i have been teaching on my own since 1992. i had a school since 93. when business is good, i teach full time. when its slow i work and teach. usually i work in the winter, and teach full time in the summer. finding dedicated students who are patient, courageous and willing to work hard is difficult, so i have to hustle to get new students in the door to replace ones who quit. there are lots of black belters/teachers who want to study the philippine arts, lots of ex-seminar goers, and lots of people who got there *** kicked, so they pay more, and we never have serious money problems. but i know we will never get big like the take-yer-do schools. :uhyeah:
when it comes to the FMA, my students and friends convinced me to try everything. we did contracts before. we had a kids class. i use to do seminars. i fight karate tournaments. i fought in full contact. we have satellite classes. i make videos for out of town students. i have private lesson students. i do camps. i even use to teach tae bo! today, i focus on teaching classes, but i have a combination of selling things from the PI on the internet, seminar, equipment, private lessons, home-schooled kids, SED-14 boys/juvies, fitness clients, and "fight night", all extra to my regular classes. we have classes in sacramento, fairfield (45 minutes away), and oakland (1.5 hours away). its hard, but the men in my family made it in their whole lives teaching without getting famous, without promoting students they are not proud of, and selling their arts cheap or mass-producing. and i am following in their footsteps. any FMA teacher can do it, but you cannot be a slave to money ego and fancy lifestyle. and like we always say, "true fighting art is not for every body, even everybody who wants it".
