Five years and five hours later... [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

FrogMan

03-07-2008, 02:05 PM

I started practicing kenpo karate about five years ago. Tomorrow, I'll be testing for my black belt in a test that should last for at least five hours. Five hours in which I fully expect to be be pushed to my limits, both physically and mentally. It's honestly making me nervous...

I started practicing simply because I wanted to get myself back into shape a bit, never thinking I'd go all the way to the black belt. For those who don't know, the number of people who start practicing martial arts but never get to the black belt is amazingly high.

I also started practicing because I had no clue if what my son was doing was right or not. I've indeed got some shape back and maintained it, but the second part is even better: the bond I've gained with my 11yo son. He's been practicing for six years himself now and seeing how close his dad is to the black belt, he's saying he will not stop before he gets one too. He's probably a year to 18 months away from possibly testing for it.

Anyway, wish me luck and send me good vibes tomorrow. I'll need all the energy I can find, even from miles away. :)

FM

Vince

03-07-2008, 02:10 PM

Man, it seems like just a short time ago you were struggling with what was it, the horse stance?

Congratulations on getting this far man, and best of luck to you tomorrow!

FrogMan

03-07-2008, 02:13 PM

Man, it seems like just a short time ago you were struggling with what was it, the horse stance?

Congratulations on getting this far man, and best of luck to you tomorrow!

it was actually almost two years ago (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=49013), but yeah, seems like yesterday. And man, I still struggle with the damn horse stance. Should expect at least five minutes of that stance, usually asked at the end of the five hours. Yippee!!!

Thanks for the good luck.

FM

bbor

03-07-2008, 02:25 PM

it was actually almost two years ago (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showthread.php?t=49013), but yeah, seems like yesterday. And man, I still struggle with the damn horse stance. Should expect at least five minutes of that stance, usually asked at the end of the five hours. Yippee!!!

Thanks for the good luck.

FM

All i remember is you getting it in the nuts:D
Good Luck Froggie.

albionmoonlight

03-07-2008, 02:36 PM

Good Luck, man.

Sgran

03-07-2008, 03:05 PM

I got to purple belt in Shotokon Karate in college. What surprised me was that towards the end I got bored with sparing and tournements, and instead enjoyed simply working on my form. Of course, the added confidence was also nice, but martial arts is a nice way to get exercise and feel like you're progressing in something. The most important thing is whether or not the censai preaches self-defence and honor.
Good luck with your test. Few days pass when I don't think about starting up again. My older daughter is 8 now, so maybe I'll follow your lead and join a class with her.

Eaglesfan27

03-07-2008, 03:23 PM

Best of luck, my friend.

finketr

03-07-2008, 03:54 PM

didn 't you whack yourself in the head with the bo once?

terpkristin

03-07-2008, 04:21 PM

Good luck, FM!!! :)

I can't wait to hear how it goes. Will your wife be recording any of it?

/tk

FrogMan

03-07-2008, 09:48 PM

Thanks everyone. :)

All i remember is you getting it in the nuts:D
Good Luck Froggie.

nope, never happened, but...

didn 't you whack yourself in the head with the bo once?

yeah, yeah, yeah... You really liked that one didn't you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJcCSr7AKlo

It happens toward the end of the kata. I don't do much open bo kata though. We have one traditional bo kata as part of the black belt curriculum but there's about zero change of wacking yourself in the head in a traditional kata. :p

I got to purple belt in Shotokon Karate in college. What surprised me was that towards the end I got bored with sparing and tournements, and instead enjoyed simply working on my form. Of course, the added confidence was also nice, but martial arts is a nice way to get exercise and feel like you're progressing in something. The most important thing is whether or not the censai preaches self-defence and honor.
Good luck with your test. Few days pass when I don't think about starting up again. My older daughter is 8 now, so maybe I'll follow your lead and join a class with her.

Our style has some roots in shotokan too, although we do very little sparring. We're much more aimed toward self defense which is something I really like. Not sure I'd have lasted until the black belt if I'd have been required to compete and spar on a regular basis.

Starting back karate class with your daughter could be a very nice thing, if she shows even the tiniest bit of interest for it. I'm hoping to get our 4yo started in the Fall, when he'll be about 4 months shy of turning 5. Our oldest started when he was 4 years and 10 months old...

