Fall

I hate September. I always have. Hated it as a kid, and as a University student. Hated it as a working man, with Helen having to go back to work for another school year. As a teacher, I hate it still.

Admittedly, there are a few good points. On the West Coast, September often has the best weather of the entire year.

It is also the time of year for the Karate Club to start up. We have been pottering along through the summer, but September is when people choose their activities for the coming year. A bit of a push can easily put 20 new students into a gym. Trick is, somebody has to do it.

When I used to push hard for September enrolment in all my clubs, it was a lot of work. Posters have to be made, and put up all over town. As antiquated as newspapers are, ads are a must. Early is better than later. October is too late.

In our new club, I'm not the organizing guy, thank goodness. I just hope somebody is going to throw themselves on the grenade and get it all done.

Clubs are surprisingly fragile. A change of location or of time often happens in the Fall. Karate people are usually not great complainers. If a change doesn't suit somebody, they usually just stop attending. We have about a dozen regulars now. Hate to lose anybody.

On the selfish side, I'd love the club to both hang on to all the old members, and pick up a bunch more as well. It's easier and more fun to train in a big, enthusiastic group. It if doesn't work out that way, I'll be fine anyhow.

I've made new connections, and renewed old ones. An old, Black Belt can pretty much get by solo. Not so easy for our enthusiastic new people. They need a healthy club structure. We have that, mostly due to word of mouth. Never had a ton of people, but we've squeaked by.

We could really use a health Fall session.