Making Martial Arts a career

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Hey all,

 

Im coming to the point in my martial art life where i am starting to understand what it REALLY is about, rather being blinded by the gradings and black belt respect. Its now become more of an obession and apart of my thoughts and how i act. I have to say that im enjoying learning Martial Arts more everyday, and i feel it is something that i want to be apart of for the rest of my life. Many of you may think and feel that i am too young to understand what it is about or i am being too naive in my thoughts but please feel free to voice your opinion.

 

It is now a time in my life where i now choose which career to pursue, and choose which university i wish to go to. I would say that i am intelligent enough, considering my grades, to perhaps choosing medicene or law as a future profession, but even though those are great wonderful careers, i would still feel empty and a certain loss for Martial Arts. That is why i thought of perhaps doing a retail management degree, to have the knowledge so that i could perhaps open several martial art schools and perhaps make a living off my dream.

 

But is this a realistic dream or pure fictional?, am i being just plain naive or can you really make a career out of martial arts?

 

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[stl_karateka]

Good question -- I think you are making the best choice you can make right now and that is to pursue your college degree --- continue to train while in college --- hopefully you will be in a position to establish a strong relationship with a senior instructor that would be willing to show you some of the ins and outs of running a school.

 

You mentioned opening several schools --- while some people do this with great sucess, others it is a nightmare ---- perhaps see how you feel after you own and operate one school for a while

 

My two cents

[karatekid1975]

Ad, it's good that you want to go to college. To prepare for running a MA school, take something along the lines of business management.

 

I work for my instructor. He knows that I'd like to have my own school one day. He is basically teaching me the "ins and outs" of running a school. We chat about it all the time. I am also going to take up small business management to help me run my future school.

 

Maybe someday you could work for your instructor, if possible. It is good training, and a great place to start.

[John G]

Life as a club owner + instructor + student is considerably different to that of a student.

 

My advice would be to stay as a MA student for as long as possible and just enjoy the journey. Work towards achieving the education required for jobs that may be in demand in 5 to 10 years time and find a part time job (could be MA) where you can save enough money to travel the world on a working holiday for a few years. After which, you may then decide what you want to do for the next 40 years.

 

Alternatively you could go to collage and study sociology, business, marketing and then become a school teacher.

 

Be mindful to keep your MA studies up for the next 15 to 20 years so you can develop political alliances within your MA group/s, become a mover and shaker and be seen by all of influence. Save up enough money ($20,000 to $30,000 US) to start up your first part time club (use the school teaching network to recruit students), and find a partner who also aspires to your dreams, and who (if necessary) can support you financially/ emotionally/ technically for at least the next 3 to 5 years whilst you develop a name for your club/s. Given this, you may have half a chance in succeeding in your club ownership dreams.

 

Most of the time MA instructors don’t make very good business managers and generally fail within the first two years after opening a club.

 

MA is a service INDUSTRY (always has, always will be); this is what MA is “REALLY” about.

 

May you succeed and be happy in whatever field of endeavour you choose.

 

Respectfully,

[Tibby]

Your hobbies and you career doen't have to match. Yeha, Ofcourse you are going to feel something lacking in your career, because chances are, if you get into law, you are not going to enjoy your job! There is nothing wrong with doing a Jobyou are not REALLY happy with. You job doesn't haveto be fun. Your job makes you in the money need to do fun things.

 

With medicene or law, grade and intelligence aren't as big an issue as you might think. They have a saying in Med school "A students do the best research, B students make the best Doc's, and C students make the most money."

 

Basicly what I'm saying is that you don't have to get a career in MA to enjoy it. You can have it as a hobbie, maybe find a school you like and offer to be a Sensei under the head instructor, so you can help run a school, but have much less to worry about.

[Lazy Scholar]

there are some things you have to consider: the necessity of attracting students or other means of income via the ma industry. Making videos, doing seminars, doing privates on top of group classes. Just be aware of what might happen.. Just don't do it to the point where the Ma COULD be a chore.

[aefibird]

Ad, I think you're doing the right thing by wanting to stay in university/college. Think about what you want to do there and go for that! Just remember that if you did decide to open up your own club and it all went 'pear-shaped' as the saying goes, would you have something worhwhile to fall back on, or would you just have got any old degree so that you could rush through university and open a club at the end of it?

 

Regarding working in the martial arts, how about letting your instructor know how you feel and seeing if he/she will let you help him/her, in teaching or in administration or whatever.

 

Remember also, that just because you might be going away to university doesn't necessarily mean you'll lose contact with MA. Many colleges have various martial arts clubs and there are bound to be a few near where you go to study. Keep studying and get your degree and by the end of it you may have a clearer idea in your mind of what you want to do.

 

Good luck!

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I appreciate the quality of responses that i am receiving on this topic, and i have thought alot about what many of you have said. Its not an easy decision, and as aefibird has just mentioned, 'if all else fails then what do i rely on to support myself with?'. Doing a business management degree seems to be whats known as a medioka 'easy' degree in the uk, so there is always that annoying question that if my martial art plan does fail, will a business degree alone find me security and happiness in life?. Also there is the fact that if i am so lucky enough to be successful in opening several martial art school, could i have spent my time more wisely and serving the public better by perhaps becoming a doctor?. There is the nagging questions for pros and cons on this topic and i just feel that with time and experience that things will become more clearer.

 

John G, you mentioned that martial arts is a service industry, this is so true and i do not want to be focusing on profits and loose the very meaning of martial arts which i have seen in alot of places, then again if not enough attention is placed on profits then what are the chances of finding financial security within martial arts?

 

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