Telling it like it is may have cost me a student
I told him while training after lunch, do you like eating or drinking? ..... you NEED both.
He's been quick to pick up the hands and shows too much of an interest to move the hands, but get him to shrimp out or bridge well and he becomes like a sludge.
I told him, I'm not going to kill him with cardio, but when it comes to the ground you have to move your ass. The drills alone are cardio crunchers.
He got tired of working side control and called it a day and left the boxing gloves I've been letting him borrow behind.
I showed him, how if he can't escape side control I'm going to punish him there, shoulder plant his face into the ground, tug on his hips, give him knee on belly.... just so he quits and I can take an arm and crank it. You have to fight to survive from there. You have to be comfortable with weight, pressure and you have to have the cardio and will to endure.
Its not city college either. I would love to teach him just the hands, because I would like to have someone work them with, but it's not right. It's irresponsible to built something half way.
Most neglected thing in the MA universe.
Ask yourself: What are my goals, why do I teach?
Ask a new student: Why do you want to study martial arts? What do you hope to get out of training with me?
Read this book.
Maybe your student is the one telling it like it is
Maybe the student is posting on some forum "Telling it like it is may have cost me a coach". :p
In all seriousness, the teacher/student relationship is like any other. Sometimes you bond for life. Most of the time, you have a little fling and move on. It takes two to tango and sometimes the chemistry just isn't there.
I never kept track of all the students that left me. I only keep track of the ones who stayed. And on the flip side, I've had dozens of teachers too.