lost in a maze

I'm kind of lost in a maze at the moment and I wonder what other people think.

I moved to Poland over 4 years ago and I've been teaching English for four years. This is my only job and the only one I can do. Because of the way private schools work, ie after school and work time, I find my opportunities to train in a club severely limited (all the clubs train at the times I work).There are no day-time clubs or gyms operating here and during the summer most clubs close because they are training in school buildings.

I've tried getting hours to fit to a club but joss seems to manouver around me and their hours change as mine do.

example: I tried to train TKD, but the ITF club operates at a time I can't hope to attend. I trained WTF for a while but likewise, the times of work got in the way.

I started with a TJJ club and it was great, but it folded. I've had no contact with the sensei since.

I trained capoierra but both work hours and a back problem got in the way.

Eventually I began to train one-on-ne with a Chen Tai Chi instructor but this is not as frequent as I'd like because of our own timetables (and it is expensive, one class costs about as much as a month's club training). I began training in the club my sifu started but once again, shifting hours have ruled this out. He suggests individual training but I'm getting frustrated by the slow progress I'm making (I've been training over a year but still haven't got around to application etc).

He runs a White Crane Kung Fu club too, but does not think I should train WCKF.

I enjoy the TC and would like to progress but I really miss the atmosphere of club training. During the summer I was back in UK and enjoyed training at a TKD club for a few weeks.

I now have a slight possibility of joining a Kyokoshin karate club (hours permitting) but I'm not sure about shifting styles yet again, particularly as next year might see the hours shift again.

It's unbelievable, there are so many great clubs in such a small town and i can't train in any of them! Water water everywhere...

Any thoughts?

I actually thought about doing an TEFL course myself to teach for awhile!

Is there any way you could shift your workload to allow for at least one night per week in training?

Would also recommend you check out any Universities in the area. In my experience, Uni's often run afternoon classes due to kids timetables etc...

Only other thing I can think of is checking for weekend classes. I know Poland is a very religious country though, so maybe Sunday classes might not be possible.

Tough spot, Trev. PW has a good idea to check the uni's in your area. Maybe post a note on a bulletin board and see if there is anyone that is interested in forming a training group in your area.

Thanks for the idea guys but sadly the clubs rarely work that way. There are a couple of uni clubs but they are also at the main time I work.

I've tried to get more daytime classes but it ended up last year with me being flat broke because the school just didn't have the work at those times. My boss also cocked up my timetable, thinking he was giving me an early finish, and still isolated me from training timewise. Bread and butter for ELT schools is 15.30-20.30 and by then most clubs have already started or already finished.

Most annoying example: a Doce pares club told me that they started at 19.15 and 19.45. Great, I thought... however, due to a shift in hours I now finish at 19.00 (instead of the expected 18.45). The trainer texted me with his new club times... 19.00 on both nights.

Most clubs are in community sports halls or in school gyms. The problem is that most of these have to compete with volleyball etc and when the school is shut on a saturday they are shut too.

I have heard there are one or two on fridays, so I'll try to check those out.

Oh, doing a TEFL (or CELTA as they're now called) is a good idea. A friend of mine is working in China and he doesn't even have one! Could get you decent paid work in far east or elsewhere where the MA training is good!

I would talk to whatever instructor you like the best and see if they'd be willing to have a class at another time if you could get a minimum number of people to join as well. Stay at home parents might be interested in doing a day or early morning class while their kids are at school, etc.

I understand how you feel though. The best part about training, no matter what art, is in the group atmosphere. Its hard to stay motivated when you are working from home.

In the meantime, I would talk to your current instructor and have him/her set you a goal to work on between classes and a set of routines to run through.

You might also see if you can find someone else who would like to work out with you and invite them over to your place to train together, or to go for a run, etc.

Good luck!

Laura

You get any regular days off?

Weekends are my main days off (and fridays) so these are when I do my individuals in TC.

The problem is it is also the time when I do other projects, such as theatre work etc. So sometimes the two clash (still, such is life).

The problem with the early class idea is the limited access to space. I asked one trainer about individuals and it would have involved me paying for the hire of a hall as well as the tuition. that, even if split between a small group, can work out pricey.

Winter approaches and training in deep snow in -20+ isn't my favourite way.

I like the individual TC but, as I've said, I really miss the group thing. The problem is that when I'm free nobody else is apart from one or two other English teachers (and we go swimming). trouble is, the longer it goes the more lethargic I get (must... fight.... urge to ...live on FA.com...).

Funny thing was that one day my sifu said to me "I want to learn Russian but I have a problem... All the language classes at the private schools are at the same time as I run my clubs."

He was surprised that i knew this already.

Could you set up a club at the school you teach in? Invite students and staff to it. See if you have a gym that is free, ask the Principal/Dean about it maybe??? See if you can find an instructor (suitably qualified and with a strong background check, you can't allow anyone into schools after all!!!) and set up a club within your college @ lunchtimes.

I set up a chess club at school once. I hassled people for months to get it sorted. That was many years ago. I don't know how feasible it is in your situation, but no harm in asking!!

Nice idea, but it's a private language school with just classrooms (no gym).

I suppose I'm just at my annual moaning time at the moment (start of the school year etc). I'll get over it (again).

Thanks for the ideas, guys.

No worries, just sorry I couldn't have been more help!

Only other suggestion is to tell us where abouts in Poland is handy for you. Maybe someone on here might know someone or somewhere to train.

Nothing wrong with a class room, they work fine, just move the desks aside. My instructor runs several afterschool clubs, and in several of the smaller schools, he has to use a class room.

Laura

Believe me, these classrooms aint exactly the biggest. I ran a theatre reheasral in one and found that a trial with 5 kids.

Yippee! Found a WTF TKD club which has one session a week after my work finishes. Start next week.

Thanks for the support guys.