Thinking of switching schools

[MichaelJ]

Hello All,
My situation is quite serious and would love to get some insight from anyone willing to offer.

First and foremost let me say that I am a dedicated martial artist and in no way want to speak negatively about anyone. I am being very outright with what I am about to say to get good objective opinions

I am considering leaving my school. My reasons are this. My instructor is bias and it is ultimately affecting me. I am not advancing as I should due to this fact. I do not agree with the favortism that comes with it. It is blatently obvious not only to me but other students, and puts a negative spin on things. I am a motivated person and this has slowly drained my of my commitement to the school I attend. There are many details to this that I would be happy to share of anyone needs to know to make an objective comment.

I want to convey that I am not a "Doho Hopper" and am not looking for a quick fix. I am in this for the long haul.

My rank is brown belt and I am excited at entering the new level of learning that comes with black. My ultimate goal is to have my own dojo some day and share the knowledge that I have learned through kenpo. The kenpo Community can be a small one and I dont want this to reflect negatively on me or my current instructor. The Martial Arts experience thus far has been a positive one for me. I dont want to make the wrong decision here, but I am really getting at my wits end. You cant change the ways of someone who has been teaching for 20 + years nor do I want to. I just want to continue growing. I dont feel I am doing that anymore.

Any advise or insight is sincerely appreciated.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Your going to have to provide more info on your instructor's "bias" and other demotivating behavior. Over the years, I've met quite a few Kenpo Brown Belts thinking already about opening their own school. It may be that you are showing some impatience and lack of humility that is causing your instructor to favor others. I've seen this many times in ambitious Brown Belts with unrealistic expectations of what technical and behavioral skills are required to run a successful school or how long it takes to develop the skills.

 

[MichaelJ]

First off thank you for your response and time. To be a little more detailed...

There are obvious favorites in the studio.
He pushes those favorites to promote when they are clearly not ready in order to preserve their superiority. This affects me as consiquently I am inhibited from advancing.
(I DO NOT compete with my fellow students. If anything I am first to support and cheer them on.) No one would ever know I felt this way.

While I understand that each individual should be treated based on their learning ability, physical ability, etc... The tests are radically different for students at the same level of learning and rank. Ironically the bigger payers seem to have easier tests(and they are more than capable of performing whats required)

I could keep going but this is the jist of what I am dealing with.

While I understand your position of me possibly being an over ambitious brown belt, let me assure you that I would wait as long as it took if I thought I was progressing as I should be. I know this isnt free. It takes years to become an accomplished martial artist and instructor. I am 41 years old with a day job All I'm looking for is a positive environment to grow and improve. I TRUELY love Martial arts, and will be involved for the rest of my life one way or the other.

Choosing to leave my studio is not an easy decision and there are obvious ramifications and not so obvious ones. I have been pondering this for months. I dont want to make an error in my development, but these are some pretty strong issues in my opinion.

again, thanks for taking the time.



I hope this sheds more light on the situation

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Michael:

Did I underestand correctly: you are saying that those who pay more get easier tests? And you are also saying that promotions are timed to maintain the current hierarchy despite individual student readiness or speed of progress? If those things are in fact true, then there could be some unfair favoritism.

But, if you are 41 years old with a day job, you may be missing that some younger students are able to spend more time at the dojo displaying a higher level of commitment than you. They may in fact be progressing more quickly because of more mat-time augmented by youthful physical ability.

Have you talked to your instructor about your progress? Have you asked him what he looks for in a student and who at the dojo best displays these attributes? Have you talked to him about your ambitions? His responses to these discussions will give you some insights into your perceived lack of progress, the causes of favoritism, and whether or not you are indeed in an environment where your potential success is limited.

Before you make any move to another school in order to speed your progress, you need to understand the above issues at your current school. You need to understand if the problem is with your instructor, or with a misalignment of your expectations and capabilities with the expectations and and requirements of Kenpo.

