continuing martial arts training in college???

[Wa-No-Michi]

Quite a few of my students who started with me at a young age have gone off to uni, only to come back to tell similar stories.

I think the problem with Uni clubs is that they can be quite transitory in this respect - in that the longest a student is going to train with them is 3-4 years.

The problem with this, is that both student and teacher work to this end. Ultimately you end up in the position that DWx describes where the student is happy to be left alone, and teacher is happy to oblige.

I am not sure that does anyone any good in the long term, and it takes a very special calibre of teacher to avoid this.

I think Bushi's point is valid, and you have to be open minded in this respect, but also I don't think you can blame a student who has spent years trying adopt the methods and principles of their instructor, only to be presented with a different set and ask them to adapt. Particularly if the are close to what you are used to but still not the same.

Arguably it becomes easier to train with a group that does their ma similar to yours (but not quite), when you have a full grounding in your way of doing things. With no disrespect to DWx or the topic starter, you are not going to have that grounding at University age (even if you are due to test for your 3 degree).

So, unless you fall into a group that is identical to your own (which is unlikely) or come across an exception instructor who teaches a style vaguely comparable to yours (which is even more unlikely at a Uni club), I would go for something completely different.

My latest student to go off to uni has started training at a kendo club. He emailed me recently saying how much he was enjoying it and how many similarities he was finding in it to karate.

So thats a positive experience I would say, whereas training with a sensei who just lets you get on with it, is rather negative by comparison.

WNM

[Kempohands]

Wa-No-Michi's discussion of instructors is very relevant to your search for training opportunities at college. I was fortunate enough to find a club which has as its instructor a fantastic martial arts teacher. He understands that I have over a decade of previous training and also sees that I am enthusiastically open to learning a new system from the very beginning, and so he does an excellent job balancing corrections and nuanced instruction of how I should be doing things within their system and allowing certain details and habits to go. For example, he works relentlessly with me to help me become more relaxed in order to blend better with attacks when practicing aiki-based self-defense, but allows me to use my fan block as opposed to their system's equivalent during more hard karate striking based self-defense because they each have the same effect and I am already so programmed into the parry I learned 9 or 10 years ago.

I think in order for this transitory period, as Wa-No-Michi so correctly calls it, to be a successful training period, all parties involved must be open minded. A good number of students in the Karate Club at my school have had previous training, but we all fall into the system we're now learning during the club classes. This is so easy to do because the instructor is just as open to learning as he is to teaching, and so we can all accept his instruction knowing that he'll let little details (which can be the hardest habits to break!) go once in a while, and will be more than willing to listen to and learn from our experiences in other arts.

Good luck in your search. I hope you find a great teacher more than anything else, regardless of the style he or she teaches!

[DWx]

Totally agree with you on this WNM. To be honest though I would prefer it if I did get taught something instead of having to just go through my moves. I go to class to learn something and not practice on my own, I can do that in my own time. I think because it is mainly beginners/intermediate colour belts, it just gets assumed that I can already do the stuff so I sort of get ignored.

Anyway twistkick kid, if there is a club, try it out and see how you like it. If you do then train there, if you don't just means you might have to look at a different style to continue your MA sudies.

[Sensei_Suzy]

Why not start your own club? I taught karate for 2 years before even starting college (I recently decided to focus on being a karate student rather than a teacher) but I found that I gained a lot more knowledge in teaching a class than I did in simply taking one. Beginners often have the best questions, and if you are the teacher you are forced to examine something you may have otherwise not thought about.

I would find a school that makes you happy in academics, see what they have for clubs, and if you don't find one that suits your fancy...make one.

[bushido_man96]

I think Bushi's point is valid, and you have to be open minded in this respect, but also I don't think you can blame a student who has spent years trying adopt the methods and principles of their instructor, only to be presented with a different set and ask them to adapt. Particularly if the are close to what you are used to but still not the same.

WNM

No, you can't blame a student for wanting to find something that is familiar. I just kind of get a chuckle when they find something similar, but too different fot their liking, and then just find something that is completely different in the end. And that is not a bad thing at all. It is just kind of quirky to me in the way they get to the end result.

I was in a similar setting when I moved to go to college. My only experience in the MAs to that point was in ATA TKD, and I was a 2nd dan, certified instructor, and taught students ranging from 4 year old kids to a 78 year old former pro Boxer. When I moved to go to college, I fell in with another TKD stylist for a time, before I finally fell in with my current TKD school. I actually got started in my current TKD school when a friend of mine and I were over playing racquetball in the Phys Ed department. There was a TKD class in the dance room, and they were just finishing up. I spoke with the instructor, and he mentioned that the class was available as a credit. So by the next semester, I was into it, and learning a whole new set of forms, one-steps, and class format. In the end, I am happy with the change that I have made, for the most part. And have worked my way back up the ranks, now as a 3rd dan, and again an instructor. So, for me, the experience has been a positive one.

[twistkick kid]

I'd love to start my own club... I'm not certified to be an instructor, though. When I go look at colleges this summer, I will ask about different clubs on campus and try to get in contact with the instructors.

I'm more than willing to try something completely different if the opportunity presents itself, and I'm eager to broaden my knowledge base in TKD.

thanks for all your input guys

[Espina]

I'm getting my Engineering degree next week, and let me tell you something: it is possible to practice a martial art and go to college . I'm the living example and I'm sure there are many more (In fact, one of my teachers is a third dan karate black belt)

Just bear in mind that this demands a lot of time an discipline from you, since you have to give your best in school as well as in the Dojo.

Since you already have a black belt in your waist, you should have a really good background for practicing other martial arts. Remember that you can always go back to TKD anytime you want, but I recommend the experience of practicing another martial arts (as other people here suggested). You won't "forget" your TKD, nor diminish your TKD training for practicing another MA, I think that what will happen is just the opposite: you'll grow as a martial artist and will have the opportunity to expand your knowledge.

I wish you the best of lucks in your college and in your martial arts.

[tallgeese]

Don't stress too much about not being certified as an instructor for the purposes of running a club while at school. My experience is that these are pretty loose knit groups, if you're not ranking people then your organization probably won't care, or know.

Generally, these things tend to come together over a group of friends or similarly minded ma-ist meeting to train on their off time. Slowly, a few others join in and suddenly, you have a club.

[Wa-No-Michi]

Starting your own club is fine, but I guess this is why so many college/uni club's instruction is what it is....transitory.

Also you are at uni/college ...imo you should explore - have fun - learn rather than teach.

Make the most of it I would say. You will have plenty of time for teaching later.

WNM

[DWx]

I personally wouldn't start a club myself... too much hassle when your trying to just be a student. I don't know how your american college system works but if I started a club at my uni over here in the UK I'd have to go through the uni's sports union & everything would get too bureaucratic for my liking. Plus you don't really want to tie yourself down too much (especially in the 1st year) & have people relying on you to turn up to each session without fail... 9am deadlines & nights out will guarentee you'll miss a few sessions a term!