Is it wrong that I am now getting a little concerned? The dojo, whilst well equipped and having a very good instructor just hasn't got any more students, I am the only one who turns up and to be fair, I am not sure how long I will continue to train there before I start to look elsewhere. My daughter doesn't want to go as she is the only junior attending and wants others to be there otherwise it's very hard work on her, I am seriously thinking of looking for a Shotokan class for her as it's more popular here.
With so many different clubs out there it can be hard for clubs to grow, especially the small clubs. As most people can't tell good from bad they a) choose the club that has the best publicity, which means the big clubs and big associations that can afford to saturate papers and mailboxes with leaflets recruit more students proportionally, b) choose the club that on viewing has the largest number of students (which ties into the above) as people associate numbers with good teaching, c) choose the club that makes the wildest claims in its advertising. My school based clubs are quite big, but my adults clubs are tiny and I often don't cover the hall rental. Most of the enquiries I get are about classes for 4 year olds and I don't teach that age group. I know of a very senior ranked and exceptional instructor in another system who is in the same boat vis a vis evening classes. I also know a very well known instructor who also teaches across the world to packed out venues who will often only get 10 students in an evening class at his own club.
It's hard, I like the training and found the 1-1 training helpful for the first few months, but now I am worried that with there being just myself attending (and my daughter occasionally), what are the chances of the dojo continuing? Also, the question of why it hasn't taken off yet has to come to mind.
Chances of it continuing are anyone's guess. The chances of it continuing if you leave are slimmer. Why would it take off? How many other clubs are there (of any art?) in your vicinity? I know that in my local area (15 mile radius) I 'compete' for interest against 4 Shotokan associations, 2 other karate associations, 2 Ju Jitsu groups, 2 Judo clubs, 2 TKD groups, 2 Wing Chun groups, 2 Aikido groups, 2 Krav Maga groups, 1 Boxing club, 1 unidentifiable McDojo, 1 MMA club, and 1 Sambo club. Assuming 'equal publicity/exposure' that means I would only have a 1 in 22 chance of a person looking choosing my group, and in reality the odds are actually stacked in favour of the clubs that are already big and with numbers low prospective people looking are more likely to go somewhere else. 50% of my new Shotokan students in the last year were senior ranked Dan grades in other associations who have the experience to judge what I am teaching rather than go by numbers.
In the area of similar radius there are at least 3 shotokan clubs, a number of unknown style karate clubs, numerous Kyokushin, 2 Aikido, a few Judo clubs, a few TKD and a couple of Ju Jitsu clubs that I know of.
There's your answer as to why it hasn't taken off and recruited more students. The white suit market is only so big.
I have found a Shotokan club local to me that trains on a Monday night (mixed grade and age session so my daughter and I could both train for £5 which is brilliant cost wise), just feel bad about leaving the other dojo, but I can't see it succeeding if it only ever has me there.
Well, I have done some long and hard thinking and have made one very hard decision. I just cannot continue as the only student at the dojo. I have decided I have to continue to train and therefore am looking to return to Shotokan. At my age, with my job, I cannot devote the amount of time needed to succeed at Kyokushin, the fitness levels required are beyond me and I just cannot attend training enough times per week to make it work. This has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make as I really like the instructor at the Kyokushin club, he is a great bloke, unfortunately I can't continue with the intensity of training required. My daughter went to the local Shotokan club and loved it, I feel it is just a better fit for her and probably for me too. Having said that, I am not going to jump straight back in as a black belt, I am going to see what they think I should be (they have said I can retain my black belt, but I feel I need to earn it again if that makes sense).
A difficult decision. As your 'old' instructor is part of a larger organisation it is up to them to support him. It may be that the local market is too saturated. After the time away you're not going to be at Shodan standard right now, but the quickest route there is to train alongside the other Dan grades. Good luck!
Thank you John, I am looking to train as often as I can and get back to the standard I was before (preferably better).