If you do decide to explore another school, make sure you have similar discussions with your potential new instructor before you quit your current school. You need to make sure you do not enter an environment where you will be in the same or even worse situation.

 

[stabpunch]

I am unsure of the ettiquite involved with Kenpo and school hopping. I personally would have no problems with a student changing schools a million times provided they ended up in the school they were seeking. As their instructor they could always call me for my opinion on the school they have found or return if they chose, life is not concrete it doesn't set fixed.

Are you able to visit other schools and not offend your instructor and the Kenpo community? When visiting schools, talking to the instructor is a great start. I like to get a feel for things, so if i were able to attend a trial class it would be better for me.

I think people in general tend to place too much value on the time we have spent learning something and not what we have actually learned.

At the same time if you are an unfulfilled brown belt, if it were me, i would make it to the black belt for the personal satisfaction of achievement and then look around for growth.

 

[pete]

sounds like your decision is already made. at 41, you've more than likely made more important decisions in your life, my advice is to dig deep and be truthful with yourself and don't rely on ANY advice you receive from this forum! its your money and valuable time, if your investment in either or bothis resulting in frustration, why bother? move on.

here's my opinion, take or leave it:
belts mean nothing. knowledge training and personal development mean everything.
don't compare yourself with others, favourits may or may not exist, but don't let it interfere with your training. you are either getting what you need or not.
dont leave on bad terms, small world and all, you may wish to return someday, or associate when you open your own school.

its a big world out there, and its relatively easy to get some contrast to what you are curretly doing. yo can visit other schools in your area or attend seminars or camps with senior level instructors to give you a good indication of where you'd like to go with your training...

pete

 

[Ronin Moose]

sounds like your decision is already made. at 41, you've more than likely made more important decisions in your life, my advice is to dig deep and be truthful with yourself and don't rely on ANY advice you receive from this forum! pete

Why wouldn't he rely on advice from this forum? He clearly asked for the advice, and I doubt if he's looking for anyone to make his decision for him - he's looking for input.

You don't say what area you are from; do you have a large amount of options in available studios/dojos to choose from, IF you go that way? While we live in the Kenpo "mecca" here in southern California, most parts of the country might be a tad more sparse for choices. I guess what I'm asking is, before you leap, do have a place to leap TO? If not then it seems you'd be looking at a complete change of styles/systems, or the other horrible options that don't fit right. Best of luck with your dilema.

-GARRY

 

[MichaelJ]

Thanks everyone for all the input.

I am getting exactly what I had hoped for. un biased opinions. You've given me different angles of thought and consideration. All points have been well taken.

My options are descent. That is to say that I want to continue in the original 24 technique American Kenpo System. That is what I study now. I am from California and there is truely a mecca of kenpo schools. The key is getting to the closest version that I am currently learning. I am not interested in starting over. I'm getting to old and am too attached to what I am currently learning.

As far as being able to move like a 20 year old...well probably not but I took 1st place in kata/forms over the weekend so that tells me I must be doing something right. Although ironically enough I dont gravitate towards the tournemant route.

I agree with Stabpunch in that If I had a student that wasnt getting what he wanted from me I would encourage him to find it elsewhere, and he would always be welcome at my dojo. To me thats what the martial arts is about. All of us taking our own paths towards what ever individual goals we have. That of course is one of the many points that I have taken from this thread.

I cant thank you all enough. Your feedback is truely helping me to consider all factors.

 

[Nomad]

Before you hand in your resignation at your current school, have you tried talking honestly about your concerns with your instructor? In my experience, a lot of people have difficulty with this step, either because they are worried about the instructor's reaction, don't want to rock the boat or offend him, etc.

As mentioned by others, there may be other things you aren't aware of that are holding back your promotions. An open and honest dialogue may assuage your concerns, or it may tell you that they were justified. Either way, after the time and effort that you have put into this school, and the time and effort your instructor has spent training and teaching you, you owe it to both of you to at least attempt to resolve things before quitting and/or changing schools.

Just my 2 cents.