Luther unleashed

They all cover the points that matter and should be adhered to if not the "we-con-you"/McDojo types will grow in number!! I have heard of this and even seen it once, well technically I DIDNT SEE IT because I wasn't allowed lol! I never understood it or at least cared for it. Testing being a private event I mean. I feel that part of life is failing at things, and should they fail I understand wanting to make it private BUT sometimes when you fail at things you are going to do it in public, this is what gives us character. Think Kobe Bryant taking the winning shot and missing it... His fail in public drives him harder, it's the moment that brings the best out in is. I'm a fan of laying it all on the table, win or lose!

It's interesting. In life and as parents we have to find the balance of these things. At some point I think you can't be too careful, on another note you can be too obsessed with protection and taking away from living... Interesting though!

I mean this respectfully, but you do NOT need somebody's permission to video or photograph people as long as it's in a public place. Also, I have never heard a complaint when I have done it. I mean, if I'm taking a picture and 70 people are in the photo, you can't insist I get permission from 70 people right? If you are saying that taking them is fine, but posting them is not, again I can't imagine getting 70 people to ok a video I make to put online. I also can't imagine having great video of something but I can't post it because 3 people out of 70 left before I got through them all for approval, now I'm stuck. Something a good deal of people don't probably think about is that when you use things like YouTube, Google owns this and it is almost certain to show up in the first page of a search on Google. Part of the advertising isn't just the video, but getting your name/school out there.

So honestly I got so busy and was looking at all the threads that I forgot I posted this, I'm glad to see some of you took the time to post. I tend to wish I got notifications when people posted and threads that I made or post it in that way nobody would ever go without others responding. So the first couple of posts talked about the way women get attacked, I completely agree that women are typically attacked differently than men especially by men. This is something that I covered in the seminar, I spoke about the difference between two grown men putting their hands up for a fight or something you see in women's MMA, and what they were more likely to face which was somebody grabbing the wrist, somebody grabbing them in a bear hug from behind, and things like that. I did specifically cover things like this, we worked on chokes and basic ways to get out of wrist grabs and of course a bear hug from hind has always been a tough one, I have a pretty awesome technique that I really like but it's not so simple to perform so I went with some of the more simple ones as well to give them options. As far as the point also made above about women needing techniques to use against somebody stronger, essentially what I did was took all of my martial arts training which goes back to taekwondo, karate, Jeet Kune do, and I try to pick apart the most direct and effective techniques that a weaker person could use on a stronger person. These techniques would use body leverage and joint to leverage versus strength. This was the entire goal on the physical side, as I said the mental side was pretty much to teach them to open their mind and open their eyes and to think a certain wa this was the entire goal on the physical side, as I said the mental side was pretty much to teach them to open their mind and open their eyes and to think a certain way. I'm opening up a standalone location in April and I intend on having some classes which I probably will offer free because it's a great type of class to offer for free, also it doesn't hurt to bring people into the dojo for potential customers. We'll see how well it goes when I open the doors of course. In all I would say that I do not believe, nor do I sell any of these women the idea that if they take my course they're going to be able to take anybody that is the size of a gorilla, mostly I lay a foundation of basic knowledge of basic techniques to get them really using their mind to think about things, and learn some basic techniques that use body leverage and full body strength versus things like chokes and grabs. Some great points were made here about getting off their back and defense against sexual assault, I'll be honest, teaching these techniques to complete novices was certainly not the easiest task. Each class ran for one and a half hours and I was somewhat disappointed at the lack of techniques that I was able to teach, I mean I was probably able to teach seven or eight really good basic techniques along with doing a lot of interacting and talking but we never got to the back to be honest. Certainly this was my first one and I'm sure myself or even anybody could learn to incorporate those things and manage time more efficiently, will call in a trial that I did Haha. For a trial I think it went great. Thanks for the comments guys, keep them coming.

This is an extremely awesome post here. Really, it's both very deep and meaningful as well as intelligent. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Actually unlike many martial arts schools I do NOT do one steps until after black belt. In 2nd Dan we apply the same focus that would normally be to the forms/kata/hyung, to one steps. We do this to set up for 3rd Dan which is pretty much self defense and the like. One steps are great imho but only if you take them for what they are worth, here's my perception on them. One steps are self-defense techniques with training wheels. Compare it to riding a bike, if you learn to ride with training wheels on it DOES help you prepare for riding, BUT only if at some point you actually practice riding. Non-resistive training is imperative training because it's very difficult to teach students under duress therefore full resistance training in my opinion, is better introduced after you go over the movements and get the student comfortable with their positioning and the techniques. So in essence I'm saying agree with you, I'm just pointing out that starting with the training wheels is absolutely recommended in my opinion, but if you never go beyond that and you are really good at writing a bike with training wheels, and if the streets are a bmx competition all I can say is good luck!!!

