Whether you are an instructor or just a dedicated student at a school, what is the general attitude when a student decides to leave and study another martial art? I got to thinking about this reading Carol's thread on having to get permission to visit other schools. Well in the organization I used to belong to many years ago, we were discouraged from visiting other schools. And, if a student left our organization for another, they were basically seen as an outcast and shunned.
Now that I'm with a different organization and only teaching a few students non commercially, all that has changed. If a student leaves to follow their own path, they do so with my blessing and they are always welcome to come back to visit and share some of what they've learned. My old Chinese Sifu would have called my attitude foolish, pointing out that I'll never get rich this way. True. But helping a student along their personal path and making lifelong friends is a kind of wealth in itself. Any thoughts?
Now that I'm with a different organization and only teaching a few students non commercially, all that has changed. If a student leaves to follow their own path, they do so with my blessing and they are always welcome to come back to visit and share some of what they've learned. My old Chinese Sifu would have called my attitude foolish, pointing out that I'll never get rich this way. True. But helping a student along their personal path and making lifelong friends is a kind of wealth in itself. Any thoughts?