Seeking Advice

[Yeti]

I'm looking to get some input from everyone on this...

Would you rather take one private lesson per month in a style that you are really interested in, from an instructor who would tailor the workouts to this frequency of training (as well as provide homework and solo drills), and one in which you'd be more inclined to train by yourself at home, OR would you opt for 2x week classes in a style that you were really only luke warm about, and (being honest with yourself) probably not train much outside of class?

Kind of an odd situation, but one I could be facing in the short term (all stemming from available $$). I know which way I'm leaning, but I'd really like to hear from you guys. Has anyone faced a similar situation? What did you do?

Thanks.

 

[Flatlander]

I'd take the training in the art that more interested me, no matter the conditions. If it means less time with the instructor, but stirs your passion, I think you'll be more likely to stick with it and enjoy yourself. That's my 2 cents.

 

[lostinseattle]

I'm looking to get some input from everyone on this...

Would you rather take one private lesson per month in a style that you are really interested in, from an instructor who would tailor the workouts to this frequency of training (as well as provide homework and solo drills), and one in which you'd be more inclined to train by yourself at home, OR would you opt for 2x week classes in a style that you were really only luke warm about, and (being honest with yourself) probably not train much outside of class?

Kind of an odd situation, but one I could be facing in the short term (all stemming from available $$). I know which way I'm leaning, but I'd really like to hear from you guys. Has anyone faced a similar situation? What did you do?

Thanks.

Boy, am I so going to be banned after this.

Almost EVERY instructor is going to want you to take privates because they get their money off of them. Usually the regular students only cover the basic costs of the school unless they have a bunch of students, so the greater hourly rate of privates is their bread and butter.

Private lessons don't offer you the opportunity of drilling and sparring and working with other students, so usually with privates you might learn some forms and techniques but then where do you practice them?

Answer: usually you don't. Unless you take privates as part of a regular school you aren't going to have people to work out with unless the teacher has a lot of students and is open to such things.

Save your $$$ and just take a regular class. If you want to throw away your $$$ then take privates.

Unless the instructor gives privates AND has a school, in which case you might not be totally wasting your time, but keep in mind that you're helping feed your instructor's greed.

From what I've read on here most of the posters on here are teachers, and as such will post to promote their agenda, which is just making $$$. So they'll probably have me banned in short order.

But seriously, save your $$$ and don't buy into the hype. You will be sorry otherwise when you finish your privates and find you don't have anybody to train with and you totally wasted your money.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Boy, am I so going to be banned after this.

Almost EVERY instructor is going to want you to take privates because they get their money off of them. Usually the regular students only cover the basic costs of the school unless they have a bunch of students, so the greater hourly rate of privates is their bread and butter.

Private lessons don't offer you the opportunity of drilling and sparring and working with other students, so usually with privates you might learn some forms and techniques but then where do you practice them?

Answer: usually you don't. Unless you take privates as part of a regular school you aren't going to have people to work out with unless the teacher has a lot of students and is open to such things.

Save your $$$ and just take a regular class. If you want to throw away your $$$ then take privates.

Unless the instructor gives privates AND has a school, in which case you might not be totally wasting your time, but keep in mind that you're helping feed your instructor's greed.

From what I've read on here most of the posters on here are teachers, and as such will post to promote their agenda, which is just making $$$. So they'll probably have me banned in short order.

But seriously, save your $$$ and don't buy into the hype. You will be sorry otherwise when you finish your privates and find you don't have anybody to train with and you totally wasted your money.

3 points:
Begging for a ban results in one getting their wish. Do you wish to be banned?

We ban disruptions and **** stirrers. Are you one?

Everyone posts to push their agenda, even when they don't know what it is.

As to the rest of your reply, I agree and disagree.
Yes, most instructors will gladly do privates. Most will charge for them. This is called "Earning a Living", and anyone against someone doing that is a fool in my opinion. Privates are IMO a part of the whole, where you can get fine-tuned with individual attention. This has to be complimented with practice on ones own and with others.

