KT:Opening a School....Is It Worth It?

[Clark Kent]

Opening a School....Is It Worth It?
By Blackcatbonz - Sat, 29 Jul 2006 19:09:56 GMT

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I've been flirting with the idea of opening a martial arts school for quite awhile now.
The first problem I see with it is the number of places that have opened up and closed their doors in my area anywhere from a few months to a year.
There isn't a huge potential student base with a population of around 35,000 for the surrounding area.
I want to be able to contribute to our organization by simply spreading the art around.......but I also want to do it on my terms, which means that a whole lot of people probably wouldn't stick around because they would think the training was a bit too tough......which would be my 2nd problem. Learning a martial art in my opinion is learning war.......the training is like boot camp, hard yet rewarding if you can stick it out.
this leads to the 3rd problem......people want results fast (meaning belts and lots of them), I'm a stickler for our curriculum.....it covers a lot of material.....and some people simply don't want to put in the time to learn something thoroughly.
What I might end up doing is having a study group free of charge.....or maybe $5 a class, in my backyard. That way I can do it my way, and people do not need to feel obligated to stick around if they can't hack it.

Who has a school/ thinking about opening one/ had one and called it quits?
What kind of problems did you encounter, etc?

I want to hear from everyone.......but especially the traditionalists, because these seem to be the kind of schools that dont last.


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[kosho]

I had a freind who went threw a Bad divorce. I told him he need something in his life he could love and grow with. ( Kempo ). He did start training with me. In my house. He works for a place, ( 1 step away from jail school ) and when a 19 year old attacked him and he was able to stop the attack and control the person with out hurting him. other staff started talking. and next thing I knew I had 10 people in my basement. ( i had this basment dojo for about 1 1/2 years )
I took a chance and LOCATION is key and opened a DOJO. I was up front with all my new students about I am not a belt factory and if rank was all you want them please leave. there are others out there that will give you rank for $$$. This school is hard and rank is earned. I make my Testing closed to all parents and family members. I invite other teachers to come in and witness the testing when I first opened. classes are fun but hard and built around the student. If i have a 21 year old and a 65 year old it is at there own speed and what not. I have been open now for about a little over 2 years. Things are going great. I have 1 Brown belt. he has been with me for about 3 plus years and he trains every day. he also takes privates with my treacher 2 times a month for 2 hrs a class. in N.H.
it takes about 5 - 7 yeras to Black belt with me. I give a ton of info: and work the student... So I think be totally up front and word of mouth will help you grow..... Good luck. I also don't charge a ton and do a month to month. NO contracks...
Steve

 

[Drac]

What I might end up doing is having a study group free of charge.....or maybe $5 a class, in my backyard. That way I can do it my way, and people do not need to feel obligated to stick around if they can't hack it.

I knew an instructor up here that did just that except it was in his basement..He always had students and the instruction level was excellent...There are so many great teachers that cannot open a school due to the money problems..So any solution ( backyard, basement or garage) that you can come up with that allows to to pass on your knowledge to students is a good thing...My 2 cents...