chiliphil1

Tallgeese, thank you so much for your reply! I greatly appreciatte you taking time to type all of that out for me. I am looking to go the LLC route, it seems the most straight forward and I think it would be the easiest one( I may be wrong) and i believe it should sufficiently cover what I need it to. I am a former insurance agent so believe you me I will not skimp in this area! My hope is that my old school will allow me to make a new location under their umbrella, this is the ciriculim that I know and it would be a massive jump start if I could open a new location for them. I think the support and know how in that would be worth while even if it means giving a little profit to them. One other aspect which would be beneficial is that being under their umbrella would mean that my students would be able to test with them for the higher ranks. I should be able to be at the 3rd dan level within about 3-4 years, give or take but for right now I am just not there. I appreciate your opinion in regard to the higher rank instructor, I almost assumed that would be an absolute requirement but I see your point for sure, in regard to beginner students there is no need for someone so high up. Much like with my guitar teaching, I would have nothing to show to a pro but I am able to show a beginner everything they can handle. I also get your point on the business side, this is something I thought of as well. I know you have to act like the manager at wal-mart, interested but indifferent so to speak. I realize that you can build relationships but at the same time you have to watch your own back. You have to worry about the bills while still devoting yourself to your students and your classes, I can see where it would be challenging but I think I am up to it. The one biggest concern for me is how many students I need and how long it will take to get them! I am trying to guess how much money I need to hold back to cover myself for x amount of time. I assume it would take about 20-30 students to cover the monthly bills, so there would be no profit until I top that number which is fine with me, I plan to have other income for a while. Hopefully one day I can live on the school alone but at the start up I know I will need something more. I appreciate your advice on marketing, I will definitely plan on this, flyers, web ads, etc.. I will do all I can. I have an MA school somewhat close to me that does demos in all of the local elementary, middle, and high schools and they also do free "open house" events which they promote in the school. My kids brought home a flyer one day where they did a demo in his school and handed out flyers for the open house, we went to it and the kids got to do a 30 minute class and then the instructor passed out the sign up sheets! It was brilliant though because they did all the fun stuff, broke boards, etc.. The instructor there really knows what he is doing, he has 2 schools and is living very well from them. I have so many things in mind that I can do. I am fortunate, I started MA as a kid and know what kids would enjoy and what they would not, I think with that knowledge I can keep at least a little bit of a handle on the attrition rate. In regard to adult students I hope that I can get some who are in it for their own betterment, this is how I look at MA, not sport or fitness but betterment of oneself. I think I can do good with this, I love the MA and I have certainly seen the good and bad of it all, and I have learned a ton from this forum. Thank you for the well wishes.. This will most likely be a couple of months away possibly longer, just depends on when I get the money and how things are working out then. I will hopefully get the chance to speak with my instructor tomorrow but if I can't do it then I will definitely do it ASAP. If he is not on board I can go to the head and founder of my organization which is AFAF and ask for his permission to open an AFAF school, even if it is not associated with my old school. I think by doing this it will help me. I will have a sanctioning body and all of the knowledge and access that comes with it, I will be able to take my students to tournaments and testing within the organization. One other question which is up to you whether or not you answer. How much money did you put into opening the school and how much did you sit on to make it until you had enough students to cover everything? I will have a good bit of money but it won't be an endless supply!

Hey folks, I will spare you the long story but essentially I am hopefully going to be getting a good sum of money here soon and I have been planning to start my own business. This morning the craziest thing happened and my wife comes to me and says "honey, why don't you open your own karate studio?" I was amazed but at the same time hit with an overwhelming feeling that this was the right thing for me. I get to take my love and make it my living, sounds pretty awesome to me. I would like to ask you guys here because I respect your opinions very much and I know that many of you have already been where I am. I am wondering when I go to start it up what should I expect in terms of start up cost? What would be a guesstimate of the costs it would take to get it started? I understand you can't predict my areas rent, bills, etc but I mean in terms of equipment. I also wonder how much stuff I need, should I buy 20 punching bags? Kicking targets? Mats? How much do you guys think would be sufficient to get started? I am meeting with my old chief instructor tomorrow, there is a dan test in which I will be on the board, I am going to take the opportunity to speak with him about it as well. My deepest hope is that he would be willing to allow me to open a "franchise" from his schools and I would have an awesome support system if that happened, but if not I may end up flying solo. I have only one problem with the whole thing but I think I have a work around but I want to mention it here to see what everyone thought of it. I am not a high enough rank to be considered a chief instructor. I am a black belt and I have over 20 years of experience in the MA but in my old school I believe you had to be 3rd dan and up in order to be a CI. Now, here is my work around, while I am working to move up in rank in order to be the CI myself I could hire one, I know several people from my school who are ranked high enough and are not involved in teaching at any other schools, I was thinking I could "hire" them to be the CI and pay them a salary. Do you guys think that would work? Is it uncommon to do something like that? And finally for you higher ranking folks what do you think would be a fare pay rate for a 4th dan to teach classes? I want to add to the above, I fully intend to teach and am qualified and certified to do so, I am just not high enough rank for the school to be 100% me. I know this may be a hindrance but I think I can work around it fine, it may be possible for the other instructor to simply come in a couple of times a week to see how things are going and possibly provide a ciriculum and also be present for all testing even though I do hold sufficient rank to promote up to the 1st dan level. I appreciate your comments, concerns, criticism, and anything else you care to share. Thank you in advance.

