POOR BUT PIOUS

 By Phillip Starr

I looked carefully at the young man who had walked into my office and inquired about leaning kung-fu. I invited him to sit down as I explained the program and answered a few of his questions. He nodded his head and then said, “Well, I don t have a job right now and I don t have any money but I really want to learn kung-fu. I ll be your best student!”

“That will be a little difficult if you can't pay the tuition” , I explained.

“I was hoping you would let me do some kind of work in the school to pay for my tuition” , he replied. “You know... I could clean the floor and dust every day!”

I noticed the pack of cigarettes in his breast pocket. “How about if you quit smoking?”, I asked. “You could easily pay the tuition with that money.”

He was obviously offended at my suggestion and left shortly thereafter. I never saw him again.

On another occasion, a martial arts teacher proudly told me that he taught for free. “Why would you do that?”, I asked.

“Well, in the old days the teacher didn't charge money to train students. You can't put a price on something like that.”

I've heard these kinds of arguments many, many times and I still disagree. Somehow, Westerners have the notion that the martial arts teachers of days gone by never asked for compensation for their instruction. And this is altogether incorrect. Many teachers were hired by families to instruct their children. They were provided free room and board AND a monthly stipend. Not too many parents nowadays would agree to this kind of arrangement, I suspect. If the teacher taught from his home, it was common to compensate him by bringing food, tobacco (if he used it), or money to every class! I suspect most contemporary students wouldn't care to do this, nor would most teachers. God knows I've taught a lot of bachelors and I could've ended up knee-deep in macaroni and cheese! Some teachers simply set up a monthly tuition fee and this is the model that most teachers continue to follow to this day.

My feeling is that if a student is unwilling to commit to some kind of a (financial) investment, he or she probably isn't too serious about training. If the student is truly serious, he/she will find a way to pay the tuition. When you enroll in a college class, there's no haggling over prices! And you, as a martial arts teacher, have probably spent as much or more time learning and perfecting your art than most college instructors, right?

There's certainly nothing morally or ethically wrong with a martial arts teacher charging tuition for his instruction. Of course, problems arise when instructors become more driven by the almighty buck than their desire to teach but that's another can of worms. I don t advocate gouging students by charging extremely high prices. That's just me. I want to make it reasonably affordable. But I want the student to have an investment in his training. That's important to both of us.

Many, many moons ago I received two great pieces of advice that I' ve always kept in mind regarding this subject. The first came from the lead singer of a small rock 'n roll band. You see, I must confess that I once played in a rock band (rhythm guitar!) and we were just starting out. The head of another band (which was very popular) sat down with me and we discussed the ins and outs of the business side of the industry. One thing to remember, he said, is that you must never become a “five dollar band.”

Bear in mind that this was back in the '60 s and small, local bands weren't necessarily paid much for a gig but five bucks was pretty extreme. I asked him what he meant. “First, you guys put in a lot of time and sweat practicing, don't you?”, he asked. I nodded. “Well, that's worth more than a few dollars,” he said. “And people really believe that they get what they pay for. If they don't have to pay you very much, they won't like your music.”

There s a lot of truth in that statement. People really do believe that they get what they pay for. They figure if it's inexpensive, it probably isn't worth much and this is usually true.

The other piece of advice came from the lips of one of my taijiquan teachers, Mr. Hu. “The student must have an investment”, he said. “Otherwise, they won't come to class. If they miss a class, it doesn't matter to them. So they have to make a (financial) commitment.” There's a lot of truth there, too. If the student isn't willing to make much of a (financial) commitment, he/she probably isn't too serious about training. If the student is truly serious, he'll find a way to properly compensate the teacher.