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Old 06-26-2012, 12:19 PM   #66
chubbycubbysmash
Dojo: Long Island Aikikai (Bay Shore)
Location: New York
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 25
United_States
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Re: What do you do when a student is acting rudely in your class.

I've only trained in one dojo (although I've been to multiple seminars), so I'd say "place" rather than "places."

Every place has their ups and downs, so could you clarify as why you would consider where I train "broken"?

You can't control people, but you can control how you react and who you allow into your doors. There are those that believe in non-confrontation no matter what, but when it becomes a question of safety and legal ramifications, and not allowing the dojo to become a sexual harassment suit in the making, then the answer is pretty clear to me as to what is the necessary steps to take. Everything else, with the disrespect and talking out of line, and arriving to class late, and not paying up--those are small things in comparison to having most female students become uncomfortable because they sense something from a guy who has been subtly harassing them.

A book I had read also said that a lot of men won't see anything wrong with a guy, even if all the women around them feel like the guy is "creepy." Gut instinct is important, and there has to be a reason. I didn't particularly enjoy the fact that the guy tried to follow me into our apartment after a seminar (I own the building the dojo is in, thus the business aspect itself is important to me, and live upstairs with my husband in an apartment that is connected) and more than anything, that was probably the last straw.

There are weirdos in every corner of the world. The Aikido community is not immune. The fact that we ended up getting someone like him was just a matter of chance and time, and when you have multiple people coming every week, whether visiting or joining or taking a seminar, you'd be an anomaly if you didn't at least run into a few.

Last edited by chubbycubbysmash : 06-26-2012 at 12:22 PM.

I'm not brave or smart or particularly generous, but I'll take my values and live by them--and that is my standard measurement of strength.

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