Attracting the Women

[lifewise]

This thread is the result of another discussion in the Women's Self Defense. Basically, some women find it very difficult to attend classes at the dojo on a regular basis. Some of the reasons indicated were obvious such as work, family committments. Here are some other comments....

- " I 'got away with spending time training as long as I was training with my oldest kid"

- " I found that my husband eventually became suspicious of all the men at the dojo, and jealous of the time I spent paying attention to things MA rather than him, the house, and the kids"

- " it is a lot harder for mothers with husbands and young children to justify the time they spend away from home training"

- "making a long-term committment to such a non-traditional activity for women is simply not an option for most young mothers"

- "how many husbands are willing to sit home with the kids while their wives go out in the evening to train with, for the most part, a bunch of buff young men? "

So if a school wants to attract more female students - what is the solution? Short term programs? Women's only classes? Daytime classes?

 

[Nightingale]

> " I 'got away with spending time training as long as I was >training with my oldest kid"

encouraging students to bring in family members to train is a good thing.


> " I found that my husband eventually became suspicious of all >the men at the dojo, and jealous of the time I spent paying >attention to things MA rather than him, the house, and the kids"

This isn't a martial arts problem. this is a husband problem. try to get her to bring in the husband and kids for lessons too. Charge for private lessons per LESSON, not per person, so the whole family can train at one private lesson, if the husband has group class issues. If he sees that its just harmless fun, he may loosen up a bit.

> " it is a lot harder for mothers with husbands and young >children to justify the time they spend away from home training"

>"making a long-term committment to such a non-traditional >activity for women is simply not an option for most young >mothers"

Perhaps a solution: hire a babysitter. I'm serious. Charge the mothers with children who want to opt in an extra $10 a month or so, (depending on how many there are. make sure you make enough to compensate the sitter) and find someone's wife (or husband) who doesn't train, and pay them to come in and entertain the children. I've seen a dojo that had a television with a headphone splitter system so they could plug in ten sets of headphones. The kids sat down and watched disney movies while the adults trained. The kids sat in the spectator area and were quiet as could be.

- "how many husbands are willing to sit home with the kids while their wives go out in the evening to train with, for the most part, a bunch of buff young men? "

Again, this is a husband issue, not a karate issue. Best thing I can suggest is bring in the husband and let him watch a few classes (or better yet, bring him in for a few weeks for free, get him hooked, and then the jealousy thing won't be an issue)

Daytime classes are always a good thing. i wouldn't recommend women only classes because it kinda defeats the purpose of martial arts, because most attackers aren't women.

 

[lifewise]

All very good ideas nightingale.

:asian:

 

[lifewise]

Just looking at the other side here - some parents do not like the idea of my children watching tv as a past time nor would they consider children waiting around in the dojo for an hour or so a couple times a week as a constructive use of time.

I thought the idea of hiring a babysitter was a good one. How many schools have room for this however? Is there insurance issues involved with this idea? Perhaps having a co-op style child care program could/would work .... Class schedules might conflict with this idea in some schools. If the classes are later than children are normally in bed it is not a solution to bring them down to the dojo no matter what they are doing or who is watching them.

Regarding the husband/boyfriend situation - if they are already jealous is it really a good idea to bring them to the dojo?

 

[Nightingale]

if you have a sitter, the ones who want to watch tv can do so, while the others could perhaps get homework help or something like that. If you have a parent volunteer for the position, have the parents pay the volunteer directly, so it doesn't go on your books and may avoid some insurance issues.

 

[lifewise]

makes sense

 

[KenpoTess]

I know I would like to see more women my age at our school.. I'm the oldest there and though we do have a good ratio of females to males.. seems most of the students are college kids.. not that I have any problem at all with that.. they are great.. some of the family men who are married can't make classes regularly and when they do come.. we all kid around saying.. "oh you got a kitchen pass tonight" *g*

Our classes for the kids are 7-8pm 3 nights/week and some of them hang out during the adult class ( one aunt and one brother are members of the adult class) this works out ok so far as we can keep an eye on them while we workout.

I think there's such a persona on Martial Arts that alot of women are curious about it but also are fearful of trying it with mostly males around them. I don't like the idea of just all Female classes. Women need to interact with guys when it comes to any Martial Art. I concur with Nightingale that it's the couple's problem if there's jealousy afoot. They need to bring their other half in and share that part of their life with them. (course on the other hand... going to class is their 'get-away- time' so to each their own.

 

[arnisador]

In Japan, naginata-do is almost entirely a women's martial art (and sport). It's not intended as self-defense (it's the art of fencing with the halberd, basically--there's no perfect translation of the weapon's name) and for that it may make perfectly good sense to have a largely female-only environment. For self-defense, I think that's problematic though--but it changes the comfort level for some.

 

[lvwhitebir]

Originally posted by KenpoTess

I think there's such a persona on Martial Arts that alot of women are curious about it but also are fearful of trying it with mostly males around them. I don't like the idea of just all Female classes. Women need to interact with guys when it comes to any Martial Art.

I think that's why TaeBo and Fitness Kickboxing hit it off so good. It offers "martial arts" in a format that women are comfortable with and they're usually the dominant participants.

