# sigh



## satans.barber (Mar 3, 2004)

Well, although I saw this coming a mile off, my instructor has finally quit the martial arts for good tonight. 

For the second time in 12 months I (and 2 others) were asked to either take over the running of the club immediately, or the club closes immediately. Only this time, it's not standing in for 12 months it's permanent.

That means I'm no longer a stand in, or a replacement, or some sort of temp I'm going to have to learn to be one of three proper instructors, Sensei Atkinson; though many people would say I'm not old enough or experienced enough to hold the position. And, I now officially have no instructor of my own, no-one to teach me or give me advice. Sadly, when he told me, I started ranting because it upset me. I started ranting about the state of the crappy 'association' we're meant to be in (which is a joke), and then I started ranting about parts of the style. He told me that it was Phil Cawood's style, I said it was Ed Parkers style and then he told me that Ed Parker's Kenpo is a lot slower and less effective that Kempo Ryu!? What? Where did that crap come from? Anyway I was getting angry by this point so I just shut up; let him think what he wants.

At times like this, it's pretty easy to give up. Along with all the other crap going on in my life now I've got this to deal with. It'd be easy to be selfish and say OK, I can't cope with this, close it and have done with it I don't need hte pressure, but I aren't. It isn't just me, there's three of us, but with two shift workers with families to look after as well as full time jobs, I feel like the onus is still on me a bit. I don't want to be selfish, I have 20 odd students to consider as well as the spread of Kenpo in Britain, not just me. My father is a selfish, self-centred bastard and I'm trying as hard as I can not to turn into him. So, perseveering time.

I don't really believe in karma but if I did hopefully this means something nice will happen to me in the future? You never know...

:asian:

Ian.


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## Old Fat Kenpoka (Mar 3, 2004)

Ian:  this is a bummer.  My school changed hands 3 times before it closed.  Running a school takes a lot of time and commitment.  

So, you have several options...
1) try and keep the school open yourself...
2) find someone else to run it...
3) let the school close and train Kenpo at someone's house or other free/public place...
4) go train under someone else...

good luck.


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## Goldendragon7 (Mar 3, 2004)

Old Fat Kenpoka said:
			
		

> Ian:  this is a bummer.  My school changed hands 3 times before it closed.  Running a school takes a lot of time and commitment.
> 
> So, you have several options...
> 1) try and keep the school open yourself...
> ...




All good possibilities.........


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## tshadowchaser (Mar 3, 2004)

I have to agree with the choices given. Or you can do a combination of them. Keep the school open and also find someone to train with.
I am not sure of your rank or the rank and experence of the other gentelmen. If you have knowledge to give give it. If you find someone to train you make damn sure thy know your situation and agree to let you teach while you learn.
Best of luck on this one and keep us informed


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## don bohrer (Mar 3, 2004)

Ian,

Sounds like your not ready to throw in the towel just yet. How many hours is the school operating right now. Perhaps we could help you come up with a new schedule that would allow you to keep running and not loose your sanity. You mentioned two individuals that could help? Are they reliable enough to each handle one day by themselves?

don


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## Rainman (Mar 3, 2004)

satans.barber said:
			
		

> Well, although I saw this coming a mile off, my instructor has finally quit the martial arts for good tonight.
> 
> For the second time in 12 months I (and 2 others) were asked to either take over the running of the club immediately, or the club closes immediately. Only this time, it's not standing in for 12 months it's permanent.
> 
> ...



Piss on these people!  Go for it- you have more info and are more accepting of new information than a lot of people.   Run it yourself you have all of us to ask your questions to!  This is your oppertunity to excell and really push yourself.  What R U made of?!  If someone hands you 20 students it is their loss and your gain, make the best of it Ian you can do it!  Of course seek guidance somewhere down the line- you are overseas but communication with a web cam and whoever you choose to confide in should make it cost effective.  GO FOR IT YOU CAN DO IT!!!


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## 8253 (Mar 4, 2004)

satans.barber said:
			
		

> Well, although I saw this coming a mile off, my instructor has finally quit the martial arts for good tonight.
> 
> For the second time in 12 months I (and 2 others) were asked to either take over the running of the club immediately, or the club closes immediately. Only this time, it's not standing in for 12 months it's permanent.
> 
> ...



Just do what you feel in your heart.


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## pete (Mar 4, 2004)

satans.barber said:
			
		

> ... though many people would say I'm not old enough or experienced enough to hold the position.



to thine own self be true... 



			
				satans.barber said:
			
		

> ...And, I now officially have no instructor of my own, no-one to teach me or give me advice.



get thyself to a master, in kenpo or another ma.  one who teaches universal principles, one you can trust, so you can continue to explore and improve and enhance your kenpo for yourself and for your students.



			
				satans.barber said:
			
		

> ...I don't really believe in karma but if I did hopefully this means something nice will happen to me in the future?



Do what you need to do for yourself for the present, and the future will take care of itself...  if you do it out of responsibility felt towards your students and country, well, you may come to resent the situation. but, if you do it for yourself, with confidence and gusto, then it will benefit all...

truly, my best wishes for your success, regardless of your decision...

pete


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## someguy (Mar 4, 2004)

Good luck


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## jeffkyle (Mar 4, 2004)

Rainman said:
			
		

> Piss on these people!  Go for it- you have more info and are more accepting of new information than a lot of people.   Run it yourself you have all of us to ask your questions to!  This is your oppertunity to excell and really push yourself.  What R U made of?!  If someone hands you 20 students it is their loss and your gain, make the best of it Ian you can do it!  Of course seek guidance somewhere down the line- you are overseas but communication with a web cam and whoever you choose to confide in should make it cost effective.  GO FOR IT YOU CAN DO IT!!!



