Life Gets In the Way

Over the past 20 years of teaching Kung Fu, one of the most frustrating things that needs to be accepted is that life gets in the way. Today's Kung Fu instructor lives a difficult life. You need to develop your students to the best of your ability knowing that in the end very few will actually persist and make it through to your highest level. I have been fortunate enough to have several students that have trained with me since the beginning and still attend classes. I have however seen more than my share of talented, enthusiastic, promising students leave for various reasons outside of my control....life gets in the way.

It was probably much easier in the past when students lived at the school, trained with their instructors, acted as a family and worked together to support the school. Your instructor provided for you and in turn you were the loyal student.

In today's world we deal with losing students to family commitments, careers commitments, relocation and school commitments. Students have many more choices of what to do with their spare time...catch a movie or go to class, dinner with friends or go to class, go to The Home Show (sorry, had to sneak this one in there for one of the students - you know who you are) or go to class, etc. There are also many more sporting activities to choose from. Once again, life gets in the way.

The bottom line is Kung Fu takes effort, dedication and commitment. It is not the easiest path to take. The students that make it through to becoming an instructor probably think of packing it in many times before they get to that point. As the guide, the instructor can only teach and hope that the student will stick it out.

This seemed like an appropriate topic tonight as I sit here and take a break from studying for an exam in a course I don't want to take (and doubt I will ever apply) because some association has decided that it is relevant to the profession and is mandatory if you ever want to be certified (which I am not sure I even want). In fact, I had to miss teaching class tonight to do this. I have decided that this is about as enjoyable as horse stance training but possibly as necessary so will continue to study until the wee hours of the morning. Tonight....life is getting in the way.