Don't Make Our Same Mistakes

[sensei8]

When I say "Our" in the subject title, I'm referring to the Shindokan Hombu. Having said that, I echo the same mistakes in running my own dojo, but not to the extreme as our Hombu does.

Some of our mistakes:[in no particular order]

1. No advertisements

2. No contracts

3. No testing fees

4. Being stuck in the past

5. No website

6. No Brand Management

7. No phone book presence

8. No meaningful purpose outside of our immediate circle

The Hombu business model scares me to death. Our Soke and our Dai-Soke didn't believe in any of the stuff listed above. They only believed in word-of-mouth, and it's worked as far as our student body totals count because it's huge. However, we're virtually unknown in the MA world...and it's starting to really bother me for some reason.

Having said that, the Hombu has solicited outside assistance to help us break out of the past, but to no avail. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make the horse drink. We start with great intentions, but then we revert right back into the mindsets of our Soke and Dai-Soke.

We've been accused of running our Hombu as a business, and that's good. Why? Our Hombu IS a business!! That's what our Soke and Dai-Soke intended and that's what we're committed to. The Hombu is a business that teaches Shindokan, first and foremost.

Do you know what a style without any outside followers is? It's a style that's on a long and lonely walk. We're insignificant! Those that are slow to reinvent their business are fast to kill their business.

Well, back to my walk...

[JusticeZero]

Those are all ways of getting out into the eyes of the general, non-MA public, but you want to get out into the martial arts world. I don't know that the "martial arts world" cares all that much about whether you are listed in the phone book or if you have testing fees, because that is stuff that is seen by people who aren't a martial artist yet.

Why not try getting out in the martial arts world specifically? publish or perish, maybe? Magazine articles, books.. Seminars..

The people in the "martial arts world" don't look in the phone book for the new school to check out their pricing structure. They see articles, hear about the guys who turned up at one event and hosted another, and talk about the people who showed their police friends that interesting new principle they hadn't seen before.

[Montana]

Some of our mistakes:[in no particular order]

1. No advertisements

2. No contracts

3. No testing fees

4. Being stuck in the past

5. No website

6. No Brand Management

7. No phone book presence

8. No meaningful purpose outside of our immediate circle

I'm not sure what you mean by brand management, stuck in the past or no meaniful purpose, but I'm pretty sure that all of these applied to me when I had a commercial school.

I advertised when I first started, with no results to make it worthwhile doing again. I abhor contracts, but see the purpose in them. Website? HA! Define brand management please. I got inb the phoebn book the 2nd year I was open...VERY expensive for a businbess, abnd I found it not to be worthwhile. What is #8?

[sensei8]

Fair questions Montana. Let me see if I can answer them.

Brand Management is managing ones Brand in such a way that it becomes a household name. For example, Wal-Mart is a Brand, and in that, Wal-Mart is a household name; everyone knows it quite well.

McDonalds, BestBuy, Blockbuster, Target, RadioShack, Lowes, IHOP, GM, MicroSoft, and on and on and on. Every company within the top 100 or 500 Companies have mastered Brand Management. Each of these companies within each of their stores has Brand Manager employees who's only job is to make sure that their Brand is everywhere inside of the big-box for the consumer to see at every corner while their shopping.

Within our own industry...Century Martial Arts has mastered Brand Management. UFC has mastered Brand Management. TapOut has mastered Brand Management. Black Belt Magazine has mastered Brand Management.

From the top 100/500 Companies, and all the way to the mom and pop shops in your own town have mastered in some way Brand Management, especially if they've been in business for some time now. In your small town, everyone knows them, and that's, up to some point, Brand Management.

Brand Management doesn't have to be expensive. Top 100/500 Companies wouldn't be where they are now if they worried about the cost of it beyond it's controllable. No, they'd be hurting for certain. They set the cost to run Brand Management in such a way that that alone helps their bottom line.

As far as #8 is concerned. Shindokan is nothing OUTSIDE of our own immediate circle. Nobody here at KF knew Shindokan existed until I joined. I didn't join KF to tell every member here that we existed. No, I joined because I needed an escape away from the Shindokan circle or I was going to self-implode without an outside vent. In a small way, but not on purpose, I've been doing Brand Management here at KF because I talk about almost everything that is Shindokan and our Hombu and the like, and that's my vent.

I feel that outside of the Shindokan circle, we've no meaningful purpose. Outside of that circle, what is our purpose?!? However, it's possible that we don't need a noticeable purpose outside of our circle. We love our students, our student body loves Shindokan, and in that we have purpose within our circle. But, for 48+ years I've heard this..."I never heard of Shindokan!!" As a practitioner of Shindokan, it doesn't bother me at all...so what?! But, as Kaicho, it's starting to bother me a little bit.

To list a few...Shotokan, Goju-ryu, BJJ, MMA, TKD, Judo, Ninja, and JKD. These are well known, and in that, nobody ever says judgmentally to them..."I never heard of you before!!"

It's not that they've never heard of Shindokan, that doesn't bother me at all. I know it exists and so does our student body, but it's the judgmental tone of which they ask/state their question. That bothers me.

Well, then some serious Brand Management would solve that. Would it really solve that? I'm not sure. I know...Boo-hoo poor me!! Possibly I misworded #8 by using such a blanket statement.

