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cedar_whacker
12th March 2004, 17:37
I moved back to my home town from a very small town in Texas and I opened up a Karate dojo. It has been three years since I have left my dojo and all the students in the small town of ALpine. I have had a lot of opposition from the community. We had a Karate instructor here in Junction (this is my home town) that molested his students. So naturally the arts are not looked on favorably here. In Alpine I had about twenty to thirty students. We were well received and now I miss all the people who worked hard to keep the dojo up and running. I was the instructor and we trained in a back room of a gym. No heater, no a/c just training. We trained in sweat drenched gi's and in the winter when it snowed, our feet and arms would be red fromt he cold but we were still training. We had fun, no one made money and I taught for free most of the time. I wouldn't trade it for gold and I know that my students/friends will always be around if I ever need help. Good Karate makes great friends.

Mr. Buster
14th March 2004, 01:44
Agreed! Seems like some of the closest associations are with those formed in the little 'out-of-the-way' places. Doesn't have to be big and fancy to be good, thats for sure!

Old Dragon
17th March 2004, 02:59
Originally posted by cedar_whacker
I moved back to my home town from a very small town in Texas and I opened up a Karate dojo. It has been three years since I have left my dojo and all the students in the small town of ALpine. I have had a lot of opposition from the community. We had a Karate instructor here in Junction (this is my home town) that molested his students. So naturally the arts are not looked on favorably here.




So start one anyway.......... you are right... about training and friends, dont think that everyone will associate you with the last guy.

Mike O'leary....


(Remember training in work socks cause the floor was so cold hahahah)

cedar_whacker
19th March 2004, 01:44
ok, so it has been three years since I opened a dojo in Junction Texas. I have been trying to live down the bad rep. that the other sensei earned for the martial artists in Junction. I have four students and it has been that way for two years. At first it was good I had ten students and that is when all the court stuff was reportred on and I lost my students because of some sicko. I was only stressing the fact that great relationships are made in the dojo. I don't even blame the public because I would be worried too, but it seems that no one is easing up. so thanks for your encouragement but I will remain ever vigilant in practice and wait for some interest in the arts.

MarkF
19th March 2004, 04:11
So you have four students, I started my dojo with one. Of course, I was still in decent shape from twenty-plus years onthe judo shiai circuit so that guy always had me to toss around.

What failed earlier, were the attempts to take over programs of other instructors. Those who were loyal (which is perfectly fine with me, you need a following) left immediately, the rest over a longer period, but still, they left, and the program[s] closed/ended. One was a parks and recs club, another was in rented space, but the same thing happened.

I decided I needed some backing and a bit of advertising, but mostly word of mouth. I went to the YMCA, they didn't have the space, and had an Aikido group and didn't have the space or time for classes I needed, but they did help me in getting me with the public school system. They agreed to provide the space free of charge (with a few caveats, since some of the students may have been my students, also), wrestling mats. The YMCA agreed to pay for the security (I was in a working class neighboorhood. "Working class" is the PC term for "poor.)"

My only requests were choice of primary insurance (AAU), santioning body eventually (I was a life member of the US Judo Federation), and a sliding scale, but with the agreement that it would only be used in the cases of proven poverty and/or inability to pay the monthly fee for the classes, which included use of the YMCA facilities, on days other than class days, or even before coming to class.

The charge was, in 1987, forty a month, and still is forty. Slowly I built up a fairly loyal student base, and eventually I had to limit it to thirty students on the mat at any given time. No age limits, but I strongly urged "serious, mature" students. Right now, I have no student under thirteen. I don't refuse younger, I just don't have them at the moment, and even have a couple of people are on a waiting list.

There is a another reason for the nominal charge. In today's society, money is what establishes the value of a thing so charging something, even in a study group-style situation, should be mandatory, even if to share in renting space, but not too much. A sliding scale can be helpful, and having an organization such as public schools or the YMCA/YMHA gives people a good deal of comfort. This gives the students some feeling of control while it gives me more authority to what is taught. I don't like those who tell me what they want or don't want ("I am not interested in competition judo" is the number one demand)." I then recommend my competitor. Normally, this would be fine if I felt competition didn't teach anything, but I feel participation IS educational, so while regular entry into competition isn't necessary or even a demand, some is required, especially if advancing is important to the student. After learning every aspect of a tournament, volunteering to work the tables/joseki is also a type of participation. Winning isn't demanded except for those who expect to advance in the tournament circuit only and beyond.

One must be able and agreeable to teach what one believes to be important. In my case, the classes get self-defense training as well as shiai technique and coaching. The funny thing is, that self-defense is the natural and unavoidable outcome of steady randori-based training and competition. So even when they don't want it, they still get it. It is also the natural outcome of good, hard, and steady keiko in the dojo and elsewhere.
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My point is to count yourself lucky in only having four students. My mistake was trying to take over large programs from the get-go. While I make no money (I receive a stipend which goes back into the program), limiting the number of students was one of the better decisions I made. So was grading two students to shodan. Today they both are great asst. instructors, and one in particular, is always there if I can't make it, for whatever reason.
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I also wouldn't sweat the word on budo in your community. If you run a clean ship with the true reward of result-based MA, word will get around. If you have a local paper, call the editor and make sure to get your dojo listed in the "Things to do" section of the Sunday (or Thursday, which ever day it appears) regularly. Lots of bored people out there looking to take it out on something, or some body.;)

Ask them to do a story on you occasionally. Usually, especially in smaller towns or counties, they will do so. The listing should be automatic. While not everything may be listed every week, every couple of months is OK.

You have a good start. If you can keep those you have now, word of mouth should eventually get more people interested.


Mark