Wow! Soooo much to be concerned about here....

Firstly I hear time and time again about high pressure tactics being used to sign people up, sorry if anyone wants to take it up offline with me they can i have students, close friends, parents and staff of a government agency to back it up .....sorry but high pressure sales and even sales driven training whilst fashionable just arent the way to go in my opinion ...

Inadequately trained instructors...indefensible..the only situation where junior instruction should be given is where NO other instructor is available..and then there should be no ambiguity about their experience or qualifications....

As to what a great instructor you had driving to collect you etc etc, yes i have done similar things for my students and yes it is admirable but it almost sounds you expected it or you didnt go and that it happened more than once or twice....was there no train? Bus? push bike? two legs? available to you? Where is your spirit, your giri? I can cite plenty of examples of senior teachers taking 60-90 minute trips each way to attend training and the consequences of missing even one class when they were students themselves!! I have slept outside the dojo in order not to miss a class, i would routinely drive >200kms on a Saturday to attend as many trainings as i could, i have had students travelling for over an hour on the train to reach the dojo, even some who come form the country stay the weekend to train and then go back..... McDonalds and its ilk have much to answer for...


As to risk, insurance and first aid ability, insurance is certainly a con, call me old fashioned if you enrol in karate then assuming no negligence (and it seems here there might be) no one has any right to complain about injuries...you new the job was dangerous when you took it! ......However , how could anyone ethically put an instructor on the mat who was not technically competent, expereinced in their art, at least qualified to senior first aid and obviously possessing the appropriate coaching and working with children government certifications?? Even teachers as recent as the last generation would be horrified if these simple basic requirements were not being met....

As far as i have seen the only thing GKR has done to be praised for is to bring karate to the masses, (particularly the inert masses), i know many good students of the martial arts who got their "start" with GKR but like some of the folk here i do wonder how many are lost to the arts for good due to negative experiences...and i am saddened that as a society so many people need so much coaxing to seize the opportunities and benefits that martial arts present ....

Final thought, in these days of increasing litigation i do wonder what would happen if a student were seriously injured or killed in the street and their lawyers discussed culpability of their trainers and school???? There is already precedent in the states for professional negligence suits...Personally i feel very strongly that i could stand in court and defend the veracity of the techniques i teach and the methodology and qualifications of the instructors teaching them...if you are standing in front of a class and cannot honestly say the same thing there is no shame is saying you need to put in more time in the ranks...., you would actually be doing the students you profess to care for a better service ;-)

Paul Sensei

Speaking as one of the many who started MA due to a GKR door knock, I think anyone who has quit MA permanently based on bad experiences in any school or style was not meant to be doing MA in the first place. There is a need for commitment and perseverence in MA, even when things are bad or you totally suck at whatever you are doing, and if people are quitting altogether it seems more due to lack of the MA addiction than anything else. One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as a past GKR student, is new instructors assuming I am not serious about my training and won't last more than a few weeks. That goes further towards encouraging me to quit than any negative experiences in GKR could.

As for people needing coaxing to start, MA is not necessarily viewed as a viable option for most people. They seem to feel it is a specialist kind of field, and you have to be good at it (somehow!) before you even start. Some join thinking they can be the next Bruce Lee - others never join because they see MA in movies and are convinced they could never do *that*. There is not enough evidence in day to day life that MA has benefits for everyone. Too many see it as a closed (if large), specialised group and something they can't break into.

P.S.: good to see you on the board again

GKR + bad instructors = sucksville
GKR + good instructors = goodtown

Same as any bigger club. Gotta say tho the higher ups dont really care. I tried asking about some stuff and got no answers or really poor answers. So i cant really slam GKR but I cant say they are good either.

its actually freakishly similar to the game world of warcraft. the game is great but the game masters dont reallly care about the players as long as they get the subscriptions.

I'd say its the same with a lot of life really - do senior mgt & the board really care about individual employees or do they care about returning for the shareholders? As long as middle management are good, employees will have a generally good experience, if hey are bad - staff leave!