Days Of The Week!!

[sensei8]

Topic of discussion...

Which days of the week does your class attendance noticeably shrink? What reason(s) contribute to this??

For me, Wednesday and Friday night classes experience more shrinkage than the remaining days of the week.

Wednesday night is church night!! This, imho, has priority over Shindokan, and this, for me, is how I was raised; go to church without hesitation! So, for example, a normal 7pm intermediate adult group class will usually have in attendance 34 students. But not on Wednesday, I'll have 22 students in attendance. Children's 5pm intermediate group class will normally have 29 students in attendance, BUT, not on Wednesday! It'll average to be about 15 students in attendance.

Friday sparks the beginning of the weekend! Movies, dinner, visiting families and friends is the usual fare, with a sprinkle of sporting events, such as bowling, miniature golf, billiards and whatever else interests them! With the same parameters as mentioned in the Wednesday night numbers above, I'll have the adults drop down to 18 students in attendance, while the children will sink to a dismal 11 students in attendance!

I don't fight against it because I believe that it's a natural occurrence; it's acceptable, and I'm not going to even try to go against it in any shape, way, and form.

Whether there are 10 or 20 or 30 or just 1 student in attendance, I'm going to teach that class with the same fevor and intent! Those who want to train will train no matter the day of the week! I give respect to those who want to train and to those who don't, for whatever their reason(s) might or might not be! Students don't owe me any type of an explanation; it's their business, and not mine!! I'm cool with it, either way!

My students know when my dojo is and isn't open, as well as their class times! Be there....don't be there...it's their choice!!

[tallgeese]

We are pretty consistent on Monday and Wed. nights, with Monday being our biggest night reliably. This holds true in both the BJJ program and PTK. The big dump is Friday. We literally go to half as many on Friday. Saturday is only an AM class so we see a bit of an uptick, but we don't get back to Mon/Wed numbers, but it is better attended than Friday.

I also attribute this to the beginning of the weekend. The young kids want to go out, older people are usually doing family things. I likewise don't fight it, or fret it. Anymore.

When I first took over the program I really stressed it, then I realized all those people came back on Monday, if not Sat and no one was cancelling memberships.

[sensei8]

We are pretty consistent on Monday and Wed. nights, with Monday being our biggest night reliably. This holds true in both the BJJ program and PTK. The big dump is Friday. We literally go to half as many on Friday. Saturday is only an AM class so we see a bit of an uptick, but we don't get back to Mon/Wed numbers, but it is better attended than Friday.

I also attribute this to the beginning of the weekend. The young kids want to go out, older people are usually doing family things. I likewise don't fight it, or fret it. Anymore.

When I first took over the program I really stressed it, then I realized all those people came back on Monday, if not Sat and no one was cancelling memberships.

Solid post, Alex!!

Your last paragraph is the key to not panicking when the attendance isn't as one would like it! Why? And you said it quite well...they come back Monday!! They've a life outside of the MA, as that might not be what some instructors want to hear and/or admit to.

Glad you mentioned Saturday classes! At first, I tried to teach from 8am to 10pm, but for most of the time, I was quite by myself; a sprinkle here or there! So, I turned Saturday into a open-practice from 10am to 3pm for all ranks! The only formal class I hold on Saturday is kids of all ranks from 8am to 930am!! I was no longer lonely on Saturday.

Tweaking is a good thing!!

[Spartacus Maximus]

One trend that seems to be universal is a drop of attendance on Friday and Saturday nights. This is especially common if the student group are teenagers or of undergraduate age. At that age socializing takes up a large part of free time available. Only a small minority of students will be there at every single training session. This is usually the most dedicated students and the most serious.

[DWx]

Like you said, people have lives outside of the martial-arts so often they can't be there every night. Don't sweat it as they'll be back next week.

My instructor holds classes Mon - Fri pm and all morning Sat. They're also structured to grade so that has a big impact on who turns up. In my experience we actually see the reverse of you guys: Monday nights and Tuesday nights can sometimes be the worst attended whereas Friday night is popular. But I think this is in part due to the types of classes on offer over the week.

It's a shame Monday isn't better attended as the second hour is our weekly dedicated blackbelt session and it tends to be a sharing of ideas rather than structured class. Can go from 30 students down to <10 sometimes. Saturday is probably the busiest day but more for kids than adults. I would attribute that to us being located in the middle of town and parents leaving the kids so they can run errands. Our other busy day is Thursday as we have a dedicated sparring and fitness session in the second half so lots of adults turn up for circuit training and a kick around. Fridays are unusually busy, I think because there is a group of us that have always trained then so it tends to be a really good session.

[sensei8]

One trend that seems to be universal is a drop of attendance on Friday and Saturday nights. This is especially common if the student group are teenagers or of undergraduate age. At that age socializing takes up a large part of free time available. Only a small minority of students will be there at every single training session. This is usually the most dedicated students and the most serious.

Solid post....solid points!!

That's why I don't fight, and I teach my assistants as well, against that because socializing is a important part of growing up both in and OUT of the dojo!! For me to fight against a positive element in their lives in counterproductive across the board! Teach, not demand!!

[Nidan Melbourne]

For our adults it is the Friday Class as others have said it is because it is the start of the weekend. So they are wanting to go out for a night of fun with friends, family or whomever they are seeing

Junior it is our Saturday Classes, because of the time that they are in the morning so not many parents are wanting to get up early to take their kids to karate.

I teach the Saturday Classes and I love it how much smaller the classes are because it means i can focus more on the individual than the group

[Spartacus Maximus]

People who can or choose to dedicate all their free time to training are indeed very rare. The sacrifices and determination is admirable but it is important to know that the average student is, for one reason or another, unable or unwilling to make certain compromises.

Balancing work, socializing and family time is not a simple task and requires good organization skills. Everyone must deal with this including the instructor. That is why the best way to cope is to train and practise as much as you can, whenever you can.

[mazzybear]

We train on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. For me the worst attended is a Thursday, why? I don't know. Maybe because it's in a different hall in a neighbouring town, the class can drop by as much as half. I have to say though, it's actually my favourite class and that's because of the drop in numbers, I feel there's more time to concentrate on things people may be struggling with, more one to one time. Tuesdays seem to be our best attended, it's a no gi night and we work on fitness and conditioning, hard going sometimes but people seem to enjoy it.

Mo.

[Lupin1]

We've gradually reduced our schedule because people just didn't show up. We used to have adult class Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but at first no one was showing up on Thursday nights, so we cancelled that class, and then it started being my instructor all alone most Saturday mornings, so after his cancer diagnosis it wasn't worth it for him to hold that class any more. So now the adults meet only on Tuesdays. One of the main reasons I started attending the kids class is to get more training time in.

For the kids we have Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday is usually slightly better attended because that's when we usually spar (because there are more adults on hand to help) and that's a lot of the kids' favorite part.

We also used to hold classes year round, but in the summer no one would show up and it was a pain to open the club, which closes early in the summer, only to have no one show up. So now we only hold classes during the school year and break for the summers, though the adults meet at my instructor's house most Tuesday nights and practice for a bit in his driveway.

It leads to much slower progress, but it's a very small, free program, so you have to work with what you have.