************************************************************************* ADVICE FOR GETTING AND KEEPING BEGINNERS ************************************************************************* >Hi People > It's getting to that time of year again when all the little >Freshers turn up and wander around looking at all the club stalls. >So I was wondering if you've got any suggestions on how to attract >them to the club and having got them there how to keep their interest >when the mat is full of 80 or so bodies rather than the usual 20 or so >and they're also discovering the other university activities of beer, >curry and insomnia? > We get about 60 members a year but only a handful seem to survive >each year.....so any suggestions for the freshers fayre stall/gimicks/leaflets >etc would be gratefully recieved! From: Dee Ann --------------------------------------------- Tricia and other aikidoka, Our Aikido club is putting ads in the student paper "Observer" and we will have a WW web page released soon. (For a peek --check out my personal page and follow the link) --Laszlo hasn't had time to approve it for World release. To keep them, well --it is up to them. Not everyone wants to put in the practise time learning ukemi --everyone wants to jump to techniques!!! --Plus we have a variety of levels and background MA's. The best way to attract them on club night is to have a pile of weapons on a table. -- Seems to draw the curious. :-^ From: "J.P. DIESCH" ---------------------------------------------------------- I have intimate experience of this. Every yera for the last 4 i have been running the freshers week stall for the club, every yera we get loads of interest, and no-one left at the end of the year (almost no-one anyway!) I can only say to you "Posters" (!) Make 'em BIG, and make lots of 'em! We have some large (A1) size posters made up featuring some kokyu nage Thang by Yamaguchi shihan, taken from a book by Michel Random, with just a simple header added. They are black and white, and look great... very effective! last year we ended up with 150 begginners for the first few classes, these inevitably were redeuced to about 20 by christmas, and down to 5/6 at the end of the year who will hopefully keep up the regular membership I can send you a copy of the original photo if you want to blow it up for your own posters btw! From: Alex Araujo -------------------------------------- We seem to have the same situation/problem. Every year we do a demo, and lots of newbies sign up. Then they realize that college takes up a lot of time, ad they stop coming. Haven't come up with any sure-fire way to get more than a handful to stay... Alex From: Andy -------------------------- Try *Nude Co-Ed Aikido* You should pack the place. :-) From: Krystal Locke -------------------------------------- Umm, we've found that placing ads for "beginning classes" works to get more in the door than ads for "ongoing classes", but that doesn't really answer your question. Our dojo experience shows that only a very few people who try, stay. Less than 5%, really. It's a sad thing, I know, but we dont know what else to try, either. It may just be that way... :-( Krystal From: Brian Baquiran ----------------------------------------------- I think I know how you feel, having practiced on and off for about a year. We have the same problem at my college club, where people sign up expecting to be Steven Segal in a few lessons. We no longer turn away applicants, because the membership seems to be self-limiting. People don't find what they're looking for, and quit. Those who stay (mostly women, for some reason) however, are hooked for life. From: Todd Louis Green --------------------------------------------- As a "beginner" I'd like to make a point about why so many folks seem to step into an aikido dojo and then step right back out again after a short while. It's not short, so unless you teach and/or are concerned about high drop-out rates, you'd be best off waxing your toes... It's the teaching method: both times I "started" aikido, there was little differentiation between brand-spanking-new students and intermediate [non-"advanced"] students. This tradition may come from the earliest times of aikido where, it seems, O-Sensei demanded all of his students have a strong MA background. But in modern times, without that "prerequisite" a lot of folks come in and aren't ready to just DO yonkyo and kokyu nage. At the school I'm in now, they want you to attend a few classes before they even teach you how to roll and breakfall! The result? I feel like an elementary-school student in a pre-med bio class. I feel like I'm annoying everyone I work out with [and a few of the folks have given me every reason to feel that way, including one person who, when I asked "how come I'm not making you move in (such-and-such) direction?" just replied "Ask me again in 2 years" -- come ON!]