Where do you train?

[Finlay]

When I started MA it was the most common thing to do for a teacher to rent a village hall or community centre for one or two nights a week.

Over time it seems that more and more teachers are opening dedicated MA gyms and offering lots of classes along side the base arts.

There are many other training areas possible, outside in a park for example.

So

Where do you train regularly?
What are the pros and cons of your training area?

 

[dvcochran]

The first place I ever worked out was similar, and renal unit in a strip mall. Some time later I opened a Dojang. It too started as a rental but after two years I purchased a large commercial lot with a building. Eventually more rental space was built which allowed us to only raise our Dojang dues by $5/mo. over a span of 8 years. Our main school is also in an owned building.
Working out in a park would only be possible for part of the year due to the seasons. How do you deal with the weather affecting class schedule? We have planned outside workouts but it is not the norm. I have worked out at classes at commercial gyms. If the studio/aerobics room is available on a decent schedule, it is a good place to practice. But it seems there is always a lot of competition in the room schedule.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

When I started MA it was the most common thing to do for a teacher to rent a village hall or community centre for one or two nights a week.

Over time it seems that more and more teachers are opening dedicated MA gyms and offering lots of classes along side the base arts.

There are many other training areas possible, outside in a park for example.

So

Where do you train regularly?
What are the pros and cons of your training area?

What country are you located in? - just for context.

I don't currently train regularly. For the past 3+ years, until a few months ago, I had a small program I taught first at a YMCA, then at a government-run athletic center. The advantage of the YMCA was there were people around. It didn't actually help much - rarely did anyone stop by to even look at class for a minute - but it helped when I wanted to offer a short seminar series to bring in new students. At first the Y handled registration and I let them keep all the money. They didn't like the hassle, so I took over registration but they didn't charge me since I had let them have all the money for a while. They needed the space for other things, so I found the athletic center. I still had to handle registration, but they had good mats for me to use (I have a very limited set of cheap mats), and only charged me 25% of whatever I brought in. Some positions changed there and they took away the mats (and were going to charge me if I had no students), so I had to walk away. I thought there would be good foot traffic there, but there was even less interest among the folks there than at the Y.

I've looked into other locations (am still looking - need a new home to restart the program). I've talked to YMCA again, checked with several of the fitness facilities. I'm now planning to visit around to local MA school/gyms to see if any have open class slots they'd be willing to let me fill for them.

I can't see trying to teach out in a park as a primary location. That'd mean no class if it's significantly rainy (most parks around here get a bit flooded when it rains), no class for part of the winter (during the depth of winter, temperatures don't often get much above freezing). While Summer would be possible, the combination of all those canceled classes, plus the heat, I'd never be able to keep a program going.

The dedicated MA school is appealing. At both places I've had my program, storage was limited. At the athletic center, it was across the gym, then up some narrow stairs, so impractical for getting stuff to use for a few minutes. So, I carried a big duffel bag with a few weapons, sparring gear, uniform (and spare), office supplies, belts for promotions, etc. At a dedicated school - even a cramped one - you can have the common stuff stored right in the room, and other useful supplies stored in closets and desks. Most of my training time was spent in dedicated MA spaces, and I miss that.

 

[Deleted member 39746]

When I started MA it was the most common thing to do for a teacher to rent a village hall or community centre for one or two nights a week.

Over time it seems that more and more teachers are opening dedicated MA gyms and offering lots of classes along side the base arts.

There are many other training areas possible, outside in a park for example.

So

Where do you train regularly?
What are the pros and cons of your training area?

Schools. As in academic schools is what the dominant places rent here. apart from that i have seen two in a city near me go to dedicated places. There is like a BJJ school which runs out of a Wingchun kung fu school* which has the property they either own or have rented as a martial arts gym, then there is a MMA gym which a couple of people do different styles in. And they also have people who have village halls and schools and the like. A boxing gym was set up inside a disused fire &Rescue garage rented from the county council.


*Not too sure if its the same person or not, i think it isnt nor have i been just found it in my googling adventures for styles.

Edit: Im partially thinking about trying to make a martial arts gym and renting it out for persons to use in my town. Seems like a decent business venture.

 

[Finlay]

What country are you located in? - just for context.

