# school + ?



## mrhnau (May 22, 2006)

One thing I've seen with alot of martial arts stores/locations is that alot of the time there are no classes going on during the day. Some of the sites I've seen only have classes starting at 5 or 6 in the evening. If you are a propriater, do you attempt to do something in the down time? Or, if this is your full time job, how do you keep classes going all day long, or are you making enough to where there is no need to do so?

I guess I just see so much floor space sitting there unused for so many hours a day, and I've been wondering how groups deal with it...


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## Rick Wade (May 22, 2006)

Easy bring in a yoga instructor or a arobics instructor and let them rent out floor space.  during the day  you should be hitting the groups up like rotary and the dirent lodges as well as boy scouts and girl scouts to do a quick 1 hour seminar/speaking engaement.  

When you can't teach because people are working let some one rent your space.  While they are renting your space work on getting new business.

You can run a class during lunch time though.

V/R

Rick


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## Old Fat Kenpoka (May 22, 2006)

I suggest turning part of your school into a cafe.   That way, hungry passersby can watch and become interested in martial arts training.  And, exhausted and thirsty students can spend money refreshing themselves after class.   You could even have a frequent diner card and offer a free lesson after 10 latte's.


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## Zoran (May 23, 2006)

I wrote a short article about this.



> Many school owners only use about 10-25% of their facility's time slots. To increase revenue, many owners have opted to change their system to accommodate more people. Such as making their system more friendly and easier to gain rank, such as black belt. They then wonder why some martial artists are calling their school a McDojo.
> 
> *How a McDojo is Born*
> First, let&#8217;s look at why this happens. When you open a martial arts school, you are only attracting a very small percentage of the local population. Let&#8217;s face it, not many people wish to be in the martial arts for various reasons. Even with those that wish to try a martial art, many will not wish to apply themselves to the necessary discipline and physical/mental hardships that most martial arts system require. So what happens is the school owner will change their system to allow more people to join and stay interested. After a time, a McDojo is born.
> ...


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## Old Fat Kenpoka (May 23, 2006)

Zoran said:
			
		

> I wrote a short article about this.


 
What?  No Latte's?


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## TigerWoman (May 23, 2006)

I teach a 8AM TKD class for women.  There is a M-W-F noon class--mostly black belts and upper rank now.  Then at 2:30 is the 4-5 yr. olds, then two more kids classes.  Then there is a women's kickboxing class at 5:30PM T-Th. then a regular TKD family class every night of the week, and on Fridays, a BB class late 8PM. So the only time is in the mornings and an hour in the early afternoon.  If you have daycare you can fill those classes, but otherwise not.  TW


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## stickarts (May 23, 2006)

We haven't gotten many calls from people interested in day classes over the years and in our situation we couldn't easily cover them either. It is a shame to have the down time for space that we are paying for. It has been difficult to find someone to sublet to that would also be a good fit for what we do here.
To fill the space during the down time would be a great way to help pay the bills and bring more traffic through the school.


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## Zoran (May 23, 2006)

Old Fat Kenpoka said:
			
		

> What?  No Latte's?


How about a martial arts bookstore/cofee shop. Where you can watch a martial arts class as you sip your coffee and read your favorite MA book or magazine.


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## bushidomartialarts (May 24, 2006)

when i'm rich and famous, i'll have a coffe shop/bookshop next door to my dojo.  the shop will have several comfy couches and closed-circuit tv monitors showing what's going on in class on the other side.

provides a good service, a comfy waiting space, extra income and a way to keep the parents off the sidelines.


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## Old Fat Kenpoka (May 24, 2006)

Zoran said:
			
		

> How about a martial arts bookstore/cofee shop. Where you can watch a martial arts class as you sip your coffee and read your favorite MA book or magazine.


 
Good idea...but... then Barnes & Noble and Borders will take over...  And we will all be in big trouble when they open a Tae Kwon Do section between their coffee shop and the kids books...


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