2 Hour Intro to Wing Chun Class

Hazardi172

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You're misusing the term "opportunity cost". You can only apply that term when the alternative use is an option. If you're planning to actually go to that next class, then that money is allocated and is not available for alternative spending.

Actually my friend, as long as the alternative use is possible, there is no opportunity cost. The alternative is always an option until the money or time is spent. There are always potential circumstances where alternative use will be preferable. This is the essence of the understanding of opportunity cost. Don't worry, it isn't a trivial concept and many people get confused thinking about it :)

And you keep ignoring the fact that monthly payment is actually cheaper (significantly) for the student. They are losing money by paying per-class.

Training as and when with me is significantly cheaper than monthly payment with other people because I have no overheads, no accounts, no nothing but training with friends and receiving a gift as thanks which I pocket and then spend! ;). It is pocket money quantities and I am not motivated to be the tax collector for the government against myself when the amount involved is so trivial.

You keep making the same derogatory comment over and over, without being able to provide a single explanation of how they would earn more money by holding a few dollars for a few weeks, nor are you able to address the loss by paying more frequently. You clearly don't actually understand the time-value of money, so I'm done with this discussion.

I don't think I have been derogatory? I also don't think that time value of money means in this example what you think it does :)

There are so many ways to use money to make money, and in fact this is what I do in my everyday life. All it takes is a little imagination.

When you teach, you do what seems best for you (except for that part about evading taxes - that's just wrong). I'll do what's best for my students, and stick to following the laws.

Clearly it would be better for some of your students to pay whenever they wanted to turn up, and not have to make the choice of either paying you when they don't turn up, or turn up when they don't want to. For example those who often have other things to do, don't value what you are teaching all that much, sometimes have a life on nighs when you are running your class, that kind of thing ;).

My own experience of pay monthly is that it tends to be more expensive, because it is done by people who approach MA as a business. If those people give an option to pay by class then they overcharge, both in order to funnel people into their money stream of pay monthly, and also because they are not approaching it as fun and a hobby, but rather a business, and a business exits to maximise returns to the owner. I personally don't like being taught MA by someone doing it as a business because MA is so full of awful ideas and bad teaching. I prefer to train with people doing it for the love, who have other ways to make money, and who don't have to be doing it :).
 

Hazardi172

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You're rationalizing. You're charging them for training. It's not a gift, unless you don't expect them to pay. You want to keep all the money, rather than paying the taxes that are due on it. That's called "tax evasion".

When tax will by its imposition end the economic activity that it seeks to exploit, then that tax is not worth putting your head above the parapet in order to acknowledge. It seems pretty stupid to volunteer to end the value you bring to others just because you have a burning desire to comply with someone else's rules :)
 
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wingchun100

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Some good news: I met a young woman who teaches a sewing class that is also part of Hudson Valley's Community Ed Series.

Turns out she teaches the same course at Schenectady County Community College, and also at Albany High School. I was completely unaware that any other schools offered this, and believe me: I had looked into teaching at colleges.

So it is time to brush up my marketing skills even further and offer this course elsewhere!
 
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wingchun100

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Also, I think this course might benefit from me making a video to share not only with people that I am approaching to sign up, but one I could also send to the people who determine if they will let me offer the course through them. Got to make something that looks "cool," although I am not exactly an expert or even a novice on figuring out what might look "cool" to other people.
 

Gerry Seymour

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Also, I think this course might benefit from me making a video to share not only with people that I am approaching to sign up, but one I could also send to the people who determine if they will let me offer the course through them. Got to make something that looks "cool," although I am not exactly an expert or even a novice on figuring out what might look "cool" to other people.
What you're talking about is called a "flash reel" among professional speakers. For your purposes, you'll want to show some cool sparring, some instructional-looking stuff (where you are explaining, with or without sound), some forms that look cool to those who have no idea what's going on, etc.
 
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wingchun100

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What you're talking about is called a "flash reel" among professional speakers. For your purposes, you'll want to show some cool sparring, some instructional-looking stuff (where you are explaining, with or without sound), some forms that look cool to those who have no idea what's going on, etc.

So it wouldn't matter if the forms I show are the ones they would actually see in the class? The reason I say that is because the first form (Sil Lum Tao) is, to be honest, not all that visually impressive or dynamic. In MY mind, the most visually impressive is either Biu Jee or the Mook Jong (dummy) forms. However, those are definitely not ones that would be shown in a 2-hour introduction class.
 

Gerry Seymour

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So it wouldn't matter if the forms I show are the ones they would actually see in the class? The reason I say that is because the first form (Sil Lum Tao) is, to be honest, not all that visually impressive or dynamic. In MY mind, the most visually impressive is either Biu Jee or the Mook Jong (dummy) forms. However, those are definitely not ones that would be shown in a 2-hour introduction class.
No, I wouldn't worry about trying to show them what will be in the class. Show them why they want to be in a class about WC.
 

