New Student: when will you quit?

[MetaMatWarriors]

When I first started, I quit after 8 months.

The gym I go to does not have AC and I started as winter was approaching.

As Summer came, I could not bear the amount of ball sweat from those north south positions.

Now a days I am getting used to it.

 

[Hot Lunch]

When I first started, I quit after 8 months.

The gym I go to does not have AC and I started as winter was approaching.

As Summer came, I could not bear the amount of ball sweat from those north south positions.

Now a days I am getting used to it.

I just started recently, and I'm paying close attention to people that only have one gi. There's no way you can wash after every use on one gi.

 

[Gyakuto]

I just started recently, and I'm paying close attention to people that only have one gi. There's no way you can wash after every use on one gi.

 

[MetaMatWarriors]

I just started recently, and I'm paying close attention to people that only have one gi. There's no way you can wash after every use on one gi.

Wait what, I had one gi at the start, I just used to bang it in the wash when I got home, it didn't smell for atleast 1 year, and the only reason it started to smell was because one day I left it in the trunk of my car (the gi was clean), my water bottle leaked and I hadn't realised, the next day it was ponging so bad.

 

[Gyakuto]

Wait what, I had one gi at the start, I just used to bang it in the wash when I got home, it didn't smell for atleast 1 year, and the only reason it started to smell was because one day I left it in the trunk of my car (the gi was clean), my water bottle leaked and I hadn't realised, the next day it was ponging so bad.

Ah! So you’re ‘Stinkgi Macstinkgison’!

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

Wait what, I had one gi at the start, I just used to bang it in the wash when I got home, it didn't smell for atleast 1 year, and the only reason it started to smell was because one day I left it in the trunk of my car (the gi was clean), my water bottle leaked and I hadn't realised, the next day it was ponging so bad.

That seems like a lot of loads of laundry.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Wait what, I had one gi at the start, I just used to bang it in the wash when I got home, it didn't smell for atleast 1 year, and the only reason it started to smell was because one day I left it in the trunk of my car (the gi was clean), my water bottle leaked and I hadn't realised, the next day it was ponging so bad.

That's what I did for a lot of years. I'd have one gi at a time, and eventually a backup (my first gi, which was too worn to be my primary anymore, became the backup when I got a new one). When I went into my heavy training phase (at one point I was in the dojo 4-6 days a week), I had 3 in rotation, because I couldn't count on having time to wash overnight.

 

[Hot Lunch]

The internet consensus in BJJ for how many you should have = (the days per week you train) + 1

I fall short of this myself (I own two, but train three days per week), but I never train on two consecutive days, so that helps. I do plan on buying one or two more.

I WILL forgo training if I don't have a fresh gi ready that day.

 

[Hanshi]

Oh, my! I just found this thread and wish I'd been here sooner. I have to agree with you on what you've written and it was excellent and to the point. I have had students come back years later and surprise me with their dedication, which was somewhat lacking when they quit. I've had a number of students reach shodan in the 3 - 5 year span. One, a middle aged lady, was in the dojo 5 days a week! She was a wonder and still a favorite of mine. Another student started pretty well and then quit. But when he came back he was ready and then some. I was honored to tie a black belt around his waist. From start to shodan it took him12 years.

I'd like to say that about 10% of the white belts end up with their shodan; but alas it isn't a fact. Maybe 5% get at least to Ikkyu and some to shodan. One thing I'd like to add is the quitters at brown belt. This puzzles me completely. Just around another year would get them to black belt, so why quit only a few yards from the finish line. Among my students were many professionals and PhD candidates - my dojo was in a major college town.

Quitting is very difficult for me to understand. When I started 62 years ago I had a roaring hunger that has stayed to this day. I sold my dojo, years ago, to a sensei I respected and trusted implicitly. We were in fact partners for a couple of years before he took over. I still visited, taught some classes and am still a grandmaster who keeps track of certain promotions. And I've simply been drawn to especially vigorous activity, and taught, trained and was a lifetime runner all at once. I was even able to work in my activity as a sparring partner for a competitive boxer; loved every thing I did. I hope it's okay to respond here although this is a very old thread.

 

[Old CJ]

I'm "new". When will I quit?
First here is a lil background on me. I trained Shotokan for a year in the 70's. (So that's 50 years ago?) Life being military and jobs, led me in a different direction. Now I'm retired from work and back training in yes, Shotokan. I'm lucky to find a Dojo with a Sensei very sensitive to my needs and progress.
This is my second Dojo this year. The first was like having a job again.
Again-when will I quit? Hopefully this time around when I'm in the urn. I am becoming a better human.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I'm "new". When will I quit?
First here is a lil background on me. I trained Shotokan for a year in the 70's. (So that's 50 years ago?) Life being military and jobs, led me in a different direction. Now I'm retired from work and back training in yes, Shotokan. I'm lucky to find a Dojo with a Sensei very sensitive to my needs and progress.
This is my second Dojo this year. The first was like having a job again.
Again-when will I quit? Hopefully this time around when I'm in the urn. I am becoming a better human.

For some context: none of us hope you will quit. Bill's post is a tad cynical (and realistic) post of what tends to happen. But everyone here hopes all newcomers stick it out. I'm glad you found someone who helped you not treat it like a job, and who knows how to work with you in your stage of life. If you have any questions there's some great and experienced people on this site willing to help!

 

[Old CJ]

I'm still here. I don't do this because it is easy.

 

[Stuarto]

No plan on quitting, I have aspirations to eventually teach. Before that though, I still have much to learn. I want to enjoy the journey and watch myself improve. It boggles my mind to hear so many quit at brown belt. That's a few years of commitment and you are nearly there! Brown is certainly a milestone, but I think every step is.

 

[Gyakuto]

It boggles my mind to hear so many quit at brown belt. That's a few years of commitment and you are nearly there!

I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding that grades are on a linear scale, ‘equidistant’ from each other. A better way of viewing it is to put a mark on a wall at head-height and writing ‘8th Dan’ next to it. Then, half way up to that mark draw another mark and write 7th Dan next to it. Halfway up to that mark add another and write ‘6th Dan’ next to it…you see how this is going with this…it increases exponentially.

Each dot is a Dan grade, starting 1st Dan on the left and the 2nd and 3rd etc. You can see that the vertical height doesn’t increase by much at first, but as you go along the vertical height increases per point mirroring increased difficulty of achieving each grade. You can imagine the ‘compression’ down at the kyu grades but the steps are still not linear and it gets harder and harder as you progress.

Depending on the art, it’s probably more of a logarithmic scale as shown on the top scale below compared to the linear scale at the bottom.

This idea isn’t exact but illustrative of the principle!