Thinking Of Leaving Your Martial Arts School? Read This First.

Changing Martial Arts School can often feel like going through a break up. There are often a lot of mixed feelings and it can tend to be a pretty emotional move. At least this is how it can often appear to me. I’ve been teaching for well over 10 years now, and have seen a lot of people come and go. Some have left my school to go to another, others have left theirs to come to mine. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this is all pretty normal. 

But of course, for each individual this is probably something they will only experience once or twice at most in their life, so it can feel like a big decision. I wanted to offer a little perspective and a few things to think about it if you are thinking about leaving a club or moving to another. 

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side

Usually, people leave to go to another school because they believe they will get something better. Often just the excitement of a fresh start, and meeting new people can be enough to push people to leave. In my experience there are 3 reasons most people choose to jump ship: 

Better training

They believe they will get better training because the place they are going to has more experienced coaches and better team members to work with.

Better facilities

The place they want to go to has better equipment, more space or simply looks cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing.

More attention 

They think they will get more 1on1 time with the coaching staff and be given more attention. 

All of these are arguably good reasons to switch clubs. But a word of caution. The grass is not always greener.

Better Training is a very subjective term, it could just mean they use a different methodology, it could simply be that you relate more to their ways. 

Better Facilities should never really be your motivation, realistically, Martial Arts requires space and a partner, anything else is a bonus. Don’t let that be your primary decision maker. 

More Attention is often dependant on the size of the school. Smaller clubs, with smaller classes will give you more attention, but 1on1 time is not necessarily what you may need.

The importance of training and personal responsibility 

Often the desire to leave a club is based out of frustration. That you don’t feel like you are progressing fast enough. So we look for some where to place the blame. Instead of coming to terms with the fact that you may be a slow learner, or just have unrealistically expectations for the rate of your improvement. You look around and find people or things to pin it on, thinking that if you just had a hanging bag, things would improve a lot faster. 

Don’t forget to look inwards. Check that you are giving 100% to your training, that you are asking the right questions, that you are mixing it up and putting yourself in uncomfortable positions where growth can occur. 

Questions to ask yourself

Are you comfortable there? 

Probably one of the most important things is that you are comfortable in your club. By that I mean, you get on with the coaches, the other members of the class and the general vibe of the place. 

Did you get something from it? 

Did you get sweat on? Did you learn something? Did you get reminded of something? Don’t expect dramatic change from one session, but try to see the little wins on a daily basis. 

What is your Goal? 

Pro Fighter? Be at a gym geared towards this. Family fitness? Be at a gym geared towards this. Different strokes, for different folks. It's not necessarily that you are at a bad school, but maybe just not the right environment for what you are trying to get out of it. 

Speak To Your Coach

I obviously can’t speak for all coaches out there, but I feel pretty confident in saying, that for the majority, Coach doesn’t care. It's not personal. They are not going to cry over you leaving, they are not going to beg you to stay, you are not going to cause them to rethink their entire philosophy towards the Martial Arts. 

But they would like to know, and maybe it's something they can fix or change. If not, then maybe they can guide you in the right direction of where to go next. Don’t be afraid to bring these things to your Instructor, they can’t see everything. 

Don’t Rush 

Finally, don’t rush it. Don’t make a rash decision based off of a bad sparring session. Don’t run out the door screaming and burning bridges. If you are going to leave, do it on good terms. Not so that you can come running back when it doesn’t work out, but so that you can pass each other on the street and have a conversation. So you both get the chance to reflect on things you might of done differently.