Good luck, FM!!! :)

I can't wait to hear how it goes. Will your wife be recording any of it?

Thanks TK, I'll keep you and everyone posted. The test is pretty much happening behind closed doors so no, she won't be filming it. As a proof that there's a big deal of secrecy, the five hours I thought it would last was based on what I'd heard but I was told tonight that it would probably last between 3 and 4 hours. The usual five hours was for when they used to have us go to Quebec City for the test, where they were testing 50-60 people at once. There will only be 11 of us testing at my school tomorrow, with maybe 15 black belts to evaluate/check on us. They will certainly need less than 5 hours to know if we're good enough...

FM

johnnyshaka

03-07-2008, 10:56 PM

Good luck!!

Zelig

03-07-2008, 11:00 PM

Much respect.... good luck.

MrBug708

03-07-2008, 11:27 PM

How did you decide on Kenpo

FrogMan

03-08-2008, 10:51 AM

thanks again everyone, less than two hours before the test. Time to relax a bit...

How did you decide on Kenpo

you know, I used to anser to that question that I sorta "lucked out" or that I picked kenpo by default since my we had signed up our son to the biggest school in our area without knowing much. But with time, I realized that having the chance of watching classes for all belt levels for over a year showed me that I probably would like the style and that's probably what made me try it at firt. What I liked was the self-defense aspect of it all, the fact that we use mostly our hands and elbows and that sparring wasn't obligatory. The school's instructors themselves played a good part in me trying the style. In anything martial arts related, and pretty much anything in life really, I believe that our teacher is a big part of if you will like or dislike what you are learning. The people at that school can respect that everybody has limits. They encourage you to push those limits further, but they won't belittle you by comparing you to others.

FM

JonInMiddleGA

03-08-2008, 10:52 AM

Crap.
{I just clicked on the thread figuring congratulations were in order}

Go kick something already ;)

Edward64

03-08-2008, 06:33 PM

FrogMan

03-08-2008, 06:39 PM

well, it did last 4.5 hours, and I'm spent, damnit, burnt, totally out of gas... But I passed it!!! :)

What an amazing feeling. We started it off with 300 punches in the horse stance and closed it with what I would think was some 5 minutes or more again in the horse stance. That is silly, but I had trouble walking after those 300 punches to start it off. Seriously, I thought my thighs were gonna buckled and give out on about every step...

It went really well and I recieved some very good comments, both for my self-defense work and for my katas and that made me real proud.

Was a bit crazy driving back home as a storm started maybe 45 minutes before the end of the test so when we got out of the dojo, we couldn't see two blocks away. I feared they were gonna close the road between the dojo and my home. It wasn't closed but that was the toughest bit of driving I've had to do in a long while. Think about driving with about zero visibility and you just spent 4+ hours doing pushups, situps, being pushed around in selfdefense, it was crazy... But I'm home now, and I'm a black belt. :)

FM

FrogMan

03-08-2008, 06:44 PM

Frogman, hope you did well. Even if you didn't pass, I am sure the experience will help you the next time.

I took TKD in the 90s and have not had the time (travel alot) to pick it up again. My son has been taking Karate for 4+ yrs (and daughter <1 yr) and although it is a McDojo-type school, I can see it has helped my son. Martial Arts is great, I do doubt how effective some are in self-defense but practicing MA certainly gave me (and my son) increased self-confidence.

BTW, I just finished reading "American Shoalin", pretty funny, light reading book and has great insight into modern Shoalin in China.

Thanks. I wasn't really nervous about not passing to be perfectly honest. We'd gone through a pretest in December and I nailed it back then. It was more the physical part of it that had me nervous. Nervous that if pushed to my limits, I might start doing some stuff wrong, but it went quite well.

Very nice about your kids. Even McDojo schools can have some positive effects on kids, I'm sure of that. I also question the effectiveness of some of the selfdefense techniques they show us. Everything seems perfect in the dojo but I'm not always sure it would apply well on the street. I do know one thing though. Practicing kenpo has raised my awareness of everything around me a great deal when I'm in a crowd. I know some things I could do that could hurt someone real bad, and some others that could be used to control. But in the end, I do it mostly to keep myself in shape, and so far it's working... :)

FM

terpkristin

03-08-2008, 06:46 PM

Congratulations, my friend!!!
Now, how's that Su-Shi No Kahn Sho going? ;) :D

/tk

JonInMiddleGA

03-08-2008, 06:47 PM

and I'm a black belt. :)

Congratulations. And thank goodness.

