Very good information! I workout at a school run by a Cuban man with tremendous martial arts experience, but the reason he has the most successful school in the city has little to do with that. He has a big personality and loves to teach, and people can feel this. In addition, he does what you suggest and goes beyond like no one I've ever seen before. For one example, with his younger students, he goes to their teachers in school to see where he can be helpful to them in areas where the student may be having difficulties.
So these are the top 5 tips for running a successful Dojo or Gym that I've picked up working as a professional in this area. There are many more, yet I hope these insights will help you find balance between your passion for martial arts and also the business side of it which makes it possible to do it full time and share your passion with others. What are your insights in running a successful Dojo or Gym? PS: Positive shout outs to Eimantes, the editing guy of AikidoSiauliai, who did a great job editing this video :)
This video is based in a very deep analysis. Msybe you could do a video, if you have not made one yet, about how to keep a martial arts teaching channel. Thanks in advance.
I would like to hear about how you advertised your school. I know that the dojo has been closed. But in the future maybe when you are trying to setup a new school/gym, I think it would be nice to hear about the marketing that you do.
Loved it! Very insightfull! Thanks, Rokas! Will reflect uppon those points! But... what about that starting push, when you don't have your own place... tips for oppening a dojo would be nice! Or just share your own experience with Aikido Siauliai! Cheers!
I'm not saying that "everyone passes" but being too strict with beginners and failing them from the yellow belt test is a sure fire way to cause a mass exodus with customers.
Good question, long answer :) Might need to do another video for that. Short answer, find out what they are looking for, find where they are, prove that what they are looking for can be received here and be very clear about what it is.
@@MartialArtsJourney Word of mouth via social media. Announce one of your training days as a big day for newbies to join. Have friends, students, and families share posts, and have a sign wherever you train so that people konw you're a school
Hi Daniel, good question. There are really a few different options and it's worth another video, yet I'll share some main ideas: if you give extra attention to these students (special training, meetings, etc.) and present this as part of their learning experience, you can ask them to do it for free, but if it's free, do not over ask them. If there is more than two helpers, rotate them so they wouldn't burn themselves out. Sometimes I would give a whole group to another instructor, then we would either share the revenue in half, or I would ask for a certain amount of money each month and the rest is his/hers. Yet this brings other issues and questions which would need to be covered.
I usually stay out of these discussions but you've said something that really bothered me. You talk here about the self-development and self-defense aspects as two separate and even opposite things. And I understand that you're probably talking from a commercial point of view: "since there is this stereotype between your audience, you might as well play along with it and give people what they expect". Yet I think it's crucial for a martial arts instructor not only to refuse to play along, but to actively explain and show to students how self-development is not just some abstract thing, how it's the most important tool for self-defense. It is sad to me that words like "self-development" and "spiritual practice" in martial arts became little more than a socially excepted euphemism for saying "I have no idea what these guys are doing, probably some ridiculous bullshido with zero practical application". And I think instructors are partly to blame for it, for not explaining enough how self-development is not separate but neatly interwoven into the fabric of a self-defense art.
I agree it can be practiced together and that's what I do my best to achieve with my group, yet it is really hard to cover both properly without sacrificing one in stead of the other
