sensei8

cathal, EXCELLENT! Before you know it you'll have more kids than you want, if that's even possible. You got them, now keep them! Sounds like you did everything right. Did you have fun? Did the kids have fun? Did the kids enjoy you? Did the parents enjoy you? My key with this large of a group is to be just be a kid with them. Using the teacher the way you did is excellent! I wouldn't change that for all of the peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches in the world! Don't lose your assistants/volunteers because they'll make your life so much easier and better. If you can, find some trustful parents to help you with sign-ups and sign-ins and what nots. That will leave you free to be amounst the kids, whether it's for kidding/talking with them or helping them out before/after class. I commend you! Prepare for next class when many more show up because they heard about your classes from the kids that were there.

No! Yes! Do what feels right! Imho, it's up to the victim to defend themselves, and, if fleeing is ones choice, then it's an honorable duty. If one doesn't want to leave, this is ones choice, and in that, it's ones right. Stay, leave, do what one must. But, if one doesn't leave when one had a chance to and something happens, well, then one will have to explain it to the police and then possibly to a judge. Who cares who started it. That's NOT the martial arts! Two wrongs don't make a right. Defend oneself, YES! Assault/Battery someone, NO! If someone starts it...I'm suppose to finish it? To suggest that directly or indirectly is to forget that we're martial artists. Martial artists that are trained to not use our knowledge inappropriately and without cause. If the virtue of a proportional response is self-control, then there's no "However". It either is or it isn't! Isn't there a saying that says..."He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day!" Yes, I know that it's just an opinion and just a saying, but, there's nothing wrong with it. Besides, you'd not be far from your ethics and/or your morals at all for doing what's right or what's honorable or what's legal. It's possible! For a vice to exist, I have to really like it and then I have to really depend on it. I really don't like to fight and I really don't depend on it [fighting]. I don't see any noble virtue in fighting, especially when the opportunity to flee/run presents itself and I don't. There's nothing virtue in a just fight because, imho, it's just a fight and it takes two to fight. I'll fight, but, when the opportunity presents itself, I'm fleeing. What's wrong with fleeing? Is that unmartial art? Is that against some martial art code? Aren't most, if not all, martial artists taught to not fight unless one has no choice? If I have an opportunity to flee and fleeing is wrong, then let me just be wrong!

What does your instructor advise? Have the Bo fit your height, or as close as you can without holding something that looks like a pole that's used in cleaning a swimming pool. As far as material. I'd say this is based solely on your preference. Seeing that you're going to be using it for competition and sparring, get a Bo from the hardwood family, although it might be like weilding a tree; heavy. It'll spin but not like a composite/graphite type of material; a feather. You might have to get two Bo's: one for Kata and one for sparring!! The sparring is going to mark up the Bo quite well, and it might not be conducive in Kata, especially at a tournament. Good luck!

CONGRATS DWx!!!! Feels great, doesn't it? Well, it should!

Yes I have. Basically it's the same as any of your classes that you're conducting right now, but, it's just on a much larger scale. Establish your authority in a firm but friendly manner or you'll have 200 out-of-control kids. Speak loud enough to be heard by all, use the "mirror" method, move around the class; don't stay in just one spot, challenge them each and every step of the way, keep it fun in both the activity as well as in the delivery of the instructions. This is the short of it all, but, JUST KEEP IT FUN AND INTERESTING or you'll lose them to boredom.

Was it possibly edited in?

It might help if you described "new style"! Also, are you looking for something in your town?

Ironsifu, Good points in your latest post! Your meaning and intent is well received and understood. One of the major ingredients in..."Not all Black Belts can teach" is when an instructor can't even make the simpliest thing understood by his/her students. This is bad! Some instructors can't even describe, in any shape, way, and/or form, how one can make a PB&J sandwhich. Yes, showing in action is great, but, it's only one half, or even better yet; one slice of bread for the PB&J sandwhich. So, in the end, the student HAS to make do by just folding over that one slice of bread to form half a sandwhich. In the martial arts, half is NOT better than nothing...it's the same thing...an incomplete sandwhich. Yes, hunger will be thwarted for the time being, but sooner or later that hunger will overtake the student. In the end, word of mouth is still the best advertisement. But, only favorable words will bring students. I do see the fine line but many don't and this not only locks the door to the school, but, it throws the key away. Every instructor, every person in any business should read "Who Moved My Cheese?" I believe that it's the nucleus of any business...CHANGE, and the adaptation to change!