The last thing we need is an image of you with your pants hanging down ;)

Eaglesfan27

03-08-2008, 06:47 PM

Congrats!! :)

JetsIn06

03-08-2008, 06:55 PM

Congrats!

Zelig

03-08-2008, 07:09 PM

I bet your kid is proud, and one day far in the future he will tell this story with a big smile.

Schmidty

03-08-2008, 07:18 PM

Nice job man!!

bbor

03-08-2008, 08:12 PM

Grats Froggie!

johnnyshaka

03-08-2008, 10:30 PM

Congrats!!! Just out of curiosity, how did the rest of the group do?

Neuqua

03-08-2008, 10:34 PM

Congratulations :)

Cringer

03-08-2008, 10:48 PM

Cool. Way to go.

Wanna fight?

Vinatieri for Prez

03-08-2008, 11:24 PM

Frog, don't forget to head to the sheriff's station and register your hands as deadly weapons.

Vince

03-09-2008, 12:38 AM

Congratulations man -- great work :)

FrogMan

03-09-2008, 03:38 PM

thanks again evreyone. I have a hard time grasping the fact that I am a black belt. I mean, this seems so much like something I'd hear about other people and say "wow", not me. I guess I feel a lot more pride than I thought I would...

That storm I drove through to get back home turned out to be a real nasty one. Power went out around 1am and only got back about an hour ago. Good thing we have the woodstove to warm up the house or else we'd have been freezing our butts in here. The street has been plowed only one car wide, it's kinda crazy...

I bet your kid is proud, and one day far in the future he will tell this story with a big smile.

He sure is, you should have seen him dive for my bag when I got home. I wanted to get his hands on "THE" belt. Funny thing is, it's not even my definitive belt, it's a temporary one. They sent our belts to be embroidered with the yellow band marking it with the first dan last week and should get them early this week. I will exchange the belt I have now for my real one when they get them back.

Congrats!!! Just out of curiosity, how did the rest of the group do?

Everyone of the 11 testing passed. They started the test by telling us that there were possibilities that someone could be pulled aside before the end of the test if their scores weren't high enough. We were being scored on every technical things, from katas to seldefense to more basic stuff, even a score for holding the horse stance... To my knowledge, I have not heard of anybody who was in danger of not passing during the test, but I didn't see much of what the others were doing, since they had us split in four groups. I was told I had one of the highest scores of the 11, which is always nice to hear. :)

Cool. Way to go.

Wanna fight?

yeah, well, about that, hrm. Can we put it on hold for say, a few days? I can't walk straight today. ;)

Honestly, I'm hurting like hell. Had to go snowblow the driveway this morning and that wasn't fun. I've done a lot of reading today...

Frog, don't forget to head to the sheriff's station and register your hands as deadly weapons.

Not sure if that one is a joke or not. I do know that having practiced martial arts, and now owning a black belt, I have an even bigger responsibility in case of any scuffle that could happen. Unless my life is in danger, I am not to use my skills to hurt anyone. And to be honest, it almost scares me. I know I could hurt someone quite badly, maybe if not careful, even kill someone with a well place strike. It's really something to keep in mind if I ever get caught in some bad situation...

FM

aran

03-09-2008, 06:22 PM

Edward64

03-09-2008, 08:25 PM

Congrats!

Makes me want to start karate. i feel like a bum sitting in front of a computer all day... Even though I'm paid well enough for it.

I'd like to do something serious, though, that isn't McDojo. I'll probably start researching once I get out of college and take night classes the first few years after I get my masters.
I would highly recommend that you get started sooner rather than later. If you are in college, you probably (believe it or not) have more free time now than you ever will after you graduate.

FWIW. The stamina, strength, speed, flexibility etc. from youth is an edge that people starting in MA at an older age can only envy.

Don't get too hung up on the McDojo issue. There is still worth in them especially if it is all brand new to you and the teacher is halfway competant.

