Opening a Dojo?

[Kyokushinkai]

Hi!

It's my first post on this forum so hopefully it's in the right section!

I haven't made up my mind yet, but I was thinking of starting to teach Kyokushinkai Karate. I have a Sandan Black belt, not a Rokudan like my teacher, but it's still pretty good?

I will keep on training in my Shihan's dojo so I can keep advancing of course! So I won't be stopping my training.

I was thinking of accepting brown belts and lower to begin with so I could build myself up from there, then open up to black belts.

Are there any things I should look out for or think of? I can tell my future students to buy their uniform and belt from me or they can buy it on their own.

How can I make certificates when it's time for them to carry on with the next belt level?

I was also thinking of not having a time frame of 8 weeks where I would have a grading test; I will judge their ability and see if they're ready for the next belt and then invite them to a grading test. I don't want it to be a McDojo! I want to keep the tradition of earning it with your sweat and experience.

Do you know of any locations where I could start to teach that isn't expensive to rent? Especially since I'm just starting and don't have students yet...

Do I need insurance?

Anything else is much appreciated,

Thanks!

[sensei8]

Welcome to KarateForums!!

Being a Sandan has always been considered as the idea rank for someone to possess while starting their own dojo. However, I've seen brown belts start their own dojo's and they're still at it. They too also trained continuously under their Sensei/Shihan and the like while teaching at their own dojo's.

Your student body will be up to you. However, every dojo needs a student body of all ranks; white to black belt. Many dojo's starting student body only consist of white belts and then those white belts become yellow belts, and so on and so forth. Many invite practitioners of their own style and/or other practitioners from outside of their style; therefore, invite as you see fit.

Since money and the lack thereof will dictate to you as far as what you can and what you can't do, then let your smallest idea grow with every being of your heart, mind, and soul; small ideas beget large ideas. When I first started, I had a catalog from Century Martial Arts Supply sitting on my counter right next to my sign in sheets. If they wanted something, all they had to do is tell me, I'd make the order, then send it in, and in 2-3 days, their order would be there when they came to class that particular day. After that, I grew a supply store one item after another, and before I knew it, I had a full blown supply store in the front of my dojo.

I wouldn't mess with making your own certificates because your certs can still come from your Shihan and/or the governing body that your Shihan belongs to. However, there are many companies that can sell you generic certs or they can make custom certs if you so desire. Many supply houses sell a wide variety of certs, but they too can be found to be quite generic. For as long as I've been in the MA, I've received all of my certs from my governing body; those have satisfied my desires. Most/Some/Many governing bodies will provide certs to you that all you have to do is fill in date, name, cert number, and your signature...then send it in for the governing body to affix stamps/seals. Now, you can make your own stamps and seals but the clout needed to back them up might not be so appropriate and the like.

Community centers in your town, churches, public schools, gyms, another dojo that sublets time, YMCA, dance schools, and this is just a small sample of where one might start when ones funds are limited. After all, store fronts are quite expensive to say the least. Plus there's the utilities and the like; things that aren't negotiable at all times.

Insurance, imho, is a must because injuries happen, but, you can be sued for just about anything. I'd say that having insurance is paramount! Many insurance companies provide quite reasonable prices to carry, one just has to let their fingers do the walking in your local phone books. Also, they can be found in many MA magazines.

While advertising is essential, it's also quite expensive to run a successful advertising campaign to attract new students. So, find a local tournament and see if you can put on a demo or put up a table to sign up new potential students. Flyers work and sometimes flyers don't. It depends on where you blanket because not many businesses are keen about you decorating their store front. There are yard signs that are cheap and public property will allow them, if only for a short period.

Good luck...hang in there...and believe in yourself across the board!!

[bushido_man96]

Good advise from Bob there. I don't think I can add much to it. For starting out, you might consider only taking new students, until you feel comfortable taking in more advanced students.

As for the certificates, talk to your current instructor, and see if he can help you with the templates he uses.

I wish you luck in opening a school. Its a challenge, but a reward as well.

[JohnASE]

Lots of great info in the posts above.

I'd like to add that some of the locations Bob mentioned might include insurance.

Oh, and regarding supplies, I'm not exactly unbiased, but I think students should try to buy from their dojos. The sensei can't always get the cheapest price, but they can make sure the student gets the right product. This is especially important for new students. Plus, the profits from supply sales can help keep the dojo alive while keeping fees down.

[mal103]

I put some general advice in this post:

http://www.karateforums.com/new-instructor-teaching-kids-vt44580.html

With regards to running a club and the general admin then I would use your existing club/Sensei as much as possible and keep it as simple as possible.

You have to sometimes change what you are doing and where you are doing it, don't just plod on hoping it will improve, try different things - especially advertising.

Just be careful not to spend out hundreds of pounds hoping you will make it back, if a small ad in a paper gets no interest then try something else.

Not everyone is a natural teacher although you will improve over time, take it steady and keep up your own training.

Most of all enjoy it, but don't expect everyone to be the same as you, i've gained about 20 students in my clubs - some train in my Dojo and my Sensei's Dojo's - I think about 5 are as keen as me, 10 are average and the rest are just plodding along hoping to hang in long enough to become good enough for a Black belt.

A lot of the time YOU have to imspire your students so keep it active, varied and interesting. Try to teach something new each lesson.

[kensei]

Hey Kyokushinkai,

We just started a new club in our organization and being the chairman of said organization I can tell you that starting up your own group...lots of work...but it can be worth it if you go at it smart.

Sandan is a great rank, and actually rather high, for start up programs. Like Sensei8 Ihave seen a few Ikkyu open clubs up in our areas and I, like my instructor, opened my first club as a purple belt. Some junior grades are much better instructors than Dan grades simply because they are better teachers, rank has nothing to do with it. However, sandan and Nidan are great grades to start a club.

Start off of course with White belts but talk to your instructor and ask him if he is comfortable with you teaching up to a specific level or like most instructors are you simply going to give your knowledge, grow your self and see what happens. One of my juniors started teaching as a Shodan and just earned his Nidan...and has four Shodans that he teaches, one of which was a Shodan who came back to train and was originally my instructors student. Teaching a class does not mean you have to be six levels above your students or any such sillieness.

First thing you need to know is what kind of school are you going to get going, is it going to be a community club/church based club or are you looking at buying/renting/leasing a store front or area to train in. The expenses alone for any of these will dictate your over all cost. you will have rent/lease fees or a mortgage to deal with and insurance, upkeep and renovations to start with. it can be costly and I only suggest you start your program in a community club or shared space to start till you build up a good student base to help support the expenses.

Sell your students gis, its important to keep the quality at the level you are comfortable with. You dont want a kid showing up in a TKD outfit that says TKD in black accross the back while you try and teach Karate to them in a more public setting. I also suggest that you build a fee into things so you can help pay rent, save up money and ensure that the business end of things is going well. Make sure you have a stalk or can get your hands on stalk for any gear you need. Again, quality control is important as well as financing your dream dojo.

Certificates are normally the domain of the organization. However, if your group does not offer them ask your instructor about this. Their may be a reason and you dont want to step on any toes.

As for testing, again take the lead from your instructor, and I always say Mock tests before an exam to show if a student is ready is a great idea, even getting other seniors from your organization to teach a class or two and hold "mini seminars" to get them to help and see if they are ready...the more options and oppinions you get the better. We generally dont let students test unless we think they are ready and one in particular did not test this go round and was not happy but I pointed out her Kata was not good and we can work on it, but its up to her to get ready...she agreed and her mother was happy we did not put her up to test and get embarassed.

I always suggest that you start your club in a local gym/church or community club and work out an agreable rental price. the down side is you are at their mercy and often it will screw with your classes, but the up swing is that you dont have much money on the line.

Insurance is often part of the organization fees that you pay, however if you are independent you will want to look into that, depending on were you life you might have to pass the cost on to students ext. also if you go through a community club or hall they may have their own and can "hire" you on as a contractor so you are under them. but if you go solo you will want to look inot this.

