Kenpo's Own Newsletter/Magazine

[Kirk]

If a newsletter were to come out (and grow into a magazine),
what is something you'd like to see? What kind of content
would you like to see?

Is anyone aware of such a project being done elsewhere?

Do you think that a staff of non kenpoists and a lowly purple belt
would hinder the demand? -meaning people might not want to
read it?

It would have to contain all "sects" of kenpo, in order to be
profitable, would that be a hindrance on you personally?

 

[jfarnsworth]

Are you esentially looking to do a down scaled black belt or inside kung fu mag.? You probably will need more than I can help you with but the main thing is interviews with some seniors. Different techniques looked at in depth. Pictures of someone performing the techniques. Maybe a look at forms. Just a couple of ideas for you.

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by jfarnsworth
Are you esentially looking to do a down scaled black belt or inside kung fu mag.? You probably will need more than I can help you with but the main thing is interviews with some seniors. Different techniques looked at in depth. Pictures of someone performing the techniques. Maybe a look at forms. Just a couple of ideas for you.

Definitely! Most of these were thoughts of mine. The goal would
be a full out magazine, but it'd be something to work up to. This
would initially be started on a shoestring budget.

I've been thinking about this for awhile, and have friends who
are journalists and authors, but none with MAGAZINE experience.
Most are newpaper people. I'm not going to be so bold as to
claim I'd know how to put a magazine together, although that
would be the inevitable goal. At that time, if it ever were to
happen, I'd like to bring someone in who knows all about it.

There's definitely enough seniors to go a long, long time to print
with interviews of them. I'd also like to be able to contact them
for various articles of "hot" topics. For example, Mr McSweeney
recently passed away. It would've been cool to have a dedication
to him, with quotes and remembrances from those who knew
him, throughout his lifetime.

I had the idea about techs and forms as well. But ya gotta keep
politics out of it. For every EPAK tech/form, there'd have to be
a Tracy one as well. If a large kempo-ryu, or Lima Lama
subscribership happens, then they'd have to be included as well.

Thanks for the ideas, keep them coming!

I'll also be looking for writers. Eventually, all you'll get is name
recognition, but I'd like to work up to paying for articles that get
published.

 

[Kenpomachine]

You can also add a section about general training, training gear, or nutrition, or coming events (camps, seminars, exhibitions...), technical stuff (body mechanics, i.e and not just techniques or forms).

 

[Kenpomachine]

Originally posted by Kirk
I'll also be looking for writers. Eventually, all you'll get is name
recognition, but I'd like to work up to paying for articles that get
published.

What about a free subscription at first?

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by Kenpomachine
You can also add a section about general training, training gear, or nutrition, or coming events (camps, seminars, exhibitions...), technical stuff (body mechanics, i.e and not just techniques or forms).

I didn't think about nutrition, that's a great idea, thanks! It's
added to my notes now!

I for sure thought of pictures and reviews articles for camps and
seminars, for sure. I figure posting ABOUT upcoming ones will
be a free service.

I did think of general training tips too, and training gear. Sharp
Phil loves to review gear, so hopefully I can get him to
do some articles, in exchange for a mention of his URL (initially).

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by Kenpomachine
What about a free subscription at first?

I'm considering that too. But like I said, this will be a shoestring
budget, so I'd have to weigh various factors. I'd like to limit
ad space somewhat. Either way, I plan on making it EXTREMELY
inexpensive.

 

[Mike]

It will be very difficult to pull off a glossy magazine (if this is what you have in mind) on a shoe string budget of course. Advertising is what enables magazines to exist. A quarterly magazine, or issues every two months might be one way to go. The only way to really go shoestring budget is to build a monthly 'e-magazine'. A web magazine might be the way to go initially. Eventually, you could then build a business case based on hits per month, etc. that you could take to a bank or backers for funding for a paper version. Just a thought of course. Great idea though. Hey, does anyone have any crazy ballpark guesstimates as to how many Kenpoists are out there (regardless of flavor)??