Regarding the OP's question, I would personally opt for privates in something I'm interested in vs classes in something I'm not. Provided the privates are quality and you get the 1on1 attention you want. Privates where they show you something for 5 minutes and let you work alone the rest are a waste of time and $$.

 

[scottcatchot]

I also would choose the private direction. Your own personal drive and intrest in the class will push you further than extra classes in something you really don't put any effort into. To me, to pay money for something I am not intrested in and could care less about is a waste of time and money. As far as sparring and etc.. I habve had the opportunity to have private lessons for a period of time. The instructor would spar with me and be the recepiant of techniques for me.A good instructor wants to see you learn and will be willing to assist you in that goal, even if it means kicking it around with you. Ultimately you need to decide which choice will make you happy. Besides, you are not signing any agreement in blood, your not are you? So if after you decide and give one particular choice a chance, you can switch if you are not getting out of the class what you want to get. Well That's my two cents worth.

 

[lostinseattle]

3 points:
Begging for a ban results in one getting their wish. Do you wish to be banned?

We ban disruptions and **** stirrers. Are you one?

Everyone posts to push their agenda, even when they don't know what it is.

As to the rest of your reply, I agree and disagree.
Yes, most instructors will gladly do privates. Most will charge for them. This is called "Earning a Living", and anyone against someone doing that is a fool in my opinion. Privates are IMO a part of the whole, where you can get fine-tuned with individual attention. This has to be complimented with practice on ones own and with others.

Regarding the OP's question, I would personally opt for privates in something I'm interested in vs classes in something I'm not. Provided the privates are quality and you get the 1on1 attention you want. Privates where they show you something for 5 minutes and let you work alone the rest are a waste of time and $$.

Agenda ... yes, I have an agenda. I've been taken advantage of by several martial arts teachers, most recently somebody who during private lessons taught me several hung gar partner forms off of video, and claimed they were something else entirely.

So my agenda is warning people not to waste their money on things like private lessons without knowing good and well what they're actually getting for their money.

Therefore, I would say that people should be extremely careful what they spend their money on. If they want to work on stuff and get good at martial arts, they're going to need training partners. Private lessons aren't conducive to training partners because a lot of teachers do privates so they don't have to have a group class.

Therefore the training really suffers. Who do you train with? Do you train with? Are there other students you can train with after hours? Or do you spend your time in privates and at the end have no idea who you train with? At the end do you have somebody to train with or did you just waste a ton of money on privates with nobody to train with and are now alone?

Every new school will require you to do their forms their way, their apps their way, their drills their way, so if you're taking privates a lot of the time you're wasting your money unless it's a standard system of some sort that you can go and train with others.

Privates seem to be the way a lot of teachers make their money at the expense of others.

So when I say, "I'm so going to get banned" ... no I'm not asking to be banned. I'm not trying to stir up trouble. I'm just saying something that will likely be very unpopular with a lot of teachers who make their money at the expense of other people, therefore, I think I'm going to get a lot of negative recommendations. Hence, negative recommendations, hence banned.

Make sense?

 

[tellner]

Depends on the teacher, the style and the conditions. For a while my Silat guru was tired of leading classes, so he only taught private lessons. The best Krabi Krabong instructor within a thousand miles only does privates or seminars. They structure them around that sort of infrequent learning with plenty of guidance on how to maintain and train on your own. One such lesson from either of them is worth a dozen group classes with a merely good teacher.

On the other hand, private lessons with a mediocre teacher will yield mediocre results at best.

You pays your money and you takes your chance.

I'd say go with the style and teacher you're interested in. You can always quit and join the regular school if you're not happy. It would be harder to go the other way.

 

[Carol]

I'm looking to get some input from everyone on this...

Would you rather take one private lesson per month in a style that you are really interested in, from an instructor who would tailor the workouts to this frequency of training (as well as provide homework and solo drills), and one in which you'd be more inclined to train by yourself at home, OR would you opt for 2x week classes in a style that you were really only luke warm about, and (being honest with yourself) probably not train much outside of class?

