Is this Kyokushin school a mcdojo?

[Brandon Miller]

Training apparently at this kyokushin school is 6-7:30 Monday night and 1-2:30pm on saturdays. When I spoke to him he mentioned “I teach an old school style approach to Kyokushin

 

[Brandon Miller]

Any Enshin or Ashihara karate locally?

Nope. Trust me I checked. My dream karate would be knockdown rules with some grappling involved

 

[JR 137]

Training apparently at this kyokushin school is 6-7:30 Monday night and 1-2:30pm on saturdays. When I spoke to him he mentioned “I teach an old school style approach to Kyokushin

That could very well be a good thing.

 

[JR 137]

Nope. Trust me I checked. My dream karate would be knockdown rules with some grappling involved

I’ve got a man-crush on Ninomiya and Enshin. Nothing near me though. I’ve contemplated making a trip to Denver as an excuse to visit his dojo. A soccer team I used to work with was contemplating playing in a tournament at University of Denver. No matter how much I reasoned with the head coach to do it, he backed out because of the altitude issue. I didn’t tell him my ulterior motives.

 

[Brandon Miller]

That could very well be a good thing.

I got a kyokushin Gi. I know the instructor has connections with tournaments and apparently the Karate combat league emailed him looking for fighters so this might be a good school. I’m gonna hop on all over it and train there. It’s the only knockdown style in Dallas. Training is better than not training. I come from an mma background so I think this will be good for me. I also see combat karate leagues getting big again soon.

 

[Brandon Miller]

I’ve got a man-crush on Ninomiya and Enshin. Nothing near me though. I’ve contemplated making a trip to Denver as an excuse to visit his dojo. A soccer team I used to work with was contemplating playing in a tournament at University of Denver. No matter how much I reasoned with the head coach to do it, he backed out because of the altitude issue. I didn’t tell him my ulterior motives.

Team DKK- Fight Team Check this out from this schools Facebook page

 

[Brandon Miller]

https://www.amazon.com/Budo-Sports-...+karate+gi&dpPl=1&dpID=41jK+oj67yL&ref=plSrch I

I’ve got a man-crush on Ninomiya and Enshin. Nothing near me though. I’ve contemplated making a trip to Denver as an excuse to visit his dojo. A soccer team I used to work with was contemplating playing in a tournament at University of Denver. No matter how much I reasoned with the head coach to do it, he backed out because of the altitude issue. I didn’t tell him my ulterior motives.

got this Gi as my starting Gi for training what do you think JR? You seem like a good guy for advice since your in the full contact karate world

 

[JR 137]

I’m not full contact any more. That was my late teens-mid 20s.

I don’t know much about the gi you linked to, but it should be fine. Isami was (and possibly still is) THE Kyokushin gi. Other than the free giveaway gis beginners wore, if you saw a Kyokushin guy, he was wearing an Isami gi like 99% of the time.

 

[Headhunter]

It’s the only kyokushin school in my area so it’s my only choice. I think he rents out a ballet studio but it’s probably because he just opened.

You seem to have an issue with that fact....the majority of places are like that. Not everyone can afford a private so have to rent out halls. That doesn't make it a bad school at all. Pretty much every place I've trained has been a rented room in a hall.

 

[hoshin160015]

I’m not full contact any more. That was my late teens-mid 20s.

I don’t know much about the gi you linked to, but it should be fine. Isami was (and possibly still is) THE Kyokushin gi. Other than the free giveaway gis beginners wore, if you saw a Kyokushin guy, he was wearing an Isami gi like 99% of the time.

How do they compare to other Gi like Shureido or Tokaido?

 

[JR 137]

You seem to have an issue with that fact....the majority of places are like that. Not everyone can afford a private so have to rent out halls. That doesn't make it a bad school at all. Pretty much every place I've trained has been a rented room in a hall.

And if he’s just starting out and/or is new to the area, renting space in another place is the safest and smartest way to go. Without very many committed students, it would be stupid to open an elaborate place by yourself and hope students come in and fill the place fast enough before you’re bankrupt. Start out small, build up a student base, then move once you see the space starting to become the limiting factor.

The only issue I see in the dojo being discussed is the times class is available - 1 only class on 2 days. If I’m a prospective student and can’t make those times, I’m not going to sign up no matter how much I want to. I won’t even visit.

