sensei8

No, I'm not assuming anything especially since I'm not here Sensei; I've no idea if she's learning Bunkai and the like beyond the kata she's executing here. Dan as an adult reference, that I do agree. I'm of that opinion STILL!! I only refer her to being a martial artist because she's performing an art as an artist...the kata isn't being performed by itself...she's executing it, and executing it quite well. "A person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria." And... Martial Artist... "Any of the traditional forms of Oriental self-defense or combat that utilize physical skill and coordination without weapons..." Of course, our definitions of these words above would be more deeper than what a dictionary could ever provide. When I was a JBB, from the ages of 13 to 18, what was I?? I pray that I was too a MAist back then, and my Dai-Soke would tell you that I was too!! If this girl was in Shindokan, and at the age of 7 years old, she'd only be an Ikkyu, and then, if appropriate, she'd be a JBB at 13, and wouldn't be considered for the testing cycle of Shodan until she turned 18 years old. And she'd not be referred to as a "Master" either, not even close!!

Thanks, sensei8! We're planning to. One of the first things I did after taking over the jiu jitsu program a few weeks ago was kick off this little project as an internal marketing thing. It's actually generated some pretty good response outside our group as well. Some JKD associates of mine have been really complimentary towards it as a supplement to their grappling training. Have you gave any thought at all about showing the technique in normal speed before the tutorial? Possibly, it could be shown while the credits are rolling in the background, for example. I'd love to see the app in full/reg/normal speed in each of your video's.

From the surface, they're not something that I'd ever be interested in any shape, way, and/or form, from what I've seen through their website and the like.

Patrick, LOL...Yes, I, too, would love to lumped in with the kids. No discerning intent was meant to all. Oh...I see...well, the 30% is a small number, and I'm glad I'm part of it. I can't remember the last time I looked up a phone number on the internet. And thanks, I'll need all of the luck I can get with the Hombu in this regards. Oh well!!

Market in ways that are not expected by your competitors: other MA schools. Don't do what every other school in that area is doing, jump out of the box. To do that, you're going to have to investigate stealth-like tactics or just ask your competitors straight out what methods of marketing are they using. Once your investigation is complete, do what they don't expect. Leaflets do work, however, it's a hit and miss. Btw, ALL, imho, marketing methods are a hit and miss. But when you find what works the best for you, capitalize on it with a fever that will drive your bottom line like its never been driven before. Some area's frown deeply on you papering their communities with ream after ream of paper, and they will not hesitate in telling you. I've been there...bought the t-shirt! Depending on where you place them, you might see one or another thing happen. They will come to your school or they won't. If the numbers are so dismal that you want to bury your head in sand, then the bet is that the faster you but a leaflet somewhere, it came off even faster. To all new students that darken your door, ask them how they learned about your school. Start a chart to track your marketing method. Then after you've collected the info you're satisfied with, run with the top two to three. But don't stop there, take the top two or three and expand them in a way that's not expected. But always being a consummate professional. Leaflets can turn-off consumers because they either don't want the darn thing to begin with or they don't want you to litter their car/building/etc with your junk, and it's junk to those who don't want it to begin with, or they don't want to associate with someone who'd result to marketing their school through a leaflet. Same thing with newspaper adverts or advert boards/posters...hit and miss. They're more expensive than leaflets, imho, yet, they can cover a much wider customer base faster than leaflets. My preference is leaflets due to costs, and in that, I've been quite successful with them; I can blanket an targeted area heavily because the more I have out, the higher my return ratio will increase. My goal after a blanket campaign is 2%. Seems low? Not when I'm handing out thousands at one time. Expecting 10% seems to me, at times, unreasonable because 10% of 2000 leaflets is 200 possible leads. That effort might turn a dream into a nightmare. In all marketing things, a reasonable investment must provide a reasonable return. Thinking outside the box doesn't mean to make of yourself and your school unreasonable demands and expectations. If you first don't succeed, try, try, AND try again until you find what works the best for you and your school as well as your student body...new included. Get them to shadow your door...that's the goal of all marketing methods/ideas. Look at the top Fortune 500 companies. Most, if not all, had to go back to the blackboard more than once, and their trash cans are full of ideas and their offices are littered with ideas...ideas that didn't work the first, second, or fifty times. Persistency pays out a dividend that can't be laugh at. Try what your competitors haven't or won't because they're too scared too!! Good luck, and market as though your life depended on it.

Sorry, and you've been warned...here it comes... Proof is on the floor!! There, I said it!! No matter if the floor is in a MA school or somewhere outside of a MA school; wherever it might be!! If you can't, then get out of the way of someone who can. Imho!!

Thanks Brian for sharing your new MA experience. Sounds to me that you had a profitable training session, even though you felt uneasy in some areas, and that's to be expected when we're taking out of our comfort zone. I hate to relate to this, but I've always felt that this statement reflects appropriately to all MAists, and it goes like this... "Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own." ~ Bruce Lee That's what I've done forever and a day whenever I've had the opportunity to cross train in a MA that's not Shindokan. That which I can add to Shindokan, thus to myself, that is what I'll adapt to, while that which is useless, imho, that will I reject wholeheartedly. Your roundhouse kick is extraordinary, in that, it's one to be reckoned with, therefore, it must be respected. Do what you feel you must do to improve your MA betterment, but if I had your roundhouse kick, shoot, I'd never adapt another, I would just want it to be faster than grease lighting. What tries to destroy us, yet we survive it, that makes us more stronger. From what I read in your OP, you handled the training with duty and honor and you were quire affable in your receptiveness of what that style/system had to offer. And that's it...you were offered something that might or might not help you increase your MA betterment, and like you said, you love to train and you were given a chance to adapt to it or reject it. When in Rome. Alas, it can be unsettling when one is asked to do or not to do something that you've been doing one way for so long, the strange is something that isn't your preference and/or your make-up. But, we do what is expected of us if we're a visitor to their school. If what he had me do or not do weren't in line with my desired preferences and I no longer want to be subjected to that, then I would thank him and not return at all. Hopefully, I did learn something of use, whether it was about myself and/or about my MA betterment. I'm like you, I love to train and I don't want to spend an abnormal amount of time stretching and what have you. Let's get to the meat and potatoes of it!!

To the bold type above... I don't follow what you're saying when you define Dan as being Man. I know that that's the translation, however, the world is full of females, and of them, many of them are Dan grades. Dan is an acceptable term for those practitioners who have been graded to the rank of black belt. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but, to me, she is a martial artist. A MAist is someone who practices and trains in a MA. After all, she is doing a martial art! As someone who is doing a martial art, then she is an artist...a martial artist. I don't think age is a criteria for being a MAist.

Another excellent tutorial video, as always. Thanks for sharing it, Alex!! Please keep those tutorial videos coming!!

Shindokan Saitou-ryu; it's Shuri-te and Okinawa-te based. It's an Okinawan style that's 85% hands and 15% feet, albeit, all kicks are stomach level and lower; no high kicks. Tuite [Joint Locks] and Kyusho jitsu [Pressure Points] are the core of our style, as well as Tegumi [Grappling] to top it off.

Please watch this... Your opinions, please, and thank you, in advance. Please understand that I'm not looking to tear her down in any shape way and/or form. Yes, she's a 7 year old black belt, and my feelings about that, aren't hidden here or anywhere, for that fact. After watching her, I might, I mean I MIGHT, reconsider my opinion of under age black belt...I MIGHT!! Imagine, as one of the posters on this YouTube page suggested, what she'll be like at 15 if she continues training, and training with that type of focus. She's several video's up on YouTube showing her executing different Kata at different rank levels, and I did notice marked improvement in her from rank to rank. I ask for opinions so that we can have a nice conversation, and I say that mainly to myself!!

Yeah...sorry about that...you already answered that on your OP; it's listed under your name. I'm such a dork!!

YES!! We test up to Hachidan [8th Dan], and until recently, we tested for Kudan [9th Dan], and that was the only time, and will be the only time. No!! If you can't "do stuff", then you won't be invited to the next testing cycle, and if you never can "do stuff", then you'll never be invited to a testing cycle...NEVER...EVER!! Our requirements are strict and non-negotiable!! No one will ever pass a testing cycle by trying hard; there must be a noticeable improvement, a marked improvement, and even then, that won't be enough for one to pass a testing cycle. Tenure is only good for one thing...Has said student meet the minimum tenure requirements to be considered a possible candidate for the next testing cycle. No student can sign up for a testing cycle; they must be invited by their CI, even then, the Hombu APPROVES or DENIES ALL testing cycle candidates. In other words, NO CI can test without the explicit approval of the Hombu for all ranks from 6th Kyu and up. Ranks 10th kyu to 5th kyu can be tested without Hombu approval. This is due to the fact that the students don't earn certificates and the like from the Hombu UNTIL 6th kyu [green belt]. Our Hombu has no ambiguity over rank, titles, and the like. Failure IS an option that all students must embrace because all students share in the risk that they might not pass their next testing cycle, if approved to attend. Nothing is guaranteed when it comes to rank, titles, and the like!! Testing shouldn't be a guarantee, but only as a possibility!! Our Hombu doesn't give a bent-pin how long one has been on the floor, nor does the Hombu care whom one knows, nor does the Hombu care if one quits or stays, especially if rank is a concern. If a student is permitted to test by the Hombu, then they better train as though their life depended on it. That candidate better know each and every kihon and every kata and every kumite per ranking requirements and they better execute with no reservation and/or ambiguity. All candidates are tested in everything, and not just things that are found in their ranks syllabus. Meaning that if you're testing for Godan, you'll execute every kihon, kata, kumite and the like leading up to that Godan. No focus...sit down. No improvement...sit down. No effort...sit down!! That level doesn't exist!! Not now...not ever!!