JowGaWolf

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Also, I think this course might benefit from me making a video to share not only with people that I am approaching to sign up, but one I could also send to the people who determine if they will let me offer the course through them. Got to make something that looks "cool," although I am not exactly an expert or even a novice on figuring out what might look "cool" to other people.
Think about what type of students you want and set your marketing efforts to attract those students. If your audience likes flashy stuff then you can market using flashy demos, If your audience likes practical things then you can market using practical demos. If you aren't sure then you can throw both into the video.

I wouldn't worry about trying to figure out what looks cool. That's what video editing is for. Strip the sound add some music and call it a day.
Nothing in this video is as cool as exciting as video makes it appear. If you saw the original videos it would just be regular sparring, nothing special.

Just do what you do, take some video of you training, drilling, and sparring. add some music to create the mood that you want and you'll be fine. This way you don't have to do an over the top and unrealistic demo. You can take clips from Sil Lum Tao and those pieces during the slow parts of a music score and then use a different form or drill for the more upbeat parts of the music.

IMPORTANT: when you create your marketing videos to beginners, make sure you have things in there that looks like something a beginner can do and then towards the end of the video clip have just a few advanced things. For example: The video should tell a hidden story. "Here's what you'll train, Here's what you can become." Make sure you take pictures and get permission to use photos from your intro class. Have someone take pictures while you teach and be sure they capture the smiles and the amazement that the students will have during the 2 hours. You'll need those pictures and video to help promote your next intro class and full class.
 
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wingchun100

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I will need to find someone good at video editing too. As much as I try to study all that software, none of it ever makes sense to me.
 

wckf92

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I will need to find someone good at video editing too. As much as I try to study all that software, none of it ever makes sense to me.

Ditto. Yeah dude...this barrier is what hampers me as well.
 

JR 137

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So it wouldn't matter if the forms I show are the ones they would actually see in the class? The reason I say that is because the first form (Sil Lum Tao) is, to be honest, not all that visually impressive or dynamic. In MY mind, the most visually impressive is either Biu Jee or the Mook Jong (dummy) forms. However, those are definitely not ones that would be shown in a 2-hour introduction class.

You could demonstrate an advanced form toward the end of the class as an example of what they'd expect during advanced training. Not sure dragging in a wooden dummy is worth it though.

As far as making a video look cool, slo mo always makes things look cool. Ever watch Dave Chappelle's show? :)
 

JR 137

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So it wouldn't matter if the forms I show are the ones they would actually see in the class? The reason I say that is because the first form (Sil Lum Tao) is, to be honest, not all that visually impressive or dynamic. In MY mind, the most visually impressive is either Biu Jee or the Mook Jong (dummy) forms. However, those are definitely not ones that would be shown in a 2-hour introduction class.

You could demonstrate an advanced form toward the end of the class as an example of what they'd expect during advanced training. Not sure dragging in a wooden dummy is worth it though.

As far as making a video look cool, slo mo always makes things look cool. Ever watch Dave Chappelle's show? :)
 

Kung Fu Wang

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In MY mind, the most visually impressive is either Biu Jee or the Mook Jong (dummy) forms. However, those are definitely not ones that would be shown in a 2-hour introduction class.
If I'll teach a 2 hours WC class, I will use partner training to train the wooden dummy forms in that 2 hours and nothing else. I like to point out the "destination" first. If people are interested, I then point out the "path" that can lead them to it.

The

- destination is "how to fight".
- path is to "use WC method".
 
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wingchun100

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You could demonstrate an advanced form toward the end of the class as an example of what they'd expect during advanced training. Not sure dragging in a wooden dummy is worth it though.

As far as making a video look cool, slo mo always makes things look cool. Ever watch Dave Chappelle's show? :)

Yes, I could show the form in class. However, in that particular post I was referring to what I should or could show in a video. :)
 

JR 137

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Yes, I could show the form in class. However, in that particular post I was referring to what I should or could show in a video. :)

Without going back and digging through the thread, someone mentioned something about not having a more advanced form in the video because everything was going to be beginner stuff, or something like that. I don't remember exactly.

I was saying that you could demo it while recording, killing two birds with one stone. Sorry for the confusion.
 
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wingchun100

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Without going back and digging through the thread, someone mentioned something about not having a more advanced form in the video because everything was going to be beginner stuff, or something like that. I don't remember exactly.

I was saying that you could demo it while recording, killing two birds with one stone. Sorry for the confusion.

Oh, for some reason it read like you meant demo it in class. You mentioned dragging in the dummy. There is no way in hell I would do that. LOL However, I WOULD consider doing the dummy form on the video.
 

JR 137

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Oh, for some reason it read like you meant demo it in class. You mentioned dragging in the dummy. There is no way in hell I would do that. LOL However, I WOULD consider doing the dummy form on the video.

I thought I said DON'T drag in the dummy. If I didn't, sorry. I'm too lazy to check.
 
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wingchun100

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When you said don't drag in the dummy, I thought you meant for the video LOL
 

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