Competing with commercial/sport schools

Spartacus Maximus · Black Belt

If you wanted to teach a traditional martial art, focussed solely on self-defense, how would you deal with being in an area where all the other martial arts studios being highly commercialized, sporting/competition-oriented ventures?

YOU:
A) Never participated in, nor trained for competitions.
B) Were trained by instructors whose teachings focused on self-defense.
C) All your training was either done wherever your martial art comes from, and/or by highly competent, reputable instructors native to that area/country.
D) The only training and teaching methods you know are those of your instructor and his predecessors.

EVERY other place you have visited in your area is:
A) Affiliated with a large chain of schools
B) Focusing only or heavily on sport/competition
C) Aimed at mostly or only children/youth
D) Very obviously commercial and for-profit

Given that to the average potential student(or their parent/guardian) there is no difference between what you have to offer and everyone else, how do you compete with these big, powerful(with means and money) for potential students?

Wastelander · KF Sensei

Starting up is always difficult. Personally, my thoughts are that you aren't actually competing with those schools, because they offer something different than you offer. It's like if a dance school said it was competing with a gymnastics school--there is absolutely crossover, but in the end, they teach to different goals, and there are going to be people out there who have goals your school can help them achieve better than those other schools.

Of course, there are some things that tend to be a necessity--childrens' classes, for example, are almost always required to bring in the funds to keep the doors open and lights on. You can absolutely still market your school for the discipline, exercise, and coordination benefits that it brings to everyone, including kids, because those are just natural parts of learning a martial art. The difference is that you can also highlight your self-defense focus, especially for women and children, because people definitely want that. You can also highlight the cultural aspects of training in a traditional art, because there are people who think that is cool. You can highlight the fact that you aren't running a for-profit school, because there are people who prefer to support non-profits when given the option.

Don't try to compete; just show people the benefits of what you teach.
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sensei8 · KF Sensei

DarthPenguin · Pre-Black Belt

I would echo what Wastelander said - you aren't competing with those schools and tbh their very existence may help siphon off those who aren't looking for what you teach.

Personally i would say to be upfront, honest and detailed in what you can offer. Strong website with clear details and credentials for you and your instructors/lineages. Nothing negative about the other schools (not that i think you would) but only positives about what YOU can offer.

As an example, yesterday i saw some posts from a school in the UK that promoted only self defence etc. Looked quite sketchy and the usual 'we teach street protection / self defence'. Personally i have found that a lot of these type of schools are sketchy (in the UK anyway). I took a look at their site out of curiosity and was pleasantly surprised at the detailed instructor bios and the clear lineage : the head coach was a multiple dan in Kyokushin, with his instructors etc clearly listed; affiliations with Geoff Thompson etc and all called out. Everything was listed and easy to check into if someone would. I came away thinking that the school must be a lot better than my original impression and that the CI is definitely legitimate.

The fact that a self defence focused school can't point to competition successes etc to advertise itself means that there are a lot of dodgy individuals who take that path to make a quick buck (again from what i have observed in the past). But if you have a clear, solid lineage that can clearly deal with it. Don't need flashy videos etc.

For myself i would like to see :

Instructor : Spartacus

Rank/s : whatever it is. Rank in this style and any others held e.g X Dan in style Y under sensei Z ; clear listing for each and possibly even a link to instructors site if there is one

Bio : short training history bio or one for the style

Links to governing body / accrediting body (if there is one)

Pages on the benefits / what you would get out of training

Links to affiliated / related schools elsewhere - it is nice to know you are training in a style with more than one location sometimes (if possible) - can help deal with legitimacy concerns in the students minds

Anyway, hope that was of some use - apologies if it seems a little rambling!

sensei8 · KF Sensei

Well, I've never competed directly against any MA school because my focus needs to be with MY student body and not someone else's. Am I aware of what the other MA school near my dojo are doing?? You bet...but that's the extent of my curiosity. Is that bad business practice?? Not really because I'm aware and not focused on other MA schools. They run theirs as they see fit, and so do I. I don't depend on gimmicks whatsoever...never!!

YOU:

bushido_man96 · KF Sensei

I'd echo a lot of what has been mentioned already. Be up front about who you are and what your school will offer. Be honest about who you are and what you are presenting. Along with the other things DP listed about posting, perhaps also presenting an outline of the typical class, or perhaps some short videos of the various sections of class that show what you teach and how you teach it.

Just out of curiosity, would you allow your students to enter competitions? Would competition be completely off the board? Would you not do any kind of sparring? I ask because I wouldn't say that our school is competition focused, but we do have students that compete, and host our own tournaments as well.
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sensei8 · KF Sensei

Spartacus Maximus · Black Belt

Teachers, whatever they teach should only teach what they themselves have thoroughly learned. This ought to be obvious, but in martial arts there countless instructors who, for different reasons, attempt to teach things that haven’t become familiar enough with.

At the same time, a good teacher is an honest one who can not only admit not knowing; but is also able to refer interested students to an instructor who does know and is capable of teaching.

Having said that, it is necessary to understand the difference between competitive sparring to win a match and sparring as a learning exercise to test and train effective techniques so that they become useable to defend oneself from felonious unprovoked assault.

There is no reason for me to forbid students from competing. Even if I do not and cannot teach the sporting aspect of karate, it would be my duty as a competent instructor to be well enough informed and recommend someone who is capable in that area to those who want to go in that direction.

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