Need Decorating Ideas for a Dojo

[CrimsonPhoenix]

My instructor and I have recently been given a new building to move our class into. We've been teaching out of churches and community centers since before I even started in martial arts and this is our first space that's really "ours." It's an old pharmacy and so we've been having to tear down shelving/counters, clean, and figure out what to do with the old tile floor (finally decided on puzzle mats). We don't charge for the classes, so everything we're doing is out of our own pockets. We're going to set out a donation jar so the students can contribute, but that's about it.

Currently, we have about 1500 square feet of useable space. We're laying the mats down on Saturday, but in my opinion, the room is still too bare. I would love to go all artsy and paint the walls with something martial arts related, but that's not in the budget right now. Still, I want to make the space have more of a dojo-esque feel. I'm thinking of keeping it simple and clean looking.

I've been thinking about hanging up an American flag and a white board to the walls, but that's all I've got so far. I'm looking for other ideas - not just decoration ideas, but other things that would be good to have in a martial arts dojo. Chairs for parents, storage space for shoes, etc. Maybe a belt rack to display the order of belts. Things like that. We teach Tae Kwon Do if that helps.

Any suggestions or examples of what you have in your dojo/dojang/school are welcome an much appreciated!

 

[Gnarlie]

Charge a nominal fee for classes, specify that the club is not for profit and plough the money you collect back into the facility.

Get full matting and then in no particular order a kick bag, big pads, floppy mitts, chest protectors, a BOB, wall mirrors, breaking boards, and THEN the belt rack. Go for functionality first. People don't mind paying if they see where the money goes and it makes an awesome shared training experience.

Gnarlie

 

[rlobrecht]

Have a painting day. Ask your students to donate paint, equipment, and their time.

 

[harlan]

Do you already have areas for changing and gear storage? If not, I'd partition off an area for that in anticipation of seminars, belt-testing, etc. You don't want the place cluttered up when you have guests for events.

A well-maintained section for notices, schedules, and school tournaments (if you do them). Again, I personally don't like clutter as it's unprofessional looking/a turn-off to potential students. Also, once you establish goals for obtaining equipment, it wouldn't hurt to keep the fund-raising/progress towards them posted.

 

[CrimsonPhoenix]

Charge a nominal fee for classes, specify that the club is not for profit and plough the money you collect back into the facility.

Get full matting and then in no particular order a kick bag, big pads, floppy mitts, chest protectors, a BOB, wall mirrors, breaking boards, and THEN the belt rack. Go for functionality first. People don't mind paying if they see where the money goes and it makes an awesome shared training experience.

We already have a good amount of gear, so that's not an issue. We have a BOB, two free-standing kicking bags, two hanging bags, several targets, two blockers, foldout mats for falling/takedowns, and our puzzle mats for the space just came in today.

We just use hand/foot pads for sparring - no chest protectors, so we don't need those. I would really like to put in mirrors, but that will have to be in the future.

Have a painting day. Ask your students to donate paint, equipment, and their time.

I like the idea of a painting day. I'll suggest it.

Do you already have areas for changing and gear storage? If not, I'd partition off an area for that in anticipation of seminars, belt-testing, etc. You don't want the place cluttered up when you have guests for events.

A well-maintained section for notices, schedules, and school tournaments (if you do them). Again, I personally don't like clutter as it's unprofessional looking/a turn-off to potential students. Also, once you establish goals for obtaining equipment, it wouldn't hurt to keep the fund-raising/progress towards them posted.

Yes, we have sections for changing and storage. We're having to use the back room (not included in the 1500sq/ft I mentioned) for various shelving and other items that we can't take out of the building, but we do have some other storage space for gear.

I'm going to set up a little section for notices/class info. I have a whiteboard already. We live in a small town with only one commercial martial arts school. There are a couple other classes that I've heard of, but they're not widely advertised and more or less advertised by word of mouth (like us). There's really not many opportunities for local tournaments. There's one, but that's out of town.

We had discussed having some fundraisers since my instructor went ahead and paid for the mats out of his pocket. We had thought of car washes and bake sales, but I'm open to other suggestions. I had thought of maybe having a group yard sale also.

 

[harlan]

Anyone a gardener? I'm currently growing tomatos, plant starts, to raise $$$ for a charity. There is also a very popular 'Herb Fest' locally that sells potted herbs yearly to raise $$$. Just an idea.

 

[Carol]

I work for a small company, our office is only 14 people. One of my colleagues has been bringing in chips and candy bars on an "honor box" type system. 50 cents for the chips, 1.00 for the candy bars, proceeds all go to charity. For us its great as our employer only stocks coffee and creamer, no snacks or anything like that, and there is not enough space here for vending machines. If you have adult students, something like that may be an option?

 

[rlobrecht]

I work for a small company, our office is only 14 people. One of my colleagues has been bringing in chips and candy bars on an "honor box" type system. 50 cents for the chips, 1.00 for the candy bars, proceeds all go to charity. For us its great as our employer only stocks coffee and creamer, no snacks or anything like that, and there is not enough space here for vending machines. If you have adult students, something like that may be an option?

That's a cool idea. Just make it protein bars and sports drinks.

 

[Riffix]

My last dojo painted their walls one solid colour then either stencilled or masked out some motivational/famous quotes in large letters and then painted a huge version of their logo on one wall too. Also having hooks on the wall to hang pads/Shields/etc on when they weren't in use looked good.

 

[DennisBreene]

I just completed a home dojang. It's more personalized than a commercial studio but I have some things that I think are important.View attachment $IMG_0200.jpgView attachment $IMG_0201.jpgView attachment $IMG_0202.jpgView attachment $IMG_0203.jpg A bar for stretching, the blank wall will have mirrors, the scrolls are both decorative and inspirational. I have a US flag to hang but I'm waiting for a Korean flag to hang as well. The flat screen is so that I can watch videos of techniques. The dog is optional.

 

[rlobrecht]

I just completed a home dojang.

That's awesome. Great job. Is the floor real hardwood, or a laminate?

 

[DennisBreene]

That's awesome. Great job. Is the floor real hardwood, or a laminate?

It's cabinet grade oak plywood.

 

[martial sparrer]

I think some chin up and pull up bars up on the walls would be perfect.....doing chin ups and pull ups will add strength, muscle, and most importantly speed to their hands

 

[WaterGal]

We painted the walls white, put down puzzle mats, and put up an American flag, a Korean flag, a WTF flag, a weapons rack, a set of belts, a poster of the school rules, focus pads and shields hung on hooks, the Mr and I's dan certificates, and a set of shelves for sparring gear.

Dynamics (and I'm assuming other suppliers like Century) carries all kinds of flags, and also posters and banners with people doing martial arts moves, pressure points, quotes etc.

 

[DennisBreene]

We painted the walls white, put down puzzle mats, and put up an American flag, a Korean flag, a WTF flag, a weapons rack, a set of belts, a poster of the school rules, focus pads and shields hung on hooks, the Mr and I's dan certificates, and a set of shelves for sparring gear.

Dynamics (and I'm assuming other suppliers like Century) carries all kinds of flags, and also posters and banners with people doing martial arts moves, pressure points, quotes etc.

It sounds great!

 

[Instructor]

Wow that plywood shined up pretty nice, what did you use on it?

 

[DennisBreene]

If you're talking about mine. A lot of coats of polyurethane.

 

[WaterGal]

It sounds great!

Thanks! I love the wood floor you've got, BTW. It looks great. Eventually I'd like to get something like that for the areas not covered by the puzzle mats (also big mirrors, and some prints of traditional art), but we can't really afford it right now.