To have beginners or not?

[ArmorOfGod]

My class just hit 24 students, but for about a month, I was in a situation where I had no white belts. The whole class was the next belt up and on.
Is this a good thing for a school, or does it represent an end to growth of the school?
One one hand, it shows that you have a core group who is advancing, and on the other hand, if any of those others quit (which is inevitable for most), the class' numbers would dwindle.
Thoughts?

AoG

 

[Kacey]

Been there... done that! I didn't have white belts for several months, and it made me crazy - so now I have 4 (shortly to be 3; 1 is testing tomorrow night).

White belts are the future; without them, eventually the class will die. On the other hand, the natural ebb and flow will bring more in the future - especially if you have a solid core group, as they will be your best advertisement for new students.

 

[terryl965]

AoG we all need white belt, without them MA will die over time, the core group should be the best line of new students. I also agree that schools go though about 4 months out of the year where we get nobody new. I have never really understood why but it happens.

 

[chinto01]

My class just hit 24 students, but for about a month, I was in a situation where I had no white belts. The whole class was the next belt up and on.
Is this a good thing for a school, or does it represent an end to growth of the school?
One one hand, it shows that you have a core group who is advancing, and on the other hand, if any of those others quit (which is inevitable for most), the class' numbers would dwindle.
Thoughts?

AoG

I think what you may be seeing is the effect the economy may be having on people. With the rising cost of gas as well as other things needed for day to day survival people, especially parents, do not have the disposable income they once had to afford the cost of "the extras" in life. This includes martial arts classes. I was talking with a dojo owner who has at least 100 students per month and he informed me that the enrollment for this year was the lowest it has been in the last 3 years. IMHO it is not you or the way you teach but the rising cost of living that is causing problems with your dojo numbers.

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I think what you may be seeing is the effect the economy may be having on people. With the rising cost of gas as well as other things needed for day to day survival people, especially parents, do not have the disposable income they once had to afford the cost of "the extras" in life.

Rob

I agree that money and a stunningly terrible economy is a factor.
Two other factors are the very high number of martial arts schools in my area and the laziness factor. Regarding laziness, I have had several potential students call me many times inquiring about class times. Then when the day comes, they find out they have to actually get in the car and drive over. This is even more prevelant for free self-defense seminars. Since those are held on weekend mornings, you take the number of confirmed people coming, divide by three and subract two. That is roughly the number that will show up.

AoG

 

[IcemanSK]

AoG, white belts are, of course, the bread & butter of our business. We need them. But, as Kacey pointed out, sometimes we don't get new students for awhile. I think it's important for us all to recognize also that we will have an ebb & flow in the number of new students. Be it for economic, seasonal or other reasons, lack of new students will happen. The important thing is to remember that & not to panic. It's natural to question ourselves & want to retool or change things to draw more people in. While there is a need to update or change tired ways of pesenting our arts from time to time, assuming that lack of new students is the fault of something we should or shouldn't be doing is not a healthy way to look at things.

 

[YoungMan]

Number one, white belts are the next generation. You need them for the art to grow. Number two, you need to remember how to teach white belts. When a student has advanced to the color belt ranks, it becomes a luxury that you don't need to start at the beginning every time. However, white belts make us remember that they need to be taught as beginners.
No white belts means that for some reason new people aren't joining. However, too many white belts means that for some reason they are not advancing as they should.

 

[chinto01]

AoG did you say free self defense seminars???

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob

 

[tshadowchaser]

At times I like to see a class with NO white belts. It gives the instructor a chance to teach some things he may not want to show white belts.
But if a school is to keep growing in numbers it needs those white belts. Remember they are the ones who most likely will bring their friends to class because they are so "into it"

 

[ArmorOfGod]

AoG did you say free self defense seminars???

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob

Yes, I give them at 3 of the local libraries and any church or rec center that gives me a call.
I have given several over the past 6 months.
I fact, this summer, I have been asked to do a series of seminars in the five branch libraries in my area.

