Types of Students
Over achievers. These are students who try too much. They come to class everyday and push themselves to be the best as quickly as possible. Most will eventually burn out or develop chronic injuries that are not allowed to heal. As instructors, we must try to slow these students down. We must encourage them to limit their number of classes per week so their bodies have an opportunity to heal. Like a wild stallion, they may become the best, but they must continually be reigned in.
Low self-confidence. These students are always saying "I'm a klutz,” “I always do it his way,” or “I’ve always been this way.” If this behavior is allowed to continue, the students will quit. It took a lot of guts for them to come to the first class so they must have wanted to change their behavior. As instructors, we must encourage these students by telling them "all new students feel this way" and "it will just take time." Never tell these students they are doing something wrong, just continually stress how to do things right. They will gradually gain self-confidence and many will become your best students.
Snobs. This type of student is a "better person" than other students or even instructors. They feel it is degrading to refer to others as sir or ma'am. They do like to be told what to do or that they are wrong. As instructors, we cannot fix everything. This type of student will soon quit, and will not be missed.
Fear of sparring. These students enjoy the beginning stages training but have apprehension about the prospect of free-sparring. For some, the fear causes them to drop out of training. As instructors, we should be aware of this fear and guide these students through the training process so that, instead of fear, the students look forward to sparring. Some schools, such as those within the Taekwondo America organization, guide students into free-sparring gradually. For the first four months in Taekwondo America training, students only practice one-step sparring. For the next 2 months they practice sparring combinations while wearing sparring safety equipment. Then, after six months of training, they began free-sparring. By this time, they have developed basic sparring skills and an awareness of their own sparring abilities.