You can't go wrong with any book by Fumio Demura Sensei! He's produced quite a many Kobudo books.

I surely don't want to run a hardcore dojo, I want to run an operationally solid dojo that's teaching effective techniques! I don't think that Loyota Michida and the like in the octagon is essential to see the resurge of students to ones school. What's needed is instructors that CAN teach! I'm a firm believer that part of the biggest problem is that the instructor(s) can't teach! Sorry, but, that's what I see, imho!

The only alternative is to go through white belt again! Just suck it up and do white belt again. Besides, a refresher never hurt anyone...ever!

Do whatever it takes, just get out of the hair grab. Besides, hair grows back, but lives don't.

While making a profit is the bottom line of any business, including the martial arts, integrity should never be replaced or substituted or sold. This integrity can be labeled as "traditional" and/or "profitable", but, neither is more important than integrity. I'd close my doors first before I'd "sell" my integrity. People want to be helped? That's fine. People want to be pampered? That's fine also. People want to be walked through everything? That's fine too. BUT, NOT at the cost of my integrity! Yes, there's a fine line in everything. Who's willing to cross that fine line from having integrity to not having integrity? I'm not! What, for the sake of profit? Not I! Repect change, expect change, acknowledge change, prepare for the inevitable change, and then move with the change. But, I won't sell my integrity for the change!!! "Then you'll be out of business!" Fine! That's better than not being able to sleep at night because I sold my integrity. Tradition AND profit DO go hand in hand because as I've said it before and I'll say it again. Not all black belts can teach! They've not had to close their schools because they're too strict or too traditional or both. No! They closed their school door because they CAN'T teach. There excellent martial artists, but, it takes more than that to teach. Is there a fine line? Not really, imho that's an excuse, because, either one can or one can't. Those who can, do and should! Those who can't, don't and shouldn't! If the student doesn't want to be able to effectively defend themselves, this is NOT fine with me. The by-product of making a profit no matter what produces students that CAN'T honestly defend themselves. These students are provided a false sense of security when their pampered and walked through everything. This can be avoided, and this is accomplished by knowing how to teach across the board! Before I came to the Hombu, I had a very successful dojo. I had well over 300 students. I was strict! I was traditional! Yet at the same time, I was profitable! I didn't lie to my students or to myself! I didn't promote them UNLESS they earned it! My students and I had fun and enjoyed each other at the same time while we're sweating our backsides off. Yes, my dojo was/is a business and at my dojo the customer is very important, but, the customer isn't always right and the customer isn't my boss. If they want something, then EARN IT! Respect is a two way street and whenever a customer wants me to respect them and they don't want to respect me. Well, it's time for that customer to go somewhere else! Don't demand anything from me...ask me! At the Hombu, it's the same thing and the Hombu has twice as many students as my old dojo and the numbers continue to escalate even in todays economy. Consistency is key. Students recognize that and students want that and students expect that from their instructor(s)/school. If students/customers are truly seeking knowledge, then they're welcomed, but, if they're truly seeking an easy way, then they're not welcomed. To accel in the martial arts, one must be willing to work at it hard, and this hard work comes with a sacrifice. But, the rewards are many and the rewards are great for those who want to honestly learn it by earning it every step of the way. So, if student/customers want something, even in these trying economic days, then at my dojo/Hombu, they're going to have to get it the old fashioned traditional way...EARN IT!!! I'll close the Hombu faster than they can even blink before I will sell my integrity or Shindokan. And if I do close, fine, but, it'll be on my terms and on my terms alone. Should that happen...I've always wanted to work at Wal-Mart as a door greeter whenever I retire!

