New schools trying to attract women

[AceHBK]

My TKD school is growing and we are working on getting our own school and out of the space in a gym that we rent.
The problem is trying to bring women into the program. We had one when the school first started but she stopped due to issues with her job and b/f.

I tried to get my g/f to join but she wont b/c there are no women in the class. (Also she is like why join when i can learn from you and now that she see's me x-training in Kung Fu she is not interested in TKD...go figure...women!! :) ) Another adult's wife would join but wont b/c again, there are no other women in the class. How can I get that one women aka sacrificial lamb to join to help attract other women. Renting space in a gym makes it easy b/c I see women watching all the time but can't get them to join.

My Master and myself sit down discussing business strategies and I am willing to try anything. I met a woman last night beofre class in the gym who was in TKD a long time ago and is a yellow belt and looked interested. my master told her $25 gets her a free uniform and a week free. After he left I told her come for a month for free and if you like it then great and if you decide to stop then great as well. I told him what I did when we got in private and he totally understood. I am close to saying 2 months free and after that if we get more women or she brings more in, give her a reduced amount just because we need to build the program and we need 1 woman to help bring in more.

What do you think?
How can we bring in more women. I know if more women come in so will more men. I also let her know that we focus on SD as well as sparring for tournaments and the emphasis will be on what she would want more of.

Thanx in advance for the great advice.

[bluemtn]

There's typically only me and one other woman in my classes, so therefore it doesn't bother me when I am the only woman in class. Maybe offering for a trial period of time a women's class- self defense, etc. Women might get more interested in it more then. I've not seen any sure fire remedies for that one though. More do respond to women's classes than not.

[TigerWoman]

I was that "sacrificial lamb" in my school. My daughter wanted, begged me to join. There was one other blue belt woman who quit within two weeks of me joining--don't know why, but I was there in a group of men and young boys.

So that seems to be the "hook" in our school. Those women with children will join to make it a family experience, quality time. I have seen alot of single-not attached to a child in TKD-women come and go due to pregnancy usually or relationships gone bad. But since I have been there, we now have eight black belt women and several coming up. I'm going on my tenth year.

Also offer a class demo--to parents so that they can see an adult class and all the elements in it. Then offer them a free class coupon so that they can come and try it, at their convenience. Give away free class coupons to women at the fair--even have a booth. Give a fair demo. You will see when they can come then, to be able to schedule classes. Offer family rates for moms, dads and kids. Make sure you have brochures that talk about family values being reinforced. Give demos with women's groups. Have a kickboxing class-kick and punch a bag separately (more comfortable-secure at first). Is there a community ed. program in your town? Don't even bother to start all this in the summer. Aim for the fall. And if you have any ideas other these, let me know as this is my plan for the fall so far. TW

[stickarts]

I do a mini women's self defense class once or twice per year.
You can even make it free and post it in the local newspaper.
Some of the women that attend usually like it enough to enroll in our programs.

[bushidomartialarts]

tiger woman is dead on right with this one.

if you want to get more women involved -- start talking to the moms. they know and like you. many of them already spend hours every week in your school. i guarantee a handful have already thought about it.

find a way to make it easy and you'll have several out there before you know it.

i had a program last christmas that worked really well. to get it, you need to understand that i joke a lot with most of the parents in my school. i'm a kidder, always have been.

so last december i declared 'parents' amnesty month', meaning if you were a parent and joined up I wouldn't tease them at all. i had five sign up.

[AceHBK]

Thank you everyone for your advice.
Tiger Woman - I will definately talk to my master about implementing what you discussed. It sounds like a great idea and I am anxious ito try it.

[Ceicei]

How are things going? Any luck drawing women to join with your school?

- Ceicei

[Shaolinwind]

What do you think?
How can we bring in more women. I know if more women come in so will more men. I also let her know that we focus on SD as well as sparring for tournaments and the emphasis will be on what she would want more of.

Thanx in advance for the great advice.

I don't know but when you do, tell me where you are so I can start classes. :D

[stingg]

I'm not sure if you have an age limit in your classes, but I would recommend talking to the PE teachers at local high schools and seeing if you could give a demonstration there. You might see if you can put posters in schools as well, since then you're catching them young with more time to stay. This is the ultimate for the sacrificial lamb, since teenage girls generally love to do things with their friends and if you catch one you've got it made (same thing happens in sorority recruitment, interesting...).

