Have martial arts students changed?

I haven't taught for 30 years - not even close. But I do recall my days as a student, and of those around me.

Students back then were very serious about what they did. It is rare to find a student similarly dedicated these days. Not that today's students are lazy or anything, but times have changed and people work more, and it's not uncommon for people to spread themselves across multiple martial art styles, gyms, work, sports, family, etc. Who has the time and energy to train like we did long ago?

Today's students have so much information at their fingertips, that it can be mind blowing - much of it is wrong, controversial, or conflicting. Best style? Difference between this and that style? People can go to youtube, watch a how-to video on nunchucks or a form outside of their rank or learn a kick sequence they weren't taught in class.

I know that in some respects, I like old style training better than today's style - and maybe that's just because of the proliferation of mcdojoism, which we didn't have back then. It's hard to find a group of students who want to train hard - and I mean the whole gammut of full contact, throws and falls, weapons... schools today won't even touch these areas for fear of getting sued or paying the insurance premium.

Then again, there are a huge amount of styles to choose from today more than back then. There were no Aikido schools where I lived (and there are still aren't any where I grew up). You never asked "what style should I take" because there were no choices: you go to the dojang down the block, or you didn't go at all. And you didn't choose between not going for some stupid reason, or buying a book or DVD. And you didn't have a computer to make it easy to read/watch whatever material there was on BetaMAX or VHS, your tape got worn after so many uses - not like today's computer mediums.

Wanna know long it takes to get to black belt? The answer was "Shut up and train". Wanna know long it took to get into a full split? Shut up and train. Wanna know if you can cross train? No. Shut up and train. Can you teach me this technique? No. Shut up and train. Can I take a break for water? No. Shut up and train. Will it be okay if I come in late for class? No. Come back next week. Can I go to the bathroom? No. Shut up and train. When can I test for my next belt? When I say so. Shut up and train.

I've never taught, but I've witnessed the classes and compared them to what I've seen of traditional martial arts. I'd say that these days, kids move up in belts just by TRYING, not MASTERING. It's unfortunate to watch sometimes. lol

Those schools still exist Possum.

There is the same number of them as there ever was, the difference is the amount of cr@p you now have to sort through to find them.

Well said possum. Well said.