. Now, I'm not going to quit, and luckily Saotome-sensei has a begginer class every Sunday [which I'm going to go to every week until I don't feel like a fool on the mat any more]. But my girlfriend, who has watched one class, said, "Wow, it looks really neat and I'd love to learn, even if it took years, but how do you learn if no one ever tells you how to do it???" If someone would just spend the same five or six "first-week" hours in a step-by-step, through-the-basics class that they do in a "regular" class, they would feel more confident, get to know some of the folks at the dojo, and would, I'd guess, be more likely to stay. From: Terry Roberts --------------------------------------- We have a 6-week, twice-a-week beginners course that all beginners are required to take. And we have about the same retention rate as anyone else. Sure, we get several new yudansha each year, but we go through several *hundred* new beginners each year. Other dojos that I know of have beginners' classes -- not a structured curriculum that progresses from beginning to end, but classes that concentrate on beginners' needs. And they have about the same retention rate as anyone else. From: Laura Hague ---------------------------------------- I definitely agree. Our dojo has 3 three-month long 2X weekly beginners classes each year. Out of the 40 beginners who will start each time, we may have 5 who will return for a few more months, and one who will stay longer than a year, for a grand total of three annually. Part of that attrition is being a university club, with people dropping out of school, transferring, and sometimes even graduating. But mostly it's just the way voluntary groups work. I don't think it is a problem special to Aikido, or martial arts in general. From: "Robert D. Rowzee" --------------------------------------------- > I feel like I'm annoying everyone I work out with [and a >< few of the folks have given me every reason to feel that way, including > one person who, when I asked "how come I'm not making you move in > (such-and-such) direction?" just replied "Ask me again in 2 years" -- > come ON!]. That is their problem. If you don't like that confused feeling, it is up to you to learn. He(she) had a valid point to make. IMHO If you are a beginner, you simply cannot "feel" the Aikido. It may be too soon to try to explain this idea to you (I have problems enough trying to explain it) but sometimes (at least for me) Aikido cannot be taught. I can talk until I am blue in the face and still the student has to experience "it" before they can get "it". So that person was right when they said that. In a couple of years, you will understand, but now, use that uncomfortable feeling to your advantage. If you don't like feeling that way, do what you have to in order to change it. From: Andy ------------------------ For a *beginner* you make much sense. As we *advance* in the arts, we sometimes get away from our *beginners mind* and your dose of reality snaps me back. Thanks. I hope to remember this passage as I train *newbees* in the future. Thanks Todd, From: Todd Louis Green ---------------------------------------------- All fine and good, but my point wasn't that this partner should have had THE ANSWER, but rather that this person should have had a better reply than a gruff and somewhat holier-than-tho "Ask me again in 2 years." YOU'RE response was fine -- I would take no offense at all if someone explained it to me that way [as MANY of the folks at the dojo have had to 8-) ]. My point was the kind of attitude discussed above is a detractor from the art and is likely to send some students packing, because it makes the higher-level students seem arrogant and "secretive." From: "Robert D. Rowzee" ---------------------------------------------- Didn't you get the memo? Upper students are bathed in a glow of power 8 - ) Actually, I think you will find that some of your sempai are better at explaining than others. I think that for some people, Aikido is a tactile experience (yours truly) and for others, Aikido is a variable that can be quantified (not for me). From: Steve Zimmerman ----------------------------------------- The response by the sempai may have been true, but it was a dumbass, non-constructive answer to give to a beginner. The sempai simply could have offered tips on how the beginner can try to move uke. At our dojo, we start with the premise that there are no bad students, only bad teachers. I'll have to admit that once in a great while, a student will show up & challenge that assertion, but basically we find it to be true. Since every beginner must go through the "klutz period" when they feel they can't do anything right while they look around & see everyone else moving with ease, I try to honor that feeling. I do this by displaying the attitude that they can't do anything on the mat that's "wrong". Instead, I'll show them a way to do it "better". When they struggle with something, I assure them that all beginners have that problem; they just have to hang in there & it will improve. In our dojo, a common beginner problem is the inability to relax and the use of too much force/muscle. They're not experienced enough to even know what "too much force" is. I handle that by