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Gary Dolce
21st September 2001, 15:00
Gassho,

We have a public demo coming up in late October at a local college and I am interested in hearing new ideas for what makes a successful demo of Shorinji Kempo.

We have done these in the past using a mix of embu, technique demonstrations and explanations, a little bit of philosophy, etc. However, even ones that seemed technically very good weren't very successful at drawing new students.

Can anyone share ideas of things they have done in the past that worked or didn't work?

Thanks!

Anders Pettersson
21st September 2001, 16:50
Gassho.

Hi Gary.

Could you give us a little more details on how long time you have for the demo, and also what type of audience there will be, etc.

I think that there could be some different approaches on a demo depending on these things.

Don Cunningham
21st September 2001, 16:58
I think you need to spend some time working the crowd as well. The technical demos are great, but often there are many in the crowd who are afraid to approach and ask questions. Spending a few minutes after the demo just talking to people is a great way to find new students. Be sure to listen instead of dominating the discussion as well. Just a bit of advice.

George Hyde
24th September 2001, 15:14
Hi Gary,


However, even ones that seemed technically very good weren't very successful at drawing new students.

We've had a lot of experience with demos in the UK this year thanks to Japan 2001. We've demonstrated at a number of high profile events, often alongside other arts such as Aikido and Kendo. What we've found is that it's very easy to impress the crowd (and the other budoka present) with dynamic embu featuring lots of high nage ukemi, etc., and goho waza that tests the factory standards of do and head gear. However, this is not the best way to go about recruitment - the more dynamic and impressive the demonstration, the more difficult it is for the average individual to imagine themselves participating.

I teach at two university venues and learned from this mistake some time ago. My approach to demonstrating for freshers now is to keep things very informal and friendly. Try to ensure that kyu grades participate as much as possible - your audience is more likely to associate with them than your dan-grades.

This is the kind of routine we usually employ…

- open with everyone in zazen (brief verbal introduction on history, purpose, healthy mind/body/self defence, kongo zen, etc.)
- goho/juho/goju - 3 techniques in each category, each one performed in slow motion and then at full speed with ren hanko. (the voice-over in this section should explain what's going on and what principles are being employed - this allows the audience to see the physical elements that make up SK, elements more difficult to see in embu. They should also be able to see how goho and juho are practised and united)
- kata - either single or group form (explain purpose, unity of thought/action, etc)
- self defence - there are a number of ways to do this. I find that using a competent female defending a number of typical approaches by a larger male gets the point across effectively for all concerned. Techniques that highlight the fact that size and strength need not be an issue are particularly relevant.
- seiho - 3 or four couples demonstrating a variety of applications. (voice-over explains purpose and variety of applications)
- goho randori (with or without protectors/referee) - make sure the participants are able to demonstrate the fluid nature of technique (voice over emphasises co-operative practice, non-competitive, mutual development, spontaneous application, etc.)
- juho randori - as above, but make sure the participants are able to perform 'spontaneously'. Have one defender rather than exchanging attack and defence.
shekake waza - an optional extra to emphasise the ability to control without strength or causing injury.
- closing embu - the introduction should explain that embu is how all of the preceding comes together, the co-operative/meditative nature of practice, competition, etc. In addition, take the opportunity to emphasise that as impressive/difficult/painful as it may seem, the expectation is that everyone will be capable of attaining this standard.

(Use each section to introduce the fundamentals; ken zen ichinyo, shushu koju, goju ittai, fusatsu katsujin, kumite shutai and how they are applied.)

- audience participation - demonstrate something simple like kote nuki and then invite anyone interested to step up and try. Again this is optional depending on space and time however; it's well worth the effort. I thought it would be difficult to get people to 'have a go' but was surprised by the results. It's an ideal opportunity for the potential students to get to know the existing students and what it's like to be in the training environment.

If possible, it's a good idea to arrange the demo before your regular class and advertise it as "demo + beginners introductory class".

General - anyone in your audience interested in participating will also want to know the practicalities; when and where, how often, costs, etc., (good idea to have all of this on a printed leaflet) and an idea of how quickly they can expect to advance through the grades. Take time to emphasise that what they have seen is only a tiny part of what's on offer. University students will be particularly interested in the social aspects of the club as well.

This should easily fill 30 minutes and you can adjust the content of each section to fit a larger or smaller time frame.

In closing, remember that you are 'advertising' SK, and as such it is very important to emphasise the benefits of practice, not just to show the features.

Hope that helps (and wasn't too obvious).

Later,

Gary Dolce
24th September 2001, 16:44
Don and George,

Thanks very much for the helpful suggestions. We will certainly "work the crowd" afterward per Don's suggestion. I like the idea of handing our printed flyers as George suggested too. I also think George has identified one problem perfectly - that people have a hard time identifying with very flashy, difficult presentations.