Kind of an odd situation, but one I could be facing in the short term (all stemming from available $$). I know which way I'm leaning, but I'd really like to hear from you guys. Has anyone faced a similar situation? What did you do?

Thanks.

Hey Mike, I was in a similar situation very recently but it wasn't a question of this style vs. that style, it was more of a question of do I want to pay for group classes that I usually ended up oversleeping and missing (due to my work schedule) or do I want to take privates that I know I would make because I could do them at a time that fits me.

Something that I can say is...just because class is twice a week doesn't mean you will be in class twice a week. Training at home isn't that easy for someone with a discipline level like mine and the big risk to that is if you don't...you'll feel the effects of not working out veddy veddy quickly.

Talk with your instructor and see if there is any flexibility Instead of 1 sixty-minute private, can you do 2 thirty-minute privates? If you don't have the budget for 2 sixty-minute privates, do you have the budget for 3 thirty-minute privates? Ideas such as these may be worth exploring if they work for both you and your instructor.

At the same time, if you think the situation is going to be more short-term than long-term, will you benefit more by taking the twice-per-week class and maximising the exercise and interacting you can get by being in a class setting?

Good luck to you! Fingers crossed

 

[lostinseattle]

Depends on the teacher, the style and the conditions. For a while my Silat guru was tired of leading classes, so he only taught private lessons. The best Krabi Krabong instructor within a thousand miles only does privates or seminars. They structure them around that sort of infrequent learning with plenty of guidance on how to maintain and train on your own. One such lesson from either of them is worth a dozen group classes with a merely good teacher.

On the other hand, private lessons with a mediocre teacher will yield mediocre results at best.

You pays your money and you takes your chance.

I'd say go with the style and teacher you're interested in. You can always quit and join the regular school if you're not happy. It would be harder to go the other way.

I'd say take whatever you can have training partners in, even if it's watered down TKD.

Because unless you practice with a partner regularly, when it comes down to a fight you're not going to be able to apply what you learned, so you might as well just save your money.

 

[tellner]

Interesting generalizations. They are, thank goodness, false and could well be irrelevant.

If he's interested in pure self defense you might or might not be right. If he isn't, the argument has no legs.

If the teacher is good at least Yeti won't be getting bad habits. This would put him several large steps ahead of any number of schools where you will have them ingrained and learn to do very stupid things as a reflex. You'll actually be worse off than before.

In addition, there's a tendency to start sparring too early in a lot of places to the detriment of the student's abilities. You find the thing that works best quickest and stick there. Or you rely on strength and speed because that's all you have and never get any real skill.

If Yeti has a teacher who is good and has the self discipline to practice on his own it can work. If either is missing, it won't.

 

[lostinseattle]

Interesting generalizations. They are, thank goodness, false and could well be irrelevant.

If he's interested in pure self defense you might or might not be right. If he isn't, the argument has no legs.

If the teacher is good at least Yeti won't be getting bad habits. This would put him several large steps ahead of any number of schools where you will have them ingrained and learn to do very stupid things as a reflex. You'll actually be worse off than before.

In addition, there's a tendency to start sparring too early in a lot of places to the detriment of the student's abilities. You find the thing that works best quickest and stick there. Or you rely on strength and speed because that's all you have and never get any real skill.

If Yeti has a teacher who is good and has the self discipline to practice on his own it can work. If either is missing, it won't.

It's okay ... last guy I tried to talk out of privates wasted his $$$ with a know-nothing taiji teacher. I guess if people don't know any better they deserve to be taken advantage of? That's what my last teacher seemed to think.

I'll pass your sentiments on to Yeti, though, if I see him. Supposedly he is around here somewhere.

 

[Carol]

I'm not saying this as an MT Mod, but saying this as someone that's been on the mat with Yeti and at least one of his teachers.

For Yeti's sake, it may be the most helpful IMO to keep the discussion focused as closely to private lesson vs. group classes as possible.

