How many students?

[SensibleManiac]

How many students train at your school?
Do you prefer smaller classes or bigger ones and why?
Personally I've always liked smaller classes with few students, I've always found them more productive and got better more focused attention.
Any pluses to being in bigger classes? I could imagine more different people/body types to train against.

 

[newy085]

There are around fifty students at our school but it is broken down into classes. In most classes we get around 10-15 students with around 3 instructors. We do have club nights where the whole school trains at the same time, and as an instructor it is awesome. However, I think that is because of the atmosphere of the night, with most of the activities geared towards fun and participation.

I like smaller classes because it give me more room to move, and I get more critique from my instructor, however, I like a larger class because it gives me a bigger range of strudents to train with. Not sure which is more important to me though.

 

[terryl965]

We habe forty seven right now but we are adding programs and such to get to 150 by next summer. We have about 7600 square feet of space and thre seperate workout rooms. So plenty of space to train.

 

[jks9199]

I find that, given the facility we're in, about 6 to 10 students is ideal. That's enough for various partners without tripping over each other, or having to do some sort of taking turns.

With more space, I'd love 10 to 20. Much more than 20, and you lose focus.

 

[foggymorning162]

I can't give an exact count but I'd say around 100 broken up into different classes by age and rank. Our instructor will redo the schedule (by rank not age) if a class gets too small or too big. The classes that I attend are very different because one is 18 yrs and up all ranks and one is 13 yrs and up purple to black. The adults only is late in the evening and is usually around 9 students. The class that adds the teens is earlier so it is also easier for some of the adults to make and is followed by a BB 17 yrs and up class so you can get 2 in one night that class is usually around 20 I've seen over 30.
The pros and cons to each: The smaller the class the more individualized attention you get and it is also easier to say "we want or need to work on this can we work on it next week" for ex. The problem is it is also easy when you have that almost one on one to get caught up in the finer points and lose track of the overall picture so to speak. Sometimes someone will ask for clearification on something and we will get into a discussion on the finer details. This only seems to happen in the adult class where we are suppost to know better:uhyeah:.
As for the larger class believe it or not and maybe it is just our instructor even with 30 students he can keep the class moving and pack a lot of info in. As a lower rank student you have 20 or more BB to help you with whatever you need to work on and as a BB you get teaching experience because at some point the class will get split up (not every class) and you will be helping someone else. This actually starts before BB you start helping lower ranks as soon as there is someone lower than you it is a big part of MA to pass on your knowledge and help others.

 

[kidswarrior]

I find that, given the facility we're in, about 6 to 10 students is ideal. That's enough for various partners without tripping over each other, or having to do some sort of taking turns.

With more space, I'd love 10 to 20. Much more than 20, and you lose focus.

Ditto.

 

[Sylo]

in a class we usually have anywhere between 5 and 20 students in 1 class..

20 is usually hectic and I like it somewhere between 5-10 per class. that way we all get a good work out. 20 requires too much sitting out.

 

[Korppi76]

Depends on class and art,
In aikido when my own teacher is teaching then there is about 20 persons otherways there is 3-10 persons. Total about 50 active persons.
In Jujutsu when there is basic course there is about 15 other practices there is 3-10 Total about 20-30 active persons
In Kombatan there is 3-10 persons per practice, I am not sure how many total.

So usually 3-10 persons per practice

 

[Franc0]

I find that, given the facility we're in, about 6 to 10 students is ideal. That's enough for various partners without tripping over each other, or having to do some sort of taking turns.
With more space, I'd love 10 to 20. Much more than 20, and you lose focus.

Same here, with the exception of not going over 10 students. I prefer small sessions with more personal attention, which IMO produces better students and protoges'.

Franco

 

[Nomad]

I've been in classes from 3-50 or so. They each have their benefits; smaller classes have more personalized attention and are definitely easier to control, while larger classes often get an incredible dynamic as people feed off each others' energy. I like both ends of the scale.

 

[AMP-RYU]

while larger classes often get an incredible dynamic as people feed off each others' energy.

This is true! People enjoy being in a large class setting. Remember the number one reason why students quit is that they feel silly. In a larger class setting it is easier for the students to feel like a group and not that you are picking on just them.

My school has roughly 145 students, broke up into rank and age. I will never go over 30-35 students per class but certantly would never limit myself to only 10-20! Remember this is also a business and you have to support your school!

 

[geezer]

My school has roughly 145 students, broke up into rank and age. I will never go over 30-35 students per class but certantly would never limit myself to only 10-20! Remember this is also a business and you have to support your school!

Sounds like you have a very successful business. But, unless you have several qualified assisstants to work with the students and correct their techniques, I would say that 30-35 is too large a group.

However, I suppose this may depend upon the art being taught. Certain systems lend themselves more to regimentation and large group drills. Others require more one-on-one contact between student and instructor. In my own style of Wing Tsun, for example, it is absolutely necessary for a student learning chi-sau to personally "cross bridges" with an instructor or advanced student to learn the proper "feeling" and use of energy involved. Forms can be taught to larger groups, but you still need individual attention to make subtle corrections. With such large classes, how do you address this at your school?

 

[Drac]

I find that, given the facility we're in, about 6 to 10 students is ideal. That's enough for various partners without tripping over each other, or having to do some sort of taking turns.

Yep

With more space, I'd love 10 to 20. Much more than 20, and you lose focus.

Yes Sir...In the academy we have about 30 cadets and 4 instructors, and sometime we STILL don't catch everything..

 

[CrimsonPhoenix]

We have only one class a week and we meet at a church, so our class isn't that big. We have up to about 18, but about ten of those are our core group.

I prefer a smaller class because I enjoy the more personalized one-on-one teaching from the instructors. Since many come straight from work we usually have two or three on a regular night. I like the dynamics when more instructors are able to be there because each has their own way of teaching and level of experience, and I learn a lot from that diversity.

 

[Kwan Jang]

I personally try to keep basically an 8-1 student to instructor (or assistant) ratio in a class. For myself, I prefer larger classes because of the energy dynamic and the synergy it can build. I have known excellent instructors that can routinely handle a much higher ratio and still give at least as much value to the students though, it comes down to how skilled you are at floor/class management. My school is roughly 250 students with three full time instructors (4th-6th dan) and three part time assistants (1st and 2nd dans). We also have a leadership team of black belts that assist with classes.

 

[AMP-RYU]

but you still need individual attention to make subtle corrections. With such large classes, how do you address this at your school?

Thank you for your reply, and to answer your question, its very simple, students learn from other students. When one student is having trouble with something, you stop the class and tell everyone to listen carefully. Billy is having trouble getting full extension on his roundhouse, does anyone know how he can correct this? Ok he needs to rotate more at the hips, this will give him the extra he needs. Then other students realize this and take it upon themselves to correct their problem. One rule is the more students you have the more problems that get corrected! Is this right......I don't know, it's not my place to say what works for anyone else. But this works for my school and I like this method.

 

[tshadowchaser]

I prefer to teach smaller classes. I want to be able to observe all of the students and to be able to interact with all of them.
Teaching large classes, to me, leaves out the individual training and only concentrates on group training with the hope that everyone is able to understand what is being taught and is able to perform the same