Wrong

Something is seriously wrong with our Karate club.

Tonight there were nine of us present, several out for health reasons and two on a vacation. In come four brand new beginners.

How can this be? We’ve had no advertising blitz. It isn’t the start of a term, or even of a month.

September is normally the best month for beginners by far . People look for a fall activity. Usually, very few join up at other times. We’ve frequently gotten new people since our start up last November.

I wonder how many we will get in September. A hundred? A thousand? Probably not that many. The September people will be joining a club with a mature rank structure. We should have lots of Orange and Yellow Belts, and even a Blue, a Brown, and three Blacks.

That kind of club is the best type to join. People are often intimidated about asking a Black Belt for help. I guess we are too scary. Asking somebody only one or two levels above seems to be much less daunting.

It is also really good for the higher belt to have to explain something. They have to verbalize and demonstrate what they have learned. This makes them understand on a deeper level.

It is all going so well that feels unnatural.