Concerns For The Future

[Kaygee]

I know things vary from demographic to demographic, but I have a few questions out there for the other adult students....

How many adult students are in your adult class?

I have ten. Not all of them make it all of the time, some more than others...some are at college, etc.

We have:
One 6th gup
One 2nd gup (me)
Two 1st gups
Two 1st dans
Three 2nd dans
One 3rd dan

We also have two instructors....a 4th dan and my Sah Bum Nim is a 5th dan.

The numbers have dwindled just in the small amount of time I have been there. I can count four students right out of the gate that quit the day after they received their black belts.
***shakes head in disbelief**
I never understood that move...

Anyway, I guess the kids classes are doing ok, as far as attendance is concerned. And they always say that the kids are the reason why the adults get to train, so I guess a good foundation there is a step in the right direction.

But I want to get the word out there in my area somehow, someway, so we can obtain new students. I meet a lot of resistance when I inquire about ways to promote the school. The sign at the front of the school has a light that hasn't worked since before I started there, and when I say it would be beneficial to fix it, I get shrugs and subject changes.

I worry about the fate of the school. If the student population gets too low, what if the school has to close? I want to do some things to get word out and get more students (adults mostly) but kids as well. Should I even be worried about it though? Is this something I should even bring up to my Sah Bum Nim, and if so, does any master out there have any advice on the best way to approach him with something like this?

I was provided with administrator access to my school's FaceBook page, and I constantly share it and update it with statuses about the benefits of taking a martial art, etc, but that only goes to MY friends on my friends list.......and after two years of posting statuses and never getting any of my friends into the school, I have a feeling that I am getting nowhere with that strategy.

Any pointers? Advice? Am I getting involved in a part of the school that I have no business getting involved in?

 

[Omar B]

I hear you man, but adults have jobs. Many people have commitments other than jobs too. Heck, I don't even work 9-5 (I work mostly afternoons/evenings) so it's harder for me to attend classes. Night classes are great for most poeple, but I work evenings so I would prefer morning classes which many places don't have. Some schools are closed on the weekends! I would love to train Saturday and Sunday, some places are only open one weekend morning.

 

[Kaygee]

I hear you man, but adults have jobs. Many people have commitments other than jobs too. Heck, I don't even work 9-5 (I work mostly afternoons/evenings) so it's harder for me to attend classes. Night classes are great for most poeple, but I work evenings so I would prefer morning classes which many places don't have. Some schools are closed on the weekends! I would love to train Saturday and Sunday, some places are only open one weekend morning.

I hear ya! I work, but it is a 9-5'er mon-fri gig.

 

[Omar B]

I hear ya! I work, but it is a 9-5'er mon-fri gig.

So as a 9-5 Mon-Fri person tell me about your training schedule?

I work 3-11 Thurs-Mon so my days off are Tues and Wed. So Where are my morning/afternoon classes Thurs-Mon? How about a black belt class not 9:00 2 nights a week I can't make it. People have weird scedules. My old Seido instructor used to have classes in a 3 hour rotation, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Any time of day there was one of these classes going on. On Saturday mornings I used to go to class in the morning, go get lunch, hang out with the guys at the dojo for a while and then back into another class.