Family Classes

[dancingalone]

Are these popular in your school? I'm referring to classes where adults and children are intermixed, the idea being that Mom, Dad, and the kiddos can all train together as a family activity.

This was fairly successful in my church class, but my business dojang's 'family' class really is just a kids class itself. I've never seen any adult come in to train during the family class slot, other than the odd beginner white belt who is looking for additional practice opportunities.

 

[Gnarlie]

They were very popular at my UK school. We mostly recruited families, and it was often the one parent or child that ended up going the distance when the rest of the family tailed off. We always emphasised that kids needed to be mature enough to concentrate for the full 90 minutes and effectively learn the material as an adult would. All classes during the week were mixed, but adults had the opportunity to learn and practice the juicier / more spiritual stuff on Saturday mornings.

Some adults would look at the kids in the class and think 'no way', but we did have a lot of adults - mostly big meaty fellas too, oddly. I could never get enough size 6 chestguards.

Have to say though, the dojang I'm attending in Munich has greater attendance, and they split in to separate classes for adults, kids, beginners, advanced, and black belts. It makes for a very different training experience as a student. In some ways I miss working with the kids, but it's refreshing to be able to blast away at the more advanced stuff without any interruptions, and to concentrate purely on my own development.

EDIT: The UK class was basically an adult class where kids were tolerated if they had the right attitude. We did boot a few. Adults too.

 

[dancingalone]

I'd like to increase adult participation in the class. I think the right blend of biggies could make good models for the kids.

 

[Gnarlie]

I have no idea what it was that attracted big brutes to our classes. We had something of a contact / SD focus with some fairly gritty sparring, so that might have been it. But anyway, that's what we got. Big bald rugby players knocking lumps out of each other, next to kids fresh off the Xbox. A strange mix, but interesting and challenging. We always tried to keep the level high enough so that the adults were challenged, and let the kids sink or swim.

 

[TKDinAK]

Our school has two scheduled family classes per week. I've only attended one of the classes, but it was full and had a good amount of adults mixed in.... mostly parents of kids it seems.

The class was pretty basic as there were all kinds of ranks involved... but it seems to be a very popular class for our school.

 

[puunui]

I'd like to increase adult participation in the class. I think the right blend of biggies could make good models for the kids.

You effectively double your pool of potential students by creating a family class geared towards parents training with children. In some schools, these are by far the largest classes in the dojang. The fact that you were able to run a class at your church in this fashion means that you have the ability to do the same thing at your new school. There may have to be some price breaks that you need to give to parents, which may lower your per student average revenue, but shouldn't matter if your overall gross is going up. Depends on the location though. I think the family classes tend to be more successful in more affluent areas, where a mom stays home instead of working for example.

 

[Manny]

We have right now three black belt moms training with teens and somo children, in the past tuesday and thursday night class was only for moms, and yes that class had around 8-10 moms doing tkd but slowly kids were allowed and that clases turned to be moms and kids class.

Manny

 

[SahBumNimRush]

All of my regular classes are family friendly classes. We separate by rank not by age (i.e. we have a "beginner" and an "advanced" class). This way families can participate together. It's the reason my father and I joined back in '85, he was looking for an activity to do with me so we could spend quality time together. Now he runs a school an hour up the river in my home town, and I run one down here where I live. The majority of both of our schools are attended by families (some only siblings, but many are parents and children). In fact, many sign up their children and end up signing up themselves after a few months, after watching their children for sometime, they decide that since they are there anyway, why not participate?

That said, not every aspect of the class is mixed. Each individual is taught at their own ability and capacity, and we do our best to fit the needs of each student. Otherwise, you run the risk of adults getting bored.. . However, since you ran your club at your church in this setting, I'm confident you know how to address these potential pitfalls.

We do, as Glenn stated, give membership breaks for multiple people in the same household, so that it is more feasible for families to participate together. We hold a more "old school" class periodically for the serious SD oriented students (adults only), as well as weekly black belt classes (some are mixed age, some are adult only depending on the lesson plan).

 

[mastercole]

All of our classes are family classes now. All ages, all ranks, moms, dads, kids and even a few grandma. all train together. Some things they can do together like warm up, stretching, agility-speed-strength-explosiveness drills. They can also work together in the learning portion of sparring strategies and Poomsae, but for the most part we separate the kids from the adults for sparring drills, and technical impact drills and lite sparring. 90+ % of our schools are now families. This is what the public sees and beginners experience when they visit our school.

What the public does not see, and beginners and regular students never experience and are generally unaware of is the training that goes on during off hours and does not appear on our schedule. It's invitation only, intense training, no children, no fees, no bad attitudes only for the most dedicated of students.

That said, I know of a number of schools, very successful schools that have switched all classes to family classes.

