Do you feel that people are losing interest in Martial Arts in general?

[sfs982000]

What I've notice in our area here is that the interest is still there, but economically is just not feasable for alot of folks to either sign up or continue formal training. The overall attendence in the school where I train hasn't gone down, but I've noticed that we haven't had an abundance of new students starting up recently.

 

[Blindside]

From what I have seen it is going fairly well, I share rental space with two other martial arts groups, and we all tend to cater to different crowds. The Kempo group is going strong, it is the best adult class I have seen there over the last four years and I understand the kids class is full as well, the Kyokushin Karate class is growing again after a recent change in instructor, and my little Kali group is starting to expand as well.

I don't teach kids (below 18) and my audience is pretty specific, much (75%) of my group is made up of experienced martial artists who sought out Kali specifically for expanding knowledge regarding weapons. So my vision is limited because I tend to train guys who already have the martial arts addiction.

 

[Buka]

I think interest in the arts has ebbs and flows. But a lot of it depends on the economy. I know a lot of folks who either want to train, or want to send their kids to train. But they just can't afford the extra money right now. Makes me sad.

 

[Black Belt Jedi]

So many students in my school disappeared simply because they can't pay their membership fees. A few kids quit because their parents lost their jobs. I feel that my school is going on some sort of a rollercoaster, one moment we are downhill and the only hope we have is when a new student comes in the dojo to give the art a try. So yeah, we are struggling to get people committed. So many number of weeks we had no adult classes, and I end up going home early.

 

[Tez3]

I think perhaps that more sporting arts might be rising in popularity. At my university the MA clubs organised an MA day which involved all of the clubs in the sports hall at the same time giving demonstrations etc and people could drop in and have a go. I realised the day before that the Bujinkan club is the only non-sporting martial arts club (the other clubs are MMA/BJJ, Judo, (Shotokan) Karate and Thai Boxing). All of the sporting ones seemed to be a lot more popular with many members, Judo was the only exception. I was talking to the instructor we had on the day and we both thought that perhaps combat sports have become more popular for whatever reason.

On the issue of general interest, very few new people turned up even though we advertised the event all over the campus and online, and it was aimed mainly at new people coming in and having a go. A graduate who has been to the event over several years said that it is usually the same most years. Most of the people were already members of MA clubs and went around to try other ones. Therefore it seems in this area at least, even at a university (where many people end up trying new things anyway) few people are interested in MAs. Or perhaps this is just among lazy students who can't be bothered to do anything on a Saturday!

I'm not sure Shotokan people would be happy to be described as 'sporting', while they do compete they are a traditonal style.

Perhaps the students are working in the evenings and on weekends, it's hard to make ends meet these days and with student debt being what it is, many have to work now. They might not be able to afford training?

 

[puunui]

I'm not sure Shotokan people would be happy to be described as 'sporting', while they do compete they are a traditonal style.

When I took shotokan, they used to tell us that our style was based on science, that it was a modern style but with traditional values. Or something along those lines. Competition for us was the main thing, for kata and kumite. Our entire focus was to win tournaments, which is only natural given that our teacher was a tournament champion, he was chosen as the chief instructor for the region because he was the best tournament champion, and his teachers from Japan were all tournament champions as well.

 

[puunui]

I'd like to see what people from around the U.S. and the world think. Are people losing interest in the fighting arts, or are they following the normal, up and down peaks of interest? You usually see a resurgence of interest when a new movie, style or artist appears.

I think the martial arts are more popular today than ever before. I think the two main directions are kid and family (kids and their parents) oriented schools or MMA/BJJ oriented schools for the teen and up crowd. The ones that are suffering I would say are the more traditional oriented, unless they are kid oriented as well. Then they might be doing ok. There are also more females training today than ever before. I remember when it was mostly males in their teens and twenties.

 

[zilverkakashi]

NO! I can even see that the interest is increasing,,,

 

[Ediaan]

It fluctuates with people, we see people come and go in our Wing Tsun school, although this year we seem to have an increase in students - especially women. It depends on the economy and I would take a swipe at the crime rate in the area as well. Being in South Africa and the Johannesburg area where the crime rate is very high, we see very many people starting martial arts.