To answer Anders questions - we are doing this as part of a larger Japanese cultural event. I haven't been able to get a good idea of audience size, but makeup would be members of a university community (sudents, faculty, staff) with an interest in Japanese culture. As for time, we have 15-20 minutes. Given the audience interest in Japan, I will likely include some brief discussion of our relationship to SK in Japan, the multitude of training opportunities that exist there, and the spirit of friendship with which foreign Kenshi are received by Kenshi in Japan.

Given the time, we won't be able to get in everything George described in his note. I would probably drop the randori part - my impression is that it is harder to demonstrate good randori than it is to do a good embu (acknowledging that good embu require a lot of work). How successful have you been that this?

For time, I would probably leave out the seiho demo also, but I am very curious what you do for this in a demo that is both interesting and informative (no knockouts I hope!) :)

I think we will include the goho/juho/goju explanation maybe including some audience participation. And, of course, we will have at least one embu. We have had some successful self-defence demos in the past - usually with a smaller female demonstrating, but that aspect is problematic now. With several recent departures, our remaining females are white belts.

Actually, our club currently has an almost completely bimodal distribution with respect to experience - black belts, white belts, but only one kyu kenshi (we got comfortable with each other for awhile and didn't work hard enough to recruit new members until just recently). I plan to include the white belts in the demo if only to show what people can learn in a fairly short time. I hope the audience can associate with them even more than with kyu kenshi, but there are limits to what they can demonstrate!

Thanks again for the suggestions and I look forward to hearing more.

George Hyde
26th September 2001, 11:49
Originally posted by Gary Dolce
I would probably drop the randori part - my impression is that it is harder to demonstrate good randori... How successful have you been that this?
At the risk of contradicting myself, to ensure it appears fluid and spontaneous, you need to get some 'practice' in first. IMHO it's too important an aspect to leave out and it's always gone down well when we've used it. If you use protectors and a referee, (score maybe 4 or 5 'points') it makes a nice set piece. Also, you can use it to emphasise co-operative practice, mutual development without the ego/competitive aspect.

I would probably leave out the seiho demo also, but I am very curious what you do for this in a demo that is both interesting and
I usually have 3 or 4 pairs demonstrating head, neck, back and legs applications, then stroll around (TV presenter style) and briefly explain what's going on in each. Again I think this is an important 'defining' aspect of what we do. Stress the benefits and it's relevance to what we do and the audience will appreciate it. It need only last 2 mins and it provides a nice 'breather' in the whole demonstration.

We have had some successful self-defence demos in the past... With several recent departures, our remaining females are white belts.
Male/male applications are just as impressive as long as they are practical attacks. Using a smaller/weaker defender to emphasise effectiveness of technique will get the message across just as well.

Anyway, I shouldn't be here at the moment - Freshers Fair just kicked off and I should be working on some recruitment of my own.

Let us know how you get on.

Later,

Robert Villiers
5th October 2001, 17:19
Gary -

It is obviously the season for such things: we down in New York City are having a demonstration next week (October 13th). It is actually planned to be a relatively small affair, with limited publicity (friends and family mostly in attendance), as a precursor to a more public effort in the near future.

I too have asked the same questions, having participated in many demos alongside George in the UK, although the kenshi here in NYC don't seem to have done such a thing in living memory. Clearly as he is a kempo genius (er..) I agree with everything he says, although I would perhaps make a distinction between a recruitment effort and a different sort of occasion, when you're more out purely to impress, having limited time, or as part of say a festival programme...

One thing he didn't address was getting people to attend the demo in the first place. In my experience, that is the hardest part, and that is why it's a good idea to be involved with a college or some such institution, as there you find many suitable prospects with time on their hands and the means to get in touch with them easily. Elsewhere, the obvious methods - flyers, posters, word of mouth, possibly a classified ad, ideally a small feature in a local publication - have to suffice.

Once they're in the door, they are clearly interested in martial arts in some way, so as Geoge says it's a matter of selling Kempo. I think being informal and involving junior students as much as possible is v important, but note also that many new students are impressed by the normally very discipined / focused atmosphere of a Kempo class (as opposed to some other classes), with neat rows, proper sitting, sharp movement between postions etc. The leader can then project the friendly and cooperative aspects of our teaching while the students are more serious, providing a good example of our philosophy (riki ai funi, kyakka shoko etc.) and what training is actually like. Perhaps a short stand-up routine in the middle would help also. But seriously.... One of my fellow kenshi hit the nail on the head yesterday saying that what's special about Shorinji is the process and the attitude, not necessarily the specific techniques, and if we convey that then we will surely attract good students.

[Gary, excuse me for rambling on especially without an introduction - we share the same federation[?], but I don't think we've ever met. I am a member if the NYC branch, having moved from the UK 3 years ago) where I practiced with George among many others under the instruction of Mizuno Sensei.]

