Group or Private Classes

[Dominic Jones]

Hi all

I was wondering how different clubs organise their training sessions in different parts of the world?

Private class, seperate grade level group class, Beginner/Intermediate/Senior group Class, multi grade group class- I wanted to make a poll but couldn`t find the button :-(

I teach EPAK in multi grade group classes in Japan. My students train 1 or 2 times a week, with no private classes.

In Exeter, England I learnt kenpo in seperate Beginner/Intermediate/Senior group classes 2 times a week with extra practice sessions on Saturdays.

The group classes were divided into Beginners (White and Yellow), Intermediate (Orange, Purple and Blue) and Seniors(Green, Brown and Black).

Interestingly GM Bob Rose mentioned that when he trained in the States, Kenpo students went to regular “private” lessons and used the “group” class situation to mainly practice sparring and run technique line-ups. He mentioned that in the UK this style of learning was not viable since British students wouldn’t / couldn’t pay for the private lessons.

I am interested in how you train.

Cheers Dominic :asian:

 

[headkick]

Both group and private (semi-private in my case). The group class is all belts. Students attend either a private or semi-private (2 to 6) people once a week. In my case the semi-private is fairly large (6) as it is the black belt class. Most private's are 30 minutes, group is 1 hour. Our black belt class is 1 1/2 hours.

 

[Ping898]

Well, I'm in the US and both schools I have trained at were group classes schools. Currently the school I train at breaks the belt levels apart, White-Orange, Purple-Green, Brown-Black. Both school had the option of private lessons for situations like if you were gone for an extended period and needed some help catching up. My first school wouldn't train you for long privately either, they felt you gained much training in groups classes with running techniques on the body and stuff, so most private lessons didn't last for more than a month or two.

 

[Ceicei]

We have group classes. The children are divided up by belt rank, beginners (white-yellow-orange), intermediate (purple-blue-green) and advanced (brown-black). The adults are divided into three groups (white through purple) and (blue through brown). The blackbelts have their own (aka instructors class). Group classes are 2x a week for one hour with a class on Saturdays that is optional.

Some students have private lessons if they want to pay extra. I have these lessons (in addition to my group classes) and study an hour or hour & half with my instructor each week to finetune what I've learned.

- Ceicei

 

[Touch Of Death]

We do group classes. Private lessons are a special deal for fridays or something. Our theory of teaching Kenpo relies on the Moto, "One lesson at a time." which is great for group because you get the lesson and you have all these bodies to work out the kinks with. Private lessons are a selling point, but the extra attention doesn't negate the need for group. You still have to experiment with big guys, little guys, kids, women, and not to mention multiple attackers. There is a guy that teaches Jkd for about $500 a month in Spokane. I gotta ask, is paying five times what you might normaly pay for lessons going to make you a better martial artist? Group instructors will answer questions outside of class for free. :asian:
Sean

 

[Storm]

We have group classes. The children are divided up by belt rank, beginners (white-yellow-orange), intermediate (purple-blue-green) and advanced (brown).
- Ceicei

We do the same for the children but have two different classes going at once, one for Dragaons and one for Tigers. (twice a week)

Adults all train in a group class twice a week (Basics). Browns and Blacks are quite often split out of the group and have their own training. Then the class is split down to different ranks (everything up to Brown) with the Black Belts Instructing them through their syllabus. Black and Brown Belts also have classes on Saturdays.

I personally would like more Black Belt only classes but time doesnt always permit. The more you get the more you want.

Cheers

 

[Shodan]

At my school, we have both group classes and you have the option of taking private lessons for a separate fee if you choose. We have a beginner adult's class that runs 3 days per week and involves white thru blue belts. They do a lot of group activities but are also separated into levels to learn new material, etc. There is an advanced, green and above class that runs two nights per week- run the same as the beginners as far as doing things together and in our own ranks. There are also children's beginner and advanced classes. The kids don't come into the adult classes until they are at least 13 and the instructor approves......usually by their attitude, discipline, etc. Saturdays are for anyone to practice anything they want- sometimes there is something structured going on too- but there is always an area for you to do your own thing if you don't feel like joining up with the structured class. Every once in awhile, we have special brown and above only classes where we pound each other in technique lines.......those are fun. Other than that, the only class options are cardio kickboxing run by the instructor's wife on some mornings during the week- those are for all levels and for those seeking to build on your endurance.

:karate: :asian: