Demo teams a waste of time?

[miguksaram]

I split off these posts because I felt that this was a topic worth discussing, with some good discussion already going on.

 

You totally lost me with your post. What do you mean you split off these posts?

[Shorinryu Sensei]

OK..I just had to dive in here. I, personally, see no sense in demo teams anyway.

 

Sure, I have no problem giving demos if you want to for whatever reason (we need an excuse? lol), but the way I see it..why do you have to have a SPECIAL demo team? What's wrong with the rest of your students, that you don't want the public to see them???

 

If I was a student, and wasn't picked to be on the demo team..the first thing I'd think was.."I must really SUCK!" Is that the message we want to send students..regardless if it's true or not?

 

OK..this is what I do for demos. I tell everybody in my class that I have been asked to give a demo in the mall at 12:00 on Saturday. I would really appreciate it, although not require it, if everybody would show up and help out with this.

 

We will be doing yadda yadda, this and that, and I'd like everybody to meet at the dojo at 11:00 for warmups and to go over what I'd like to do.

 

Please make sure your uniforms are clean and looking GREAT!

 

Basically, EVERY SINGLE PERSON in my dojo is on the "demo team" at my school, from little Suzy that just joined class last week and doesn't have a gi yet, to the old fart of the group...ME!

 

Good or bad, I am very proud of my people and want to show ALL OF THEM off to the public when we do a demonstratiion.

 

Anyway,that's my opinion on it.

[ChungDoKwanKevin]

I agree that everyone should be involved in most public demonstration. It is only fair that every student should be able to show off their skills and hard work. It also makes the most sense to show all abilities and levels of students. To have the students that are decent (average) next to the people that are really good lets the public see that you must start somewhere and what is possible. That alone encourages sign ups. While a floor lined with A+ students is impressive, it can give a lot of onlookers the feeling that they cannot do it.

[backfist]

To an extent, I can appreciate Tumadre's (y tu mama tambien, verdad?) point that borrowed time for demos and demo rehearsals has to be taken from somewhere. And that somewhere is often the time allocated for new student prospecting. I trained with a guy who's an outstanding martial artist; got me an extra part in a karate flick that actually got some decent play; and now he choreographs fight scenes in movies. But that all came at a price. I, and probably several other students, were literally starving for more MA knowledge but were being neglected and malnourished because of all the time demo'ing or rehearsing.

 

But in another school, it worked just the opposite. A little time spent for demos worked well because the intent was to attract new students, not for ego gratification. Demos can work well depending on the goal.

[searcher]

If I were standing next to ernie Reyes, Sr. I would have to say it is great for publicity, but I don't think you would want to have practise for the team interupt your regular class time. If you are going to have a demo team you had better have a lot of experienced members for your team, that can work on their routines without a great deal of input from you, of course you are going to have to help them, but keep it to a minimum.

[Guy_Mendiola]

i don't think Demo Teams are a waste of time, they represent your dojang.

[jaja87]

and where did you get those statistics? did you go around surveying schools around the country? or is it just from your experience? IMO demo teams do alot for a martial arts school if done right.

[Practice is the key _]

What is a demo team? Is it compettion kata?

[granmasterchen]

when my school has a demonstration coming we tell the students, if they want to show up and show off some of their skills then they should talk to us and let us know what they would like to do. Train after class on the particular area that you and your instructor have agreed on. During class we train on the regular things that we normally do.

 

Demos are a good way to advertise and depending on the situation, raise money for certain events, i always throw a demo for the cancer run and similar medical events to raise money for them, it draws a crowd and the students get a water bottle or shirt and they feel good that they can show off in front of some people, it makes everyone happy and is not a required thing, takes no time away from class, and helps people that are not familiar with martial arts to learn and experience some of the things that my school has to offer. Normally for a demo we have some students do katas simultaneously with each move done in harmony with the other at full speed, this takes time to practice after class, also we show off our accuracey by throwing controlled kicks and puches and such at individiuals, do a little sparrings, lots of breaking, and give some lectures, we also do some self defenses, letting some smaller students toss around some of the big guys, or show that women can easily throw a guy twice her size on the ground if she had too. So it is a very good experience for the community and such, just dont let an ego build or any of it to go to your head it is for fun and hopefully for the betterment of mankind in the future by training a younger generation some of the finer points of the way we can be patient and humble.

[equaninimus]

I always thought "Demo Teams" were sort of like "Black Belt Clubs," "SWAT Teams," and other marketing gimmicks used by McDojos to separate the marks,er..I mean the students, from their money.