The hardest part will be the marketing and administration, which sounds nuts because of everything I kind of outlined above. If you are going solo in a stand alone the work goes up ten fold and you are on your own...my suggestion is to start small in a small space and build. Have a building plan of five years from a tiny class of six to ten to a 40 student club and keep pushing at it. Keep good record of EVERYTHING and write notes on what worked, what failed and what just kind of fizzled at your feet.

a good instructor is not just a teacher, they are a success at planning and implamentation as well as administration and marketing...or at the least htye are lucky enough to have people good at that stuff.

To start with, go small...get into a Community club or church hall and work hard to market and build your club from the first step, dont get frustrated or put off by set backs or losses...just believe that you can do it and if your teaching is good you will.

[sensei8]

Hey Kyokushinkai,

We just started a new club in our organization and being the chairman of said organization I can tell you that starting up your own group...lots of work...but it can be worth it if you go at it smart.

Sandan is a great rank, and actually rather high, for start up programs. Like Sensei8 Ihave seen a few Ikkyu open clubs up in our areas and I, like my instructor, opened my first club as a purple belt. Some junior grades are much better instructors than Dan grades simply because they are better teachers, rank has nothing to do with it. However, sandan and Nidan are great grades to start a club.

Start off of course with White belts but talk to your instructor and ask him if he is comfortable with you teaching up to a specific level or like most instructors are you simply going to give your knowledge, grow your self and see what happens. One of my juniors started teaching as a Shodan and just earned his Nidan...and has four Shodans that he teaches, one of which was a Shodan who came back to train and was originally my instructors student. Teaching a class does not mean you have to be six levels above your students or any such sillieness.

First thing you need to know is what kind of school are you going to get going, is it going to be a community club/church based club or are you looking at buying/renting/leasing a store front or area to train in. The expenses alone for any of these will dictate your over all cost. you will have rent/lease fees or a mortgage to deal with and insurance, upkeep and renovations to start with. it can be costly and I only suggest you start your program in a community club or shared space to start till you build up a good student base to help support the expenses.

Sell your students gis, its important to keep the quality at the level you are comfortable with. You dont want a kid showing up in a TKD outfit that says TKD in black accross the back while you try and teach Karate to them in a more public setting. I also suggest that you build a fee into things so you can help pay rent, save up money and ensure that the business end of things is going well. Make sure you have a stalk or can get your hands on stalk for any gear you need. Again, quality control is important as well as financing your dream dojo.

Certificates are normally the domain of the organization. However, if your group does not offer them ask your instructor about this. Their may be a reason and you dont want to step on any toes.

As for testing, again take the lead from your instructor, and I always say Mock tests before an exam to show if a student is ready is a great idea, even getting other seniors from your organization to teach a class or two and hold "mini seminars" to get them to help and see if they are ready...the more options and oppinions you get the better. We generally dont let students test unless we think they are ready and one in particular did not test this go round and was not happy but I pointed out her Kata was not good and we can work on it, but its up to her to get ready...she agreed and her mother was happy we did not put her up to test and get embarassed.

I always suggest that you start your club in a local gym/church or community club and work out an agreable rental price. the down side is you are at their mercy and often it will screw with your classes, but the up swing is that you dont have much money on the line.

Insurance is often part of the organization fees that you pay, however if you are independent you will want to look into that, depending on were you life you might have to pass the cost on to students ext. also if you go through a community club or hall they may have their own and can "hire" you on as a contractor so you are under them. but if you go solo you will want to look inot this.

The hardest part will be the marketing and administration, which sounds nuts because of everything I kind of outlined above. If you are going solo in a stand alone the work goes up ten fold and you are on your own...my suggestion is to start small in a small space and build. Have a building plan of five years from a tiny class of six to ten to a 40 student club and keep pushing at it. Keep good record of EVERYTHING and write notes on what worked, what failed and what just kind of fizzled at your feet.

a good instructor is not just a teacher, they are a success at planning and implamentation as well as administration and marketing...or at the least htye are lucky enough to have people good at that stuff.

To start with, go small...get into a Community club or church hall and work hard to market and build your club from the first step, dont get frustrated or put off by set backs or losses...just believe that you can do it and if your teaching is good you will.

Solid post!!