Here’s a real-world example - when I was looking to start back up again, there was a Kyokushin school on my radar. My 2 main targets before I started visiting were the Kyokushin school and the Seido school (which I joined). The Kyokushin school only had classes on 3 nights. There was no way I could make 2 of those nights due to my work schedule. I wouldn’t have signed up for a place I could only train once a week at best. The one night I could’ve made it would’ve taken some finagling with my wife and kids’ schedule. Combine that with do I really want to go bare knuckle again, only being nearly 40 at time, and I didn’t visit.

On another note, I was only interested in Seido due the organization. My dojo’s website sucked at that time. And their Facebook page wasn’t much better. It was all pics and posts about special events, tournaments, and closings due to weather. It looked like a social club with karate thrown in. After visiting and watching a few classes, it became obvious that their Facebook posts were so current students and kids’ parents could see and download pics of that stuff. All the Facebook stuff was stuff they did out of the ordinary day to day training.

About 5 minutes into the first class I saw, I knew it was the right place for me. I watched 2 full classes on different nights, and everywhere else I visited didn’t compare.

Forget about what the place looks like. Forget about the website. Forget about all the BS and just watch what’s going on on the floor. When you’re on the floor, you’re not thinking about how pretty the place is or cool the website looks; you’re training. Crap instruction is a pretty building with a great website is crap instruction.

 

[JR 137]

How do they compare to other Gi like Shureido or Tokaido?

I’ve never worn an Isami. They’re the Japanese cotton like Tokaido and Shureido. Most of them don’t have the ties on the jacket and are cut a bit differently. I think the higher end Isami gis are a heavier Japanese cotton canvas top and lighter weight twill pants.

The real Kyokushin and Isami connection comes from Mas Oyama. He was allegedly friends with Isami’s founder and co-developed their gis at some level (I think Oyama provided a lot of feedback that Isami implemented). Isami embroidered the kanji and had a Kyokushin logo where other manufacturers put their logo, making them all official feeling.

People love them. Their karate gis don’t get a lot of attention outside of Kyokushin. I’m pretty sure they’re very popular in Judo in Japan too.

I’ve seen them but never tried them on. I wear Shureido. They fit me right and I really like the quality. Pricey but worth it. Tokaido is great too and IMO equal to Shureido in every way, regardless of what people say one way or the other. I’m speaking of the Japanese made Tokaido gis, not their lower end ones nor the blended fabric ones. I’d happily wear Tokaido, but they just don’t fit me right. Shureido is the stocky guy’s cut (me), whereas Tokaido is the tall and thin guy’s cut (definitely not me).

I don’t know where Isami fits in the whole grand scheme of things. I’ve seen them a million times, but they all pretty much look alike to me anyway, minus the obviously cheap giveaway with a new membership gis.

I wish there was a store like a Men’s Warehouse where they had racks of gis I could try on. It’s all order online and hope for the best. I got lucky when I found Shureido - it fits right, which is nearly impossible for me; it’s very comfortable; and they last forever. Once I find the combination, I’m done.

 

[JR 137]

@Brandon Miller
If you’re looking for a great gi, I love the Shureido K-11. Combination of weight and comfort. I wore a K-10 for a while, but I think it’s too heavy in retrospect. My dojo doesn’t have air conditioning and the Northeast gets pretty humid. And I sweat A LOT. Whatever you go with long term, the Japanese cotton gis are where it’s at. They’re expensive, but they breathe right, are durable, and they’re very comfortable. I’m pretty sure Isami uses it too, but the high end Japanese brands like Shureido and Tokaido use it in their cotton (non-blended gis). Wear one a few times and you’ll see why they’re expensive.

I’m not a fan of the blended “kumite” gis. They’re moisture wicking, but I find them pretty hot. I wore one a few times and had to get rid of it. They stay drier, but that’s about it in my experience.

 

[Brandon Miller]

@Brandon Miller
If you’re looking for a great gi, I love the Shureido K-11. Combination of weight and comfort. I wore a K-10 for a while, but I think it’s too heavy in retrospect. My dojo doesn’t have air conditioning and the Northeast gets pretty humid. And I sweat A LOT. Whatever you go with long term, the Japanese cotton gis are where it’s at. They’re expensive, but they breathe right, are durable, and they’re very comfortable. I’m pretty sure Isami uses it too, but the high end Japanese brands like Shureido and Tokaido use it in their cotton (non-blended gis). Wear one a few times and you’ll see why they’re expensive.