I've found that older women tend to like the Fitness classes more as well as the Tai Chi. The younger ones like the Fitness and the traditional classes like Kung Fu.

I'm looking to find out why women stay away from the martial arts especially when it would benefit them so much. Guys already fight, right from birth. It's the women that are taught to never hit that can be helped so that they never become victims.

WhiteBirch

 

[Nightingale]

hmmm....I've seen dojos get a lot of women using this method...

open in the middle of the day.
offer a "cardio kick" or tae bo type class
basically, set all your basics to music.

if you get them into the studio, it'll be easier to get them into the regular classes.

 

[Seig]

Originally posted by nightingale8472

hmmm....I've seen dojos get a lot of women using this method...

open in the middle of the day.
offer a "cardio kick" or tae bo type class
basically, set all your basics to music.

if you get them into the studio, it'll be easier to get them into the regular classes.

I wish I could be open in the middle of the day, but even I need sleep.

 

[Nightingale]

hmmm... perhaps that would be a place to use one of those assistants we keep hearing about?

anyone with a decent sense of rhythm and good basics can teach cardio kick. just teach em the basics, and set the basics to music.

 

[KenpoTess]

Originally posted by nightingale8472

hmmm... perhaps that would be a place to use one of those assistants we keep hearing about?

anyone with a decent sense of rhythm and good basics can teach cardio kick. just teach em the basics, and set the basics to music.

Hey Nightingale

Oh we tried that.. sent 2 of our students to take the classes to Instruct.. and had the Cardio classes going for a few months .. then it all petered out when the students either moved, or something else came up.. now the Instructor doesn't have time for Kenpo either, she's got college and work and we haven't seen her for weeks now

The area we are in is a rural college community so we have issues of students graduating and leaving for jobs elsewhere etc. There's not the Urban/Suburban populace of housewives and working women with much if any knowledge of Martial Arts or Cardio.. And Geographically it's the best location for us as we teach at the college 2x week and attain our students from there.

We use music in every class.. Love it From Swing ,blues, to 'soothing wail music' hahaa .. I need some new stuff though.. since I'm not 'UP' on the new stuff of today.. Maybe I'll go dig up that old Music thread and revive it

Tess

 

[lvwhitebir]

Originally posted by nightingale8472


hmmm....I've seen dojos get a lot of women using this method...

open in the middle of the day.
offer a "cardio kick" or tae bo type class
basically, set all your basics to music.

if you get them into the studio, it'll be easier to get them into the regular classes.

Originally posted by KenpoTess


Oh we tried that.. sent 2 of our students to take the classes to Instruct.. and had the Cardio classes going for a few months .. then it all petered out when the students either moved, or something else came up.. now the Instructor doesn't have time for Kenpo either, she's got college and work and we haven't seen her for weeks now

Unfortunately it's more than just basics and music. You have to have a personality, the ability to choreograph the basics into patterns, etc. I tried it for a while in my class and found that it took to much time to basically choreograph a 30 minute class. I now do a Kickboxing clas with heavy bags. I can more easily choreograph the more limited punches and kicks and then show how they would be use more practically. It also offers a difference for people with 2 left feet, who can't keep up with the 140bpm rhythm.

It sounds like you did the right thing, though, and sent them to some training in it. That made all the difference in the world for me when I started it.

It is difficult when you have someone teaching and they leave. That goes with just about any type of class. You have to make sure there are backups. It also holds when they are sick too.

The area we are in is a rural college community so we have issues of students graduating and leaving for jobs elsewhere etc. There's not the Urban/Suburban populace of housewives and working women with much if any knowledge of Martial Arts or Cardio.. And Geographically it's the best location for us as we teach at the college 2x week and attain our students from there.
Tess

I think the college crowd would go nuts over a cardio class. That's the perfect age group for it. I have two colleges near me and I'm just starting to advertise with them specifically for the class. Even if they come in for a semester and leave for a few months it's all good. Besides, cardio has an extremely high turnover rate anyways.

WhiteBirch

 

[lifewise]

Originally posted by nightingale8472

hmmm....I've seen dojos get a lot of women using this method...

open in the middle of the day.
offer a "cardio kick" or tae bo type class
basically, set all your basics to music.

if you get them into the studio, it'll be easier to get them into the regular classes.

Day classes seem to be the ticket to getting some more women involved. It doesn't seem to matter what the program is ... cardio, or self defense.

:asian:

 

[kenposcum]

Some of these ideas posted here were really great! As I'm in school right now and thusly have a certain amount of free time, I'm going to approach my instructor about a middle of the day cardio class I will teach. And strangely, it seems that I do better homework when I do it in the dojo...
Some of the advertising ideas, although common sense, were also helpful (different thread). But hey, thanks again, y'all!:asian:

 

[KenpoSterre]

I don't know if its to late but here are my two cents.

Daytime classes while the kids are at school are a definate plus.

Make a couple discount...if the husband is in it too they both have a training partner at home and men are roping in their wives/girlfriends or the other way around.

In a back room or in the waiting room putting in a tv with headphones or puzzles/games that are quiet should work well.

Also try to make several classes open. Have the husbands come train for one day to see if they like it. Pair gf/bf and wives/husbands together-they get time and excersize toegether- or emphasize its important for a women to defend ehrself against men in the world.