Class Dynamic

I had a student come to me recently, and express a desire to train at another dojo. I invited the student to do so, and said they would always be welcome back with me.

In speaking of this later with a different student, the comment was made: "that would really be a blow! Class would never be the same without XYZ."

While that statement is correct on the surface, it is fraught with potential traps as well. Good martial arts practice goes beyond a student, a classmate, or even an instructor. A good martial art goes beyond the dojo or even the style. Good martial arts are defined in what they bring to your life.

Back to the question at hand: would it be a blow to lose a particular student? Yes. However, all the loss would do is change the class dynamic just a bit. I have taught martial arts since 1987. I've seen students come and go. I've seen instructors come and go. One person coming or going from a dojo will make a difference, but it is not life-altering.

Just like at a job, the movement of one individual is not as damaging as some close to the situation will always believe. It is, in fact, a natural part of the change that we know as life. At a job, you will have coworkers come and go, and supervisors come and go. Rarely does that signify drastic enough change so as to cause the entire industry to go under.

Funny thing: few students ever give much thought of the white belt or yellow belt that leaves. They are always worried though, when a senior student or black belt leaves. Why is that? Really? A black belt (or senior student) is no more a person than a white belt.

For a specific dojo, the loss of the head instructor can be fatal - especially if the dojo only has that one instructor. However, the loss of a single student is never the death knell. Even in combative situations where the student leaves, and others follow, it is not fatal - even for a small dojo.

Surely, if a small dojo falls because of the loss of a student, then there was a flaw in that dojo to begin with.

Conversely, most of the time when I have seen a student leave, even in a combative situation (other students left, too, because of some dispute), the dojo winds up being even stronger. Usually, when the point of contention is no more, then other students are actually strengthened by it.

Now my situation was not one where the student would leave due to any sort of dispute. The student that would (and eventually did) leave was a top student at the time. This person simply wanted to branch out.

Post Edit: One year later, I have learned that this top student is no longer practicing the martial arts.

In either event, the old Kosen Judo maxim is this:

We do not refuse people who come to us.     
We do not chase people who leave from us. 
                                               - Hirata Sensei

Important to remember both sides of that coin.


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