I need some direction.

Posted by: Anonymous

I need some direction. - 10/06/04 12:22 AM

I've been taking Yoshukai karate for about 2 years now, enjoy it tremendously, and have decided that this is what I want to do with my life (I'm 18 by the way, so this is just about the time when I need to be figuring out what direction to go). I'd love to eventually open a dojo of my own, passing on Yoshukai karate another generation, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the requirements were for doing this, and how to get started.

Thank you.
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: I need some direction. - 10/08/04 08:41 AM

Can anyone at least tell me what rank you have need to be to open a Yoshukai karate dojo?
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: I need some direction. - 10/08/04 08:59 AM

In the competitive business of martial arts dojos, it is important that a pracitioner be higher ranking if they intend to be successful at teaching and retaining students. One of my biggest problems when opening a school was the fact that there was a rival school not too far away, and the head instructor was a 6th degree black belt. I was only a 2nd degree black belt, so he took it upon himself to belittle my experience, and it cost me a lot of students.

If you are starting a school, you need to make sure you have two very important things:
1) experience (martial arts and business)
and
2) permission from your current instructor

If you are unsure about opening a full-blown school, then I would suggest starting a club at a local college, school, or community center to gain a following. Then you can evaluate just how many possible students you will have and whether or not it will be feasible to open a school. Rent and utilities are expensive - especially for a dojo! You will need plenty of students to support the school's needs.

As for experience, it is important that you are the highest ranking in the school if you are going to run the school. Otherwise, it would be impossible for you to promote those who are higher in rank that you.

Best of luck!
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: I need some direction. - 10/08/04 09:27 AM

Might i suggest a college education and an MBA? Business knoweldge and expereince are be tremendously helpful for.... running a business. Not only does this give you a great fallback plan, but it also gives your martial arts additional time to grow and believe me, alot of growing up happens through your college years....Speaking from personal experience, not with opening a dojo but attempting to open my own business, when you are younger i.e. less than 25, people tend to take you less seriously despite the fact you yourself know you got what it takes. It is an unfortunate thhing, and one that has caused me furstration (i'm 25) but i think if you build the proper baseline it's an investment that will pay off tremendously in the future....

Good Luck!!

Ed

[This message has been edited by MrEd (edited 10-08-2004).]
Posted by: schanne

Re: I need some direction. - 10/08/04 10:29 AM

I had to sign a non competative contract with my sensei when we recieved our BB. It stated that we could not open up a Dojo and teach karate in a ten mile radius of his school. That was a long time ago and I was told that it really isn't worth the paper thast it was written on? Well like the others said it would help if you had a good business background too. Myself, if I was looking to join a dojo I wouldn't bother talking with the Sensei, owner, instructor or what ever you want to call him unless he was a high ranking BB. I have seen to many morons that break away from their school soon as they achieve their BB and have absolutly no idea what there teaching or how to teach let alone run a business.
Posted by: senseilou

Re: I need some direction. - 10/08/04 02:48 PM

I am going to take this from another angle. Experience.....2 years of study is not enough experience no matter style or what art to open a school. In Japan you do not teach till 3rd dan but then again, I am not in favor of setting limits. But I do believe in experience. At 2 years that is not enough. A Sensei needs to lead, or point people on a certain path or certain direction. I would seriously doubt that you have found enough information in 2 years to pass long information to guide someone. Don't get me wrong, 2 years is great for training, and assisting students, but not to open a school. First of all you have your age to contend with. Alot of adults won't listen to someone because of their age, even if they are not trained. My son has trained for almost 20 years, and knows way more than many adults, yet he gets resistance many times from older students, and questioned by blue belts and such. Aside from the age, experience in how to deal with certain situations that have not popped up yet, but will once you start a school. Also, you have not learned all you need to learn, so are you going to stop training with your Sensei? Its very hard to be a student one night and Sensei the next. I'd suggest you spend some more time gaining information, and if your style only offers 2 years worth of knowledge(which I seriously doubt)find out about other styles. The most embarrasing thing for you could be a student who comes to you with other training, and asks you a question you can not answer. I suggest my experience!
Posted by: Anonymous

Re: I need some direction. - 11/11/04 12:44 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MrEd:
Might i suggest a college education and an MBA? Business knoweldge and expereince are be tremendously helpful for.... running a business. Not only does this give you a great fallback plan, but it also gives your martial arts additional time to grow and believe me, alot of growing up happens through your college years....Speaking from personal experience, not with opening a dojo but attempting to open my own business, when you are younger i.e. less than 25, people tend to take you less seriously despite the fact you yourself know you got what it takes. It is an unfortunate thhing, and one that has caused me furstration (i'm 25) but i think if you build the proper baseline it's an investment that will pay off tremendously in the future....

Good Luck!!

Ed

[/QUOTE]

I agree with everything you said. I'm 24 and I teach martial arts. Though I have 15 years of experience, many older people still view me as young and naive. Kurohyou, I would definitely say this will be one of your largest obstacles in opening your school. As a youngster like me, you first have to create an image for your school and actually prove your skill to your students before they will trust you. You will probably get frustrated and want to give up. I have thought about just giving it up so many times, but the longer you stay at it, the better you will look to the martial arts community. You might want to start out teaching private lessons only (which you can charge more for), as a large class can be quite unmanageable at times. Plus many people love the idea of their Sifu coming to their house to train them, lol. Then after college, and building a good clientel you could think about opening a school. I'm in college right now and teach private lessons only, for about $250 a month for 3 one to two hour classes a week. Before that, I taught group classes at the park for $25.00 a month. These small ventures have helped me through college and kept my training up for the years I would have "waited" to open my school. I plan to open my kwoon in 2006. We'll see how things go. Just stay with it, Kurohyou.