Great posts, all; thank you for them!! Please keep them coming!! I'll answer my own questions sometime this weekend, schedule permitting, that is.

Your booth at a local town fair... Did the school do any demo's at all? Did anyone from the school wear a gi or a school t-shirt? What marketing things did the school do at that this local town fair? Was it mainly a meet and greet type booth? Did your school do any follow-up calls on any of the leads?

After all...the elbow's connected to the...

Got to understand the basics of boxing; that's what I believe your instructor was trying to instill.

Hhhhmmmm...of the styles? No practitioner, no style!!

For the fear of him closing again, and as hard as it would be, and no matter how loyal I am to him, I'd seek out another qualified MA instructor that's more secure in his/her location. MA betterment, is tantamount!! Let the search begin!!

After all, trying to hold unto an unwilling opponent is kind of like trying to wrestle a fish; quite slippery at times.

Oh boy....I get to use one of my favorite sayings...Not all black belts can teach nor should they try.

... not sure I agree, 100%! Some good points views on FC, like I call out I'm not 100% on all of them. No matter where you learn or what you learn in the street the other guy side of the argument is not about to go gentle or wait for you to pad up or get the mats out ... to them its game time! Yes it is true that much of the MA that is taught today tends to be sport biased, to fight for points, as traditionalist I agree with you when you make that point, its a point that needs to be made clear to everyone that walks through the door 'to learn to fight!'. ... and that's the true real point and so problem, people walk in form the street to learn to fight and the guy at the front of the hall doesn't correct them he lets them join, lets them learn to fight and ... it would seem ... not care that they now feel like superman and are ready to take on the world. The guy at the front in the problem here, they need to find out why the newbie walked in at all! many of us here are parents, many of us will become parents, and without doubt we were all once children and victims to various degrees of bullying, name calling, play ground taunting and so on and so on .... Sit back in your place of work, office or shop floor ... notice any familiarity in some of the actions of the people around you? What happened at school is still happening, now today as you watch, heck you may even be the victim .... that newbie that walked in form the street has what story to tell and what reasoning to give to want 'to learn how to fight!'? Until they walked in, be that to karate, kung Fu, judo, Ju Jitsu, Nin Jitsu, Krav Magar, Thai boxing etc they new nothing about MA, what it really means, how to walk in what to say, who to talk to..something else drove them to this place. Something that hurts them, worries them enough to want to 'learn how to fight ' and do something about it. To learn MA is to be taught how to fight. To learn MA is to be taught how to defend yourself. To learn MA is to be taught how to walk away, to not fight. Martial Arts teaches self belief,self confidence more than anything to trust in you and your new ability to be able to sum up the situation and know ! Martial Arts - defense only, a contradiction in terms ... well maybe not, any conflict is only the result of the actions that brought you to that place, that point. How you got there is important. If you are pushed/pulled into the conflict, makes no difference, you were bullied into a situation that the other side constructed, you were setup to fail. MA teaches you self confidence, and by that lesson you are not easily bullied into a situation and to that I'll add not easily bullied into a situation you cannot deal with ... however that pans out. Sport karate, full contact or knockdown, it is fighting, the differences between are all in the mind and how the same skills are applied. Solid post!!

I suppose it's normal. Isn't the MA just a wonderful thing?! Yes...it is!! Aches and pains are normal for everyone, and not just for MAists. As we get older, our body starts letting you know that it's time to PAY ATTENTION to it because it's no longer that young woman or man. Welcome to growing old.

You ever get a thought in your head, and you can't type as fast as the thought comes into your head? Well, and this has nothing to do with anything, and please forgive me my ranting on myself, but, when I read the post right above this one, I have no grammatical flow; it's disjointed. That destroys the meaning I might've been trying to make. So, to all who read my posts, and if you ever encounter a passage that doesn't quite make any sense, then, please, forgive me for my mistakes with the written pen...or keyboard, as it is in this case.