 

[lifespantkd]

where a mom stays home instead of working for example.

I am certain you meant something more like "where a mom works hard to raise her children instead of earning a salary for non-mothering work." Rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?! ; )

Cynthia

 

[Gnarlie]

Well, there's a nest of 1950's vipers, right there.

 

[puunui]

I am certain you meant something more like "where a mom works hard to raise her children instead of earning a salary for non-mothering work." Rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?! ; )

Yes it does.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

My instructor offers a kids class and then an adults class 3 hours later. He is more than happy for adults to train at the kids class or vice versa. Its not always viable for a parent to drive little johnny to class, then pick him up and bring him home and then head back to the dojang a couple of hours later. Doing that basically writes off the parents whole afternoon and evening. Other parents though, dont like to train with their kids and would rather do the adults class without their kid in the same class. Some parents do the kids class one day and then take their kid to the adult's class the next day. Its good that the classes are flexible. I must say though that a lot of kids join because its 'what dad does' and lots of parents join in because they like the look of what they see watching their kids train. I started tkd by myself with a mate, 5 or 6 years on and my daughter is a 2nd gup, my son is a 4th gup and my wife grades for black belt next month.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

...What the public does not see, and beginners and regular students never experience and are generally unaware of is the training that goes on during off hours and does not appear on our schedule. It's invitation only, intense training, no children, no fees, no bad attitudes only for the most dedicated of students.

No fees? That can't be taekwondo!

 

[Jason Striker II]

Just a small cultural note: "family classes" are ABSOLUTELY unknown in Asian MA schools. I've been living over here nearly 20 years, Japan and China, and have never, not once, seen a class where parents and kids train together. At best, the grandparents(s), who brought the kid to class, sits and watches - and have a good ol' time time yakking it up with one another, as well.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

No fees? That can't be taekwondo!

You're right. In tkd the success of your school is judged by what car you drive apparantly.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Just a small cultural note: "family classes" are ABSOLUTELY unknown in Asian MA schools. I've been living over here nearly 20 years, Japan and China, and have never, not once, seen a class where parents and kids train together. At best, the grandparents(s), who brought the kid to class, sits and watches - and have a good ol' time time yakking it up with one another, as well.

I must admit, when I train at our adults class and there are only adults, I find it the best environment to learn. Also, when I take my kids to the kid's class they do a lot better than when it is a mixed class. In a perfect world I believe adults should train with adults and kids with kids, but its obviously not always possible for this to be the case.

 

[TKDinAK]

The motto for our school's
Family class is: Family's who kick together, stick together.

 

[Archtkd]

Are these popular in your school? I'm referring to classes where adults and children are intermixed, the idea being that Mom, Dad, and the kiddos can all train together as a family activity.

This was fairly successful in my church class, but my business dojang's 'family' class really is just a kids class itself. I've never seen any adult come in to train during the family class slot, other than the odd beginner white belt who is looking for additional practice opportunities.

Your location and how you schedule classes (time and length) is key to making the family thing work. My experience is that family classes work very well in the more affluent "burbs," and are liked by those folks who enjoy pursuing hobbies with their children and significant others. I actually started my dojang to go against that trend and I'm finding lots of success with adults because I'm located in a downtown area, with lots of commuters, empty-nester and a graduate college crowd. Many of my members are people who don't want to be around children and seek temporary escape from family when they come to the dojang. Personally I've never liked to train with children or a significant other. When I'm training I want to focus on me, 100 percent.

 

[ralphmcpherson]

Your location and how you schedule classes (time and length) is key to making the family thing work. My experience is that family classes work very well in the more affluent "burbs," and are liked by those folks who enjoy pursuing hobbies with their children and significant others. I actually started my dojang to go against that trend and I'm finding lots of success with adults because I'm located in a downtown area, with lots of commuters, empty-nester and a graduate college crowd. Many of my members are people who don't want to be around children and seek temporary escape from family when they come to the dojang. Personally I've never liked to train with children or a significant other. When I'm training I want to focus on me, 100 percent.

It is interesting that some people do tkd as a shared hobby with their kid/s. It some sort of common bond they can have both inside the dojang and even at home practicing form together in the lounge room. For others it's a release, its that time they get away from the wife and kids and work and mowing the lawn etc etc, and the last thing they would ever want is to share it with someone else. I remember when my wife and kids started tkd, I was already a black belt (or close to it) and it felt strange going to class and they were there, it was like my worlds were colliding. I had always used tkd as my 'get away' from normal life, in class I generally keep to myself, Im very focused and Im there to train, then all of a sudden Id have my daughter walk up and say "hey dad, my belts undone, can you tie it up for me", I actually really didnt like it. With time Ive grown to accept it, and while I love training with my family, there are definetly times I miss the 'old days' where tkd was my form of escape.