Vinatieri for Prez

03-10-2008, 12:47 AM

Not sure if that one is a joke or not. I do know that having practiced martial arts, and now owning a black belt, I have an even bigger responsibility in case of any scuffle that could happen. Unless my life is in danger, I am not to use my skills to hurt anyone. And to be honest, it almost scares me. I know I could hurt someone quite badly, maybe if not careful, even kill someone with a well place strike. It's really something to keep in mind if I ever get caught in some bad situation...

FM

Yeah, it was a joke. But you are right about not using "excessive" force in self-defense.

BYU 14

03-10-2008, 01:40 AM

Neon_Chaos

03-10-2008, 08:09 AM

Great, just what the world needs, more black-belt footbal-sim people.

:)

Congrats!

Coffee Warlord

03-10-2008, 09:23 AM

Kinda makes me wanna get back into Kuk Sool Won.

Got to brown belt as a kid before I grew tired of it.

FrogMan

03-10-2008, 11:52 AM

Congrats FM, depending on the style I know the Black Belt tests vary from grueling to near death experience. My kids have their's in Shotokan and are working Ju-Jitsu now. My youngest seemed to have a fairly smooth go of it when he tested, but the middle one was put through a grinder. When we picked him up he was barely able to walk, welts on his body, a bloody nose and a mouse under his eye from sparring. (His sparring consisted of sparring consectutively against 5 blackbelts for 3 minutes each with head contact allowed) He was beat to hell, but happy.

It is no small feat to get where you are and you have every reason to be full of pride....nice job!!

Thanks. I wouldn't call our test near death experience, as our school is fairly family oriented, but they certainly didn't just hand the belt to us. We worked hard and grueling describes the test quite well. I know my 37yo body is still aching as I type this... ;)

That's very cool for your kids, how old are they? Tell them I have a lot of respect for what they are doing. Had I started earlier, I probably would have liked to learn more than one style but time commitment is such that for now I'll stick to kenpo. If anything, I might want to try aikido at some point.

Our kenpo has some roots into shotokan and I know I'll be learning a shotokan form next, I think it's Bassai Dai. I've also dabbled just a little bit with Ju-Jitsu, in the form of a couple seminars on self-defense with Kyoshi John Thérien. If your kids ever have a chance to attend one of his seminars, I'd highly recommend him.

FM

FrogMan

03-10-2008, 11:54 AM

Kinda makes me wanna get back into Kuk Sool Won.

Got to brown belt as a kid before I grew tired of it.

if you do anything, do it for yourself, not simply to attain the belt. Sure it's nice and all, but the belt is just that, a black thing you wear around your waist...

I googled Kuk Sool Won and found very interesting. Had never heard the name before. Looks very much oriented towards the sword handling, isn't it? Anyway, looks like a cool art...

FM

sachmo71

03-10-2008, 12:38 PM

huh, my kids are taking kenpo. maybe i should take some classes as well.
i already know Sword of Destruction, so I'm on my way! :)

MikeVic

03-10-2008, 12:57 PM

Congrats!

FrogMan

03-10-2008, 01:21 PM

huh, my kids are taking kenpo. maybe i should take some classes as well.
i already know Sword of Destruction, so I'm on my way! :)

Hey, by all means, do my friend, do! :)

Seriously, I understand it is not for everyone. My wife tried it but found it "too difficult" and stopped after only one 12 weeks session. I personally think she wanted to become good instantly and saw the whole as too big a moutain to surmount. She just didn't give herself the time to grow into it.

Take some time to look at adult classes while waiting for your kids, it should give you an idea of what to expect if you'd start practicing now. Your school might even allow you to take a couple of trial classes before you commit for a longer time.

Kenpo is an odd beast because even though names do repeat from one style to another they don't always mean the same thing. We do have a sword of destruction technique but it's a high intermediate one, say #21 or 36 techniques needed to pass the black belt. After googling, I've seen it being referred to as a yellow belt technique, i.e. a much lower one. It's cool though, you are about at what level I was when I decided to start. I was able to differentiate a couple techniques and I was able to tell the difference between the first and the second blocking forms. I just wasn't able to do them myself. :)

Who knows, maybe if you start taking classes you will pass them and serve as the great motivating aspect pushing them forward to also trying out for a black belt one day. :)

FM

Coffee Warlord

03-11-2008, 10:06 AM

if you do anything, do it for yourself, not simply to attain the belt. Sure it's nice and all, but the belt is just that, a black thing you wear around your waist...