Strangely, we see more adults join martial arts schools than youths.

 

[Rich Parsons]

I'd like to see what people from around the U.S. and the world think. Are people losing interest in the fighting arts, or are they following the normal, up and down peaks of interest? You usually see a resurgence of interest when a new movie, style or artist appears.

Location and Economy are the big factors as pointed out by others already.

I have seen that disposable income is used to pay for Martial Arts, and sports and Gymnastics and other kids programs. So for kids programs if there is no disposable income in the area then you will not get large classes, or there will not be multiple schools teaching large classes.

Location - where crime is high people want weapons training and self defense. Yet, many I have talked too I cannot help, as they just want to pay some money get a piece of paper and be told they are now safe. Ignoring these types, there are those who want to train and learn, but now economy also kicks back in as in the areas with more crime usually have lower income levels and lower disposable incomes.

 

[geezer]

Strangely, we see more adults join martial arts schools than youths.

That's pretty characteristic of WT/WC here in the States too. Same for FMA (eskrima, arnis, kali), at least in my area. But the overall numbers remain small. On the other hand, TKD is huge with kids, and BJJ is getting increasingly popular with older youth and young adults from around 16 - 24 years of age. At least that's my impression (no factual data).

The other day I read a post somewhere that dismissed WC as an "old man's art". Ironically, being an old man (at least compared to the poster) I took no offense at all. Boxing and grappling are not arts intended to be practiced for your whole life. There are some inspiring exceptions, but they are rare. On the other hand, when my WC finally fails me, I'll probably just fall back on eskrima and start whacking at people with my cane! :uhyeah:

 

[pgsmith]

I was going to answer the original question, but I lost interest in it. ...

 

[Cirdan]

I think general intrest in MA is naturally declining after a period of overexposure in the media.
Kids however are more into it than ever, ninja lego gets them started eraly.

 

[arnisador]

I feel it's dropping off--even leaving out the current bad economy, it flourished and now other things are having their day. This isn't a bad thing.

 

[Ol Man Woolenshirt]

yep and wif this tougher guns laws they're yelping about passes, the martial arts will see a resurgence.

 

[Argus]

That's pretty characteristic of WT/WC here in the States too. Same for FMA (eskrima, arnis, kali), at least in my area. But the overall numbers remain small. On the other hand, TKD is huge with kids, and BJJ is getting increasingly popular with older youth and young adults from around 16 - 24 years of age. At least that's my impression (no factual data).

The other day I read a post somewhere that dismissed WC as an "old man's art". Ironically, being an old man (at least compared to the poster) I took no offense at all. Boxing and grappling are not arts intended to be practiced for your whole life. There are some inspiring exceptions, but they are rare. On the other hand, when my WC finally fails me, I'll probably just fall back on eskrima and start whacking at people with my cane! :uhyeah:

A Kali Kane! That's a great business idea.

That aside, I have to say that's part of the reason I'm drawn to Wing Chun myself. I figure if I'm a young man practicing an old man's art, it's the best of both worlds, right? Not to mention that I'm a small, scrawny guy hardly over a hundred pounds. I kind of need something to level the playing field!

 

[TheArtofDave]

There are three schools in my area. One that teaches pasaryu, and Ryukyu Kempo with Modern Arnis. And across the street you have Prize Fight Academy. It has cardio kickboxing, boxing, bjj, and muay thai, along with the Crossfit exercise. The prices are reasonable. Then you have BJJ, and TKD but I had a bad experience at that school so I think people are interested but a decrease in interest could come from bad experiences, and then having to renew an interest in something else.

 

[nocturnal_]

In general, rather than losing interest, people are going to some certain art that's popular at the time being. I see a surge of BJJ places, due to the popularity of UFC. It seems to be the in thing these days. I noticed massive surge on people doing Wing Chun when Ip Man movie came out. Lately, I see more people doing cardio boxing/kick-boxing (if it's considered a martial art) as it seems to be the in thing at the time being.