any thoughts on the reasons black belts might leave a school?

Several of the black belts I admire, including one head teacher, have left our school recently. I feel very badly about this. I just got my brown belt and feel the need for serious mentoring.

If you're a black belt and have left one school for another, or just left TKD altogether, can you tell me about it?

On the other hand, if you've stayed, what makes you want to stay at your school?

[Spirit At Choice]

Did they quite the discipline, or did they just quit that school. Black belts are the highest drop-out rate of all ranks. For some people that bb is held as this magnificent goal, and when they get there they lose their drive because they feel like they've reached the pinnacle of the mountain.

That's one reason why I try to look at every step of the journey. If I were to look at the black belt as being the end, the high point, there would be sort of a let down when I get there... like, what now??? I find it's better to train for the love of training and let my teachers worry about my rank.

[Spirit At Choice]

Oh, yeah... if they just switched shchools, is there any chance they just stopped feeling challenged at your dojang?

[karatekid1975]

I don't know why, but the only reason I can think of is that my school is kinda expensive (it is and it's not). In this area, you get what you pay for, but my dojang is expensive. But then again, it's the only decent place around. Except where my friend teaches, but it's an hour away (she owns a sister school).

[MartialArthur]

The training becomes progressively more difficult and the advancement slows WAY down. Instead of waiting months for a new rank, you start having to wait for years. This can make it hard to stay motivated.

Only the truly motivated stick with it after a while.

[tufrthanu]

Well at my former school several people left for various reasons. Alot just didn't want to do it anymore...either because they viewed black belt as the end of the road or because they got burned out. Some left because the head instructor didn't do somethings that maybe he should have done...that's why I left. Others left for monetary reasons. BTW I don't know how anyone can say that black belt has the highest drop out of ranks. Most people drop around yellow or green belt. The only case I could see for black belt being the highest drop out is if you count people that are too sick, poor or dead to continue. As such since black belt is the last rank most people will eventually drop away.

[hammer]

I can think of several possible reasons, mainly because these don't happen at the club I go to:

- Lack of opportunities for advancement, which IMO would be a problem if the head instructor was not a minimum rank of 4th Dan

- Too many teaching responsibilities and not enough opportunities to get in good rank-appropriate workouts

- Lack of variety (e.g., no weapons classes, no forms clinics or special workouts)

As a 1st Dan, I tend to think that a lot of my training has just started...I certainly don't think for a moment that I've reached the "end of the road". Also, the rank progressions do slow down, but one thing that I've found about being a BB is that I don't think as much about promotions as I did as a colored belt.

If several BBs leave a school suddenly, I'd suspect some kind of disagreement with the head instructor...is there any way that you could approach the head instructor about this? There may not be a problem, but if there was, I'd think the head instructor would be willing to explain it so that you don't get discouraged and consider leaving the school...

[stoneheart]

To be frank, many instructors have nothing more to teach their black belt students. This is especially true if the instructor only mastered the PHYSICAL aspects of training and thus lacks the true understanding of martial arts. I've been around some highly ranked individuals. Some were very impressive, others not so much.

The impressive ones all had delved into the mental and energy aspects of training, realizing that therein lay the ultimate path.

[IcemanSK]

Among the reasons listed, I would add the "grass is greener" syndrome I've seen in teenage BB's. It goes, "I got my BB in this art, what else is out there?"

I left my 1st school when my instructor sold it. I went to meet the new guy & talk w/ him. One of the 1st things he said to me was, "Master X taught you the wrong way. I'm going to teach you the right way." Needless to say, I never went back. A Dale Carnegie grad, he was not.

My 2nd instructor lied about his connection to an organization. (I found out years later after testing that my rank was invalid). His brother-in-law took over to try to run a legit school. Since I was a peer of the BIL, I needed to move on.

The sad thing is BB is often touted as "the end-all of MA training." Its hard to motivate some folks to see past it.

[Spirit At Choice]

BTW I don't know how anyone can say that black belt has the highest drop out of ranks. Most people drop around yellow or green belt.

It's hearsay, to be honest. But right now there are only two black belts at our dojo (five if you count the three family members who own/run the school). I'll hazard a guess that there are 30 - 40 adults and teens enrolled. We have a whole slew of brown belts right now. I'll be interested to see how many of them actively train after they have the Holy Grail of Martial Arts wrapped around their waists.