Oh in total agreement. I don't give a rats ass about the belt, I was dwelling on ways to get myself back in shape. Martial Arts is one excellent way to do so.

I googled Kuk Sool Won and found very interesting. Had never heard the name before. Looks very much oriented towards the sword handling, isn't it? Anyway, looks like a cool art...

Actually has almost nothing to do with sword handling until you're at like...2nd degree black. :) Kuk Sool Won is a lot of technique/pressure points and movement, especially with legwork. Very little punching involved.

I'm surprised it hasn't caught on more than it has. Looked around Chicago, there's only one school here, way too far away for me to go to.

FrogMan

03-11-2008, 11:21 AM

Oh in total agreement. I don't give a rats ass about the belt, I was dwelling on ways to get myself back in shape. Martial Arts is one excellent way to do so.

Good. We don't see it as much with grown ups, but sometimes kids, or say younger adults, will shoot for the belt and get depressed when they see it does take time... What I bolded is very true. ;)

Actually has almost nothing to do with sword handling until you're at like...2nd degree black. :) Kuk Sool Won is a lot of technique/pressure points and movement, especially with legwork. Very little punching involved.

Interesting, the one page I read made it look like it was all about the sword handling. :)

From what little I know of Korean martial arts (pretty much only Tae Kwon Do, heh), I assumed it involved a lot of kicking. :) Interesting about the pressure points though, those can be fun, when you are giving, not so much when you are recieving.

FM

Coffee Warlord

03-11-2008, 01:24 PM

Interesting, the one page I read made it look like it was all about the sword handling. :)

From what little I know of Korean martial arts (pretty much only Tae Kwon Do, heh), I assumed it involved a lot of kicking. :) Interesting about the pressure points though, those can be fun, when you are giving, not so much when you are recieving.

The wikipedia entry is a fairly decent description of it. There's very few direct attacking (by that I mean kicks, punches, etc) "moves", it's VERY reliant on techniques. Which of course, is where the pressure points come in.

Tae Kwon Do and Kuk Sool Won are wayyyyy different, in my mind (this comes from the many competitions I was in as a kid, largely vs TKD schools). They're a more direct, up front style, whereas Kuk Sool Won is a bit "softer" and more form/technique based.

You'd really get the idea in the differences if you observed the forms. Tae Kwon Do's forms are much more, for lack of better word, mechanical, than Kuk Sool Won's more flowing stuff.

Coffee Warlord

03-11-2008, 01:30 PM

Dola.

Actually looking at Hapkido as something to get into at the moment. There's a school very close by.

FrogMan

03-11-2008, 02:02 PM

The wikipedia entry is a fairly decent description of it. There's very few direct attacking (by that I mean kicks, punches, etc) "moves", it's VERY reliant on techniques. Which of course, is where the pressure points come in.

Tae Kwon Do and Kuk Sool Won are wayyyyy different, in my mind (this comes from the many competitions I was in as a kid, largely vs TKD schools). They're a more direct, up front style, whereas Kuk Sool Won is a bit "softer" and more form/technique based.

You'd really get the idea in the differences if you observed the forms. Tae Kwon Do's forms are much more, for lack of better word, mechanical, than Kuk Sool Won's more flowing stuff.

Interesting. What I meant is that my understanding is that Korean meant kicks more than punches, very basic, I know. Kenpo on the other hand is very much a stand up and fight up close very fast without letting an opponent a chance to counter.

I have no knowledge of their forms/katas so I couldn't comment on them.

FM

FrogMan

03-11-2008, 02:03 PM

Dola.

Actually looking at Hapkido as something to get into at the moment. There's a school very close by.

Cool. I'd heard about hapkido before, but had never really looked into what it implied. The wikipedia page for it is interesting to say the least. It's also always funny to see that many martial arts share many common traits. I mean, even though not all techniques are done the same way, self defense remains self defense. An arm bar remains an arm bar and a rear naked choke remains a rear naked choke.