Grandmaster! Use this term in a conversation and/or in an introduction, one will receive either a raised eyebrow of astonishment or a furrowed brow of disbelieve. Either way, the word "Grandmaster" deserves respect from those who aren't and wonderment from those who want to be. Grandmaster: A person of the highest competence or achievement in a field Grandmasters...who aren't of the martial arts: 1) Chess Grandmaster (FIDE) 2) Grand Master of Memory (World Grand Master) 3) World Grand Master (World Bridge Federation) 4) Grandmaster (A character in DC/Marvel Comics) 5) Grand Master Award (Writer's Award) 6) Grandmaster (Master Craftsman) I'm sure that this list could go on and on and on. What other Grandmaster(s) do you know about/of? (NOT MARTIAL ARTS...PLEASE!)

Starting your school at your local church is smart. Talk with your pastor, if you haven't already, to get his/hers permission and blessing at the same time. Mats aren't cheap! Contact Century, for example, or the like and become a wholesaler. This way you'll receive much lower prices. It only takes a phone call to become a wholesaler. As far as square footage is concerned. This is up to you. This isn't what you wanted to hear, but, preferences, both personal and professional, truely determine what would be appropriate for you and your students. The square footage that you mentioned in your opening post is fine for start-up, and, if over time you outgrow your school, then go to 4,000 - 5,000 square-foot. Besides, commercial rent's not cheap either! Uncontrollables aren't cheap either! Don't get me wrong, everything is doable providing that your budget isn't in the basement. It takes money to make money! Location, location, location! These words are solid in advise! Can your budget afford that advise? Good luck!

Nothing better than VISITING the schools! Anything short of that is just hearsay and conjecture. Even the layman can tell by watching a duck that it is indeed a duck! VISIT THE SCHOOLS!!!

Forget the websites because they [websites] only represent a very small and incomplete snap-shot of the school. Just because a school doesn't have a website means nothing because that alone can't speak negatively of the school. I couldn't honestly tell you if any of the links you provided were McDojo's or not. Yes, some had better designed templates, but, that's all I could determine. Now, I went through each of these websites and I never saw any "ranking" declarations, if I had, then, imho, any school that has a camouflage belt is, imho, a candidate for it being a McDojo. VISIT EVERY SCHOOL in your area, then, decide! You and only you know exactly what you're wanting, needing, as well as your desires and goals. As a word of warning, DON'T SIGN ANY CONTRACTS WHATSOEVER because if you do and then you decide to stop for one reason or another...you'll still have to pay the binding contract, unless you don't care about your credit that is. Good luck and start VISITING EVERY SCHOOL in your area! Keep us posted please!

Neither! Eosin Panther!

How in the world can Romo have a QB rating of 85.2? Huh!? Why in the world haven't the Cowboys TRADED him...yet? I love the Cowboys, but, man, Romo tests any Cowboy fans' patience! But hey...he's a Dallas Cowboy and I'm not. So....Go Cowboys!!!!!

Brian, I just hope that the Chiefs have a better 2009 than they did in 2008: 2-14, but, hey, at least they had 2 Pro-Bowlers in 2008!

Well that answers one of my questions, thanks. If you're familiar with them, (and I'm making these assumptions based on the videos I posted previously) surely then, you've noted the striking similarities between the two forms. While the practitioners in the two posted videos are clearly of very different styles, the actual techniques that are being performed are very similar, up until about the halfway point of the kata. Of course, if you're more familiar with them than I am, and I'm incorrect in my assessment, feel free to enlighten me to the contrary. Your assessment's correct!

My point exactly!

Let me stir the stew! BTW, I'm not speaking about TaeBoJitDo at all! I'm speaking in general! Okie dokie?! Especially nowadays...New methodology/ies? Yes! New theory/ies? Yes! New principle(s)? Yes! New martial art? NO!!! After all, just how many different NEW effective ways can one punch/kick/block/strike/ETC???? Yes and/or No?

Well...did you take it for the easy credit?

A very solid article Brian...very solid!