[ArmorOfGod]

Think about places where lots of women typically work: dental offices, hair salons, and places like that. Call them and offer that business a free self-defense seminar. Be very up front when you call them. Tell them that you will give them a free seminar if they agree to take home filers/info about your school. Tell them that you are trying to get more students and that is why you are offering to give the seminar.
With that idea, see if any of the local churches will let you give a free seminar. Make the women take home lots of written info on your class when the seminar is over.

AoG

[KenpoSterre]

If you decide to do a demo infront of crowd dont show sparring. It scares some women to see people 'beating' each other. Show some basic techniques, forms, or sets. Lots of women won't go into something that is dangerous or seems dangerous and scary.

[Drac]

Check your area for singles groups..Some have organized events that all the members always attend..Make it a Womans Only event..Best of luck...

[KenpoSterre]

Good idea Drac. Also if possible when showing demos, brochures, pictures, etc. to not only show men. If possible show a female instructor, girls taking the class, and women kicking. With women we see to beleive. If we see other women it puts us at ease.

[Drac]

Also if possible when showing demos, brochures, pictures, etc. to not only show men. If possible show a female instructor, girls taking the class, and women kicking. With women we see to beleive. If we see other women it puts us at ease.

Good ideas..Show a female instructor putting a large male down...Leave the Gi's at the dojo..Show up in Dockers, dress like your target audience...Worked with a female instructor once who did her first demo in a coporate suit & skirt attire complete with high heels..Then she switched to sweats and a t-shirt...

[Dave Dickey]

Go To Events! One of the best ways I have found to attract new students men or women has been to go to events and offer free lessons or just have an info table.

[Phoenix44]

Do you have any female instructors? That would help.

[Si-Je]

I've been trying to get more women into our class for over a year. I think I've taken too soft of an approach. I teach Wing Chun which was invented by a woman, and women always seem to pick up the techniques much quicker and accurately than the male students. Still, men are the majority. I myself am an instructor in the art, and female.
What I've seemed to come across is that the majority of women who have responded to my self defense videos on our website and myspace account is that they do not believe in the techniques because they have not seen them use by men fighting in UFC and MMA.
I am really confused. I've been trying to atract women by not scaring them off with sparring and too much physical hitting. But, it seems that these ladies WANT to fight, spar, get hit, and physical with the self defense.
The techniques we practice are not practical for this type of sparring for we kick to the knee cap, groin, punch and chop the throat, nose, third lumbar in the back of the neck. Emphasis on CONTROL is cruital in class to practice. But if we cater to this sparring/fighting mentality I'm afraid people will get seriously hurt in training.

P.S.
I'm not sure why this forum is showing my rank as white belt. Maybe the board doesn't recognize chinese ranking system. There are no belts.

[KenpoSterre]

i am not sure if the p.s. was a joke or not. The belts you see at the top of posts are just a way of showing how many posts you made. When you get 500 posts your a blackbelt, 20 a orange, etc. It is just a ranking system for the amount of posts

[Si-Je]

LOL! okay. I'm still very new to forums. This was my first post. Thank you for clearing that up.

[KenpoSterre]

your welcome. okay back on topic when strutting yourself save the fancy jump spin flip kicks. Stick more to the basics. If a girl/women sees someone amazingly flexible spinning around and flipping in the air they will be discaorged. Show effective simple stuff. If females think they can do it then they are more apt to try.

[Si-Je]

That's what I've been concentrating on. Maybe the self-defense video we show needs work. But the responses I get are pretty harsh. Women and men stating that they want more "real fighting" and some kind of "proof" that a woman can effectively defend against a male attacker.
I've had many men online make fun of the video, stating that a woman could NEVER defend against a man or stronger opponent, and women seem to refer to UFC and MMA as the staple of self defenes effectiveness.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.showvids&friendID=44966057&n=2

[Drac]

I've had many men online make fun of the video, stating that a woman could NEVER defend against a man or stronger opponent

Let them believe what they will...We know better..

