Hi everyone,
I’m looking for a little advice. I took over a well-established taekwondo program a few months ago. I’d taught at the school occasionally before, but this new role has presented some issues. A few background things — it’s almost completely recreational, though some students compete in local tournaments. There are about 100 students, 50 are regular, most only come once/week (even though we offer classes 3x/week). Almost all are kids, though a few parents participate also. There are three other instructors beside myself. And a couple of our black belt teens help regularly. Also, maybe part of the problem is I’m just getting used to working with kids (I train at an all-adult dojang.)
The issue that troubles me is that the kids clamor to be allowed to test, even when they know they are not ready. (Our testings are held at the grandmasterÂ’s dojang where I train, and we make a big deal out of it.) I absolutely refuse to send someone to test if IÂ’m not positive they will pass. But IÂ’ve had a handful of people quit after I told them they werenÂ’t ready and explained what they need to improve. Even though we have rules spelled out about how long they have to wait in-between testings, they seem to forget that theyÂ’re expected to come twice a week if they want to work in that timeframe. Not that they just have to show up and be there for that amount of time, they have to have the skills, but the timeframe gives them an idea of how long the average student ought to take. But they donÂ’t seem to care that they only come once a week, not twice or more! IÂ’ve tried talking to them, both individually, in groups, and with their parents, but they seem to think that I owe them for their bit of time and if they can pay they can test.
They get all sulky when I explain what they need to do.
Some of my martial arts colleagues advise me to be patient; eventually IÂ’ll have students that are truly mine, not my predecessors, and theyÂ’ll not argue against my authority. But I donÂ’t want students to miss out on taekwondo just because of this.
An alternative I though of would be to expand our stripe program. Currently it’s only used for the very little kids. They get put through a mini-testing every other month to earn colored stripes for different sets of skills. I think it might work for all of the low-ranks. Maybe for the first 4 belts or so. I think it would give those students more goals to meet than just “I wanna test,” and it will also communicate to them what skills they need to work on more. I hope it would solve the problem of them getting antsy and feeling like they aren’t getting anywhere when I’m trying to get them to build a solid foundation.
Does anyone have experience with doing a stripes program like that? How did it work? IÂ’d just do it in class, but itÂ’s really hard to watch 15 yellow belts under the age of 10 all at once. :erg: So I think it would be better for me to do a semi-formal mini-test. IÂ’m inexperienced, I know. IÂ’m just trying to do my best. Hopefully, eventually, IÂ’ll get the knack of everything. I appreciate any advice you can offer!
I’m looking for a little advice. I took over a well-established taekwondo program a few months ago. I’d taught at the school occasionally before, but this new role has presented some issues. A few background things — it’s almost completely recreational, though some students compete in local tournaments. There are about 100 students, 50 are regular, most only come once/week (even though we offer classes 3x/week). Almost all are kids, though a few parents participate also. There are three other instructors beside myself. And a couple of our black belt teens help regularly. Also, maybe part of the problem is I’m just getting used to working with kids (I train at an all-adult dojang.)
The issue that troubles me is that the kids clamor to be allowed to test, even when they know they are not ready. (Our testings are held at the grandmasterÂ’s dojang where I train, and we make a big deal out of it.) I absolutely refuse to send someone to test if IÂ’m not positive they will pass. But IÂ’ve had a handful of people quit after I told them they werenÂ’t ready and explained what they need to improve. Even though we have rules spelled out about how long they have to wait in-between testings, they seem to forget that theyÂ’re expected to come twice a week if they want to work in that timeframe. Not that they just have to show up and be there for that amount of time, they have to have the skills, but the timeframe gives them an idea of how long the average student ought to take. But they donÂ’t seem to care that they only come once a week, not twice or more! IÂ’ve tried talking to them, both individually, in groups, and with their parents, but they seem to think that I owe them for their bit of time and if they can pay they can test.
They get all sulky when I explain what they need to do. Some of my martial arts colleagues advise me to be patient; eventually IÂ’ll have students that are truly mine, not my predecessors, and theyÂ’ll not argue against my authority. But I donÂ’t want students to miss out on taekwondo just because of this.
An alternative I though of would be to expand our stripe program. Currently it’s only used for the very little kids. They get put through a mini-testing every other month to earn colored stripes for different sets of skills. I think it might work for all of the low-ranks. Maybe for the first 4 belts or so. I think it would give those students more goals to meet than just “I wanna test,” and it will also communicate to them what skills they need to work on more. I hope it would solve the problem of them getting antsy and feeling like they aren’t getting anywhere when I’m trying to get them to build a solid foundation.
Does anyone have experience with doing a stripes program like that? How did it work? IÂ’d just do it in class, but itÂ’s really hard to watch 15 yellow belts under the age of 10 all at once. :erg: So I think it would be better for me to do a semi-formal mini-test. IÂ’m inexperienced, I know. IÂ’m just trying to do my best. Hopefully, eventually, IÂ’ll get the knack of everything. I appreciate any advice you can offer!