Currently I live in Malaysia. However, the village hall/community centre reference was based on Scotland.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Currently I live in Malaysia. However, the village hall/community centre reference was based on Scotland.

I asked because your experience in Scotland is pretty much the opposite of what I've seen in the US. The most common form - for my entire training career - is the school with its own location (owned or leased), while some of us run smaller programs (or folks start their programs before investing in a space) at a community center or YMCA.

 

[Finlay]

I asked because your experience in Scotland is pretty much the opposite of what I've seen in the US. The most common form - for my entire training career - is the school with its own location (owned or leased), while some of us run smaller programs (or folks start their programs before investing in a space) at a community center or YMCA.

Thats interesting, i would have thought it was run in much the same way in both countries.

Generally I would have thought that the art dictated alot of the training facilities... like you can do certain arts almost anywhere, some you need matted floor and some you need a more specilised place with a ring set up for example.

 

[Finlay]

Times may have changed mind you, i woukd be interested to hear from peoole currently training in the UK

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Thats interesting, i woyld have thought it was run in much the same way in both countries.

Generally I would have thought that the art dictated alot of the training facilities... like you can do certain arts almost anywhere, some you need matted floor and some you need a more specilised place with a ring set up for example.

I'm not sure what has driven the difference in approach between the US and UK. I know much of what exists in the US started with soldiers coming home from Japan during the occupation. Perhaps there were simply enough of them coming home to drive the start of commercial schools (some starting schools, others looking for places to train, others just talking about what they'd seen or studied).

And, yes, the art does dictate the space to some extent. It's much easier to teach a Karate class (for those styles with minimal or no grappling) than a Judo or Aikido class. The arts with grappling need mats (and not just any mats - they have to work, and some are almost worse than the floor). I could probably still go back to the last facility I trained at, but they took the mats out (and won't put them back). They said I can bring my own, but won't provide storage except up in the attic, so an extra 30 minutes or so for set-up/tear-down each class. So, if I wanted to go back, I'd have to focus on the striking part of my curriculum, almost exclusively.

 

[Balrog]

We rent space in a shopping center. I would dearly love to have my own standalone building, though.

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

our school rents the gym at a local catholic school
Pros - LOTS of space
Cons - set up and take down equipment, no store front

my private dojo in our basement
Pros - fully customization, great for private clients
Cons - limited space, no storefront

 

[Tony Dismukes]

My current gym location is set up in a (rented) warehouse with a couple of large matted areas, two MMA cages, a boxing ring, a row of heavy bags, and an area with free weights and machines. Pretty nice.

In the past I’ve trained in shopping mall dojos, YMCAs, basements, outdoors in the park ... pretty much everywhere you can imagine.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

My current gym location is set up in a (rented) warehouse with a couple of large matted areas, two MMA cages, a boxing ring, a row of heavy bags, and an area with free weights and machines. Pretty nice.

The bolded part is an understatement, Tony. I love that space (though the music is too loud for me).

 

[Tony Dismukes]

The bolded part is an understatement, Tony. I love that space (though the music is too loud for me).

I frequently have to turn down the music so I don’t have to shout when teaching class. I think it’s the boxing crew who are most prone to cranking up the volume.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I frequently have to turn down the music so I don’t have to shout when teaching class. I think it’s the boxing crew who are most prone to cranking up the volume.

Someone I mentioned it to suggested it might be used to prepare fighters for the amount of noise when they are in the ring/octagon.

 

[drop bear]

Someone I mentioned it to suggested it might be used to prepare fighters for the amount of noise when they are in the ring/octagon.

A lot of boxing training is pretty grindy.

 

[jks9199]

I asked because your experience in Scotland is pretty much the opposite of what I've seen in the US. The most common form - for my entire training career - is the school with its own location (owned or leased), while some of us run smaller programs (or folks start their programs before investing in a space) at a community center or YMCA.