From the wikipedia hapkido page, we worked on that wrist lock at a seminar given by a ju-jitsu master a couple weeks ago:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/Hyperflexingwristlocksmall.JPG

Combine it with a knee to the back of the thigh, where there's a pressure point, and it is very, very successful in bringing someone down... :)

FM

BYU 14

03-12-2008, 07:51 AM

Thanks. I wouldn't call our test near death experience, as our school is fairly family oriented, but they certainly didn't just hand the belt to us. We worked hard and grueling describes the test quite well. I know my 37yo body is still aching as I type this... ;)

That's very cool for your kids, how old are they? Tell them I have a lot of respect for what they are doing. Had I started earlier, I probably would have liked to learn more than one style but time commitment is such that for now I'll stick to kenpo. If anything, I might want to try aikido at some point.

Our kenpo has some roots into shotokan and I know I'll be learning a shotokan form next, I think it's Bassai Dai. I've also dabbled just a little bit with Ju-Jitsu, in the form of a couple seminars on self-defense with Kyoshi John Thérien. If your kids ever have a chance to attend one of his seminars, I'd highly recommend him.

FM

They do a lot of seminars and I am sure they have heard of him. The two Black Belts are 19 and 21, and my 25 yr old son is a Brown Belt, his interest just waned a little at the end, but he still enjoys sparring with his brothers on occasion. Tony, the 21 yr old, is the one in the Navy and I he unofficially teaches Ju-Jitsu to some guys in his command and has also got to grapple with Carlos Newton and Frank Shamrock at seminars and all three have been to several different states for tournaments when they competed on a regular basis, so it has been very fullfilling for them.

Keep us posted on your future endeavors for sure.

FrogMan

07-17-2008, 10:52 PM

quick update...

A new school of my style of Kenpo will be opening about 3 minutes from my house and tonight, I was offered and accepted a position as instructor with them. Very excited about it.

The guy who's opening the new school used to run a pizza place around town but he sold it because he got so passionate about karate and martial arts. He's also a black belt as is his daughter. She also was a junior amateur world champion in open form (kata).

Last Saturday, he invited me to the grand opening of his new dojo that will happen in a couple of weeks, also sort of mentionning that he'd like to talk to me about possibly being part of his team at some point. I said I'd think about it. He called back tonight and simply asked me straight up if teaching was something I'd be interested in. I've always been around either teaching, or coaching, so yeah, that's something I'd like. He added that he's had me in mind for his dojo for a long time but just couldn't talk about it before he'd done the move with the restaurant and the dojo had been started. He wanted to know if I was interested since I'll be introduced with the other instructors at the grand opening.

We'll be helped by the main school anyway, so it's not like I'll be totally on my own, and his vision is to take on only beginners at first and refer the more advanced students to the main school which is still only 15 minutes away, and that most advanced students are already frequenting anyway. That way, I'll grow into my teaching and when our students grow and eventually become advanced ones, we'll be able to keep on teaching them.

I'm extremely proud of that news, very excited about it, but also a bit nervous. You never wanna look like an idiot in front of a class of anything.

FM

Schmidty

07-17-2008, 11:31 PM

I'm wishing you well, and I think you're awesome.

I need to try that stuff again. The only thing I'm good at now is being annoying and playing basketball. :)

Izulde

07-17-2008, 11:36 PM

Congrats, FM! :)

throwing my hat in the martial arts discussion, I took kyukido off and on for a few years which is a mixture of Taekwondo, Judo, and Hapkido, with some weapons work thrown in when you get high enough level (which I didn't).

Nice way to get in shape and take stress off, though there were never enough competitions for me (maybe two a year), which is why I dropped it. I loved the two weapons lessons our instructor gave us though in my time of doing it.

First one was with a stick that resembled escrima sticks and the second was more how to defend yourself against weapons.

I rocked the house on the escrima lesson as I was able to use my fencing during it (which I really miss). Defending self against weapons... not so much. :D

daedalus

07-18-2008, 12:22 AM

'grats! :)

Neon_Chaos

07-18-2008, 01:16 AM

Good luck FM!

If you get stuck, just channel Miyagi!

http://www.eatlard.com/imgs/mrmiyagi-chop.jpg

FrogMan

08-11-2008, 11:37 AM

I never got back to thank you guys for the good words so, thanks. :)

More has happened since I last posted so it's time for a quick update.

