The exchange of money.

[michaeledward]

My teacher is in Okinawa. The only thing he will ask of me is to make them members of his association and any rank they may achieve be autorized by him. He has encouraged me to open a dojo.

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob

I understand, you 'help out' at a local dojo, but your teacher is across an ocean.

What do you think the impact will be at the dojo where you "help out"? There will be an impact. If that impact does not have negatives that outweigh positives, good for you.

Good Luck.

 

[ArmorOfGod]

I taught at a local park for a year back about ten years ago and it was the most enjoyable experience of my martial arts career. After about a year, I moved it into a church gym.

That park has a covered picnic shelter. It has one back wall and is about 30' by 30'. I had five to seven students on a typical day and only taught in the mornings. All of us worked 2nd and 3rd shift, so that was a good meeting time.

I did not charge anything for that class and it was worth every second of my time.

AoG

 

[MJS]

Thank you all for yur replies. It seems to be a mixed bag. To clarify a couple of points. When I want to pick and choose students I want to extend myself first to a couple of close personel friends who do not have the funds to pay 60 or more dollars a month. Second I look at this that I am in my mid 30's and want to pass on my knowledge to students who I can consider mine. The students I teach now are not really mine but members of the dojo I help out at. Maybe this is a selfish thought process but I want to pass on my knowledge and beliefs as well as my teachers. Now I feel now that I am limited by the program that I am teaching within now.

In the spirit of bushido!

Rob

Yes, this changes things up a bit. For the first part of your post, I really see nothing wrong with that. The people you mention, I assume, are interested in training and I see nothing wrong with offering to teach them free of charge. As for the second part...I'm not up to par on the agreement you have with your inst., or business laws. If your inst. has given you his blessing to open your own school, go for it! You may want to avoid directly coming out and trying to 'steal' people from the school, but word of mouth alone, may bring those students to your school.

Mike

 

[Tez3]

I don't know how the legal system in the States works but I can't impress enough that insurance is a must! We have student insurance and public liability insurance. Over here the releases are worth nothing. Whether you charge your students or not, you should make sure you don't end up out of pocket if thats going to impact on your family ( if you have one). As instructors in our club we still end up paying for things even though we charge students!