Private vs. group lessons for martial arts?

Question

I'm planning on starting martial arts (probably judo) when I enter college this year, and I was wondering what everyone's thought are on the benefits of private lessons vs. group lessons. I'm not horribly out of shape (I'm 5'6 and about 140 pounds), but I'm not very athletic; I'm pretty self-conscious about the whole thing. Which do you think is the better, the relative anonymity of the group, or the personal attention of the private lessons?

Answer 1

yes

Answer 2

Go for private if you can afford it, here's why;

Believe it or not, you are better off learning from books, DVD's, and even youtube vids, than learning in groups.  In groups, instructors can not check the form of each individual student, whereas a book you can reread countless times, a DVD you can have play on a loop and it never gets impatient or angry with you the way an inexperienced human teacher would, as is the case with large group instruction which one of my Karate instructors complained about, and, youtube vids you can watch over and over.  Think about; if the group is too big, you really are better off learning from books and vids if they are well and completely made.  However.........

Absolutely nothing, and I mean ABSOLUTELY nothing, beats private instruction.  I know, I've been there; as a kid, I was part of a cheap *** Karate club started by a black belt man and woman (not a married couple) who sought the local kids could use some Karate.  They trained at a reputable school; their own teacher was some military guy (retired) stationed in Okinawa trained in the Goju Ryu system.

Because the kids did not always show up, sometimes there would only be 5 of us.  That meant, I unintentionally received personal instruction regarding my form.  Now, I have never been in a large group, but quite frankly I think their form sucks.  With a small group, there was no hiccup, no mistep they missed, no imperfection not pointed out.

I'm sorry but, I don't think you can get that in a large group.  Now, with Judo, make sure its you, another person, and the instructor, because with Judo you need a partner although I suppose you can always practice against the instructor.  Because Judo focuses so much on proper timing, personally I think private instruction is by far the best choice.

Why don't I make a pros and cons list for each?

Group instruction pros

- get to make friends

- no shortage of training partners, and to push your limits to become better, you can do an exercise called a "shark pit."  The way a shark pit works, one guy in a circle, he wrestles between 5 and 10 guys, and win or lose, he has to keep wrestling, one guy after another.  It is a brutal form of exercise done in high school wrestling and I think they do it in Judo too as a punishment.  If somoene misbehaves, he has to do Judo against the entire team.  By the time its over most of the poor devils who are the victims of a team wide shark pit have to be carried out.  

- What a large group lacks in attention to form from the instructor, it can more than make up for in varied competition.  You encounter all types in practice, you are that much better prepared for tourneys.  You can grapple well in front of a large audience in practice, a bigger audience is no problem.

-  Like you said, anonimity.

Cons

- Instructor can not pay proper attention to form, meaning that when you are drilling you could be doing sloppy form over and over and ending up with one h**l of a reinforced bad habit.

-  The problem of favoritism; in large groups of people, overburdened by so many students, to make their jobs easier, most instructors will only give personalized instruction to the most talented students, the purpose being to get those students to participate in tourneys and that way the instructor looks good.  Coaches don't choose talented athletes for the sake of "bringing out" their talent, they do so to make themselves look good, not perfect the sport, or take it to a higher level.  Sadly in the world of western martial arts, martial arts have been bastardized by this attitude so this is a biggie.  In a small group its a family like environment, and no worries about favoritism.

-  Remember the high school clique system?  Guess what; in big martial arts schools, it can happen here too.  It never happened at my club way back when, BUT, I talked to a kid who was from Los Angeles and learned Karate at a huge Shotokan center that trained 100 students, up to 100 on the floor at once.  He told me it was almost like high school; you had "preps," and "loners" and "stoners" and so forth.  The overwhelming nature of larger groups, makes it so that people form cliques, and cliques, tend to be unique to this culture.  Not saying that's a good thing....

Now, Private instruction

Pros;

- form is constantly checked, so it is guaranteed to be polished.

-  you miss class, somone will notice, so there is more pressure to practice and therefore get better.

- If there is no choice but to train with the instructor, you can't ask for a better training partner.

- Less chance of forgetting the techniques.  Part of the reason martial arts books exist, is because in large school environments, books in martial arts exist, more than anything else, as mnemonic aids, more than training manuals.  Now it IS possible to learn a martial art from a book.  In China, many masters wrote down training manuals detailing, step by step, what methods to follow.  The manuals included everything from basics, to forms, to breathing, to how to train with a partner.  However, modern martial arts books are not written as manuals.  For instance, Hidetaka Nishiyama's work "Karate" only covers the basics, to get into the Kata, you have to purchase Shogiro Sugiyama's work "25 Shotokan Kata."  To get into 2 man partner drills, you have to get "best Karate."  If this was China 200 years ago, all those things would be packaged together into a single manual but see this isn't China, nor is it 200 years ago.  With personalized instruction you do not have to go through the pain in the rear of purchasing mnemonic aides.

cons of personalized instruction

-  What if the instructor doesn't like you?  In a big group, likes or dislikes becomes a moot point because the higher the belt rank of the instructor, to them you are just a face in the crowd but, do something to tick them off, and that's all she wrote.  One of my classmates, a dojo bully, was thrown out of the club outright when the instructor found out what he was like.  I think he was caught not pulling his punches on one of the kids, a tall blonde guy who had a black belt in another style stepped to stop him, thankfully though, the instructor arrived and he was like just thrown out on the spot.  You sound like a nice person though so, anticipate no problems.

