Leaving the room as you found it
Published: Fri, 12/20/13
Seeing our pictures in the Western Gazette made it all seems a
little closer to reality. I am very grateful that seven of us were
able to turn out on Monday morning for the photo shoot. So now it
is a matter of clarifying what is actually going to happen at the
Stav Centre and who is going to benefit from its existence.
I suppose the first thing to say is that I won't be doing
anything particularly new or original in the sense that I have been
training in Stav for 21 years now and teaching it for most of that
time. Over the years I have provided a nice little income for
various churches and community centres as I have rented their
halls. I am very grateful to have had use of these spaces. Good
training has happened there but it is a bit like staying in a hotel
room, very comfortable for a couple of nights then it is time to
pack up and leave the room just as you found it.
A dedicated space is about to be created for the specific purpose
of teaching Stav and I think there will be three main advantages to
this:
Firstly, it makes a statement to the community, we are here, find
out more about us and, if it seems like the right thing to you,
come and join us.
Secondly, there is a high degree of flexibility in the programme.
When you are hiring a place for a couple of hours a week then
everything has to happen within that time slot. If you want more
time you have to book it and pay for it, assuming that someone else
has not got there first. But in a dedicated centre I am pretty
much free to run as many classes and courses as I like as well as
doing private classes and special events as the need arises. There
are planning restrictions on how many hours a week that classes can
be held. But the limits are not unreasonable and they will make
sure I get some time at home!
Thirdly, a dedicated space can start to provide an education in
Stav as soon as someone walks through the door. I haven't
fully decided how the centre will be laid out and decorated but
everything will have a purpose and significance.
Over the next few days I will go into more details on how training
will be arranged in the new year. The important thing is that
there will be foundation training for beginners, advanced training
for those who are ready for it and I will be experimenting with
training programmes geared to particular groups. There will be day
courses which will be particularly suitable for people coming from
a distance although everyone is welcome of course. I will also be
holding longer courses lasting over several days. These will be
for people who may only be able to make a trip to train once or
twice a year, perhaps from overseas.
Those are my thoughts at the moment but I am also interested in
suggestions and requests.
If you haven't seen the online version of the article in the
Western Gazette follow this link
http://www.westerngazette.co.uk/Plans-martial-arts-centre-Crewkerne-approved/story-20337434-detail/story.html
regards
Graham
PS I have a contact in Los Angeles who would like someone to train
with? Anyone else in that part of the world? If so let me know
and I will put you in touch if you are interested.