[Dave Dickey]

I think the main thrust of the problem you are having is that these people are right....the average American woman taking ANY form of martial arts arts one day a week CANNOT beat anyone, if they don't practice outside the dojo. There has been a major hype for 30 years that is coming around to hurt EMA. Giving 5 year olds black belts, convincing women that just because they can break a board they will have the street savvy not to mention the heart to really hurt an opponent. This part is all a giant crock.

I am not saying that you are part of it. But it is this type of thing that is now starting to change people's thinking about EMA.

I myself have trained in Hapkido, Kendo and Tae Kwon Do and over the last 30 years have been disgusted with some of the crap I have seen touted as true.

Again...no slam on anyone here....just throwing my own 2 cents into the ring.....please feel free to challenge me :)

[drunken mistress]

Try to attract the mothers of kids you teach. The first classs I joined three of us wanted to try it because our kids were doing it. Martial Arts can be a good family thing where you practice moves at home with your kids.

[Drac]

Look into organizing a Mothers & Daughters only class...Are there any people friendly radio stations near you?? A call to the Program Director might put you on the air just long enough to broadcast your classes..Contact the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) maybe they can assist...

[drunken mistress]

I got into it at first with my son because he was being bullied. Perhaps some anti-bullying classes for kids of both sexes would pull in the mothers as well.
I found my arm strength was much greater after having a kid - all the casual lifting and carrying of a toddler, etc. This was a help with learning karate.

[rosiepink]

Here's my idea: Make a bunch of cards or even coupons and go to your nearest dog park Friday evenings and Monday-Thursday afternoons. Those are the times when I see the most college-aged women. Women who own dogs are more physically active and will probably be more interested in learning self-defense.

[Drac]

I think the main thrust of the problem you are having is that these people are right....the average American woman taking ANY form of martial arts arts one day a week CANNOT beat anyone, if they don't practice outside the dojo.

The Instructor should make that very comment at the end of the intro class



There has been a major hype for 30 years that is coming around to hurt EMA. Giving 5 year olds black belts, convincing women that just because they can break a board they will have the street savvy not to mention the heart to really hurt an opponent. This part is all a giant crock.

Brother did you say a a mouth full..I agree 100%

[ArmorOfGod]

Here's my idea: Make a bunch of cards or even coupons and go to your nearest dog park Friday evenings and Monday-Thursday afternoons. Those are the times when I see the most college-aged women. Women who own dogs are more physically active and will probably be more interested in learning self-defense.

The problem with that is you have to approach these women who don't know you. This does a couple of things. First it makes you look like a used car salesman and second, it may alarm them (being approached by a stranger).
Just something to think about.

AoG

[rosiepink]

In my town, there's been such a hike in murder, rape, home robberies, and car jackings, I don't think anyone would mind if done tastefully. Crime is a regular topic with other women when I visit the dog park. Strangely, most women I know are debating whether to get a gun or whether they should just stay home and not jog/walk their dogs anymore. Also local area dog groomers frequently visit the parks to promote their services so it's not really strange to see someone handing out a small flyer.

[Drac]

Did you check with a local college about putting on a one day seminar??? Make it a "Ladies Only"class.. See if the campus police are able (willing ) to assist you...

[fnorfurfoot]

Did you check with a local college about putting on a one day seminar??? Make it a "Ladies Only"class.. See if the campus police are able (willing ) to assist you...
I did something similar at the Y I teach at. Two years ago, I ran a "Women's Self Defense Class" one night a week for eight weeks. I ran through some basic escapes and preventative concepts while mixing in a few more interesting techniques. When the session was over a number of the women realised on their own that what I taught was only the beginning so they upgraded to the regular Kenpo classes and I still have them in my class today.

[Drac]

I did something similar at the Y I teach at. Two years ago, I ran a "Women's Self Defense Class" one night a week for eight weeks. I ran through some basic escapes and preventative concepts while mixing in a few more interesting techniques.

An enterprizing MA up here made up some simple flyers and passed them out at the Pistol Ranges up here...They are being taught at the local Community College...The YWCA would be a great place to start...

