20/05/2026
Leaving the club?
Many students come and go though the years, many stay but eventually everyone at some point will drift off, unless you’ve made a career out of it with in the club your part of.
Drifting off and quitting are 2 different things. Quitting implies you no longer pursue the practice at all and have given up entirely on all the years you spent training. Sadly this is more common than not.
Drifting is the gradual process of life taking over, jobs, family’s, other life experiences, uni.
However there leaving never really happens
As in some form or capacity they stick around.
In this case you may not see a student for months some times a good year, but one day they’ll just show up and you’ll know there still got it in them.
How to quit, now this is more of a personal thing and what was always put to me and everyone i trained with is, if you wanted to quit you should speak to your sensei about it. And if you made that decision you should have the responsibility to say good by in person ideally.
Regardless of reason why you may quit. You shouldn’t discard all the lessons your sensei has given you, all the doors opened and skills accumulated. That respect should have been ernt by that point. Karate isn’t a product, the club is. but karate and its skills and philosophy is a gift and a privilege your be able to learn.
Not all karate schools are equal, some are cash cows, some are authentic experiences. I don’t pride myself on much but i do take pride on lessons i teach and the good I’m able to do through my teachings. Bringing karate to a Morden era in an electronic age. In a financially difficult time in human history.
It’s easy to forget things like martial arts, are such a privilege to learn in today’s world, it’s taken for granted that there is a local community hall running karate classes. Some countries don’t get that, they don’t have the capacity and resources to have that wide spread. And many people can’t afford it.
What ever your reasons for wanting to quit the last thing i can ever teach you is to stand up and say your peace. Don’t cower and pretend that you didn’t just spend years training and building a relationship with your sensei that borders a friendship.
After everything you’ve been through and your sensei standing by your side it deserves a conversation at the least. Perhaps there’s something your sensei can help you with, is it home life, is it exams, is it confidence. It’s usually one of the 3 very rarely some one just wakes up and thinks this is lame I’m going to quit. For a new comer perhaps yes. But for someone who’s trained 4 to 5 years that’s a little odd and there’s usually more to it.
To this you make have options
Option 1
Take a brake : give yourself a few weeks off come back at the end of the month and stick around for another couple weeks
If by the end of that period you feel exactly the same. Then fair enough.
Remember that throwing away years of training over a month or 2 of feeling low could be a bit of a knee jerk reaction and riding these things out should be taken in to consideration, your not going to love it all of the time. Any long time gym or sports enthusiasts will say the same. Your going to get a little fed up with the routine time to time, your going to be tired from work or school and life isn’t always going to go your way. You just need to remember why your training this in the first place.
Option 2
Set yourself a goal:
This is most common with high grades. It’s not new any more at this point, your not necessarily going to learn a new strike, or new kata, at the high levels especially black belt, belts are no longer a goal to work towards so you need a different goal, perhaps set yourself a fitness goal, body fat percentage, or cardio, or maybe you want to start teaching, or maybe you want to try competing properly.
Brown belt is the last belt before black, it can seem lack luster at times not getting a new belt for a few years before your black belt, but ask yourself why the belt couler matters, that much to you. When you get your black belt that’s it, no more belts and that’s for the rest of your karate journey, if your bord with a brown belt after a couple years, how you going to cope for decades with a black belt.
Option 3
Widen your martial arts knowledge:
Stick with your karate but perhaps source out a mma gym to put your skills in to practice more. Again this is something that black belts struggle with. You may drop your karate to once a week but keep the traditional arts there whyll you explore what you can do with other arts. Me myself this is something I’ve done for years now. Testing my skills in kick boxing, learning some jujitsu and weapons and judo I’m not graded in them systems as i don’t dedicate the time necessary to progress through the ranks in them areas. But iv certainly picked up alot and it’s given me a fresh take on my karate.
Option 4 final option
This is exclusively for black belts,
Teach:
Teaching the art to students helps you learn more about what your doing as your able to see the fults first hand and correct them. In the process you do grasp a better understanding on why things are done in certain ways. For me teaching has become my primary source of training. Imagen how many times i go through the same katas, applications and drills each day each week each year. It will change the way you practice and perceive karate. And you may think teaching students the same thing gets boring and you’re not wrong. I’m so sick of
(Pinan ni dan) but all that Is well worth the repetition. When you see your own student performing a kata or fighting or anything you’ve taught them. Honestly it’s a good as it gets in martial arts is to pass the knowledge on and see your students do really well at it. This will almost certainly rekindle your spirit in karate and martial arts in general.
Final option. 2.0 bonus
Compete:
There’s a whole sport platform for karate and you don’t need to be a black belt to be world champion. If your take the spot path you will come to the same end of boredom when you reach your goal. It put it as a bonus option because the actual competitive mentality dose contradict a lot of Karates philosophy. And if you’re only chasing glory and trophies you’ll never be fully satisfied.
You see above all karate is a life style.
When you get your black belt in it you should have the emotional maturity and confidence and understanding of what karate really means and it should stick with you one way or another. You don’t put yourself though your black belt for bragging rights, or to look good on a CV you get it because karate is part of you now. It’s something you’ve studied and spent years learning. You wouldn’t get your drivers license and never by a car. So why would you get a black belt and then stop.
In our club 1st Dan is 14 years old if you are exceptionally good and have genuinely spent a good time training, normally students get 1st Dan at 14 when they have be training since they was 5, effectively having to stay consistent in the art for almost 10 years before hand.
2nd Dan is for 18+ why ?
Because even at 14 with 10 years of training there’s still 1 thing, that’s your mental maturity, you can get your black belt when your parents drive you to class in routine to school, but what about when collage kicks in, outside relationships and friendships happen, GCSE’s jobs, driving lessons. Then next 4 years Carry a lot with them and if you still stay consistent and committed to karate improving yourself and getting better and carrying the principles of your training in your day to day life. Then you deserve to go to 2nd Dan
And a position to become a sensei of your own class should you want to, becomes applicable.
3rd Dan is continuing that for 3 more years
4th Dan if 4 years more
5th Dan 5 years after that
So on and so forth
Your parents are no longer driving you to class at this point no ones kicking you up the back side to do better, your living it on your own accord. And your sensei will always be there even still to help you.
That’s why if you quit
You should have the respect no matter the age
To tell your sensei personally why you feel this way.
