How do you accomodate new bees?

[koreantiger81]

It may be quite intimidating for a student to attend their first class. Kids are often afraid and some adults also feel this intimidation of attending their first martial arts class. So how does your do jo accomdate new bees so they have a pleasant first class?

 

Here are some ideas i've seen:

 

1) Some schools start off with the student by giving him/her private lessons. In these private lessons, studio ettiquette is taught and what to expect for their first formal group lesson.

 

2) Some schools have classes only for beginners.

[benedictbm]

Our school has what we call "intros". This is where a leadership team memeber takes the student off to the side and conducts a lesson while the class is going on. This lesson includes all the basics they will need to know. We do this so they are comfortable with the material and so they can see what they will be doing.

[LeaF]

For the adults there are beginner classes to help intergrate them into the school. As for the children they are taken of to the side with an assistant while the class is going on. For the first few classes this will happen, and they will learn all the skills need to become part of the main class

[tessone]

Our studio is small enough that a black belt or senior color belt just takes the student off to the side and helps them get started. Often it's as simple as getting them started on a few basic kicks (front snap kick, side kick, crescent kick) and have them practice those along with the class. When the established students move on to other kicks, the new student just keeps working at those three.

 

As for techniques and forms, everyone's usually working on something for their next belt, so the white belt just starts learning their first technique and the first part of the white belt form.

[SaiFightsMS]

We run on a quarter system so that new students start together. And they are taken off together as a group with a sempai who teaches them the basics and helps them learn how class runs. At first they stay off to the side for all of the class learning new things then they gradually are integrated into class.

[G95champ]

1. First of all they watch one class before they can start. This tells me a lot. If they set and watch and are intrested it means they are going to take it serious. If they are restless and goofing off then I question if they really want to be here.

 

2. The first day the train. I will put a student in charge of the main class. He or she willl go over simple moves and combos. This gives them some needed work teaching and lets me work one on one with the new person.

 

3. The last half of class I will take over and bring the class together to do kata, spar, SD, etc. In each situation the new person can basically hop right in with everyone else and go at their own speed. While I am free to move from person to person as needed.

[hobbitbob]

At both places where I train, new students are asked to observe one or more classes, in order to get some idea of what they will be attempting. Then, for about the first month, they are separated out with other beginners and work on rudimentary technique. After about a month they join the regular class.

[ZeRo]

on my first lesson i was taken away from the class and taught how to do breakfalls. then i joined in as they did SD and other stuff.

[three60roundhouse]

In my school everyone gets a free intro lesson before they even try a group class (and they get a month of these for free and a uniform). The head instructor does these intros most of the time; occasionally the second instructor will do it. They do the very basics in this lesson. The kids and adults get this. In the adult classes there are only maybe 30 people in the program total, white belt to black, so we do integrated classes. There are many more children, so we have beginner (white belt), intermediate (yellow-orange), advanced (some more advanced orange-blue) and expert (green-junior black) for the kids.

[DeeperMeaning]

In first classes (when a whole new group, eg kids, are joining), I accomodate them by introducing them to eachothers and to older students as well. I tell them what are they going to learn and how, and then do some warm-up, if it's young kids we're talking about, some games can help (when I say games it's games where you have to run, crawl, etc, gym-like stuff).

 

The most important of all is to develop a group spirit, IMHO.