I'll let you know how ours goes, hope yours is a smashing success,
Robert Villiers, NYC

Gary Dolce
5th October 2001, 18:29
Robert,

Thanks for the comments. I strongly agree with the point about process and attitude being what is special about SK, although I do also admit a strong attraction to the techniques themselves. :)

We will certainly try to make sure that our attitude and approach to practice is clear to the audience.

Fortunately, publicity isn't so much a problem for us this time as we will be part of a larger, well-attended event.

Thanks also for the introduction. To reciprocate - I started SK at the Cornell University Branch in the early 1980's. Ten years ago, I moved and started the Ann Arbor Branch in Michigan. As I am sure you have noticed, geography tends to limit interactions among Branches here in the US. It has been several years since I have practiced with anyone from the NYC Branch. I hope we will have the chance to practice together sometime soon.

Steve Williams
6th October 2001, 00:21
Hi Rob........


Welcome to e-budo :)

Great to see you are still training, and not harmed by the recent events.
Keep in touch eh? (BTW is Greg still training, and if so have you got an e-mail address for him?)



Nothing to add to the demo ideas, well one thing.......

Never be too serious....... a little humour and friendliness will go a LONG WAY.......


(see http://204.95.207.136/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7441 for a little humour :laugh: )

Gary Dolce
6th November 2001, 15:22
Gassho,

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the helpful demo advice. I think the end result was a success - the audience was appreciative (nage on the wood floor was especially impressive) and asked good questions and we had a lot of fun (and no one got hurt).

To recap what we did:
We opened with a set piece based on Tenchiken 1 - first the whole group (10 in all) did Tenchiken 1 tannen, then a white belt pair did it sotai, then two more senior pairs did it sotai with progressively more difficult renhanko (last one finishing with oshi uke nage). The idea for this came from one of my students and it provided a nice intro for us.
We followed with a presentation and explanation of basic principles of goho and juho. We kept this very simple, using a white belt pair to demonstrate 2 goho and 2 juho techniques. After that we had a short self-defense demo - two brief skits with multiple techniques, played partly for laughs.
We finished with 2 embu - between them we explained what embu is and how it relates to our core philosophy.

After it was over, we distributed flyers to the audience. Several people expressed interest but no one has come to practice yet.

Next time, we will experiment with some of the other ideas that came up here.

Thanks again,
Gary

George Hyde
6th November 2001, 16:04
Hi Gary,

Glad to see it went well for you.


Originally posted by Gary Dolce
Several people expressed interest but no one has come to practice yet.

Well, we're just settling down after a very busy 'freshers' recruiting drive at the universities where I teach. For anyone not familiar, freshers usually involves setting up a stall with leaflets, pictures, etc., and chatting to any students that show an interest. This is usually followed by a demo. The end result...? Well despite out best efforts, only around 40 people in total turned out to see the two demos. A large percentage of those were members of other MA clubs checking out the 'new guys' (just opened a new dojo).

I was disappointed to say the least. However, despite the poor turn-out at the demos, we've had the best year on record for recruitment. The startling thing is that only a tiny percentage of the new people (around 80 in total) bothered to see the demos. With a virtually complete absence of other publicity efforts, it seems that the vast majority came to the class on the strength of a 5 minute chat with my existing students on the stall.

I always assumed that demos were an essential part of the freshers recruiting process. However, in the past the general response has been so tame as to make evaluation of all the component parts (demo, stall, posters, web site, personal invites, etc..) difficult. This year has made it clear that the demo plays only a small part in the overall picture. So small that I'm beginning to question the value of it. Anyone else find this?

Later,

Kimpatsu
7th November 2001, 06:05
Hi, George. :wave:
Glad to see that LU is doing well on the recruitment front. Have you found that the move back to Danceworks has had the same effect among townies?
When I was running the SOAS branch, I found that bringing along a portable TV and video, and playing SK-related videos, certainly helped to pull in crowds to whom to talk, and explain about SK, and what makes it different from other MA. University students tend to be a more thoughtful crowd than the average by definition, so the philosophy often appeals to them. Since I left for Japan, the BSKF even produced that marvellous video, which really raised the bar on promotional material. You might give some thought to having the video running on a continuous loop at your stall.
In my experience, more than half the people who attend a demo are already practicing something else, and come along merely to be nosey and see how you "measure up." Once, long ago, we did a demo at Brixton, and leafleted the nearby Roxy cinema the night before, because they had a kung fu movie season playing. Over 40 people came to the demo the next day (Saturday), but not one joined the branch subsequently. Mizuno Sensei was terribly disappointed. Upon reflection, you could be right about grand embu demos being too removed from the person in the street, so much so that they can't envisage themselves doing that (although many people have fantasies about being jedi knights, or similar, if the WWW in anything to go by). I guess what I'm saying is that the personal connection, with the video-and-leaflets stall approach, is likely to forge more effective relationships than a demo, in which the participants seem distanced from the audience. My 2-yen worth, anyway.
Kesshu.