|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||
 |
|
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
05-06-2008, 01:00 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
#21
Kyokushin Karate suffers from a lack of awareness in the US market. Apart from NYC and the West Coast, with large Japanese populations, running a dojo anywhere else might be a heart/wallet breaking trial unless you spend a lot of money and effort promoting your dojo. In Japan, people seek out Kyokushin dojo-a popular manga (if you're of a certain age), television coverage and numerous tournaments keep Kyokushin in the public consciousness.
If you've got a dojo in a strip mall, I recommend buying a large flat screen tv and playing Kyokushin videos nonstop in your waiting room, or better yet in your window to draw in potential students. You may want to submit an article to your local paper about your school. Plan on advertising campaigns especially around New Year's (for all those resolutions), Memorial Day (get in shape for the beach), Thanksgiving (working off the turkey and pumpkin pie), Christmas & Valentine's Day (buy someone you love a year's membership). Nobody is so generous that they're going to give you money to keep your dojo afloat. You've got to make them aware and then make them want it: Kyokushin. Having a smart looking website is a necessity these days. Last edited by meguro; 05-06-2008 at 01:07 AM. 
|
| Sponsored Links | |
|
|
|
|
05-06-2008, 01:10 AM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#22
Osu! Meguro,
All very good suggestions, and a good topic for all to visit and revisit. Have some rep!  Osu!
__________________
Train hard, train often! Look. Listen. Sweat!
|
|
05-06-2008, 02:20 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
08-18-2008, 06:19 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
#24
Quote:
|
|
08-18-2008, 06:24 PM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#25
Nice paintjob. A question, is the van more vulnerable to vandalism due to what it represents?
__________________
Blackmail's such an ugly word. I prefer extortion -- the "x" makes it sound cool.
|
|
08-18-2008, 06:52 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
#26
Vandalism? Not to my knowledge. Graffiti artists here in L.A. prefer walls, freeway overpasses, and bathrooms. I haven't seen much vandalism done to cars outside of maybe keying the guy who takes two parking spaces (of which Sensei is dangerously doing in the picture above). But who would want to mess with a car that has a picture of a guy kicking another guy in the face?!? Osu!
|
|
08-18-2008, 07:00 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
#27
Never mind a car, we get graffiti on the side and front of the dojo every other week or so. We ended up repainting the building so that now we only have to paint over it but it's really annoying.
I have dreamed of running an all night nightclass with the lights out, and the student that catches the vandal getting a kyu promotion.....  . OSU, no this would not be right, but I am allowed to dream about it in frustration....
|
|
08-18-2008, 07:07 PM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#28
Well, one would assume that it would also be stupid to urinate on a police car, for instance, but you know kids and dare games...
__________________
Blackmail's such an ugly word. I prefer extortion -- the "x" makes it sound cool.
|
|
08-19-2008, 10:00 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
#29
During Demo you should have a few students [in gi] passing out fliers to the audience.
As for wrapping your car or van great thing to do but $$$$$$$ As for promoting Kyokushin rather than the dojo big mistake as well promoting K/D rather than karate is an error. Sure you can teach and do that, but remember one thing people do not know wushu from goju... it is you and the dojo they come to, an it is up to you to present to them the "values" of training not to overpower them with K/D and Kyokushin is this or that. Traditional dojo back here in the east cost are doing just fine, in fact growing well. Though the MMA craze is hurting some and many are turning to teach everything under the sun to draw in students. This is no different than what happened in the 70's with kung fu and the bruce lee b/s or in the 80's with the pressure from workout clubs and aerobics and in the 90's with softer teach and promote and today with Mcdojo's and MMA. You as the teacher must take off that hat and forget your Karate instincts and put on your business "Owners" hat and focus on running a business... Your demo needs to impress people with skills of the basics, and not scare them off. Many great instructors fail to see the wisdom of their failures... Their is a reason why you are not gaining students and their is a reason why you do not get anything from a demo... AND it has Nothing to do with your skills as a teacher or Karateka. All to do with your skills as a business person. Last edited by Spirit; 08-24-2008 at 12:54 PM.
|
|
08-19-2008, 05:23 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
#30
Osu! I like the paint job on the van, Smoothsake. If I were a professional karate man, I would drive such a vehicle (maybe not a van-what would be an appropriate karateman's auto?) I suppose I'd never be out of dojo T-shirts and sweats either, except when wearing dogi.
|
|
08-19-2008, 05:40 PM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#31
Quote:
__________________
Blackmail's such an ugly word. I prefer extortion -- the "x" makes it sound cool.
|
|
08-20-2008, 09:37 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
#32
Quote:
__________________
'Stop, shake, shutter!' - Jeff Nash
|
|
08-21-2008, 08:32 PM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#33
Osu!
