Martial Arts is from my experience one of those hobbies/pasttimes you need complete constant dedication to do. Some students can be casual which is fine, but there are the few who are always striving to improve.

As for the green belt dropout well that's a new one on me, I understand that Martial Arts takes time, practice and patience/ Unfortunately most people expect to improve greatly in a short time. Doesn't work like that I'm afraid.

+1 on this answer. Its too much work for most folks to continue.

Martial Arts is from my experience one of those hobbies/pasttimes you need complete constant dedication to do. Some students can be casual which is fine, but there are the few who are always striving to improve.

As for the green belt dropout well that's a new one on me, I understand that Martial Arts takes time, practice and patience/ Unfortunately most people expect to improve greatly in a short time. Doesn't work like that I'm afraid.

+1 on this answer. Its too much work for most folks to continue.

I still struggle with certain things and I've been at it for 6 years. Also, outside sources can be a HUGE influence as well for example back in 2010, the Karate Kid reboot came out and I feel that had contributed greatly to the rise of students in our former dojo. Afterwards when the hype dies down, they leave. i.e casuals

That's what distances me and my training partners from the casuals. Thankfully I've had a keen interest in the martial arts since I was tiny. Things like that keep you going on strong. No amount of naysaying or bordom can get rid of that 'instinct' you have and it develops itself over time. It will never diminish.

Martial Arts is from my experience one of those hobbies/pasttimes you need complete constant dedication to do. Some students can be casual which is fine, but there are the few who are always striving to improve.

As for the green belt dropout well that's a new one on me, I understand that Martial Arts takes time, practice and patience/ Unfortunately most people expect to improve greatly in a short time. Doesn't work like that I'm afraid.

+1 on this answer. Its too much work for most folks to continue.

I still struggle with certain things and I've been at it for 6 years. Also, outside sources can be a HUGE influence as well for example back in 2010, the Karate Kid reboot came out and I feel that had contributed greatly to the rise of students in our former dojo. Afterwards when the hype dies down, they leave. i.e casuals

That's what distances me and my training partners from the casuals. Thankfully I've had a keen interest in the martial arts since I was tiny. Things like that keep you going on strong. No amount of naysaying or bordom can get rid of that 'instinct' you have and it develops itself over time. It will never diminish.

Absolutely right, if I ever have a bad day at the club yes I might get discouraged and a bit annoyed/upset, but more likely than not I still end up going the day after, like you say if you have the passion nothing kills it =D

Martial Arts is from my experience one of those hobbies/pasttimes you need complete constant dedication to do. Some students can be casual which is fine, but there are the few who are always striving to improve.

As for the green belt dropout well that's a new one on me, I understand that Martial Arts takes time, practice and patience/ Unfortunately most people expect to improve greatly in a short time. Doesn't work like that I'm afraid.

+1 on this answer. Its too much work for most folks to continue.

I still struggle with certain things and I've been at it for 6 years. Also, outside sources can be a HUGE influence as well for example back in 2010, the Karate Kid reboot came out and I feel that had contributed greatly to the rise of students in our former dojo. Afterwards when the hype dies down, they leave. i.e casuals

That's what distances me and my training partners from the casuals. Thankfully I've had a keen interest in the martial arts since I was tiny. Things like that keep you going on strong. No amount of naysaying or bordom can get rid of that 'instinct' you have and it develops itself over time. It will never diminish.

Absolutely right, if I ever have a bad day at the club yes I might get discouraged and a bit annoyed/upset, but more likely than not I still end up going the day after, like you say if you have the passion nothing kills it =D

100% spot on my friend, funny you say that because last Saturday I was a bit stressed when sparring and felt it was a let down. Today however was vastly superior so as you say, even us Karateka have our bad days but it's never enough to put us down. You learn from it and move on.

That to me is what a true Martial artist is.

This is a pretty funny thread. As I recalled, green is when we put pads on people and get them into sparing. Then after getting punched in the face, roughly 1/2 stop showing up.

This is a pretty funny thread. As I recalled, green is when we put pads on people and get them into sparing. Then after getting punched in the face, roughly 1/2 stop showing up.

HHHmmmm interesting observation, I can see what you are saying, some people forget that it's not just Katas and fitness..................

This is a pretty funny thread. As I recalled, green is when we put pads on people and get them into sparing. Then after getting punched in the face, roughly 1/2 stop showing up.

When I was white belt I had the "buddy that invited me to go to class" taught me a good lesson in keeping my hands up. He would aim for the top of my head. Not really hard yet enough to be annoying and feel it. There were a few shots that hit me in the face. Its part of karate. If you can't block you are going to get hit.

As for people quitting it seems to be loss of interest, loss of time, too much repeats of the basics. Some people just want to learn how to beat people up quickly and when they learn it takes time they go to a faster route. Then there are the people that think they should be higher belt before they are ready to be and quit because they are advancing to slow especially at green belt level. (Green in my school is right before brown.) Even if its half way or less it should be a good sign of progression if you can get past this rank since normally at this point the grading is extremely harder than before.

I graduated 7'th kuy this weekend and this topic is something that i have been thinking of. Because this is exactly what is happening in our dojo, or seems to have atleast.

From my observations it seems that most of those that takes the classes "to have something to do" or "for the fun of it" will start to drop out.

In our dojo, this and especially from 6 --> 5'th kyu is where people vanish. Some of my classmates kids aswell as adults (our classes are rank based) are starting to doubt. Because it is now demanding a lot more agility, focus and studying. Seems like they are realizing that the future ranks is an achivement instead of just something you get for showing up.

You must starting to show the understanding and execution of proper stances, kime and hip usage.

Of course i'm sorry to see people drop out, but honestly - it's better when we're all there because we want to learn, study and improve - mentally and physically instead of just "having fun twice a week".