In my experience, here in the US, you've got a wide gamut of approaches -- and they've changed over the years. Today, you have a couple of commercial models, whether they own or rent the space they use. There's the martial arts/day-care model where they provide before and after school care, often including pick up at school, and toss a martial arts class in. You have MMA gyms, and you have some martial arts schools that focus more on teaching the art and less on the day-care side. Many of the commercial places might also teach classes through local parks & rec departments, colleges, continuing ed programs, or other similar set ups. Others are what I'll call a club model -- where they rent a facility, but aren't part of that places "official" programs, or they're an activity club at a college. Maybe it's a room in a fitness center or community hall, for example. And, of course, you've got the "backyard/garage" programs where they teach in their backyard or garage or a local park without reserving space, etc.

I saw the shift in the day care places; they started out running programs for kids and adults (often adults, then added kids) -- and sort of fell into the after-school care thing until it became a big deal. Honestly -- they bug me because they often skirt the requirements for being a daycare "because they're sports" and I'm seriously waiting for a major tragedy...

 

[PiedmontChun]

For context I live in a medium town / city that's part of a larger city metro area with suburbs.
- I've trained Wing Chun in a space shared with a yoga / dance type studio, then in a permanent strip mall space. Decent amount of students but I still question how the teacher really paid himself anything after all the overhead expenses were handled.
- I've trained with a Judo club in a small-ish rented room in a medical building. Very little visibility from the street, but at least the mats could stay in place since it was not a shared space. Low rent allowed the fees to be very low. Basically a non-profit, even if not registered as such.
- I train BJJ currently in a strip mall type commercial location. Very visible location with foot traffic. Not a ton of students yet since it is young, so honestly not sure if the school is at a financially break even point.

I think for martial arts that don't need a lot of equipment like heavy bags, or grappling mats - using the multi-purpose room at a gym or athletic club just makes so much more sense even if it limits the amount of classes to some degree. Renting a space, and paying to renovate and bring it to code, dealing with permits from the city, etc...... are such long term investments of money and time. When I was a kid growing up in a small town, there were no permanent MA facilities to speak of. The city owned rec club (kinda like a YMCA) had Karate / TKD type school running out of it a couple nights a week, and the YMCA might have offered something.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

For context I live in a medium town / city that's part of a larger city metro area with suburbs.
- I've trained Wing Chun in a space shared with a yoga / dance type studio, then in a permanent strip mall space. Decent amount of students but I still question how the teacher really paid himself anything after all the overhead expenses were handled.
- I've trained with a Judo club in a small-ish rented room in a medical building. Very little visibility from the street, but at least the mats could stay in place since it was not a shared space. Low rent allowed the fees to be very low. Basically a non-profit, even if not registered as such.
- I train BJJ currently in a strip mall type commercial location. Very visible location with foot traffic. Not a ton of students yet since it is young, so honestly not sure if the school is at a financially break even point.

I think for martial arts that don't need a lot of equipment like heavy bags, or grappling mats - using the multi-purpose room at a gym or athletic club just makes so much more sense even if it limits the amount of classes to some degree. Renting a space, and paying to renovate and bring it to code, dealing with permits from the city, etc...... are such long term investments of money and time. When I was a kid growing up in a small town, there were no permanent MA facilities to speak of. The city owned rec club (kinda like a YMCA) had Karate / TKD type school running out of it a couple nights a week, and the YMCA might have offered something.

If storage space (or existing mats) is available, I think it's a good fit, even where mats are needed. I've done that at two different locations (one had space to store the mats, the other had mats). One also already had a heavy bag in (the other does now, too). If not trying to make a living from the program, I think it's a great way to go.

 

[kitkatninja]

Times may have changed mind you, I would be interested to hear from people currently training in the UK

I train in the UK, England to be precise... So far over the last 20 years, every association that I've trained in (bar 1) have not had their own premises... Most associations hire halls either at the local sports center or school gym to keep costs down. To my knowledge there are only 4 associations that have their own premises (1 x Kickboxing/Judo association, 1 x Judo/JKD association and 1 x karate association) in my local area - anywhere up to a 2 hour drive, there used to be 5 but 1 folded. Considering how many martial art associations there are, those that have their own premises are a very low percentage...

The negative side to this approach is that specialist equipment either has to be packed/unpacked at every session and that there is no 1 fixed address, added to that, that is one less form of advertisement... The positive approach to that is that it helps keep costs down (buying vs hiring the premises), and it allows the association to go/move when and where necessary, at times it also saves us money when it comes to mats, etc...