I hate putting words in anyone's mouth but I don't think Yeti is in a situation where he is concerned about being ripped off by one instructor or the other, or that he's worried about either of the instructors being subpar ...he's likely more concerned about following his passion vs. getting in a proper amount of mat time.

There have been some really good points made....lack of training partners during privates for example, or training with a truly great teacher vs. a good teacher.

Carry On

 

[Tames D]

Take the privates. Why mess around with something your not interested in, odds are you won't stay with it.

 

[tellner]

Well Yeti (and a tip o' to Carol), go with what you want to do. Life is too short to waste on hobbies that you aren't enjoying.

 

[Cirdan]

Go with the art you really are interested in. If possible, get a partner to practice with outside of class.

 

[Shaderon]

Is there any way you can do a couple of private sessions, then do a "trial" of class sessions? I'm not sure about the people here, but in the UK if you explain your circumstances, rather then loose you without a fight, a good instructor will let you go to a couple of lessons for free to see how you take to it and then if you decide to stay with it, either tag the charge for the first classes on to your licence charge, or leave it as a free trial period.

It might be worth haggling to see if you can do this then you'll have an experience of both worlds and can better figure out which is best for you.

 

[Yeti]

Thanks everyone. You've given me some good things to consider. I'll try to keep you posted as my saga continues!

 

[MJS]

I'm looking to get some input from everyone on this...

Would you rather take one private lesson per month in a style that you are really interested in, from an instructor who would tailor the workouts to this frequency of training (as well as provide homework and solo drills), and one in which you'd be more inclined to train by yourself at home, OR would you opt for 2x week classes in a style that you were really only luke warm about, and (being honest with yourself) probably not train much outside of class?

Kind of an odd situation, but one I could be facing in the short term (all stemming from available $$). I know which way I'm leaning, but I'd really like to hear from you guys. Has anyone faced a similar situation? What did you do?

Thanks.

Ultimately, you have to make up your mind as to what suits your needs. I will however offer some advice to help in your decision.

First, lets look at both sides of the coin here. First we have private lessons. The good thing about them is that its your lesson. You're able to focus on whatever you want. You will be able to take as much time as needed, in order for you to understand that material. In other words, you're going at your pace. The downside, is that unless you split the lesson with someone else, you don't have anyone else to work with besides the instructor. Now, this is not a bad thing, but keep in mind, that if the inst. is showing you something, it may be a bit more difficult for him to make corrections due to the fact that he's the uke and not able to stand back and get a real good view as to what you're doing. Chances are, you'll be able to move along at a quicker pace.

Group classes are very good as they give you a workout and you'll have more people to work with. Working with people of various sex, height and weight will certainly be a plus as far as understanding the material goes.

I've known people to take just privates, due to real life issues, such as work or free time, etc., some that just take group classes, and some that do both. For myself, I do both group and private lessons. I take a 1 hr private prior to my Kenpo class. I do this once a week.

As for the cost: Many times that will vary. Here is an example that a friend of mine uses at his school. Each lesson is $60/hr. For 3 one hour lessons, he charges $150, so you're getting the 3rd lesson 1/2 price. 10 one hour lessons are $480 which equals 2 free lessons.

I've always went by the rule that you'll be happier doing something that you really like. If taking a group class, in your case, is something that you don't feel you'll give 100%, then I'd stick with the privates.

I hope this was a help to you. Best of luck in your search.

Mike

 

[Grenadier]

I'm going to suggest taking lessons with the group at first. The main reason is, that as MJS stated, you'll be working with a more diverse array of people, and can make adjustments based on height, distancing, etc.

Also, when everyone in a class trains, they tend to "feed off each other" in a good way, that people are energized by someone else training hard.

Finally, if you train regularly with a good group of folks, don't be surprised if some of them end up becoming some of the best friends in the world you could ask for.

 

[Drac]

I'd take the training in the art that more interested me, no matter the conditions. If it means less time with the instructor, but stirs your passion, I think you'll be more likely to stick with it and enjoy yourself. That's my 2 cents.

Flatlander said it best...