I have tried and I have failed.. The issue I had with it was that I could not get the kids to take it seriously and I didn't have the facilities or equipment to grab them. In a marial arts school the instructor is the authority, even as a parent you don't hold that kind of authority, the kids always see things with you as "play time" whereas in a school they will have a different attitude. In addition to all of that kids need to have some sort of fun entertainment with it, thus the punching bags, balls, mats, etc.. to keep it interesting and I didn't have any of that. I came to the conclusion that if I want them to learn I will have to get them to a dojo to do it, you may have different results but it did not work for me or anyone else I know.

You sir are living the dream!

I'm a motorcycle mechanic. At least I was, I got hit by a car last year while test riding a bike I worked on and have been out of work and doing physical therapy for the last year. I was planning to go back to what I was doing before but I think I am going to take the insurance money and try to start my own business.

I haven't seen the video but I will go ahead and say this. When you have kids that young they do not understand MA, they are simply looking at it like a sport, they treat it like baseball or gymnastics. I think instructors promote kids to this level for publicity and nothing more. No child should have a BB, the mental capacity that you should have with that rank is not even possible at a young age. Further I feel the same way about the videos posted as "best karate ever!" and it's a lady who kicks over her head 400 times in 2 minutes. Is she a great athlete? sure, very fit? absolutely, but is this MA? No, it is not, this is rhythmic gymnastics the only difference is that she is wearing a belt. My words are harsh but I am pretty passionate about this topic because I feel that MA is a life style, not a sport, some don't see it that way (and that's fine) but I do.

I am very fortunate when it comes to this topic. I llive in GA in the US and i have very few restrictions at all. I hold a Georgia weapons license (gun permit) which allows me to not only own but carry pretty much any weapon I choose, the license covers all blades over 5" as well as all firearms. The only restrictions we have are the federal restrictions on automatic weapons, we can own them but there is a lenghty background check involved. As far as MA weapons go I can own anything here from sswords, stars, chucks, etc.. I can order them online and have them mailed right to me!

If selling privately in need of repair you would certainly take a hit on the price. You could look at the KBB value and sell it around the "fair" condition price or possibly a little lower. I would check to see what other similar cars are selling for in your area and see if it may be worth it to repair it before selling, sometimes people will jump on a car that needs work because they can save a little money which translates to money lost for you. Also, check your state laws as well, here in Georgia if your car will not pass emissions, which your's may not with the exhaust issue, you cannot sell the car. The government has passed a law that if a car either does not have a current emissions certification or will not pass a test it cannot be sold regardless. You could face heavy fines for selling the car. Be sure to check into all of that. The last thing I would recommend would be to trade it in, you will lose tons of money trading in, be patient and do research on what the cars sell for and go from there, good luck!

Excellent post, you above all others would know what it takes to be in the MA at a high level. I agree completely that no one under the age of 18-20 should be above nidan, of course that's just my opinion and I think in the eyes of many that would be lenient.

Congrats!

That's how my old school did it. In my opinion that is excellent for the kids, it gives them a sense of achievement rather often and keeps them striving to move forward plus it doesn't drain any wallets! Now, my school ran $200 for dan gradings, but that did include registration with the national governing body, we tested in a hotel conference room, so it covered the cost of that, and also it covered expenses for the board members including the founder of our system.. All in all, it is terribly steep but when you think of where the money goes it makes sense.. I want to say the gup gradings were $35, I could be wrong it's been a while since I did one of those. When I look back at my school I think that sometimes it was a bit of a mcdojo but for the most part I think it was on the up and up. We graded every 3 months and if you were ready and your time in rank was satisfied you could test at each one, that's how I moved up so quickly. I also attended classes 6 days a week, so I was definitely prepared when it came to the grading cycle. I think that rapid advancement of some sort is needed with younger practitioners, hence why I am a big fan of the colored stripes between gradings, it really makes you feel like you're doing something. Now the way that I would do it personally would be to have around 10-12 ranks for juniors and also add the colored stripes, probably grade every 3-6 months and allow them to move up but at the black belt level I would have an age requirement and an extremely high standard. For the adults I would only have 3-4 belts total, I feel that they do not need the same motivation that the juniors would and therefore could be in the same rank longer, this would insure that their costs were kept down and also that when they did move up there would be substantial improvement, I would probably only grade them once a year.. At least that's how I see it but alas I do not have my own style, or even my own school. Why are your dan gradings so expensive? I'm curious to know the breakdown of the price for it? If there are more or less of people that are eligible to grade does that cost change? I couldn't tell you why they charge so much. As I mentioned they do rent a hotel conference room, so I would assume that takes a good chunk of it. The founder of the style comes down so I would again have to assume it is paying his expenses as well.. The number of people does not affect the pricing, $200 is just what it is. Now, one good thing they did was after a dan grading you only had to pay your monthly dues for a year and then you didn't have to pay anymore until you ranked up again. You could theoretically get to dan, pay for a year, and then have free classes for life after that.. Most people didn't do that however.

