Any private students of any arts, how do you find this benefits your growth as a martial arts practicioner? How do you find it benefits your group classes? how many hours privatly do you train monthly.
I have a private escrima lesson once a week. Most clubs here have beginner's courses, usually 3 months, then you go to the normal group training. The courses are usually twice a year. When I got back into MA after a few years break I decided to take up escrima, I'd dabbled in it in the past. But I missed the sign ups for the course and they were already half way through, so I went with the private. It turned out relatively cheap if I took them once a week. I joined the group classes at a later date, but I keep the private as I enjoy them and like the "me time". My privates are, as you can imagine, a lot more technical than the group classes. My instructor has time to pick apart my technique and we have the chance to break down moves and drill problem areas. Also they are a lot more flexible. Sometimes I ask my teacher if we can go through certain areas and work on them. We did a lot of abaniko work last lesson. The lessons can also be carried out at my pace. If I am not getting something, we can drill it to death. If I get something, we can move on a little quicker. We also have the chance to talk and discuss strategy, techniques or Filipino culture and history a lot more. And that's also good. We can have a bit of a laugh too. Our group classes are quite relaxed, but still there is still a small amount of formality, the privates less so. I am not much for formality. But there's benefits of the group too. Everyone moves in a different way and likes to add their own little "flavour" when we are sparring / improvising. I think you need to train with different people. We're all built and think and move differently, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. You need to experience that and learn how to deal with it IMHO. I personally think a group and private is the way to go with your MA training. Of course, not everyone can afford them...but it's perhaps the ideal situation. I'm not much of a writer...so I hope there's something worth reading there.
My school is small enough that every once in a while I wind up with a private lesson just because no-one else is there. It doesn't happen often, but it's nice when it does. I have to agree with Boris, though. There are benefits to both. My school is small enough that I still get a decent amount of individualized attention from the sifu, especially since I'm the odd-man-out as far as level of training. We have a group of black and red (right before black) sash students, myself (yellow - as in one up from white), and two guys who started in December 2012, so I'm a good ways ahead of them. (I'm really close to moving up, and I may already be there but we only do promotions normally once a year, so it's not uncommon to move up two ranks at once because of that). The group classes are especially important in an art that emphasizes sparring and improvising like Escrima or Wing Chun. I found private lessons very helpful in my preying mantis days because we'd work on forms and I'd learn much more quickly in private lessons, but Wah Lum Preying Mantis has a very large number of forms. Wing Chun has six. It's a little different there. What are you studying?
As it was for a couple of my past instructors and for myself teaching, if they/I should happen to have spare time before or after a class, anyone who was there, we workout or had lessons I maintained the attitude as of my instructors, a student is not a "customer"
That's why I always worry a little about instructors who try to make teaching martial arts their full-time job, and why I like my sifu so much. He teaches because he loves the art, and he charges to encourage students to be serious and to cover expenses, and he deserves to be paid for his work, after all. I'm not saying that all full-time instructors are just trying to make a profit, but the fact that it is their sole source of income does make me a bit suspicious.
Yes, they should all live in a temple and get paid in rice. Seriously, why does it make you suspicious? If they are good at what they do, why shouldn't they make a living from it? Everyone else gets paid for their skills. Would you rather an instructor/teacher work a full time job then teach classes or an instructor have their time and energy focused on one thing (i.e. your development)? Can't you love the art and the teaching of it and make a living at the same time? Or is that impossible?
Why is it that people want to latch onto the "martial art teacher moral spirituality best without greed...yada yada" Great doctors get paid a premium for ther services, although the best should never equate to the most expensive, but when there are bills to be paid....