-  More likelihood that your little "family" environment will be shut down.  Universities and colleges work in terms of numbers of people, and funds are only allocated, when great numbers of people engage in a particular activity.  In other words you are less likely to get lasting training.

A final word;

Too many Americans go into martial arts instruction in this country thinking that this is Japan, or China, when, people born here forget they are not in Japan or China.  You are not in an Asian country, so do not expect Asian type instruction, and even there it has been influenced by sports science and the west.  At the bottom tear of martial arts in east Asia, you have physical education.  All Chinese children in the school system do Kung Fu; its their P.E.  The most promising among these, are sent to the Beijing Kung Fu institute.  The most promising among those, to the Shaolin temple.

Here's the kicker though, masters of old did not choose based on "talent," but determination and character not who was the "most promising."  A talented student, is an egotistical student, and an egotistical student will work for their own benefit, not the preservation of the art.  Hence the reason why the old masters did not choose based on "talent."  See, in Chinese history, it happened once, in the form of the spearman Lu Bu.  His master, chose Lu Bu based on talent, and not character.  Lu Bu went on to become more a butcher, than a warrior, but he was so skilled no one could stop him.  Because of that catastrophe in the three kingdoms era, no martial arts master ever since until modern times, has chosen to train a student based on talent, lest they unintentionally train another monster like Lu Bu.

Food for thougth man but ultimately its your decision, if not selected as best answer as there are arguably better ones, it is ultimately your decision.  Either way go for it.

good luck.

Answer 3

Private lessons are amazing, you learn quicker, and the instructor will be able to work at your pace and push you to your limits without worrying if other students are keeping up.

I take lessons at a small dojang, so maybe about 4-6 people show up to each class, small classes are also very good too. Private classes are good, as well as small group classes. Large group classes are bad because the instructor wont be able to help you with technique, etc.

It also depends on how serious you are about taking martial arts, if you're just to get into shape I'd go with the group classes, if you're more serious (competitions etc.), I'd say get private lessons. Although you can still do well in competitions if you do group classes.

I hope this information helps you with your decision, the only sure answer is to try it out, and see what you enjoy better.

Answer 4

I taught groups only for a long time. About 12 years ago I went to teaching mainly by private lessons. I also teach groups.  Both are something to consider.  

Groups:

Give you different training partnes to try the techniques on. However some students may be held back by the pace of classes.

Private lessons:

The instructor can focus the teaching on exactly what you need to improve, fix, or learn. They also give the instructor time to explain in greater detail and answer questions you might not get to ask during classes.   Studies have shown that students learning by private instruction can learn up to seven times faster.

Conclusion:  

I highly recommend private instruction, if the instructor is good and you can afford it. However you need at least some group classes so that you can learn to adjust to different body types,...etc.

EDIT:   I see that some answers are saying that by being in group classes you can also see how the other students are doing the techniques.........  This can be a disadvantage many time. The other students may be doing the techniques correctly, but most often others are making mistakes. Truth be known, some students are watching others to see if they are doing the techniques correctly, not knowing that the other student  is either doing it incorrectly, or watching someone else too.  Privet lessons eliminate that because the instructor can immediately correct anything that is not as it should be.

Answer 5

There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  Among the advantages you get more individual attention from the instructor and this can make your learning some things faster and enhance the speed of your progress in some ways.  I say some because there are disadvantages as well.  Being smaller you need to learn and work with a variety of people as you will find some techniques have to be modified slightly to use against opponents that are different in size than your instructor.  In Judo and Ju-jitsu this is especially important as it helps you to develop your "sense of touch" by working and practicing with a variety of opponents.  Not only that but some students can become de-motivated some when it comes to learning a diffucult or complicated technique.  An instructor will make it look easy and do it without difficulty while you struggle through it.  This can be very disheartening for some people especially if that is their only frame of reference.  In a group situation you see others and the mistakes they make and learn from it as well as come to realize that you are not the only one that might be having trouble with that technique.  Other students and keeping pace with them can also be a powerful motivator during classes as well as in regards to practicing and testing and promotions.  Private lessons only tends to isolate you from all this and depending on your attitude and approach can restrict your  growth and progress in some ways.  I would opt for a combination of the two and unless the classes are extremly large and there is little in the way of individual attention I think you would benefit best from that as opposed to private lessons only.  

