Level of Training

It's difficult to know how important it is to maintain a standard level of practice at the dojo. When I was training it was hugely important to me to maintain a high level of training both in terms of numbers of hours per week, as well as the kind of training I was doing on the mat. There were certainly those nights where I chose a partner that I knew I wouldn't have to work to hard with, but in general I sought out those people who I knew would challenge me and push me. 

So now I have my own school and I wonder how much of this personal expectation I can have for my students. When I was coming up there were one, two, maybe three people who had the same level of commitment to their practice as I did, and I came from a huge school. Now I own this very small dojo north of Boston and I wonder if it's feasible or rational to think that my students will be able to train in the same way as I did.   

My students train hard, there is no doubt about this, but they train in a different way. They train as you would a hobby or a sport; something you do to pass the time. They train two days a week, maybe three days and to them this is enough. But my personal expectation is so much higher that I struggle to find a good and healthy balance for all of us.  I do have some students who are doing phenomenal work and I'm deeply impressed with their level of commitment to the dojo and to their training, but most people aren't like this and I worry that I squeeze out too many students because my expectations are so high. 

Of course, I want to have high expectations because this is what makes a good dojo and good Aikido. If we are all just playing at it then there will be nothing left. But this balance between having high expectations in order to improve the overall quality of Aikido, while at the same time realizing that people are busy, have full lives and families and jobs is difficult at times to find. Half of me wants to just let people live their lives and give whatever it is they can give, and half of me thinks that if they're not training then they should go do something else. I don't want to have a room full of people chit chatting and pretending to study a martial art, and I don't want to have two people on the mat because no one else can match my standard.  Two very strong students, or twenty weak ones? Ten kind of strong ones, and ten pretty weak ones? Does it work like this. Is it really a sliding scale once you let the standard drop? 

What I find is that I try to do both. I try to let people live their lives but also let them know as clearly as possible that there is a standard. But what I'm learning is that this isn't so easy for me.   I crash down on people who aren't matching the standard, and at times they quit. Maybe as I get better at this I'll find a way to maintain my students while maintaining a high standard. But as of now I tend to push people out of the dojo, figuratively speaking, who either can't or are unwilling to maintain my standard and this keeps my dojo quite small. Small but strong; hopefully this is the right way.