asking them to be uke & tell them "here's what I feel from you". I then execute the technique with too much force. Then I say "Here's what I'd LIKE to feel from you." & I execute it more correctly. Then I ask them to try. The intermediate students (3rd kyu+) tend to execute the techniques too quickly, also causing them to be stiff & use too much force. I take the role of uke & tell them they have two priorities...the first priority is to be relaxed & the second is to do the technique correctly. I will sacrifice correctness for a more relaxed execution. It often turns out that, by concentrating on relaxation, they execute the technique both in a relaxed manner & more correctly. Their resulting smile of accomplishment & self-satisfaction is what makes working with mudansha very worthwhile. From: "Robert W. Wildblood" --------------------------------------------- I agree with Todd. At the dojo where I started Aikido, beginners are given a most gracious welcome and are taught the "basics" of Aikido. We were greeted and helped by the sempai who attended these classes. We were taught the basic ettiquete of the dojo and why Sensei was treated with the respect that he was (and which, by the way, he deserved. We were given a short history, were told some of the traditional stories, and were taught several basic techniques. We were told that we shifted from uke to shite (and you may place me for that one) so that we could ezperience the give and take of Aikido. We were taught basic breakfalls and also basic front pins. No language that could not be understood (except for the fact that Sensei had a very heavy accent -- it was 3 weeks before I understood that when we lined up with our partners that the "mirro" side was actually the mirror side and the "o'feese" side was the office side) was used -- time for that when we started attending regular classes. Since that time I have had to move several times and never found a dojo that I really felt comfortable in. It's one thing to be a visitor in a dojo and feel a bit like an outsider. It is very different to walk into the middle of an on-going class in a dojo that you are considering for a home dojo and feel that way. Now that I am in the DC area, I am being encouraged to try again, this time to study with someone who was once affiliated with my original Sensei. But, since I have been out of training for a while, I would like to have a beginner class to go to. There isn't one so I guess I'll just have to jump in. From: Krystal Locke ----------------------------------------- I can certainly see the point here, and I have a few comments. I think a lot of the dismay felt by new students upon being thrown unprepared into a "typical"(please note the quotes!) Aikido class, where all ranks train together, and there is not so much verbal instruction, is caused by two factors, both valid, but something to consider. First, all people come into any new endeavor with expectations. (I am perhaps an exception, since I started Aikido SOLELY on the recommendation of a lover, who never showed me any Aikido, nor provided any opportunity for me to watch a class, seminar, or demo. I didn't even start the art until years after the relationship ended. I had absolutely NO IDEA what Aikido was, beyond a martial art that Claire said she liked.) Anyway, we come into a dojo thinking, I'll learn how to kick/punch/roll/fight/breathe/meditate/flip/crush coconuts/become invisible/etc. And, no one seems to want to believe that they can actually be as bad at something as we all are that first night on the mat, you know? ;-) We have a self image of competency we feel we need to maintain, for self esteem's sake. (Now that's something I did run smack up against. I thought since I could lift more weight than any other woman at work that I was pretty damn physically competent. DUH.OWW.) So, we as newbies run up immediately against our own expectations, of the art and of ourselves. It's the disparity between the expectation and the reality that makes us want to quit. Second, we Americans have a strong basis in a very verbal, tell me kind of education. We get so much from lecture/books/video, that sometimes, simple presentation doesn't quickly become obvious. So, yes, it is the teaching method. It is foreign to many of us, and this presents an obstacle to our training. But, does this mean the teaching method needs to be changed? Or should we, as martial artists, looking to expand our capabilities, learn a new way to learn? Beginning classes are a good way to get and keep new students, and keep them within their comfort level. The "ask me again in 2 years" method is apparently very traditional, and is partially designed to weed out those who aren't too committed to the art. But it is very uncomfortable for many students. All the methods have their merits, IMHO. From: Walter Martindale ----------------------------------------------------- Todd L. wrote (lotsa snipping) Now, I'm not going to quit, and luckily Saotome-sensei has > >a begginer class every Sunday [which I'm going to go to every week > >until I don't feel like a fool on the mat any more]. I don't know how to break it to you, but you're going to feel clumsy for a few years. My first sensei (a nidan) keeps replying to my (gokyu) comments about how clumsy I feel that he feels like a clumsy goat on the mats. I suppose it is all relative. I'm comparing myself with the fluidity of my sensei (this dojo is headed by a 4th dan). He's comparing himself with the 7th and 8th dan shihan by whom he has been trained. Here's a suggestion. Ask your sensei or a senior student to help (after class) with some basics. I find the footwork confusing, if you do, ask for advice and "coaching" on the tenkan, tenshin, irimi, and other "steps". Ask for some help with some simple jo movements (how to hold it, how to swing it, etc., etc.). After a while this step and that hand motion will join up into a technique that you have been shown in class. (i.e., tenkan with a jo "cut" and a bit of imagination can be related to the preliminary movements of irimi-nage in response to a shomenuchi attack) Hope this helps. It also helps that two of the three blackbelts I've had as senseis teach (school or university) for a living. The method - teach the basics, link them up. Teach more basics, link them up. Teach more basics, link them up. (also known as the "whole - part - whole" method). Show the whole technique, break it down into its components, teach the components, allow practice, perfect the parts, teach the connections between the parts, allow practice, and perfect the connections, and then do the whole thing. Initially, its a bit slower than learning a whole list of techniques, but after all the basics are dug in, then the techniques can be built out of basic movements, rather than trying to figure out the basics out of a whole lot of whole movements. From: Dennis Hooker --------------------------------------------------- This may not work for you but I find it helps at my dojo. I assign a older student to each new student. They build a personal relationship and it helps them bond to the group. Also through their senpai they can get a quicker answer to their questions. To feel new and alone on a mat full of strange people with whom you seem to have little in common is not good. It is better to have at least one new friend you know by name to turn to if need be. I encourage the exchange of phone numbers so contact can be made if the new student don't come back. This way I can find out why they chose not to continue. By the way my number is unlisted :-) From: Alex Araujo ----------------------------------------- At our club we have at least one special begginer's session per year, usually two. If anyone wishes to join the club after that, they're welcome, but they're not going to receive a great deal of individual attention then. They have to do some more catching up than if they had joined the beginner's session. Most folks at our dojo are good about showing patience with the beginners (most of our current members started as inexperienced beginners, and they remember how confusing it can be), and there will always be someone at hand to spend a few minutes showing the newbie how to roll, and other basics. But still, those joining midways through the year have to work harder at catching up. This said, I have observed that those who join outside the beginner's session tend to try harder and stick with it. They join because they're specifically interested in training aikido. the several dozen or so people who join right after our demo tend to do ir more out of curiosity and spurr of the moment, rather than genuine interest in aikido proper. So most of them leave after a couple of weeks. For a small club like ours, though, having regular beginner classes simply is not practical, and we perhaps must suffer the consequences of sometimes scaring off some of the shyer prospects. From: Alex Araujo ---------------------------------------- In a sense, we kind of work like that in our dojo, but just for the first few lessons, and just with the most difficult techniques. Usually we don't assign a specific member to work with a specific beginner, though. If one of the members introduces a beginner, it is generally and informally felt that this member is responsible for the newbie's initial progress. From: James Acker ---------------------------------- Cady, I sense a common thread in a lot of your posts here and I shared the concern. I keep hearing you want to train against "realistic" attacks, to get the feel of how you could respond as an aikidoka to an attack. I am very much a beginner in Aikido, coming from a history of a few years in kenpo karate, and I wanted to "get right to it" too when I first started aikido. I kept thinking that the attacks I was working off of were absolutely unrealistic and couldn't see the connection. I came from a background (years ago) of doing forms, techniques by the numbers (i.e. first you learn technique A until you get it down, then you learn B), and full contact with pads and gloves. We always worked against "realistic" attacks. I