AoG

 

[rabbit]

I would like to think of it as a pyrimid. The bottom section is white belts, the next section is orange belts. As you get closer to the top of the pyrimid it gets smaller and smaller (less people that hold a higher rank). The top of the pyrimid is very small as there is only one grandmaster but it is the bottom part of the the pyrimid that supports the very top of the pyrimid.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I would like to think of it as a pyrimid. The bottom section is white belts, the next section is orange belts. As you get closer to the top of the pyrimid it gets smaller and smaller (less people that hold a higher rank). The top of the pyrimid is very small as there is only one grandmaster but it is the bottom part of the the pyrimid that supports the very top of the pyrimid.

That's a very nice metaphor.

AoG

 

[chinto]

My class just hit 24 students, but for about a month, I was in a situation where I had no white belts. The whole class was the next belt up and on.
Is this a good thing for a school, or does it represent an end to growth of the school?
One one hand, it shows that you have a core group who is advancing, and on the other hand, if any of those others quit (which is inevitable for most), the class' numbers would dwindle.
Thoughts?

AoG

things change from time to time.. a white belt or two is a good thing, and yet you may go a few months with out one from time to time.

 

[YoungMan]

The pyramid metaphor has been used for black belts as well. The base represents 1st Dans, and gets progressively narrower the higher you go. There are many many 1st Dans, but they represent the future of any art and must be taught well or the art will die.

 

[still learning]

Hello, When you have a schools with only "WHITE BELTS"? ...you have to wonder why?

When you see lots of colors and ranking and no white belts? ...this seems OK. ..or even one white belt.

Every business needs new customers ......this leads to repeat customers.

When you do not get new or repeat customers....your business may fail in time. You are doing something wrong? ..and may need to change the business plans?

Successful busines always gets NEW and REPEAT customers....sign of a successful busines plans and operations!

As many of us know? ...very few people will reach the ranking of a black belt....like a pyramid lots of white belts on the bottom....only a few will reach the top of a pyramid! If you students ranking is like a pyrmiad...you have a successful martial art business and operations!

Aloha, ( white belts needed...all the other colors are taken?)

 

[Mark Lynn]

I took over a program last March at a Rec center and now have all new students who have joined with me since then. So I started with a class of white belts and over time they have grown to be Yellow, Gold and Orange belts. I've had a fairly steady growth of white belts each month with some turn over. Now I have about 30 students total with limited class room size.

Some things I had to do.
1) Split my classes up to White belts and Colored belts. Even though my students are begining ranks, my colored belts needed to work on more their level of material and sometimes (like the start of school) I would be over whelmed with new students and it would drag the class down.

2) Split my classes up to different ages as well.

3) For a common theme class such as sparring, I'm now setting aside one additional class per week where I am bringing together the colored belts of the different age groups and teaching them to spar. In hopes of having the students get together and work with different ages and different levels.

4) Allow the parents to attend the class if they want to train with thier child and teach them slightly different material in self defense.

So far this has worked for me and I haven't had a problem with growth except that I have limited class size so I can't grow much more other than splitting the class and adding more classes. Like the sparring class, I only taught one class that night which was for my white belts, so I arranged after that class to teach sparring for the other students. And that is not a FOREVER or set class, rather it is to get the students up to speed class. This allows me the opportunity to teach forms, basics, etc. etc. in the normal classes.

Right now I am concerned with teaching a good group of students so I can build a good base of students. I'm not trying to promote the class or fill it up rather it is my parents of the students who are reffering students to the class, bringing friends etc. etc. It is my hope that later I can get a bigger room for a bigger class and I'll have good qualified help to help me grow the class. So my focus is on them and not on growing the school (classes), which is why I add classes and such.

Mark

 

[chinto01]

Yes, I give them at 3 of the local libraries and any church or rec center that gives me a call.
I have given several over the past 6 months.
I fact, this summer, I have been asked to do a series of seminars in the five branch libraries in my area.

AoG

That's great! Do you get any potential students from this??

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob