Help!

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine who teaches martial arts is having a hard time keeping his students interested in his school's art form and has asked me for help. He asked, "How do the ARMA Study Groups keep thier guys going and deal with personal issues that sometimes arise?"

So I thought we could help him out here on the forum.

How do you guys do it? If a member of your group looses interest such as doesn't show up for training, what do you do?

With me it's age. If students are in the early 20's then they are still discovering life such as nightly activities and have an active schedule vs someone (such as myself) who is in thier mid 30's, married and settled down and enjoy ARMA....A LOT and take the time for it.

To me, from my black belt days, is discipline. I would kick guys out of the school who wouldn't show up for 2 months or show no real interest and starts bringing down the rest of my students with horseplay and acting like a child.

If a member of my ARMA study group looses interest then I have a problem. I will call them or meet with them and sit them down. I'll ask "whats the matter?" "Is there something going on?" "Do you need help?". I then attempt by re-motivating them by letting them run the next group gathering or give them a mission such as "why don't you do some research on Fiori's grappling and give us something to work on at the next gathering".

These questions also arise for members who are alone. "How do I self motivate myself?"

Thoughts? <img src="/forum/images/icons/confused.gif" alt="" />

Todd

[Guest]

Yeah, those are tough issues. We have a pretty hard core of a few members who have been there since the begining and continue to be pretty motivated. We also have had members just kind of "drift away" either due to lack of interest or whatever. We have also had few new guys contact us, come to one or two sessions, and never show up again. I think you are either motivated and excited about training and learning or you aren't. It does take some discipline and hard work, and some people aren't really willing to make that commitment. I figure all we can do is keep training, keep the welcome mat out and try to attract and hold on to folks that are serious and commited.

[Jake_Norwood]

I agree with what's been said, but I'll add a bit.

People like to improve and know that they're getting somewhere. In the "real world" I'm a language teacher--people need to feel (and experience) real growth, or they get tired of something. That means regular testing of some sort, whether through competition, sparring, or ranking. It also means regular infusion of "new" material--stuff they haven't learned before. Sure, they need to practice the basics over and over again, but part of the fun is the sense of discovery. If that's gone, so are the students.

[GaryGrzybek]

Yea Todd, I think this is an issue many of us face. I've had enough of my own issues concerning lack of interest or lazyness. It's not so much a problem if you have a larger group since someone will always make an effort to show up. The ones that really burn me up are those who call and tell me how very interested they are but never bother to even show up to give it a try <img src="/forum/images/icons/mad.gif" alt="" />

Anyway, if anyone has some good advise I would surely like to hear about it <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Guest]

Good Input Jake! I agree it's important to have a goal or series of goals to keep people motivated. Things like testing for ranking or simply having one's competancy recognized by your peers at an event can motivate folks to keep working.

[GaryGrzybek]

Those are some good thoughts Jake. Something to think about for sure.

[Guest]

Great Advise!

I agree with the "gimme!" So folks need a boost and new material. Its important to Study Group Leaders to bring in new material. Out my group I can already see those who are really interested and those who are doing the "fun" thing. One of my guys is a "researcher" and can't put the manuals down. He is going to recieve some stuff from me as a gift of thanks for taking such an interest, like Kyle Cooks Head wrap.

I have a few ideas for groups which I mentioned a couple years ago. Some groups are strapped for cash so pool money. If you have 5 guys in you group and each person puts $50.00 into the kitty, then you can buy halfway descend cutter for the group. After each meeting let a different person in the group take the sword home. Make it a "Study Group Sword". Half of my gear is split up between my group after the first session. <img src="/forum/images/icons/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Thoughts?

Todd

[John_Clements]

Well, you know my views on the subject, and I've been fairly successful: Small classes with more personal attention. Good practise regimen with structure, lots of sweat, and don't dismiss the value of the social commaraderie of training together.

JC

[Guest]

This is always a problem, even hardcore folks get into "lulls"
I just suggested the ARMA NYC take turns "teaching" for example one member will find 2 or 3 techniques, research, practice and then come in and share that with the group...idealy with some printed stuff to hand out. This forces the teacher to practice and think about something new and forces folks to join in (providing they show up).
In general feeling like you are part of the group is important in staying. From the first practice session I went to Louis (and his wife and daughter), Richard and Evan made me feel right at home and provided feedback and encouragement. The elist is great to draw people in too
As mentioned feeling like you are getting somewhere is important since we don't have the desperation of an impending sword attack to motivate us

mark
arma nyc

[Guest]

Well I'm in my late 20's, wife and newborn. so i really have a hard time trying to stay focused on ARMA(expecialy after a night with the baby crying all night <img src="/forum/images/icons/crazy.gif" alt="" /> ) but I say to myself "Dave just get out there and work the basics for a couple of minutes and if you still feel like not doing it just go ahed and come on inside and relax. to date there has only been one time that I went back inside. I think that this is because once a person with intrest starts working with that blade in his hands he or she really dosent want to stop. It's to enjoyable. The virtual class room helps a lot as well. It makes me feel like i am in a group and that my input counts for something. and it's my choice to study which manuel i want to go through. Did I mention that i have no group and i study alone? <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[GaryGrzybek]

So true Dave <img src="/forum/images/icons/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I spend 3 or more hours on the road a day plus my 8 hour job. Then I pick up my 6 year old from the babysitter 3 nights a week. Most times I can't get out and train untill 8:00 at night and now it's dark and cold outside way too early.

It really helps to have others who will help motivate you too. This is why I'm tryng so hard to find study partners closer to home so it's not just on weekends.

[Guest]

I have a completly diffrent view than most people on this subject. Be strong in your practice and others will come. No need to be forceful. Coming and going is the way of the world some people will come to practice regularly and others not because they need to be present or not. We are so forcefull in this society and I think the gentle way is better. If I am in the park praticing and someone comes up to me Ill give them a short explination of what im doing and theyll be on there way. But they will carry in their mind a diffrent view of western swordsmanship for the rest of there lives. The best thing I can do for WMA is to be strong in my practice and others will come. If you build it they will come:)

[Mike Cartier]

We keep it real layed back and low key in our group too. <img src="/forum/images/icons/cool.gif" alt="" />

We used to require a whole gallon of blood to join the group, but we scaled it back down to a pint. We usually get the blood during the initiation ceremony where we all swear blood brothership and mingle blood by slicing our hands with a sharp blade.

As an added motivation to continue training we hack of the left hand of any folks who stop training, as a sort of reminder <img src="/forum/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />
Whoa you saying thats a bit extreme? well not really we only take the left hand, that way you can still use a one handed sword.
We haven't had any drop outs yet, people must enjoy the training or something.
<img src="/forum/images/icons/laugh.gif" alt="" />