"Tourists"

[Kacey]

Do you have "tourist" students in your school? I'm not talking about students who are trying multiple styles/instructors to see what they like - I'm talking about students who have been around for a while - several years at least - who travel from class to class, often within a style or organization, often rotating through a set of instructors over the course of 12-18 months, and then repeating, leaving every time someone suggests they test - not once, but repeatedly. What is your opinion of such students?

 

[Jai]

I have seen several of these of the years, and they do alot of harm to schools I feel. I have always tried to either weed out these students, but there are school owners that don't care as long as these types pay the money while they are around.

 

[RED]

I don't know if I would be classified as a "tourist". I've been to several schools over the past 20 years. Most of the schools I've left because of military transfers, but since I've settle down in one location I've taken class at three different schools and visited a few others. The reason I've moved range from money (esculating fees) to instructors ignorance to lack of protocal (one instructor teaching technique different from the other).

If you have one of these students why not humbley approach them and ask them why they left? The answer might be eye opening.

I personally haven't found the school that "clicks" with me but I enjoy the people I attend class with at the moment.

 

[Kacey]

If you have one of these students why not humbley approach them and ask them why they left? The answer might be eye opening.

I have... and the one I'm thinking of wanted a good workout, didn't like aerobics, and didn't want to test - so every time the instructor of the class he was in told him he was ready to test and when the testing was, he switched to another class. He had a circuit he followed - there were 5 or 6 instructors on his route - what he didn't realize was that they were all friends, and talked to each other about new students who had come from within the organization, and when he started the second circuit, they figured it out pretty quickly. When he started the third circuit, they asked him to pick one class and stay there - because it was confusing to other students who knew he was training regularly, had the skills, and never tested.

When I asked him about it one night (after hearing him list the 4 or 5 other instructors he'd trained with within the USTF, within about 14 months - he was a 3rd or 4th gup blue belt at the time), he told me that TKD was the only workout he could stick with, but he just wasn't interested in testing... and every time he stayed in a class a few months, the instructor would tell him it was time to test, and he'd leave, find another class, tell the instructor his work hours and/or location had changed as his reason for changing classes.

As an instructor, this type of student is quite frustrating - because as an instructor, I want to make sure every student gets individual attention, but "tourists" like the one above take attention from those who truly want to progress, and then they leave, to the detriment of the other students. This is the type I'm talking about - not those who move for work or family or because they haven't found the class where they really fit.

 

[newGuy12]

Um, I must be missing something here. We are talking about people who move from school to school simply because they do not wish to test?

Certainly that can't be so. That makes no sense.

 

[RED]

I see. Yeah, in that case I would tell the person to commit or don't come back. I would be a little more understanding if he wanted to supliment a style with another, but in this case the student is either taking advantage of the schools or has problems with testing be it phobias or social anxiety...fill in the blank. Maybe you can test him privately?

Do you know the head instructors at the other school? MAybe you can give them a warning about this person.

OOPS you said the instructors are all friends. My bad.

 

[Kacey]

I see. Yeah, in that case I would tell the person to commit or don't come back. I would be a little more understanding if he wanted to supliment a style with another, but in this case the student is either taking advantage of the schools or has problems with testing be it phobias or social anxiety...fill in the blank. Maybe you can test them privately?

Do you know the head instructors at the other school? MAybe you can give them a warning about this person.

This was a long time ago - when I was a red belt, so about 17 or 18 years ago. I've seen others since then, but he was the most representative of the type. Others generally either get serious (I know one who got really serious - he's testing for II Dan this Saturday) or they quit entirely, at least the particular style they're in.

 

[jks9199]

It depends on why they won't test... You have to talk to them and find out. Some folks are afraid of the testing, or afraid that they'll have to "register their hands" or be at risk professionally if they get a certain level of certification...

But I'd be real tempted to arrange for one or two of the other instructors to be there one night... and provide a testing opportunity. A little bit of put up or shut up...

 

[Adept]

Personally, I think the problem here is requiring students to test, not the students themselves.

If a student wants to train, but doesn't want to test, then they shouldn't feel pressured to test. You're only ever as good as you are, after all. Belts and ranks are just arbitrary and empty hierarchy structures.

 

[terryl965]

Yes wea have had them, I feel if they do not wish to test than who cares. It is there life.