When I lived in Ukraine, I was running an English club for Ukrainian English teachers. There were a few dedicated people who came, but overall my attendance dwindled and finally I cancelled the club. While the club was going on, however, I would always run class, even if only one person showed up.
When I started jiu jitsu, I went a lot, and often went during lunch time. Attendance was not high, and there were a few times when I was the only student, or only one of two. It was a disappointment when the instructor then decided not to teach, and instead just let us roll. I really wanted to learn!
This month I attended two weekend events. One was the monthly recurring women’s only seminar given by Heejin Lee, the only female black belt in Korea. Only two students showed up, and I really thought she would cancel the event. To my surprise and happiness, she still taught the both of us.
Seminar? More like private lesson!
The second was the new class for native English speakers. It’s something that started up within the past month. It’s every Sunday from 4pm to 6pm at Apgujeong, and it’s designed for helping fill in the gaps for those of us learning BJJ in Korea who don’t quite get all the fine details during class. It’s not a traditional class – more of a Q&A with an upper belt. I’ve gone twice. The first time, it was just me and a white belt, along with the hosting brown belt. Then the following week, it was just me. I’m going again this Sunday!
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Secret tip: if you’re the only person to show up to training, you get a free private lesson!! I was the blue, he was the brown. Awesome training times were had. #bjj #jiujitsu
I freaking loved both things. The women’s only seminar ended up being a $20 private lesson with a black belt! The English speakers Q&A ended up being a free private lesson with a brown belt! You can bet your sweet self I’ll be going back for more. I almost don’t want to tell folks about my sweet setup because it is freaking amazing.
If you plan to have a class, have the class. A great teacher can tailor things for that specific student, and you get some valuable one on one time. That’s the genius of having a class when only one or two students come. You create a situation where the student finds the time incredibly valuable, and as such, they will hopefully be more likely to come. If, however, you cancel, your students are even less likely to show up. This is NOT to say that classes don’t naturally dwindle away – but don’t decide to cancel the day of, when someone has already shown up.
Jiu Jiu’s Question: If only one or two people show up for a class, how does your gym usually handle things? Do you feel that those classes are more or less valuable for the students? Has this happened to you? Tell your story!
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When only one person comes to class, my instructor still teaches. Especially if you’re a paying student, it’s a jerk move to not teach anything. If you’re a true teacher, you know that 1 on 1 is the best way to teach!
Awesome! I completely agree with you. I will take it a step further and say that if you’re a great teacher, you know that 1 on 1, addressing known student needs is the best way to teach. 🙂
ps. you got caught in the spam filter because I accidentally let the service lapse. 🙁 You should be auto approved for comments now.
I don’t understand the logic of cancelling a class if there’s a small turn out- especially when the coach is trying to run an academy of what is effectively a fringe sport, in a part of the world where it’s relatively unknown.
After coaching combat sports in China for over 5 years, I’ve taught my fair share of one student classes- and here’s why I always will: (1) I enjoy it. (2) when I teach them, they come back for more and the classes grow as a result. If I didn’t teach them, they would not come back, and then there would be exactly zero people in the next class.
As a result, my classes are a whole lot bigger today than they were 5 years ago. But even now, there will still be an odd day here and there where only a fraction of the class shows up, or even just one. A couple of weeks ago, I had such a class- no one showed up to train except for one new guy: a young, non-athletic Chinese kid who had never trained before. But he came to train, so I trained him. And guess what? He came back, and he brought his friends, and they brought their friends.
It doesn’t always work out that way. I’ve done plenty of one on one classes with people I never heard from again- but I don’t regret teaching them- because every hour I spend on the mat works to my advantage.Doing my job makes me better at my job. It’s a win win in my book.
Guh – my Akismet spam filter lapsed and I had dozens and dozens of spam comments coming to me and yours was snagged there. You should be okay from now on. Note to self: you love Akismet!
Congrats on your China gig. Are you an expat? How long have you been living there? What belt are you in BJJ (or do you do a different sport?)
Our gym recently had this experience, for some reason Wednesday – the hump day gets the worst attendance of the week. My girlfriend and I regularly attend this class, but last Tuesday I injured my knee. We went to the gym as usual with only my girlfriend training, our coach showed up early and we decided to wait, unfortunately none of the other guys showed up.
We were getting a bit lazy and was thinking of telling our coach not to bother with teaching, instead he insisted that she worked on her top game (she’s more of a guard player). It ended up being one of the most productive class for her, as she got a lot of tips catered particularly to her movement.
That is precisely the best kind of class, in my opinion. I teach language, and when I have the opportunity, such as working one on one with a student, I love pulling out their old papers and discussing how to improve THEIR English rather than just “here is a random English lesson.” It’s tailor made for the student. I would be so delighted to have a coach say “Hey Jiu Jiu – you keep ending up in this position – let’s work on that.” 😀
Hooray for amazing impromptu private lessons!
haven’t yet experienced being that few, but a couple of times some were late and sensei was totally planning on going through with class. and in our club you’re likely to get a lot of one on one time with sensei if you’re one of the few who stay behind after class. in fact, since we’re often so late sensei pretty much always drives me home so I’ll get there safe.
Excellent! I’m really glad to hear – both that you get awesome one on one time, and that he cares about your safety. Who are the “we” in your scenario? Do you go with a partner or a sibling or a child or a friend?
ps. I really love your email address. I love Narnia, too!
I saw that you’d had 12 comments approved under the other name (your full name it looks like), but only 2 under this name. I went ahead and changed it, but if you’d like to use the newer name majael95 I can change your other comments to reflect the same username. 🙂
We have a weekly ladies’ group private lesson where attendance can be spotty depending on whether kids are in school that week or not. For that one, we started a GroupMe list (which the instructor is included on) and I ping everyone the day before to confirm. If only one other person can go, we’ll either decide to go or take the week off. Most of the time we go as long as there are two ladies. (GroupMe is nice because you can use the app, -or- you can use it via SMS only. That way not everyone has to have, say, a Facebook account to be on the list.)
For the other classes, I almost always go with my husband. So we either end up doing drills with the instructor………. or we convince the instructor to go get coffee with us. 😉 (We’ve got a pretty laid back dojo.)
That’s a great idea – to find out how many are going to begin with. Thanks for the tip on the app. I’d never heard of it before.
I love having a laid back gym as well, though I’ve found that there’s an interesting scale. It seems like the more “friends” you are, the more likely you are to chat/do non-jiu jitsu things. The less “friends” you are, the more likely you are to be strictly jiu jitsu and keep on task. That is DEFINITELY true in my case, and it’s also very possible that I’m the reason for this. heh.
When I was the only student who showed up for a class, I got a private lesson. Now that I’m teaching, I’m passing it on: if only one student shows up for one of my classes they get a private lesson on a topic of their choice. I think it’s a good system.
Excellent! This is really positive thinking, in my opinion!
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