 

[Kenpomachine]

There's an emagazine in spanish in pdf format somewhere out there, which I think is just fine to begin with. It has the same look of a glossy regular one, plus it's free But a newsletter can also be a good starting point.

Good luck and keep us updated

 

[KenpoGirl]

Originally posted by Kirk
If a newsletter were to come out (and grow into a magazine),
what is something you'd like to see? What kind of content
would you like to see?

How about a Gou Ronin Editorial Colum? That should make for some entertaining reading.

But as he denies any afiliation with Kenpo anymore, I guess he'd have to be excluded. :shrug:

Regardless, whomever you have write articles and such, just make sure they are well know or at least someone that knows what they are talking about. ie no McDojo people writing about how to be a black belt in 30 days etc......

The newsletter will be under the scrutiny of individuals that enjoy picking apart what people write and critisizing it to pieces. (As seen on other, forums) So you're going to have to make sure it's as factually correct as possible to your knowledge anywise.

Good luck Kirk. I look forward to reading the first installment.

Dot

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by Mike
It will be very difficult to pull off a glossy magazine (if this is what you have in mind) on a shoe string budget of course. Advertising is what enables magazines to exist. A quarterly magazine, or issues every two months might be one way to go. The only way to really go shoestring budget is to build a monthly 'e-magazine'. A web magazine might be the way to go initially. Eventually, you could then build a business case based on hits per month, etc. that you could take to a bank or backers for funding for a paper version. Just a thought of course. Great idea though. Hey, does anyone have any crazy ballpark guesstimates as to how many Kenpoists are out there (regardless of flavor)??

Well the shoestring will be BIT longer than what you're thinking.
The way I look at it, if it's gonna fly, I want it to in a paper format.
One option available to me through a friend is in newspaper.
Brian suggest "tabloid size" which I like. An article I read about
creating your own newsletter suggest just regular old printer
paper. The author suggests using a 50 dollar ink jet printer,
burning it out, and getting another LOL! Says to compare it to
printing at Kinko's, and it'd be cheaper. In various industries, I've
seen newsletters in an 81/2 x 11 format, and they had a large
readership, so this is my initial thought.

Another idea to attempt is a glossy card included in each one,
say of a kenpo senior. Like a large baseball card. On the back
there'd be seminar info, and your basic bio info. It'd be something
for subscribers to collect, and something other than The Journey
to get signed at seminars.

In addition, I think if I get people to sign up for a free first issue
(via a website), I can sell advertising based on that number. At
least for the first issue.

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by KenpoGirl
How about a Gou Ronin Editorial Colum? That should make for some entertaining reading.

But as he denies any afiliation with Kenpo anymore, I guess he'd have to be excluded. :shrug:

Regardless, whomever you have write articles and such, just make sure they are well know or at least someone that knows what they are talking about. ie no McDojo people writing about how to be a black belt in 30 days etc......

The newsletter will be under the scrutiny of individuals that enjoy picking apart what people write and critisizing it to pieces. (As seen on other, forums) So you're going to have to make sure it's as factually correct as possible to your knowledge anywise.

Good luck Kirk. I look forward to reading the first installment.

Dot

Hey thanks for chiming in with your support! :asian:

The scrutiny you speak of has definitely crossed my mind.
Therein lies the largest problem. Getting those "in the know" to
actually write articles. There's plenty of higher ranking kenpoists
who aren't in the limelight so to speak. But will they be willing
to submit articles? The nutrition, and workout parts ... need not
be kenpoists. But the meat and appeal will be the kenpo articles.
I'll just have to solicit, wait, and see. That's the best I can do.

Not that all articles need to written by high ranking kenpoists.
You, with digital camera in hand could write an article and
submit pictures of a seminar you go to. Cover what the topics
of the seminar were, and the people you ran into while there.

You've suffered a recent injury. An article about your experiences
related to training and what you've been through could be well
received.

So in short, there's plenty of "experts" out there.