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Osu!
__________________
Train hard, train often! Look. Listen. Sweat!
|
|
08-21-2008, 11:28 PM
|
||||
|
||||
|
#34
Spirits point as ever is spot on - One of the keys to operating a small business is to think small - don't go for any kind of brand awareness advertising, leave that to Coke and MD's -you need to build awareness of you as the owner/ instructor and what your dojo offers on a personal level forget what Kyokushin is to you - think about what your target audience is looking for (even if it's wrong) use that to get them in and show them what you can do for them.
__________________
All things are relative even Power & Truth 
|
|
08-24-2008, 01:03 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
#35
Work your ass off at keeping records of where each new student or better each lead [be they called and never came in or came in and never joined] came from. This will help you to put the maximum effort into areas that is gaining you maximum exposure...
Work on building a dojo of Karateka not of kyokushin K/D fighters... Kyokushin is first and for-most a style of Karate well before it is K/D fighting. If it was not then we would not have kata, kihons or rank ... Believe in yourself, but don't be blinded by yourself. You will and do make errors and need to adjust to fix them. Be present and available for the parents of the kids to talk to and discuss how each of them are doing. Be aware that for a very high percentage of dojo's [of all styles] in USA 80% of the students is under 13!!! That is where you need to target and focus on, even if you don't like to teach kids!!! AND remember to teach kids as kids not small adults... Talk to each student who quites to find out why, you may find out that 50% will come back do to the reason they left was not your fault, and if it is you can learn from the reason they did. Remember it is a business first, without paying customers you can't keep the doors open! Then as the Sensei teach them wisely and with balance gaining their trust because you are teaching with dignity and good ethics in mind. You can balance business with ideologies just a matter of seeing what does what and when it does it...
|
|
08-31-2008, 09:23 PM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#36
Osu!
This brings up another important question in running a Dojo: If we aren't supposed to teach kids as little adults, where is the line regarding standards relative to rank...? Osu!
__________________
Train hard, train often! Look. Listen. Sweat!
|
|
08-31-2008, 10:16 PM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#37
Quote:
__________________
Blackmail's such an ugly word. I prefer extortion -- the "x" makes it sound cool.
|
|
09-01-2008, 02:25 AM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#38
Osu!
Quote:
Looking at the percentage of junior vs senior (age) students in the US, I can see the reason for aiming for kids to fill the school. But.......this where a perfect grading syllabus is needed. One that maximises student retention and knowledge disbursement over a period of time that is always challenging. A tall order in any setting, but even more so in large classes. Then, the application of that syllabus still requires more art than science. Matt, Pat, Timmy and Jimmy start at the same time, but progress at different speeds. Who gets what grade when? There's no algorithm for that, and trying to keep the standards high and the kids motivated can be tough. (Still not quite what I want to convey, but my brain is unusually slow today.) Osu!
__________________
Train hard, train often! Look. Listen. Sweat!
|
|
09-01-2008, 10:14 AM
|
||||||
|
||||||
|
#39
Yeah, I see what you mean... I think. Our problem is a huge children : adult students ratio. We get 50 new children every 6 months, and just barely have enough instructors and assistants. Normally, the students will pass 10th - 8th kyu easily (thus beeing sent to a more advanced class), whereafter the first students will fail. As they progress through the ranks, standards will be harder, and those who don't have what it got will progress slower.
As the instructor of the most advanced childrens class, I think this topic is very interesting, but perhaps it deserves its own thread?
__________________
Blackmail's such an ugly word. I prefer extortion -- the "x" makes it sound cool.
|
|
09-02-2008, 07:07 PM
|
|||||
|