Thanks man! It's a scary move but I'm excited.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Sense8, I am Familiar with him being in town, he's on the other side of town a good hour away but nonetheless it is pretty cool. One time I went to a new martial art supply store because I ordered the wrong belt online, I happened to see a flyer placed there by wastelanders sensie. I literally recognized the name from him posting a video on some drills and I left and kept saying I know who that guy is but couldn't place the name, and I realized and couldn't believe it was from the karate forums haha, crazy. Thanks for the support. It 137, thanks as well, sure I'll post some pics! I have never been shy about posting a few here and there so I'll see what I can do, the place needs work, The previous martial arts place at Mears all the way around and took them down, when they did that pretty much destroyed the paint, it's also not the biggest place but it's a good starter place for sure. Now, just have to figure out how to be into places at one time so I can keep two locations Hahaha, crap!

Really happy today, I signed the lease to my second location!!! Open April 1st. Give me some time to fix the place up and prepare, stay the course and things seem to work out... Love it!

Well obviously I don't see anything wrong with making students earn it, but I must say with my last your business being at the rec center and only kids I have to say I'm lucky like Bushido_man and I haven't really had any lazy students for testing, I come into testing and I am very high energy from the beginning and they know what is expected of them so in that way I suppose I am successful. We'll see if anything changes when my second location opens in April. I have almost failed a few students they could not perform the techniques required, however I gave them another opportunity off to the side and they performed perfectly or as close to that as can be. The issue was the pressure and I can't imagine failing a low ranking student for not being able to handle pressure as a child. Fortunately I have not had to ever fail anybody. Jr137 I really like the way this is put... "Technique before strength, spirit before technique." - Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura I wonder if it is rude if I put this on my wall in my dojo? I have two others that I already planned on putting up, but I really like this one. I would gladly put the name under the quote, do you know if it is spelled accurately

I think that in life there should always be a balance and everything cannot be 100% serious with hardcore discipline, there must be some soft smiles and some fun. That being said, this is not a knock at all to Taekwondo places because I actually started out in Taekwondo places and some of the techniques I do to this day and the techniques that I teach to this day have roots in Taekwondo, but many of them lack a lot of the structure and discipline that I find in karate. This is one of the things that I love about karate and why I use it as the foundation of what I teach, this is the exact reason why. My oldest which is 13 years old, refers to what we do as military, and says that Taekwondo places are a bit more fun, she spends time with her half brother when she is visiting near him and he attends Taekwondo classes with ATA specifically. I think that it's very important to have fun and that's what makes these places successful. In the end I think I will always lean towards more strict structure then some schools though, & I think from the sounds of it I would have a similar general attitude as sensei 8. When you start referring to horseplay from an instructor, I don't exactly have experience because I don't have any instructors under me, but I have been in schools where I was not the only instructor that thought under the chief instructor. I think it's important to allow instructors some space to be silly with the students because this is what sets the tone for fun relationships, but there is a thin line and I think it should be known how far you can go with goofing around because it can easily turn into a freak show of acting out and not listening from students. Actually I just hired my first assistant instructor, a 16 year old girl that is A 6th rank, I have known her a very long time and As I am opening up a second location, I need to build my crew a little bit to be able to facilitate two locations so if there is any horseplay I will let you know how I deal with it lol.