Most decent instructors give their good students some private or individual attention when they need it as that tends to pay dividends in having a better, more capable, and motivated student.  You may even find that no private lessons are needed at all and I would not worry about the rest.  A decent instructor and school will realize that you are not very atheletic and build you into a confident, capable student.  I think you will also find that most decent instructors and students can and will relate to you quite well as many of them, like youself, probably were not gifted athelets when they started either.

Answer 6

First of all, private lessons are ALWAYS better than group, because then you are 1 on 1 with the master and you are constantly learning without haveing to catch up or wait for the rest of the class. The only benefit not given by private lessons are the lack of different sparring/practice partners. Other wise if your school offers private and you have and are willing to shell out the money for them then go for it! However, you can still learn very effectively from group lessons and another option you have is to take the group lessons and use the saved money to buy home training equipment.

Happy Training!

Answer 7

That really depends on your personality. But if you are training in Judo you need a partner. Therefore group lessons.

Answer 8

I think the best method is to get our skills up to a high standard in group lessons, and then perfect your technique with private lessons. I personally find that to be the most effective use of private instruction - honing skills

Answer 9

If you're a bit self-conscious, practicing in a group would help you get over that, and you'd make some good friends too.

If you were to choose private lessons, though, you'd have more opportunities to work 1 on 1 with an instructor, and you'd probably advance quicker.

I remember when I started Karate there was a boy in my class who switched over to private lessons after a month or so, and he started moving up in rank much faster than the rest of us.

Answer 10

How about both? U can practice in a group and then do private lessons by asking your sensai if he can fill u in on a certain day because u want a 1 on 1 to get better on a certain aspect of ur Martial arts.

And by the way to thinking to much, if u look theres many people out there who are good, bad, and horrible at martial arts and they still try because they wont to learn. Sure there will be people who might spill a comment once in a while but there are more people who like to help others and try to get better together then to do things on their own.

Theres always alot of people in martial arts who try and teach you things and who need help, if u do group its not just you learning its u learning and teaching from both ur sensai and class mates.. Hopfully this made sense lol  Good luck

Answer 11

both can be good, however i personally like group better.

In group classes you cannot only learn from the teacher, but from your classmates as well. In group lessons you can also train with partners that way you actually have a live opponent.

One of the drawbacks however for group classes is that you can often times get distracted by the many different things that can or will be going on. What's good about private lessons is that you can get one on one attention, and you get more access to the training bags in the dojo.

My suggestion is that you either do both or do a small class so as to minimize distractions.

Answer 12

Ask how much for private lessons. Don't get overcharged.

With private lessons it's you vs your instructor. That can be hard.

With group lessons you spar multiple people. You skills get better facing different styles vs someone who constanly outskills you

Answer 13

If money is not a consideration to you, and you are self motivated, private lessons are always better then a group.  If you can get a world class Judo instructor to give you private lessons you will learn much more much faster then you would in a group.  Private lessons are not necassary though, so if money is at all a concern then go with the group lessons.  It is a good way to meet new friends and it is easier to stay motivated in a group enviorment.

Answer 14

I would recommend both. Private lessons can get you started so you don't feel completely out of you comfort zone when you start group classes.

Doing both will give you the benefits of both.

Answer 15

Group, that way you see the others training, so you have that visual feedback with which to compare yourself.

Private training should be supplementary only.

Answer 16

My dojo uses both.  I get one private lesson a week and up to three group lessons.  I really like the mix.  The private lessons allow for focusing on training for my specific needs and skill level.  The group lessons provide experience with many different people with varying styles and abilities.  The group lessons are also where all the intense physical training is done.  No need to waist private lesson time with what is basically aerobics :)

Answer 17

Private lessen is good if you have:

1. lots of money

2. already master a few systems of fighter and you are a really fast learner and don't want to waste time. You want learn this new system within 2 years. You have nothing else to do other then focus on learning martial arts, because you will cover a lot more privately.

As for Group:

1. cheaper

2. slower learning pace, good for slower learning who have not master other systems.

3. interact with different sizes, heights, reach of partners, will help you how to deal with different types of opponents. Help you to learn little adjustment of techniques.

4. give you an idea of how fast you are learning compare to others.

5. you can make mini goals, like i want to be better then so and so within 3 months. Once you have done that, you aim to be better than some one else who is just a bit better than you now. It motivates you to learn faster and try harder.

If you are a beginner and you can not absorb information that fast, then, better to go with group, otherwise, you waste a lot of money.

If you are a fast learner, you are already a good fighter and you just want a new system of fighting under your belt and you have nothing else other than training this new system, then, private would save you a lot of time to finish the system.

Answer 18

I think private lessons would be good once in a while but group lessons are great and good enough. You get to spar or roll with people at your skill level. People will ask questions you don't think of and it will be funner

Answer 19

Definitely GROUP!

You can learn a lot from other people's mistakes.

Corrections to somebody else's major errors often lets you fine tune some very minor, almost unnoticeable errors of your own.

You not only learn from the teacher, you also learn from each other.