There is no way to eliminate quits, but you can certainly reduce them. No matter how good your program is, there are a few circumstances that are simply beyond your control when it comes to quits: They can move out of your area (including going off to college), they may suffer a severe injury or illness that forces them to quit, there are genuine cases of financial hardship, and ultimately – people eventually die.
Outside these specific (and rare) issues however, every other quit is a choice. With that in mind, consider this: no one ever chooses to quit doing their favorite thing. And no parent chooses to pull their child out of a program if they feel strongly that the program is the best possible activity for their child. So how can we make martial arts training their favorite thing and get them to stay? Here are some steps to follow:
- Believe they will train for at least 10 years. This is the first and probably most important step. Your students will inevitably take cues from the beliefs and values they see in you, so if YOU don’t believe they will train for very long, neither will they. So take the leap of faith and imprint this in your belief system.
- Be happy to see them. This sounds so simple, but it has to be sincere. Keep this in mind: Everyone wants to feel valued. Make sure your students know that you value them every time they are in class. A welcomed and valued student feels like they can and should return.
- Encourage socialization. Look for ways to get your students to form bonds with one another. Go out of your way to create an environment in which your students will build friendships. When you accomplish this, your students will want to come to class to train with their friends.
- Keep them challenged. The key to this is balance. If you can find that level where they're always striving for goals they believe they can reach, they'll be fully engaged in every class. And they'll be excited to come to the next class.
There are lots of variations to all of this, but the underlying theme is this: If they love coming to class, if they can't wait to come back, if they feel like they're an integral part of the school, if your school is their favorite place to be, if they feel acknowledged, appreciated and heard, they’ll never want to quit.