Thanks for the responses guys. In the end I guess the statement is true that I should cover the electric with 5 or 6 students so why worry, just new to worrying about it that's all. I do feel I lucked out on the deal. I didn't negotiate that hard actually, me being tentative for the last 6 months and just not jumping on it has made them make me better offers really. I would say things like "I don't have a student base in this area so iLloyd have to think about it" and they would come back at me with "what if we gave you a few free months to get you started". Seems like I have some good things sweetening the pot though for sure. From the sign to the rent, even the check they are cutting me to fix it up and allowing me to use the portion needed for mats. I have decided I'm going to go for it for sure, I'll be signing the lease this week. Won't open until April for a few reasons but it allows to to get certain Affairs in order. I am still working on how I'm going to be in 2 locations at one time, but I have some ideas about things like hiring anot instructor for my location in the rec center. I have also thought about leasing my new dojo out 2 days a week to something like a jujitsu instructor while I run my rec center location, I just don't know yet but I want it bad enough so finding the right answer will come one way or another. Chil, I would certainly recommend starting in a rec center as I have done that for the last year now. It's essentially risk free. The problem for me is as my full time job, teaching martial arts, its only 2 days a week at the rec center. Makes it very difficult to make a living only 2 days a week. I have poured so much energy into trying to find another location over the last year that I feel it's time for me to open on my own. If you are starting out its much more realistic to go for the rec center, but as I mentioned they are very hard to come by in the Phoenix area at least, due to the overabundance of martial arts programs already in place. Good luck whatever you do though.

Thanks bushido, I did that of course. They assured me they can't to that. You never know who you talking to though and you know how some representatives will tell you one thing and others will say something different so maybe I should try again. They stated there was a law that passed that they could not give any information based on previous usage of other people, and essentially they told me there's no way to figure it out because there are too many plan options and things of that nature

Thanks sense for the breakdown. I wish theyou would give me a better way to calculate but sadly they are so private like everything else these days. Har to figure anything out. Jr137 actually the last place was a martial arts school there a long time and were open similar to my usual hours lol. Been vacant almost 2 years though. As for other costs, I don't have much capital, I can come up with money to get going but that's it. I negotiated (6 months or so of negotiating) 3 months free rent, month 4, 5, 6 are at half rent, and month 6-12 are at 75%. Full rent starts after 1 year for a 3 year lease. I havery no students in the area but many people know of me and my wife has many friends. I have done some things in the area as well. Also lived here for many years now. As for mats, owner is cutting me a check as Ithe was a stipulation of mine to add that into the money he cut me to fix the place up. Aslo, Windows are plain, but the sign from the old place now belongs to the owner as they didn't remove it in the time given, and I get to use it for free. Large yellow light up building g sign that says "Karate". I would prefer "martial arts" or my buisness essential name but mama always told me to say thanks for free and don't be picky haha. I have the weekend to decide, what you guys think? It's a bold move and I'm cautious but I ha E a gut feeling that things are whereally they are supposed to be.its a high traffic area, and good middle class area as well. There are a good deal of competitors but none teaching what I teach. A few Taekwondo, MMA, and freestyle karate place but none traditional Tang Soo Do which is primarily what I do. I happen to think the other things do as well make it pretty different... TO OPEN, OR NOT TO OPEN! That is the question.

To add on to the previous paragraph, the company out here we use is Aps and can not reveal information such as the previous persons usage and things like that so they can not tell me an estimation they say, weird.

So I have been looking at the possibility of opening a stand-alone facility here in town, the place has offered me deals to get in the door such as a few months free on rent and things of that nature, the thing I'm having a hard time figuring out is what my cost will be for electric and any other cause I'm not thinking of. I currently operate out of a rec center so of course I'm familiar with insurance business license and things of that nature, but as for electric I'm wondering if any of you guys have any ideas of what you pay monthly or would I be looking at, in my mind it could be 300 months or 1200 a month I just have no concept, any help is appreciated. It is an absolute fact that it probably varies from state to state but also depending on the plan you select, I'm just looking for rough ideas of what you or your facility might pay. If putting it out there in the open is a problem feel free to PM me.

So a while back I had a conversation with some of you in a women's self-defense thread. I had a friendly disagreement with some about the effectiveness and the point of it. I have now completed my first women's self-defense class and I figured I give my thoughts on it. Leading up to it I was very excited to see what happens and how well anything that I taught would be retained, I talked to groups. The first group was age 12 to 17, the next group was 18 and up . In the first class which was the teens, I had about 19 students, in the second class which was adults I had about 10. The fun part for me was challenging them and interacting with them, I enjoyed asking what type of situations do they think they would be in that they'd like to know how to protect themselves in. The most common things I was asked about was a bear hug from behind or certain types of grabs. This made it fun because I wasn't there to just talk and talk and talk, I was able to answer their questions and kind of dig into their fears and ways to handle it. The approach that I took was from the mental aspect mostly because I believe that self-defense always starts with the mental approach. I was amazed at how many people did not know about, or know what their panic button did on their car. In teaching women to make a lot of noise, that in itself I felt was a great success and give them a better opportunity to protect themselves in understanding how important it is to make noise. Some of the other things we worked on like specific self-defense moves from wrist grabs to bearhugs I tried to teach the simplest techniques in the simplest way possible, I taught strikes in the form of hammer fist and palm strikes and really nothing else besides kick to the groin. When it comes down to it I feel that it was very effective in getting a message across, at least the mental approach felt very fulfilling, with some of the physical it's kind of in the person's ball court on whether they would like to go home and practice with their husbands and things of that nature but from a mental approach I would call it a success. This particular class was free to anybody living inside the Phoenix area and I was paid a check from the county for my services, so it was a win-win and based on these things I was very happy with how everything turned out. Feel free to share some of your thoughts I woman self-defense in general, I know there has been a few threads about it in the past but maybe we could build upon what's already been stated here.