I totally agree Ian!  This could turn out to be a great opportunity.  Some people look for an opportunity like this and don't get it.  GO FOR IT!!!!

Best of luck to you!!!


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## Chicago Green Dragon (Mar 4, 2004)

Ian

You have had a lot of good advice in this group.
I was wondering if you have decided anything yet and if so what is happening now?

Chicago Green Dragon

 :asian:


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## satans.barber (Mar 4, 2004)

Chicago Green Dragon said:
			
		

> Ian
> 
> You have had a lot of good advice in this group.
> I was wondering if you have decided anything yet and if so what is happening now?
> ...



Well, I just spoke to one of the other instructors on the phone. He's been on to the Inland Revenue and got some information on becoming a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) which lets us stop paying tax and everything, so that's progressing fine. He's also going to ring up the guy who heads the organisation (Phil Cawood) and tell him what we're doing, to make sure he's OK with it.

Basically I think we'll be carrying on as we have been doing all last year, the difference being we're free to make our own decisions and we should have more money through being a non profit organisation.

I feel a lot more positive about it today, last night I was just a bit upset and needed a rant I think (at least I did the typing rant thing instead of the breaking something rant thing!).

Thanks everyone for your support,

Ian.


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## Kenpomachine (Mar 4, 2004)

Ian, you've been already running the club for a year, so you sure can manage to do it on your own. And then, you have a lot of people here to take advices from, and then Les to help you from nearer most of us. 

Hope you keep going in the right direction, and follow your heart's advice.

Lucía


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## Chicago Green Dragon (Mar 4, 2004)

Ian

I am glad to hear you are feeling better and you have a better out look ahead. Sometimes its good to let it out a bit.

I wish you the best of luck.

Chicago Green Dragon

 :asian: 



			
				satans.barber said:
			
		

> Well, I just spoke to one of the other instructors on the phone. He's been on to the Inland Revenue and got some information on becoming a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) which lets us stop paying tax and everything, so that's progressing fine. He's also going to ring up the guy who heads the organisation (Phil Cawood) and tell him what we're doing, to make sure he's OK with it.
> 
> Basically I think we'll be carrying on as we have been doing all last year, the difference being we're free to make our own decisions and we should have more money through being a non profit organisation.
> 
> ...


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## TIGER DRAGON FIGHT (Jun 29, 2004)

hey ian, 

how is everything going now with your school?  it's been just a few months and i'm interested in hearing how your doing. take care and i hope the best for you.


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## satans.barber (Jun 30, 2004)

TIGER DRAGON FIGHT said:
			
		

> hey ian,
> 
> how is everything going now with your school?  it's been just a few months and i'm interested in hearing how your doing. take care and i hope the best for you.



Hey,

Thanks for asking after us! The club is doing OK in some areas, and less so in others. Admin wise we're on top of things! Once we took over the club we altered it to be a non profit organisation, so any money we take just goes into the bank and pays for bills and equipment. All the teaching we do is volountary and nobody earns a penny. I was appointed treasurer so I do all the banking, and Dave does all the equipment ordering, so between us we manage. Our 3rd instrucotr Brian is due to retire from the Fire Service in a few weeks so hopefully he'll have more time to give to the club once he retires.

Our main problem is the students, basically most of them have gone 

We're down to 6 senior students now excluding the instructors, which is way less than we used to have. I've been advertising like mad, but I just can't seem to get any new people in. I've spoken to instructors from other clubs though and they're having the same problem, so I don't think it's us entirely. There's a bit of a gym culture developed in the UK over the last couple of years, and I blame that partly. People don't seem to want to join sports clubs anymore, I think it seems like too much effort to a lot of people. They'd rather spend £40/month on a gym membership and go play with running machines and peck decks for half an hour a week, which just doesn't appeal to me! 

There are other reasons, some clubs round here are now _guaranteeing_ a black belt in 12 months or less. You guys know that's ridiculous and so do I, but from some people we've spoken to, getting a black belt is all people really want. They seem to think that as soon as they achieve that rank they're immediately some sort in invicible master who's impervious to harm from anyone down the pub, so we're losing students to these places. If anyone comes and asks me about the shortest time to black belt I'll tell them to go buy one from the MA Shop which is only a half hour drive away, can't get quicker than that 

I also think I probably put out the wrong impression to new people as I maintain that I'm too young to be an instructor. When people come into the school I think they want to see some 'old karate master', when they see me at only 22 I think they assume I don't really know anything and they shouldn't be handing me any money. This could be why we get a lot of people who do maybe 2 lessons and then never come back. I've asked other people's opinions on this when they've been pretty drunk in order to try and get an honest answer out of them, and they've all agreed.

Juniors wise though we've got loads. The kids class had dropped to 2 or 3 at one point and I was considering scrapping it, but we're back up to 15-20 odd kids a class now which is great. A couple of them are a bit dosey and useless, but most are trying really hard so that's nice.

On a personal level I'm still not entirely happy. I find it hard not having anyone above me to teach me, apart from Sensei Cawood who we don't see very often. I also don't seem to get much time to do my own training as there's always some paperwork that needs doing or someone with a problem that needs helping, but I'm balancing it out much better than I used to and I am getting some training in. I'm not convinced that I'm a very good teacher at the moment and I sometimes struggle to get my point accross, but I suppose that will get better with time and experience.

Ian.


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## someguy (Jun 30, 2004)

It's probably good if you aren't conveinced that you are a good teacher.  That way you can actually question yourself.  Now here is my question are you doing your best?  Does anything else matter?  Well good luck.


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## satans.barber (Jul 2, 2004)

someguy said:
			
		

> Now here is my question are you doing your best?  Does anything else matter?  Well good luck.



Yep, always do!

Ian.


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