It's unfair to compare a striking art school with a grappling art school. When a striking art student is still punching into the thin air, the grappling art students already wrestle with their opponents on the mat.
I think you should stick to your standards and aim for breaking even on costs. It is easy and tempting to give in to the financials. You may need to keep a day job and keep this just something you do for the love of it. Maybe eventually you make some pocket money. That’s ok.
Where did that come from? Admittedly I have a couple on ignore, but I didn't see anyone even mention CMA before you.
Someone mentioned having trouble maintaining standards with large classes. He does some kind of CMA. I agree that when you don’t have a real way to use the skills, it’s going to be hard to maintain standards.
I remember my Sifu telling me to bring a mouth guard and cup to class when I finally got invited to the late class. The first night I watched guys go 2 vs 1 for 1 minute rounds. No rules, but the Sifu gave verbal instruction during each round and was very much in control of the match. People were bloodied and knocked down repeatedly. Does that count as application? Is that not a real way to use the skills? Would I need to kick someone’s knee or air choke them to prove that I can do it? Exactly how does one practice application of such things? Im not sure what you mean when you say this, perhaps you could elaborate for me. if I am misunderstanding you, please forgive me.
Not many people want to do CMA training. Hard work with no rank or patches on a neat uniform isn’t very attractive to most folks out shopping for a dojo. Plus, you know cultish and secretive CMA is.
no place for kids.
That doesn't look right...too wordy to be an "old saying".
I agreed with your whole post, and that old saying, but I think you just made that up because it sounds right.
It's not even about application, if you ask me. It's as simple as sweat and tears, and lack of physical discipline. That's what all the old school Chinese masters had (there are pics) and what a lot of modern "Kung Fu masters" lack (there is video).
Not many people want to do CMA training. Hard work with no rank or patches on a neat uniform isn’t very attractive to most folks out shopping for a dojo. Plus, you know cultish and secretive CMA is.
We are the only school I have found that teaches Tai chi in its martial aspect . Most people only teach it in one direction, are off balance, don’t understand the transitions, or are collapsed, etc. I could go on and on.
I should say that I have made exceptions for teens, but only if the parent trains with them, I’m not interested in babysitting. Nothing wrong with training kids, I just don’t want to.
I suppose I could have a very large kids class if all the parents that have asked me about it actually brought their kids, personally that sounds like the third layer of hell. Maybe It’s because there were never children in the gym when I was training, my teachers did not teach kids either.
Much of what you say here makes sense. Teaching is not doing. I never had intention to teach, it means you train more alone and that means missing out on some of the group dynamic. I am lucky that most of the guys I came up with are supportive and come to my class even though they are every bit my equals. That there are at least 7 of us that are qualified and able to teach. All of us are around 50 years old and have professional jobs and some have kids. We never have had a business sense about the training, the goal always being to train as much and as hard as possible. We barely broke even most months. The standards are very high. The culture of our gym has always been centered on striving for maximum personal potential. I have said before that if we couldn’t afford dues, the Sifu had us work at his house mucking out horse stalls and the like In exchange for training. That, by any standard, is not a lucrative business model. I have always felt that students received the very highest standard in training, for the very lowest amount of money. The only thing you said that I disagree with is that 1 in 10 people become skilled. I would say it’s more like 1 in 40.
There are good schools all over. I grew up doing Uechi and there are many large schools. Some schools during the 90's had 800 students. But that's not normal. Its rare.