I like that, I am very very into self-defense also. I have had some previous conversations with people hear about teaching applications two forms of things like that, I have tried it out personally and what I found was based on a great suggestion from somebody here and I can't remember who it was. I now kind of follow the guidelines that self-defense from applications in forMs should be reserved for good karate. Or good taekwondo LOL. When students are performing technique sloppy it is really hard to teach them quality application. I think I would enjoy your class if you taught it will Chit I think I would enjoy your class if you taught it, that stuff is right up my alley. Me being primarily a kids teacher, not because I want to but because the rec center has always been a very hard place to pull adults, I have to balance it out and keep it more interesting. However, even when I trained personally I enjoyed when we mixed things up and I never imagined it would be such pressure to come up with new ways to teach things to people. If your hope is to be a head instructor, I hope you achieve that goal and I'm sure you will see what I mean. Even if you teach under an organization that has their standards, it's still up to you to package it and present it in the better you do that the more entertaining and interesting your class will be there for the more successful

• 1st month - 7 students • 2nd month - 14 students • 3rd month - 20 students • 4th month - 20 students • 5th month - 21 students • 6th month - 31 students • 7th month - 26 students • 8th month - 33 students • 9th month - 37 students • 10th month - 31 students • 11th month - 34 students •12th month - 34 students So December I had a fair amount of students say they were taking the month off for holidays and trips to other states and things of that nature, considering that 34 is a great number for me personally. It is my hope that next year now that we have a very strong core group who come every month, that when we get the influxes that our numbers will grow into the 40s or 50s. Only time will tell but this is my hope.

As an instructor, what is the one thing that you focus on to really find tune in would you consider makes you a great instructor, or your program a great program? Personally, being the one who runs the program and decide exactly what the curriculum will be, it's very challenging to keep things fres personally, being the one who runs the program and decides exactly what the curriculum will be, it's very challenging to keep things fresh. It would be quite easy for me to come in and teach things the same way over and over, but my constant goal is to find new and fresh ways to teach the same techniques. As I do more than one style together, I always have to find a good balance so in the previous class if I worked on kickboxing combinations, then in the next class I make sure I do something more traditional like traditional hi blocks low blocks center punches and so on. Anybody could come in and have them drop down into a horse stance and drill them until they're blue in the face, the challenge for me is coming up with new ways. I'm curious to hear from all of you as to how or what you focus on and how it relates to your personal success as a martial arts instructor.

I started a "bring your friend" day. It's the first day of the month every month. This is an incentive to create more attention to the program. Word-of-mouth specifically is a bit tougher because all you can do is sort of hope that they put your name out there, every few months I send out an email that says small businesses dry on reviews and word-of-mouth so please spread the word. Your right though, word-of-mouth is incredibly important.

There's a lot of really great ideas on this page and information about Facebook for business. DWX made a great layout of some really great ideas. To be honest I'm not that successful on Facebook because ( or at least I believe it's because) most of my students are children and their parents don't always share the same interest. For the most part I send friends request to my students or students parents to my personal Facebook page, often when I share something from my business page it gets much more attention than it does on the business page itself. I believe that people like a more personable and personal interaction, the business page is harder to get that type of thing. In essence my business page and my personal page work together to give the students/parents a better connection to what's happening.

These are great ideas and I appreciate you taking the time to post them.

I typically don't pay very much for shipping. I recently ordered 2 black belts and it was 25 dollars to ship. The belts themselves were cheap so it was repetitious close to the same cost as doing it locally but the quality is something I enjoy.

Congratulations to you guys for being recognized, this list in my opinion accurately reflects all of your thoughtful posts. Keep it up, because I enjoy conversing with you all.