[Dobbersky]

Agreed, my school is a small school, I tend to go woromouth, but I do have a website and I am listed on Google maps. Did a few demos we don't charge the earth and gradings and gear is charged slightly higher than we get it to cover admin.

Definitely something to look at.

Edited May 20, 2012 by Dobbersky

[MasterPain]

Hmm, those things sound familiar.

As a person gets older, they begin to worry about legacy. A legacy doesn't need to be widespread or well-known. It just needs to be real and good.

A google search of Shindokan finds several styles with Shindo Kan or Shindokan in the name, and you here on Karateforums. A google of Bujin Bugei Jutsu finds us here on the forums, our friend Steve Bien's author's website, and the Bujinkan. At least you don't have to explain to anyone that you are not Bujinkan. Speaking of which, they do most of the things you mentioned.

[JohnASE]

Some of our mistakes:[in no particular order]

1. No advertisements

2. No contracts

3. No testing fees

4. Being stuck in the past

5. No website

6. No Brand Management

7. No phone book presence

8. No meaningful purpose outside of our immediate circle

I think some of these are important while others aren't. Much of this seems to be about information-ads, website, brand, phonebook.

I'm not sure I see a reason for the organization to buy ads. People in the group know about it; people out of the group probably wouldn't notice ads nor care about them. Advertising for individual dojos can be hit or miss. Sometimes they pay off, but often they don't. This includes phonebook ads. I suppose you don't know until you try, but some lessons are costly.

If you're trying to educate other martial artists about your style, I like JusticeZero's suggestion of publishing. Various periodicals and websites accept freelance articles. I doubt books would be of much interest to many outside of your organization. Publishing your own website has obvious advantages. Another way to gain exposure for the style is to hit the tournament circuit. If people see you out there competing, they'll want to learn about you. Winning would be great, but I think participating would be good enough. Volunteering as judges at tournaments is a good way to network, too.

"Being stuck in the past" is a tricky topic. Some change is necessary, but what is okay and what isn't? Is it okay to add more kyu ranks to keep students motivated AND start charging for testing, or would that come off as too greedy? Contracts can keep new students enrolled long enough to really give training a chance and can give loyal students a break on rates for a longer commitment, but do you forgive people who stop paying because they lose their jobs or move away, or do you send them to collections? If your style is too rough for small kids, is it okay to create a watered-down kids' program? If your style is only karate and has always been only karate, is it okay to add kobudo? People love weapons and will pay big money for weapons seminars! I've seen people break away from groups, and I've seen groups fall apart, because of differences of opinion over similar issues.

I suppose what I'm saying is that most things aren't black-and-white. Each of us has to decide what's best for us. Support your organization and follow their policies, or break away and do what you have to do. If you can, maybe stay with the organization and try to effect change from within. Personally, I'm a fan of the last one, but things don't always work out the way I think they should.

[sensei8]

Again, great posts, and I thank you. Please keep them coming.

For the most part, I suppose that I'm coming at this topic from an aspect of a business and not from a dojo aspect.

Unless your school of the martial arts is not in a commercial space, then one could treat their school as a dojo and not as a business. But, if you're in a commercial space, I feel you're going to have to treat your school of the martial arts just like a business because bills have to be paid and money has to be earned to pay these bills.

So I suppose, I've ran by dojo's as a business for quite a long time. Our Hombu has always ran it like a business; both businesses main commodity was the martial arts.

[JusticeZero]

Right, but the issue here is that you are being less than clear about what you want; this is likely because you have not yourself distilled it down yet. A lot of these things seem to appear together in a whole package, but really they come from and work toward different things. The goal you stated and the methods you listed do not necessarily move in the same direction.

Be careful with what you wish for, because you might get it and you want to get what you WANT, not something that you just ASSOCIATED WITH what you want. If you want to be rich like the guys you see driving around in fancy cars, say "I want to be rich", not "I want to own a sports car". Lots of people own sports cars who aren't rich, lots of people who are rich don't own sports cars, and you might come to a point where you have to chose between the sports car or becoming rich. You want the actual goal, not just a trapping of it without having the goal.

So: What group is it exactly that you want recognition by? Why? If you achieve your goal, what exactly will be different? How will you know you've arrived?

[sensei8]

Some very good points there JZ! Remember, as a MAist, I could care less. But, I'm mulling over many things as Kaicho, and right now, I'm just thinking out loud. Please don't misjudge my honorable intent; I've responsible for the entire student body, in and out of the Hombu, as well as the betterment of the Hombu and the like within Shindokan.

What group is it exactly that you want recognition by?

Any established/recognized Okinawa Organization.

Why?

A positive connection with Okinawa.

If you achieve your goal, what exactly will be different?

"Don't know Shindokan" judgmental comments might hopefully stop.

How will you know you've arrived?

The judgmental comments will have lessened.

Will I actually do anything? No, because, as a MAists, again, I don't care about what anybody thinks, internally and/or externally. Within our student body, the feelings are mixed, but not much from our adults, both students and Sensei's/Hombu, more from the children students because they don't understand why Shindokan isn't known like Shotokan/TKD, even though everyone from their Sensei to the Hombu has addressed these concerns to them in a nurturing and educational way.

I truly believe that, as a student body, we are quite complete in our totality.