Gou would certainly be able to create a highly popular
column, but 1) would he even want to? 2) could he do so with
a deadline hanging over his head? 3) could he do it without
pissing off 1/2 the subscribers?

This is why I'm posting here. I've made kenpo friends all over
North America, and essentially, those are the ones that will
get the word out about the newsletter, and those are the ones
that need to provide content. Readers Digest doesn't write much.
They buy from writers. I certainly can't write articles on kenpo
techs, forms or anything else.

Thanks again for your input!!!

 

[KenpoGirl]

Originally posted by Kirk
Not that all articles need to written by high ranking kenpoists.
You, with digital camera in hand could write an article and
submit pictures of a seminar you go to. Cover what the topics
of the seminar were, and the people you ran into while there.

You've suffered a recent injury. An article about your experiences
related to training and what you've been through could be well
received.

So in short, there's plenty of "experts" out there.

You mean I can be a ROVING REPORTER? Way Kewl :boing1:

You've made some excellent points Kirk, and you are correct, as long as the articles are written well and truthfully it doesn't really matter whom sets fingers to keyboard. I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

And if I think of an interesting subject, hell who knows I might just submit it.

"This Dorothy Kelly, Reporting from your Canadian Affiliate, Good Night."

 

[RCastillo]

Originally posted by Kirk
If a newsletter were to come out (and grow into a magazine),
what is something you'd like to see? What kind of content
would you like to see?

Is anyone aware of such a project being done elsewhere?

Do you think that a staff of non kenpoists and a lowly purple belt
would hinder the demand? -meaning people might not want to
read it?

It would have to contain all "sects" of kenpo, in order to be
profitable, would that be a hindrance on you personally?

As long as you're fair, put me down for a subcription!

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by RCastillo
As long as you're fair, put me down for a subcription!

Well fair will be difficult, given the Tracy stuff is under copyright

 

[Rich Parsons]

Kirk,

Being A non-kenpoist, yet unable to leave things alone, I have to chime in.


Go with the Flow. Get your friends in the know to write some basic and neutral articles. Also maybe have some history points, I understand that this could be a problem, yet just an idea.


The free subscription up-front, our free with accepting donations.


I also have a Kali / Filipino section to get others interested.

Always abuse your friends for your first publishing.

Best Regards

Rich

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Regarding copyrights, how so?

If you are talking re-printing a technique walk thru verbatum based on a textbook, then probably.

But if you were to take a technique that someone in the know would know, you should be able to do a detailed breakdown and analysis without worry.

Worse case, contact the copyright holder and ask for permision. If they say yes, youre clear. If they say no, and move to block you from even mentioning their name, then mention -THAT- fact far n wide and let public opinion shut em down for ya.

Good luck. Sounds like a great idea forming there. :asian:

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz
Regarding copyrights, how so?

If you are talking re-printing a technique walk thru verbatum based on a textbook, then probably.

But if you were to take a technique that someone in the know would know, you should be able to do a detailed breakdown and analysis without worry.

Worse case, contact the copyright holder and ask for permision. If they say yes, youre clear. If they say no, and move to block you from even mentioning their name, then mention -THAT- fact far n wide and let public opinion shut em down for ya.

Good luck. Sounds like a great idea forming there. :asian:

I was told even the mere mention of the name of the technique
would be a violation. If it's true ... WHAT A BUMMER!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Do some RnD into "Fair Use". You'll find some good info there. Also, you can try and contact them directly, in writing.

If I wanted to do a detailed look at my interpretation of a technique (lets say a staff set), I'd do it. In any event, I'm sure Warner Brothers already has the trademark for "Dodge, Parry, Thrust, Thpiit!"

 

[GouRonin]

Originally posted by Kirk
Gou would certainly be able to create a highly popular
column, but 1) would he even want to? 2) could he do so with
a deadline hanging over his head? 3) could he do it without
pissing off 1/2 the subscribers?

1)Would I even want to?

2)I don't do deadlines. I'm freelance and if you get something from me be happy and shut up.

3)No.