Wal-Mart Dojo's?!?

[sensei8]

OK...I've seen it all now. While they don't have many locations...they do exist. Dojo's inside of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. This company even offers franchises. I saw this ad in the latest MASuccess magazine.

[sensei8]

Oh yeah...Bill Wallace developed their core program. Frank Silverman, Frank Metzger, and Cody Pepper are the owners of this concept.

Are their prices guaranteed to be low just like Wal-Mart?

Here's the link...

http://thecentermixedmartialarts.com/

[evergrey]

Oh man, I already worry that I'll end up on "People of Walmart" every time I go out shopping. Going to Walmart in my dogi... noooo.

[Wastelander]

Ohhhh, there's one down in Gilbert, AZ. I'm tempted to invite them to our open sparring event

[evergrey]

Haha, I am always amazed by how many people aren't willing to come to open sparring events. It's either "we're not allowed to play with anyone outside of our school/org/style" or "we're too deadly to spar!"

It's a shame, because I think everyone benefits from playing with people of other styles.

[sensei8]

There's not many of them in operations right now. This leads me to think that this concept is either very new and/or not yet fully accepted by the executives at Wal-Mart. As fast as Wal-Mart tires of dojo's inside of their box that aren't increasing their bottom line or affecting their corporate/community image...out with the dojo's and in with something else that will drive their bottom line.

[ps1]

Explain how this would be different than any other large martial arts organization!? Why does it deserve ridicule while others get a free ride?

[FangPwnsAll7]

Hopefully I'll see one near me soon. It looks interesting.

[sensei8]

Explain how this would be different than any other large martial arts organization!? Why does it deserve ridicule while others get a free ride?

It's not any different from any other large MA organization...AND...my intent is not to ridicule them at all. I wish them much success because not many find their store front inside of a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

I'm just surprised that Wal-Mart allowed the concept inside of their Supercenter because a dojo just doesn't seem to fit quite well inside the big-box system, imho, and having an understanding about the big-box system, Wal-Mart will drop them fast if it doesn't fits into the needs of Wal-Mart. Look at any Supercenter as far as what concepts are found out front beyond the registers...they're here today and then they're gone tomorrow...at the decision of Wal-Mart, and the Supercenter where I live...the retail store front space on the west-side changes on a normal basis.

[darksoul]

I wonder if they teach Ameri-do-te?