Student Committment

[Slayer2004]

HI everyone,

After having a discussion with a member of my club I thought I would see what everyone else thought.

We were discussing the fact that students now days are not as committed or dedicated to training as they were say 10 years ago. Especially those who train in a martial art as I am sure people can agree a lot of students will start leaving when they start to get higher in rank/grade when it starts to get difficult and they actually have to start putting more work in.

As an instructor I always explain to my students the importance of not giving up when things get difficult, and how they should overcome problems rather than to walk away from them and ignore them entirely but I know this can sometimes fall on deaf ears.

Something an adult student of mine then said it was down to how we are as a society in general now, where children and even some adults no longer feel they even need to work for anything anymore as they will get what they want regardless.

He used a common event to give me his idea. he talked about the new "Black Ops" game that has come out and just asked how many people I knew, students and adults that had got it the day it was released. So I explained i knew a lot of people who had the game and then realised that I knew a lot of my younger students that regularly tell me that they have just got a new video game etc.

He then pointed out that when we were children for anything that expensive we would normally have had to work hard for it to raise money for it or had to wait for Birthdays or Christmas and that our parents would have had to work hard for it. Either way we were never getting something for nothing. Whereas a lot of my younger students are just being bought these games alone just because they are available and not out of reward but more necessity.

So we mutually agreed that this in a lot of ways is a major shift in expectations from people in general and that as a result people and students that are familiar with this background will put in less effort because they feel they should get what the next installment is because they just should not because they have to work for it.

Obviously you always have a few exceptions, a lot of my students work very hard but I wonder if anyone else has noticed this at all?

Thanks

[evergrey]

OSU,

Well, it's always easy to look to the past with rose-colored glasses. Nostalgia and the fact that we humans are constantly editing our own memories can really lend itself to this phenomenon.

However, I do think that we now live in the days of instant gratification. An age where people have an attitude of entitlement, and they are prone to throwing tantrums when they don't get just what they want, because what they are FAMILIAR with is being handed things. Humans fear the unknown more than anything else.

And, why learn how to play the guitar when you can play guitar hero? Why read a book to learn about a subject in-depth when you can just look it up on Wikipedia? Why learn about the town you live in when you can just fire up the GPS?

Some of these advancements are good, but we also have to look at what we are losing in the process.

I do think that overall people are less willing to work hard. Working hard is no longer normal for a lot of people. Our concept, as a society, of working hard, has shifted quite a bit. Unless we're really forced into it, we're not going to do it.

But there are also still people who crave it. And there always will be. Try to inspire all students, yes! But take note of the ones who give 110%. They are the ones who will stick around. And they are the ones who will realize that up to black belt is just prep school, and the real work begins at shodan! That's... what I've been told anyway. ;}

But yeah, my sensei has a kid. His kid is spoiled. Pretty much is able to get whatever he wants, even if it causes a hardship for his parent. He throws a fit when he doesn't get what he wants, easily, and right away.

He is now attending compulsory Kyokushin classes... at age 11, in the adult class. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Hopefully it's not too late to save him.

[christoh]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

- Chris

[Nevinyrral]

I think students motivation depends on their personal goals, and why they actualy started training.

For example I started training because I want to become stronger, get higher belts if possible, make new friends, and what is most important for me- spend time in fun and enjoyable way.

[ps1]

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be...

- Chris

[sensei8]

I've noticed that students today strive and push and drive and train and whatever else that's necessary to reach THEIR own personal goals. In the martial arts, the ending goal is for the laymen is the black belt. Once that is attained, they move on to something else!! Their black belt was their goal, and now that it's been attained....mission accomplished!!

Students of today, imho, seem to have it in their minds that multiple Dan rankings are for only the career minded martial artist, not for the laymen black belt.

[Montana]

HI everyone,

After having a discussion with a member of my club I thought I would see what everyone else thought.

We were discussing the fact that students now days are not as committed or dedicated to training as they were say 10 years ago. Especially those who train in a martial art as I am sure people can agree a lot of students will start leaving when they start to get higher in rank/grade when it starts to get difficult and they actually have to start putting more work in.

As an instructor I always explain to my students the importance of not giving up when things get difficult, and how they should overcome problems rather than to walk away from them and ignore them entirely but I know this can sometimes fall on deaf ears.

Something an adult student of mine then said it was down to how we are as a society in general now, where children and even some adults no longer feel they even need to work for anything anymore as they will get what they want regardless.

He used a common event to give me his idea. he talked about the new "Black Ops" game that has come out and just asked how many people I knew, students and adults that had got it the day it was released. So I explained i knew a lot of people who had the game and then realised that I knew a lot of my younger students that regularly tell me that they have just got a new video game etc.

He then pointed out that when we were children for anything that expensive we would normally have had to work hard for it to raise money for it or had to wait for Birthdays or Christmas and that our parents would have had to work hard for it. Either way we were never getting something for nothing. Whereas a lot of my younger students are just being bought these games alone just because they are available and not out of reward but more necessity.

So we mutually agreed that this in a lot of ways is a major shift in expectations from people in general and that as a result people and students that are familiar with this background will put in less effort because they feel they should get what the next installment is because they just should not because they have to work for it.

Obviously you always have a few exceptions, a lot of my students work very hard but I wonder if anyone else has noticed this at all?

Thanks

You sir, are 100% CORRECT! Of course there are exceptions, but the youth of today is totally into instant gratification. They have instant food (McD's), instant movies (download from the net or get them instantly from the TV, etc), instant communications (cell phones), instant "fun" (video games)...basically, everything is "right now...GOTTA HAVE IT RIGHT NOW!!!"

Many martial artists today expect instant gratification. "We want our belts, and we want them now!" mentality. And it's going to get worse I suspect.

[ptr]

Yes - but if you think about it, this has been around for generations. After all, didn't the colored belts system get introduced (at the end of the 18th century) because students didn't like spending 10 years with a white belt, until they moved to black ? And didn't this go on and on over the years, adding more colors and stripes, so that students can now get a new rank every few months ?

[Montana]

Yes - but if you think about it, this has been around for generations. After all, didn't the colored belts system get introduced (at the end of the 18th century) because students didn't like spending 10 years with a white belt, until they moved to black ? And didn't this go on and on over the years, adding more colors and stripes, so that students can now get a new rank every few months ?

Not really. The belt system had nothing to do with with students not liking to be a white belt for 10 years. The belt system was introduced to show the progression of skills (theoretically anyway) and time spent in the arts, not to gratify the students.

[brickshooter]

Funny, but back in the 80s, the old shool guys used to tell us the same thing. "It was much tougher back in the '60s and 70s."

Personally, I see better athletes nowadays. But the level of toughness isn't the same as it was in the past. In the 80s, I trained with bikers and cops. And I was a young teenager back then!

Seems like martial arts folks are getting younger and younger. And it's not just because I'm getting older.