I just wanted to mention that I said most, not all. Most of your new students should be under 40, right? Unless your program is targeting older adults. LOL!! And you're right, most of my new students are under 40. When I replied, my pea-brain thought that you were inferring that my dojo was a "for kids only" dojo. Again, LOL...my bad, sorry for that. **Bag over my face** Let me share some numbers with you. Back in 2010, Harris Interactive conducted a survey. They found that 70% of U.S. adults "rarely or never" used the phone book. That's not just young people, but all ages. And that was back in 2010 - the number can only be higher now. More recently - February of 2013 - a website called RingCentral surveyed 1,800 U.S. adults aged 18 to 65. Their survey showed that 70% of people older than 40 still used a physical phone book, but 63 percent of people under 40 never did. Over the last 18+ months, this number probably didn't go down. This is just to say that if a martial arts school expects people to find them through the phone book, they'll be missing a lot of potential people. Maybe those numbers will be helpful in convincing people in your organization, maybe not. Very interesting stats!! Good to see that I'm not the only one who still uses the phone book; 70% puts a smile on my old tattered face. I will share these stats with the interested parties when I'm at the Hombu next week. Maybe you should share this website with them http://clientsfromhell.net/. It might break the tension... or offend them. Some of it is a little smug from the designer, some of it is a little inside baseball, but there are some stories of unreasonable clients that might be applicable. Like these: http://clientsfromhell.net/post/98548378950/i-designed-some-coins-for-a-client-who-specified http://clientsfromhell.net/post/96873041649/black-is-the-new-black http://clientsfromhell.net/post/96703139549/after-sending-five-different-layouts-of-a-clients I just wanted to know...just how did they bug the Hombu's conference room?? Those provided links of yours made me laugh AND they made me cry because the thickheadness shown in these links is EXACTLY what I deal with each and every time we confer over this very subject. If one looks hard enough, one could see where I've been hitting my head on the conference table in frustration. I WILL share these links with interested parties when I'm at the Hombu next week. However, I don't expect them to have an "Aha" moment. Great MAists, each of them, but more stubborn than a pin full of pigs. I get this, and it makes sense with some things. But it's a difficult measure when you are talking about change. Because you are profitable until you aren't, and when you get there, it's too late. Blockbuster is an easy example of this. They had a ton of revenue ($6 billion in 2004)... until they didn't (2010, negative $1.1 billion). 6 years isn't even a long time, really. Netflix offered themselves to Blockbuster multiple times in the early 2000s for as little as $50 million. To put this into context, Blockbuster actually offered to buy Circuit City for a billion in 2008 (later that year, Circuit City went bankrupt!). Blockbuster was too stuck on the way it was, and the way it had worked before. By the time they wanted to change, it was too late. Now that's a big dramatic story and martial arts schools are different than Blockbuster video. But this happens all the time to businesses in all industries, and I know you treat your dojo as a business. That's a good analogy, through and through. I sincerely believe that the biggest reason for these once retail giants to fail was that they couldn't support their infrastructure any longer!! I believe they wanted to change, but they couldn't change because their failing infrastructure was already crumbling right from under their feet. All of the change in the world wasn't going to save them. Same thing for Hollywood Video/Movie Gallery; there infrastructure failed as well!! With those giants, they tried to get bigger, and by acquiring others into their P&L, they couldn't support them. Hollywood Video's biggest boo boo in business was when they tried to lie to consumers and tell them that there's no more "late fees", when in reality, all Hollywood Video "changed" was the name to disguise the late fees. Losing consumer trust, and with Netflix and Red Box taking big chunks out of Hollywood's revenue, the infrastructure was even more weakened; failure was eminent. My grace is that I'm not one of the retail giants, and yet, I remain solvent because I live within my means. I'm not trying to be bigger than my britches than Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, or Circuit City. No. I'm a small dojo/retail business that is content with being the little guy who CAN support his own infrastructure quite comfort. Yes, I would like to have a website; it seems to be the rage of the page. Yes, again, the Hombu is "hamstrung by politics and in-fighting", but imho, I believe that it's more in-fighting than anything else, as we've talked about..."Clients From Hell", and for me, it's hierarchy from hell. Your two paragraphs above are sweet to my sweet tooth because if I can't get to them and our Legal Team can't get to them, then possibly, YOU and many KF members CAN...it's something to hope for. But, knowing them as well as I do, they are the horse that I can't lead to water...while they're standing right next to the biggest water deposit known to man, woman, and child. Lord help me!! As with me, the Kyuodan Dojo is content with NOT having a website and the like...for now. I'll keep an eye open and an ear turned and an open mind on this, and if appropriate, then it's possible that I might change my mind.