Patrick

Welcome to KF, dead pool. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Bob. Patrick

The lighting and sound in that video make it looks like you broke into some martial arts museum/tomb (with carpeting, of course) to examine an ancient, tattered gi worn by a historical figure. Patrick

Thank you again for the article, Bob. When you say that having a website doesn't mean you provide effective martial arts teaching, that is true. But it is also true that refusing to have a website doesn't mean that you do. Plenty of people - and even though I'm not a martial artist, I've certainly been exposed to this - trade on an idea of secrecy and mysticism to bring people to their style. "We don't have a website, we aren't meant for everyone to know about us - our principles are closely held." Stuff like that. I know you aren't doing that personally, but it's something you've heard from other arts before, I'm sure. It reminds me of a comment someone made to me on another forum many, many years ago. We were talking about forum design and they said something like "I don't care if I have an ugly forum as long as the content is good!" Well, yeah, content is important. But those are two separate, independent things. It's kind of like "If you were a real club, you wouldn't need one." It's not a real answer. Why be defensive? Why not have both? If you want more people to come to your school, you should have a website. If you want to limit how people come to you, as in you want to control your growth, that's fine and your choice. But if you have a general goal of bringing more people to your school and art, then you should have a website. For what the average schools needs, you can pay a talented designer to develop an impressive WordPress powered website for between $2,500 and $4,000. If you can't budget for that amount, then you can't be all that serious about bringing new people in. Along with a domain name ($10 a year) and web hosting (varies, but Pagely will keep WordPress up to date and do a bunch of other things for $24 a month), those are your core costs. WordPress will work great for most people and it takes care of a lot of things that will make your life a lot easier. Even if you don't spend any money on internet marketing beyond simply having a website, you'll get those costs back in return. Having a website isn't just about bringing in the people who visit your website, but also not losing the people who discover you don't have one. When I am looking for a service and I find they don't have a website... it makes me a little uncomfortable. When you talk about disagreements within the Hombu hierarchy delaying or preventing a website, I have a really simple answer for that. The Hombu hierarchy should not really be involved in those decisions. Just like you wouldn't want a web designer to tell you how to teach the martial arts, you shouldn't tell a talented web designer how to use typography or colors. That is their job and area of expertise and why you are paying them. If a school owner does not want to have a website, that's totally cool. If you are content as you are, OK. No one has to have one. But most schools who do that will be harming themselves in a major way. And when you talk about older, more obscure martial art styles, I think when you don't work to bring new people into the fold, you increase the chances that interest in your art will simply die out. If you want to spread your message, you have to bring it to the people in the medium they use. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Bob. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Bob. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, ps1. Patrick

Hope you and your family have a great time. Obviously I haven't been to the tournament, but I also haven't been to the Mall of America. Patrick

Welcome back, Laurie. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Bob. Patrick

The Dolphins have us all excited. We'll see how that ends up...

Thank you for the submission, Noah. Patrick

Everyone can Google, but when someone like Nidan Melbourne comes here to ask this question, they are looking for recommendations from our members here. I appreciate it. Patrick

Congrats gronis. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Heidi. Patrick

And that's how legends are born.

Thank you for sharing this, Brian. Patrick

Hello, Thank you for visiting KarateForums.com. We recognize one member every month as the KarateForums.com Member of the Month for their positive contributions to this community. The September selection is... guird. Congratulations! Thank you for all of your great contributions to our community. Sincerely, Patrick

Congrats. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Danielle. Patrick

Congrats Karate_John. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Devin. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, KyungYet. Patrick

Hello and welcome, Arvind. Glad to have you. Patrick

Thank you for the submission, Heidi. Patrick