[Carol]

In my town, there's been such a hike in murder, rape, home robberies, and car jackings, I don't think anyone would mind if done tastefully. Crime is a regular topic with other women when I visit the dog park. Strangely, most women I know are debating whether to get a gun or whether they should just stay home and not jog/walk their dogs anymore. Also local area dog groomers frequently visit the parks to promote their services so it's not really strange to see someone handing out a small flyer.

Tastefully targeting dog owners sounds like a great idea. Many women that have dogs are also interested in personal protection to one degree or another.

[foggymorning162]

Most of the adult females in our school are parents of students. Try offering some seminars to the parents. Try organizing a self defence seminar through someone who works with a lot of women. We have offered seminars to employees of banks etc. at a dicount. We women are much more likely to try things as a group. If you get enough to do the seminars your bound to get at least a couple who want to join and thats all you need to draw more in.

[tellner]

In general a woman who tries to "fight" a man by folding her hands and attempting to batter him into submission has a tough row to hoe.

So what?

You (most of the audience here) probably couldn't last more than a couple minutes with an average MMA fighter in your weight class. Neither could I. Same goes for banging sticks with Steve van Harn, going three rounds in the ring against a bottom-rung pro boxer, getting a touch in against a journeyman fencer or outshooting anyone with a rating on the IPSC circuit. Heck, take your kamas and katana and get slaughtered by any young aggressive Marine who's been through bayonet training. There's a whole world of people out there who could kick your booty without raising their heart rate. Give it up. You can't win.

If it's about self-improvement, working hard at improving your skills, fitness, or being the best fighter that you can thenbasing the worth of your art on whom you can beat up and who can beat up you is about as far off-track as it is possible to be. If anyone, male or female, is doing it for the right reasons in an environment where this is supported these issues will not be a problem.

If it's about self-defense, that's a different matter.

Self defense is not martial arts. Self defense is not "fighting". What most of us have done is martial arts and fighting where "fighting" means "a contest between two people to see who will gain dominance under a well-defined if unspoken set of rules." Self defense is doing whatever is necessary to keep from being the victim of a crime. Most martial arts teachers are not qualified to teach self defense although their skills may be very useful as part of a self-defense repertoire. Unfortunately, when they try to attract women most martial arts teachers repackage their product as self defense.

The average woman can't learn enough self defense from a couple months of most martial arts classes to win a standup fight against the average man. On the other hand, if she takes a good personal protection class she can learn information, skills and attitudes that will server her in excellent stead in a self defense situation. The secret here is that just being there ready and willing to fight, run away, swear like a sailor or pretty much anything except freeze or comply makes the rate of completed crimes drop like a stone. If you add some good habits and there weren't many bad ones to complicate matters the chances are pretty good for the defender. If she's more frightened of losing than of getting hurt, well, that's even better. Add the means and desire to give the SOB the Four Cuts and shoot him off her knife with a large handgun... But that's beyond the scope of the discussion :)

Just the change from "Please don't hurt me!" to (and I must paraphrase here) "You mother loving descendant of a female canid. I'm going to remove theologically challenged head and beat you to death with it!" can work wonders. It is not that hard to teach. The ways to get the important parts across quickly and simply are not the same ones you use to teach martial arts. A good long-term MA program will get you farther. But there's a long learning curve.

My advice to female students who are primarily interested in personal safety has been to get a good short-term self defense course and then shop around for a long-term martial arts program. They'll be better and more knowledgeable consumers for having the preparation. They'll have something they can use. They'll have a better idea of what they're looking for.

[Drac]

A major bank here in Cleveland offered a free Self Defense to its female employees during their lunch break..The bank paid a nominal fee and the dojo managed to increase interest and membership in a group of females..

[foggymorning162]

I wasn't implying that the martial arts class should be sold as a self defence class only that self defense seminars are a good way to attract women in groups. I myself wanted to try MA as a child and never did then when my son showed an interest I signed him up and watched 9 months worth of classes but didn't join until about 5 of us Moms got talking about how we wanted to try it and we all joined together. It's always hard being the only new person just think how hard it would be being the only new person and the only woman too.:)

[Kwiter]

Our daughters school got my wife to join by offering Free Month of Training for Mothers day, so Mrs trained all of May, loved it and now goes 3 times a week.....