Beginner Students

Possible Reasons for Leaving:

• Frustration due to physical shortcomings
• Frustration because the class is moving either too fast or too slow
• The class does not meet the student's expectations
• Difficulty in adjusting to the class' schedule.
• Fatigue or pain
• Money is tight

• Simplify your teaching methods. Remember that they are beginners
• Be flexible in pacing the class
• Teach realistic skills or start to incorporate what the student feels may be lacking
• Be sensitive to individual needs and differences
• Combine aerobic and anaerobic training. Use proper stretches and exercises to warm up and to cool down.
• Provide positive feedback and reinforcement
• Work out options for people with little money. (Will they work for you cleaning, teaching, etc.)

Intermediate Students

Possible Reasons for Leaving:

• Overtraining injuries
• Lack of goals or motivation to continue
• Loss of initial excitement past beginner stage
• Plateau of physical improvement
• Money is tight

• Perfect the basics
• Provide them with goals and positive feedback and reinforcement
• Teach new skills progressively
• Supplement training with strength building exercises.
• Work out options such as teaching for you, etc.

Advanced Students

Possible Reasons for Leaving:

• Student learned enough to reach their original goals
• Boredom; no new information
• Frustration in learning advanced skills due to poor basics
• Money is tight (more rare the longer they stay with it)
• New responsibilities

• Provide new goals and higher goals
• Teach how to create complex skills through a combination of simple ones
• Emphasize basics and work them
• Add strength training so the student is able to handle increased demands of training
• Work out options such as teaching, etc.
• Compromise on responsibilities. Find out what they dislike about the new responsibilities (if you have them teaching, etc.) to see if you can help them sort their problems out or come to a compromise.

Black Belt Stage

Possible Reasons for Leaving:

• False sense of mastery
• Reached their goal of attaining a black belt
• Unable to meet black belt requirements
• Ambitions to open a martial arts school of their own

• Emphasize black belt as a new beginning and set some new goals
• Provide them with teaching opportunities. Make them an assistant instructor and give them ideas on the day-to-day business operations.
• Insist on perfection of the basics. (This means practice.)
• Instill in them a sense of responsibility. They are now more so a role model.
• Provide leadership training to help them complement the teaching they are doing. Prepare them to run their own school.

Again, these are some possible reasons. Every student who leaves ultimately has a different reason for leaving and a different set of motivators that will keep them involved. But these are some of the common denominators in those reasons for leaving. The goal is to save them as a student. You have invested in them your knowledge just as they have invested in you to teach them. If they cannot be saved as students, learn from them. Learn why they are leaving and if possible combat that problem so it does not cause others to leave for the same reason.