I’m not a fan of the blended “kumite” gis. They’re moisture wicking, but I find them pretty hot. I wore one a few times and had to get rid of it. They stay drier, but that’s about it in my experience.

I’ll look into those his in the future. I’ll need a second Gi eventually

 

[Brandon Miller]

That could very well be a good thing.

I looked more into the instructor he’s from New York he moved to Dallas a year ago. He’s a 4th dan Kyokushin blackbelt with an “old school style” emphasis. He seems legit. I’m looking forward to training under him.

 

[MetalBoar54]

If I were to open a dojo, my website would contain contact info, location, schedule and instructor(s) bio. And a brief description of the organization I’m under and a link to them. A few facility pics, and call it a day. I’m honestly not convinced that an elaborate website will really get a ton of people in anyway. I think Facebook pretty much replaced that, or am I off? I don’t have Facebook, so I’m not sure.

My dojo redid their webpage after I joined. It’s pretty much what I’d do, minus the gallery section (that they haven’t updated in a few years), and I’d have more pics throughout the site. Simple and what I’d consider effective...
Adirondack Seido Karate

A lot of people seem to think that Facebook has replaced having a website and I guess it kind of has. It just doesn't do a great job as a stand alone page in my opinion, the format is good for keeping people up do date and maybe creating a sense that there are things happening at your school. That being said, pretty much all the Facebook MA school pages I've seen have been terrible for actually giving me any information that I want as a prospective student. Having a Facebook page is probably great for exposure as your students can like and follow it and then hopefully that results in their friends gaining interest. Probably the best way to go is to have both a website and a Facebook page that refer to each other because they both do different things well.

I personally agree with you about what I want to see on a website: What is the school teaching, Who's doing the teaching (and what is their background), When are the classes, Where are the classes and finally How do I contact you for more info and to get started. I'm sure someone better at marketing than me would want to add some things to try to hook people with why they ought to train with you and the SEO people are going to want to do the things necessary to hit the first page on Google based on Google's current algorithms, but overall I think that's frosting on top and a lot more expensive to do right than the basic part.

I really like your dojo's page, I think it hits all the marks, it's clean and easy to navigate, there's no distracting fluff. I like the text on the home page, it speaks to me anyway, talking about Seido as a martial art that will give you benefits in terms of fitness, etc. Many pages lose me when they make the school seem like the top 3 things you're getting are fitness, fitness and more fitness and there may not be a number 4, and oh, by the way we'd like to sell you a kids birthday party. It may be what sells, but if fitness were my only interest I'd just hit the gym and I don't think I'm alone in this perspective. I like the pictures as they manage to look both professionally done and authentic, which is a harder thing to manage than you might think. I agree that it's generally better to drop something like the gallery if you aren't going to do at least annual updates of some kind, but overall I think it's a nice site.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

@Brandon Miller
If you’re looking for a great gi, I love the Shureido K-11. Combination of weight and comfort. I wore a K-10 for a while, but I think it’s too heavy in retrospect. My dojo doesn’t have air conditioning and the Northeast gets pretty humid. And I sweat A LOT. Whatever you go with long term, the Japanese cotton gis are where it’s at. They’re expensive, but they breathe right, are durable, and they’re very comfortable. I’m pretty sure Isami uses it too, but the high end Japanese brands like Shureido and Tokaido use it in their cotton (non-blended gis). Wear one a few times and you’ll see why they’re expensive.

I’m not a fan of the blended “kumite” gis. They’re moisture wicking, but I find them pretty hot. I wore one a few times and had to get rid of it. They stay drier, but that’s about it in my experience.

I've never worn any of the high-end gis, so I'm curious. The only somewhat expensive one I ever bought was from Bujin Design (who mostly specialize in Aikido gear). I have a preference for Judo gis, and have found I quite like the single-weave Gladiator (in black) from Asian World. I'm pretty sure it's not nearly as nice, but have no idea how. At wholesale, I think I pay about $40 for mine, but I've been wondering what I'm missing. Surely there's some reason I need a new gi. Has to be.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

A lot of people seem to think that Facebook has replaced having a website and I guess it kind of has. It just doesn't do a great job as a stand alone page in my opinion, the format is good for keeping people up do date and maybe creating a sense that there are things happening at your school. That being said, pretty much all the Facebook MA school pages I've seen have been terrible for actually giving me any information that I want as a prospective student. Having a Facebook page is probably great for exposure as your students can like and follow it and then hopefully that results in their friends gaining interest. Probably the best way to go is to have both a website and a Facebook page that refer to each other because they both do different things well.