That's how my old school did it. In my opinion that is excellent for the kids, it gives them a sense of achievement rather often and keeps them striving to move forward plus it doesn't drain any wallets! Now, my school ran $200 for dan gradings, but that did include registration with the national governing body, we tested in a hotel conference room, so it covered the cost of that, and also it covered expenses for the board members including the founder of our system.. All in all, it is terribly steep but when you think of where the money goes it makes sense.. I want to say the gup gradings were $35, I could be wrong it's been a while since I did one of those. When I look back at my school I think that sometimes it was a bit of a mcdojo but for the most part I think it was on the up and up. We graded every 3 months and if you were ready and your time in rank was satisfied you could test at each one, that's how I moved up so quickly. I also attended classes 6 days a week, so I was definitely prepared when it came to the grading cycle. I think that rapid advancement of some sort is needed with younger practitioners, hence why I am a big fan of the colored stripes between gradings, it really makes you feel like you're doing something. Now the way that I would do it personally would be to have around 10-12 ranks for juniors and also add the colored stripes, probably grade every 3-6 months and allow them to move up but at the black belt level I would have an age requirement and an extremely high standard. For the adults I would only have 3-4 belts total, I feel that they do not need the same motivation that the juniors would and therefore could be in the same rank longer, this would insure that their costs were kept down and also that when they did move up there would be substantial improvement, I would probably only grade them once a year.. At least that's how I see it but alas I do not have my own style, or even my own school.

I bet it feels like being in groundhog day with everyone always saying the same thing.

My town is home to a state park and has lots of American civil war history.

I hear you! It is hard to learn the words but it's like anything else, repitition will allow you to perform the moves without thinking! When you first began, did you know what a front stance was? No? It's the same thing with the Japanese phrases, just as you learned what the stance looked like and can do it on command so will the words become. You will hear a word and instantly relate it to what you need to do. It just takes time, keep at it.

You know what's funny? My old school had a $200 fee for a dan grading. If you failed you did not have to pay it again, the fee was "paid" until you passed.. Also once you paid 12 months you didn't have to pay again until you hit the next dan rank and then again you pay for 12 months.. Very odd system.. BUT if you think about it, it's sort of a consolation for failing, you get to attend classes for free until you pass and you don't have to pay the testing fee again..

Congrats, great job!

I want to clarify, I think that my wording was not clear.. I did not mean you move from one dan rank to the next in six months, I meant that they only have testing for that level every six months. There is a 1 year minimum between BB and 1st degree, then two, three, etc.. Until 4th dan, in my system that is the last one you test for, the rest are "appointed". If someone is a 1st Red which is the last one before black and they fail the BB test they would have to wait 6 months for the next BB test to roll around to try again.

Speaking of auto grading, has anyone ever seen auto failing? This was something that went on within my old school. Every student is guaranteed to fail the black belt test, or 1st degree, one of them.. No one passed first try no matter how good they were. It was said that this was done to make sure someone was serious before they let them cross that threshold. The time between dan gradings was 6 months, so if one did not pass they would have to attend classes for 6 more months before they could try again.. Any of you guys ever heard of that?

That made me think of that scene with Chevy Chase where he was pretending to be a doctor and he went into a room full of doctors and they all greeted each other with "doctor" So everyone was going around saying doctor, doctor, doctor.. it was in spies like us, here is the clip.

I voted Korean, I have spent years doing TSD but I am in love with Chinese martial arts and I do plan to start in a Japanese style as soon as I can.

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You know what's worse than auto grading? Favoritism.. This is one of the things that drove me from my school. I would sit on a board and see a student who would need to stay in their current rank however the instructor would say something like "No, he needs to pass he should keep coming here" while other students who in my opinion were good enough to pass though had maybe one or two small areas where they could improve would fail because they weren't the "favorites" I have also heard verbatim that " this student needs to pass or they will quit" and have been over ruled because of such things.. Personally I think that when money is the motivator most students are sure to pass, that way they keep coming and keep paying.

The only ones I know of are 2 of the "basic" forms which would be. 1. Geicho hyung il bu 2. Geicho hyung sam bu Other than those I believe all of the TSD kata I know have at least a couple of kicks.

Yes, definitely. The one on one cannot be replaced. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to train one on one with my CI way back when, we would spend a couple of hours before class working on stuff that the other students didn't even get to do! At the time I wasn't a big fan of it as I thought he was "beating me up" but now I realize just what I was actually privy to, training far above what was being taught in class, I believe this is the single reason why I never lost at grappling, was the only student out of my class to make it to black belt, and why I still know throws and locks that others do not. Take this training and value it, especially for free! I have to pay over $100 a month to train around here so you are indeed very lucky.