learned what I learned, I felt I could defend myself somewhat. I always had a nagging doubt though because it didn't seem integrated into my way of dealing with things. Kenpo seems devastating when you learn it. On the other hand when we did full contact it was a whole different world. There you (of course) didn't overextend the opponents' arm and break it, there you had to box with kicks thrown in. It was a learning experience. I never got to black belt so I don't know if it would have "all come together" at that stage for me. But the kenpo I learned had no options, it was only devastate, it was only hitting, and gouging eyes, and breaking knees, in some sort of orderly fashion. When I started Aikido, years later, I think I was somewhat of a nuisance. I was critical of the method of training as you seem now. I thought "this isn't the least bit realistic..all this grab my hand stuff" and I bothered the instructors with a lot of second-guessing questions. I felt like I knew better, but underneath it all I still wanted to try to learn aikido and find out what it was about. My instructors were very patient with me. I think maybe they had had this happen before. I wanted to "get right to it" and learn what to do when someone throws a great feint, another, and then a right cross. I was frustrated by all this moving from technique to technique when I didn't get the chance to really ingrain the first technique yet. I wanted to go over one technique til I "got it down" like I used to in kenpo. I felt and still feel clumsy and stupid when I take a wrong step, or don't know how to take a fall. All this is still true to a point. But I also began to see how the instructors moved in demonstrating a technique, and decided I very much wanted to learn that. And I had a Saturday once at the Dojo where I got to train exclusively with a Shodan one on one and plague him with questions like "yes, but what if I threw a punch like this?" "o.k. but how do deal with a kick here?" or "but aren't you open there?" and he mostly answered by showing me (and I FELT that!) and I became a believer. My instructors display great technique and can also show the "nice" way to do a technique and the "not so nice" way. In short, they know more than a bunch of techniques, they know the basis from the techniques. I think you are having a problem with wanting everything NOW. Wanting to be at the level that takes years to be at, right now. You sound enthusiastic and that's good, but as I understand it, we need to learn from the wrist grabs, and Shomen-uchi, etc., because the point is not to focus so much on the attacking limb but to learn positioning and timing and postitioning again. I don't understand a tenth of it yet myself but I get a VERY good feeling when I get a small part right. It's a long term thing. If I was attacked tonight I would probably rely more on kenpo and instinct than aikido (right NOW) but I would still have some aikido sense thrown in there too. Later I hope it would be all aikido, but I don't really train to learn only self defense, or more accurate I expect to get better and better at it and learn. Aikido gives you the chance to not devastate your attacker (even if you could) and lets you adjust to what is appropriate. It happens a lot that I am shown a technique, practice with someone at my level or above and the technique feels kind of "so-so". Sometimes the instructor comes up and then demostrates the technique on me. The difference is amazing. When the technique really happens I LOSE my "center" in effect I have no chance to put up any defense, I just go down. I think you might be seeing the effectiveness for yourself but want to understand it with only your brain. I got to a point where I just decided to learn aikido and give it a chance, and not judge by the same goals I had in kenpo. I figure that there is no stopping point, the learning goes on and on. The thing is it doesn't feel like a waste if I never "get to use it" in self defense, I get to use it each practice. And it is a great experience to feel how a technique works. From: Doug Pettigrew ------------------------------------------- This can sometimes be difficult in practice. If the Sensei works a nine-to-five job, having separate beginner/intermediate/advanced classes can become impractical very quickly. In my own dojo we do a compromise: beginners are usually taken off to one side and taught the basics by one of the more advanced students, for the first few classes (usually by somebody who wants to instruct classes eventually). From: Marc St_Onge ------------------------------------------------ Todd Louis Green wrote about why some new students are turned off in early Aikido classes. To paraphrase DiAnne Sensei: "Before shodan, you are learning how to move your own body. After shodan, you are learning how to move uke." Maybe new students are too eager to get the feeling of making uke do something and not too interested in getting themselves to move. I know myself, being incurably lazy, often say to myself "Jeez, you mean I have to DO something?"