A teenager walks in to your school...

[kidswarrior]

Astoundingly well done. He sized up the situation beautifully and pushed back on the teen with enough mustard to open the young fellow's eyes a bit, but still made an honest attempt to bring him in to class and make an honest student out of him (with his parent's permission, naturally).

I agree. To me, this shows a mix of long experience as an instructor, holding to principle (no one gets a complete pass on walking into another's studio like this), and compassion (inviting him back--even hoping for it? Don't know that I could have gone that extra mile). Well done, for sure. :asian:

 

[Rich Parsons]

As has been discussed in a different thread many things in the world of Martial Arts have changed in the last 30 years.
When I was younger and less gray my instructor had more than a few challengers walk into his school. They where met with respect and we let them try to prove themselves on the floor. i fought many of these challengers and so did a few others as well as my instructor. My instructor also put me in a few situations where I fought because he wanted to see if another instructor was truly what he claimed to be. BUT that was then and this is now and such practices are now frowned upon by most.
I do recall one young man who came in to prove his worth and was defeated , a year later he came back and tried again. This went on for 4 years with a different student defeating the young man but not seriously hurting him. After the 4th time my instructor told the man that if he came back again he would have to pay $100 to step out on the floor because my instructor was tired of giving him free lessons each year.
In today’s world with all the laws protecting youth and everyone being sue happy it is almost foolish for a person to accept a challenge. Still little things like challenges keep us on our toes both mentally and physically and we must ever be aware that such things happen.

Now for those that have read this thread I am going to take it off track a little.
The young man asked if he could teach the class and show them what he had learned. ( He has no idea what i teach or what I have taught)
Would you let this young man walk to the head of your class and demonstrate his knowledge. If so what would you do after he demonstrated??? I ask this in all seriousness.

No, I would not let him demo or teach.

I would do what I have done and did before.

If someone I knew asked to do a demo, I would consider it based upon my relationship with the person and what I knew of them.

 

[Laurentkd]

I would ask him to come back with his parents and sign up for classes. Since he is a minor, he can't legally sign the contract or the waiver.

I agree with this exactly. #1 prevents any liability issues. #2 gives an easy out of the situation without it turning ugly.
We have had a couple kids come in like this over the years (there is a school down the street that...well let's just say they don't teach the same philosophy we do). Everytime we tell the kid "Sure! Just bring a parent up here to sign a waiver and we'll hit the mat!" We have yet to have one show a second time.

 

[Kodiak61]

I like the idea of Rock – Paper – Scissors; However I would NOT accept the challenge. The training principles we work under call for disciple and respect. I would offer a free week of lessons.

 

[tshadowchaser]

A free weeks lessons sounds like another great idea.

Yhis thread was not started for me to take credit foir anything on my part. I wish those reading it for the first time or 2nd or whatever would continue to express themsleves on how to deal with people who come into a school and issue a challange.

 

[onibaku]

I'll say no. but if he still want to fight, I'll fight only as self-defense

 

[kidswarrior]

A free weeks lessons sounds like another great idea.

Yhis thread was not started for me to take credit foir anything on my part. I wish those reading it for the first time or 2nd or whatever would continue to express themsleves on how to deal with people who come into a school and issue a challange.

I believe the point (made several times in the course of the thread) that this is a teen could be drawn out a little further.

Just as a counterpoint, an adult who would do something like this, in my mind, is on his own. Several ways have been suggested to get rid of such a person. My personal favorite was in another thread, where someone mentioned their sifu responded to a challenge of 'What if I hit you', with 'Come up and try it'. The challenger did for about five minutes, left and never came back. That's a different, much smaller liability issue to me, so more easily handled (Hey, if an adult comes into my class and tries to attack me, and all I do is block, what ammunition does he have to tell the authorities).

But a teen, well, I work with challenging teens (by choice ), and often the old maxim is true: Obnoxious behavior is a cry for help. So as much as we hate it, sometimes being able to see past the surface behavior to the kid's real need is what might really turn that adolescent around--or just continue what he may have started, and not know how to finish (the passage from teenager to adulthood).

So, ts, I know you want to get the spotlight off your self and onto solutions, but still gotta say again, kudos for your handling of this so far. And as far as how to go forward, I'd just say that your willingness and effort to pull this kid into the fold of your training family (one week free lessons, or whatever) is the approach I would lean toward.