black belt attrition?

[ocdavis]

Ottman: Well put.

KSN Doug: I wish I lived closer to Houston.

[SBN Doug]

frightmaster, you are of course correct. But it is another thing to get it accross to 'some' teens.

ocdavis, I lived in Southington, CT for 7 years until I moved back to Houston 2 yrs ago. I feel your pain.

What part of the state are you in? You might be commutable to my old dojang just past Danbury.

[ocdavis]

KSN Doug: I'm in the Danbury area. I train in Brookfield. Where was your dojang? What did you like about it?

ocdavis

[SBN Doug]

That'll get us too far off topic. I'll send you a PM.

[jplopez]

What I notice from some of them is that they ask more from the Sensei and they do not want to help teaching the color belts. Some BB do not want to practice basic techniques and they loose interest with basic techniques. It seems to me that they do not want to practice with the color belts. That is sad.

As a BB one of your responsibilities is to teach others. I notice this on my self as I teach I also learn from the color belts.

[Montana]

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.

If their motivation is for rank only, then they're in the art for the wrong reason anyway. You need to be in the arts to learn and progress, not get belts.

About 10 years ago I went to the local TKD dojang to invite them to a "All Style" tournament. Normally they only competed within their opwn system.

About 5 BB's and a dozen or so colored belts came (out of over 100 students they had), including the instructor and at the end of the tournament their trophy count was zero.

Basically, in sparring they had no concept of how to use or defend against hand attacks, and they found their kicks were pretty easily defended against. In kata, theres were found to be lacking in power, speed and strong technique and were judged poorly.

2 of the BB's came and joined my dojo for a short time and 3 of the colored belts. None of them stayed more than a few months because what they were learning from my system was totally alien to them and went against nearly everything they had been taught ibn their TKD class. They couldn't, and wouldn't, adjust and adapt.

Anyway, I think a lot of students leave ANY dojo for another because they are looking for somnething more than what they are currently doing/learning. One system isn't for everybody.

[chiliphil1]

I found that once I got my black belt there was an end of the road feeling. At the school I was going to there is not alot of opportunity for advanced training, once you make the rank you pretty much become an officer so to speak. At that point your training stops, and you are just an instructor at that point, which don't get me wrong, is fine, I enjoyed teaching the classes, especially the juniors where they had real drive to do well, but at this point there was nothing for you. The only requirement to go from 1st to 2nd dan was one kata. There was no training in advanced kata, weapons, or anything else. I left because I felt like I would have been better off staying a green belt because then I fit in with the class, I was able to take the class instead of leading it, and so on. One thing to understand when you become a black belt, at least in my school was that you already know everything that is going to happen in class, you know every move, every kata, every single thing that they are going to do, and after a short while it gets boring. I know that studying the basics is fundamental but when you have been doing them for years and can do them in your sleep, you want to learn something new..

[bushido_man96]

If there is nothing for you to do as a black belt, then that is the fault of your instructor for not preparing a curriculum for you. He should at least have a class set aside for high ranks to work out together to push each other. But, as you do get higher in rank, it becomes more of you pushing yourself on then leaning on an instructor to do it as much as he can with colored belts.

[chiliphil1]

If there is nothing for you to do as a black belt, then that is the fault of your instructor for not preparing a curriculum for you. He should at least have a class set aside for high ranks to work out together to push each other. But, as you do get higher in rank, it becomes more of you pushing yourself on then leaning on an instructor to do it as much as he can with colored belts.

agreed, and that is exactly my point, the " high rank" class is green belt and up, so there is no advanced training in there. I also agree that at this point you must push yourself, and therein lies the reason i left, why drive over to the school for nothing when I can do it all at home? I have spent a few years out of it now, and am coming back, but I really don't feel that I need to go to the dojo as there is nothing there for me, as far as my training at this point, I feel that I can do on my own more than I will get there, and if I were to go back to a school it would be in a different art.

[bluelight87]

I understand what you mean. I’ve seen the same thing.I’ve gone to the same academy I’ve gone to since I started but seen what you see. Very talented black belts leaving the school. And like you I feel sadden by it knowing I could’ve learned so much from them.

Reasons I’v seen people leave

1. Friends. Some people who leave the academy also cause other students to leave the academy because he/she was friends with the person who left and felt after that person left, there was no one else to work with/friend with.

2. Boredom. Some people get tired of Taekwondo and feel they learned enough and decide to try other martial arts or other sports.

3. Quality/reputation of the school. Some students leave because a head instructor got replaced with someone that didn’t have the Taekwondo teaching credentials thus leaving students feeling like the lessons are not worth their money.

4. Money. Martial arts isn’t free.

5. Not learning as fast. Some students feel that he/she isn’t learning anything new so they decide to leave.