I personally agree with you about what I want to see on a website: What is the school teaching, Who's doing the teaching (and what is their background), When are the classes, Where are the classes and finally How do I contact you for more info and to get started. I'm sure someone better at marketing than me would want to add some things to try to hook people with why they ought to train with you and the SEO people are going to want to do the things necessary to hit the first page on Google based on Google's current algorithms, but overall I think that's frosting on top and a lot more expensive to do right than the basic part.

I really like your dojo's page, I think it hits all the marks, it's clean and easy to navigate, there's no distracting fluff. I like the text on the home page, it speaks to me anyway, talking about Seido as a martial art that will give you benefits in terms of fitness, etc. Many pages lose me when they make the school seem like the top 3 things you're getting are fitness, fitness and more fitness and there may not be a number 4, and oh, by the way we'd like to sell you a kids birthday party. It may be what sells, but if fitness were my only interest I'd just hit the gym and I don't think I'm alone in this perspective. I like the pictures as they manage to look both professionally done and authentic, which is a harder thing to manage than you might think. I agree that it's generally better to drop something like the gallery if you aren't going to do at least annual updates of some kind, but overall I think it's a nice site.

Yeah, I've struggled with deciding what the purposes of the website and FB page are. I think the best use of FB is as a place for some community and maybe announcements. Even folks without FB accounts can see the page (and the announcements, I presume), and there are plug-ins that can create a feed between the website and FB page. I tend to personally prefer NOT to have to muck through a FB page for any information and updates (since I don't go on FB very often), so I duplicated all announcements at both locations.

 

[JR 137]

A lot of people seem to think that Facebook has replaced having a website and I guess it kind of has. It just doesn't do a great job as a stand alone page in my opinion, the format is good for keeping people up do date and maybe creating a sense that there are things happening at your school. That being said, pretty much all the Facebook MA school pages I've seen have been terrible for actually giving me any information that I want as a prospective student. Having a Facebook page is probably great for exposure as your students can like and follow it and then hopefully that results in their friends gaining interest. Probably the best way to go is to have both a website and a Facebook page that refer to each other because they both do different things well.

I personally agree with you about what I want to see on a website: What is the school teaching, Who's doing the teaching (and what is their background), When are the classes, Where are the classes and finally How do I contact you for more info and to get started. I'm sure someone better at marketing than me would want to add some things to try to hook people with why they ought to train with you and the SEO people are going to want to do the things necessary to hit the first page on Google based on Google's current algorithms, but overall I think that's frosting on top and a lot more expensive to do right than the basic part.

I really like your dojo's page, I think it hits all the marks, it's clean and easy to navigate, there's no distracting fluff. I like the text on the home page, it speaks to me anyway, talking about Seido as a martial art that will give you benefits in terms of fitness, etc. Many pages lose me when they make the school seem like the top 3 things you're getting are fitness, fitness and more fitness and there may not be a number 4, and oh, by the way we'd like to sell you a kids birthday party. It may be what sells, but if fitness were my only interest I'd just hit the gym and I don't think I'm alone in this perspective. I like the pictures as they manage to look both professionally done and authentic, which is a harder thing to manage than you might think. I agree that it's generally better to drop something like the gallery if you aren't going to do at least annual updates of some kind, but overall I think it's a nice site.

You said everything I was thinking, only better

Regarding birthday parties...

My CI said several students’ parents have asked him if he does them. He said for the ones he knows and trusts he tells them they can use the space, just clean up and lock up when they’re done. Meaning he’ll give them the keys and let them have a party there, but he’s not “doing a birthday party.” They got his subtlety and none of them took him up on it.

The pics look professional, but they actually aren’t. It was mainly one of the students taking them. Funny you mention a professional... We had a photographer shoot our annual beach workouts the year after the website was updated. No pics surfaced anywhere that I saw. That’s the only time I saw a professional anywhere around us. They should’ve gotten one this summer, as it was our dojo’s 30th anniversary and we kind of made a big deal about it.

Our dojo’s small and the adults and a lot of the parents are pretty tight-knit. It’s a great atmosphere. An atmosphere where we beat each other up, but great nonetheless

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Our dojo’s small and the adults and a lot of the parents are pretty tight-knit. It’s a great atmosphere. An atmosphere where we beat each other up, but great nonetheless

That's what I really want for my program. I'd love for a core group to have a real sense of community.