One
day I went to class driving over to the Club. A brief drive of two miles. A
thunderstorm came up. It was ferocious and violent. There were descending
sheets of water. The wind seemed to drive waves of water over the banks
alongside the road. I don’t think I had ever seen its like.
Then
reaching the Boy’s and Girl’s Club it ceased but it knocked the power out and
we had to cancel class. There are things beyond our control.
Being
the instructor seems to mean we are in control. It seems that way for our word
becomes the structure of class. However the operating word is seems.
For
there have to be students. I run very small programs. Normally several times a
year, such as during blizzards and family holidays, everyone does the
reasonable thing and stays home. I on
the other hand am often in the Club parking lot, waiting to see if anyone shows
up, or I am training myself.
The
first reason I train is to learn, how to use my changing current abilities. I
may be the instructor, but I am also the student.
Along
the way you learn a hard lesson. There are students who train, and then there
are those who used to be students. There is no other distinction. Whether they
train a week or several decades makes no difference because they no longer are
there.
Everyone
trains because they make a decision to do so, and when the time comes that they
need something else to do with their time, they move on. You should applaud
their decision to make a choice. I realize that they represent at times years
of work, but the important thing is you helped them understand they can make
choices, and to do so in their best interest.
At
that time they become former students. It matters not why, just the observation
they are not there. Very few will take
the time to explain. Decades later if
you meet them they may try and offer an explanation. But it matters not. They
no longer are there. Reasons matter little.
Those
that are training are most important, As an instructor they come first, and of
course that means you too.
3 comments:
"Half the battle is just showing up."
You captured this perfectly. It's exactly how I feel.
In Canada, "snow days" and -35°C weather is common in the winter. Still, I show up to find an empty dojang and make the best of it.
Have you ever had a student that left ever return? It's extremely rare.
I have had a student return, She began at 8 years and trained until she was a green belt reaching green. Then high school and university made college karate impossible for her to remain training. After college a year later she returned, and had not forgotten anything, I had her put her green belt back on. Now she is a teacher, and trains when she is able. Today she is a hard working brown belt, working for her black and helping me with the beginners. Situations change, life goes on.
Thinking back on it what I always did give each student was a real karate experience. So when they decided to move on they would carry the knowledge of what they had experienced would always stay with them. They would retain that knowledge for life.
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