Even though classes will not start until the end of the month, last Saturday was the grand opening of the new dojo and grand it was. Plenty of people, some local politicians, some people from other dojos, many from our own school, people I take class with. I was officially introduced as a member of the teaching staff, a very proud moment.

Funny thing is up until then, I had no clue how many classes I would give, you know, how often, or when, or even if I'd do kids or adult classes. As people had mostly all gone, I asked the owner of the dojo if he'd thought about some schedule and he showed me the grid he had in mind and wow. I didn't really have a clue what to expect, maybe thinking I'd give an hour here or there but oh no, he seems to have me in high esteem. As things stand now, I'll be giving two hours of kids classes on both Tuesday and Thursday nights, one hour to beginners and the other to intermediate students. The other two nights of the week will be for boxing classes.

He completely trusts me to take over that side of things, the children side, and also asked me to see and tell him if I have any time available on other nights of the week to give classes in his second dojo, maybe 20 minutes away, that he will be opening later on this month.

This whole thing has me amazingly psyched. It's good to embark in such a great new adventure with somebody who trusts you and is passionate about the whole thing. It was also great to talk with both my senseis and here tell me that they both think I can do great with this.

I'll get an early try out next Saturday as I was asked if I could replace one of the instructors at the main dojo for next Saturday morning. After that, we'll have a couple of weekends of open door days (August 16/17 & 23/24) at the new dojo where people will be able to visit the dojo and sign up for classes. Very excited about how the whole thing is shaping up. :)

FM

Coffee Warlord

08-05-2009, 10:05 AM

I was just thinking about this again, and was curious for an update on how teaching was going.

hoosierdude

08-05-2009, 11:01 AM

Exactly. I would also like to know how the son is doing on his progress!

FrogMan

08-05-2009, 11:06 AM

I was just thinking about this again, and was curious for an update on how teaching was going.

wow, that's out of the blue, but thanks for caring. :)

Teaching went really well. At one point, I was giving 7 hours of class a week but as with many martial arts class, it starts big, then dwindles a bit as the year goes on and I was cut to 5 hours in March, then to 4 in April and finally to none very late in May.

As I said, it's fairly typical, especially with martial arts. Parents come with their kids and think that karate will make their kids into a well behaved kid with super concentration that can achieve anything. Some kids strive in that, but some just don't like it and only do one session. With the bulk of new students coming at the open house dates, the number of students usually goes down as the year goes on.

I didn't mind the break though. As I said, it went great, but it is not always easy. Again, some kids a trouble makers that their parents want to see disciplined. I can to some extent, but there are limits to what I could do, heh.

I had some kids who were simply wonderful to see, their growth making up for the lack in some others. Just as I saw my son grow over the last 7 years or so, it was simply great to see these kids and how far they went in some 10 months. To meet them at a competition and have them come to me and asked to have a picture taken with me, with them holding on dearly to their 1st place trophy was pure gold.

Said I didn't mind the break cause, well, aside from teaching, I kept on taking classes myself. Been a pretty big year. At one point I was practicing/teaching karate 6 days a week, on top of my regular job. My learning is going very well and I could be testing for a second dan in maybe a year to 14 months.

Funny how I said in the first post that my son was maybe 12 to 18 months from testing for his black belt. That was back in March 2008 and well, he'll be up to test for his junior black belt on August 29. They call it junior black belt since he's only 12. They will give him the official rank of Shodan (1st degree black belt, or 1st dan) if he's still practicing when he turns 14.

He took a 2 weeks karate day camp this Summer. It was for kids 8 to 13 and they had themed it around Kung Fu Panda and they played it that they were looking for the Dragon Warrior. He had fun but more important, he and a friend put together a duo/synchro bo form that was quite impressive. Our chief instructor, who had not really seen him do bo in a while was so impressed that they are now asking him if he'll be competing this Fall. He received tons of praise for his solo and that duo form. I'll try to put it on youtube someday...

I'm wondering, CW, did you happen to think of that cause you started taking some MA classes, or maybe are looking into it? ;)

FM

FrogMan

08-05-2009, 11:07 AM

Exactly. I would also like to know how the son is doing on his progress!

see my reply just above. Was typing it when you posted. :)

FM

FrogMan

08-05-2009, 11:12 AM

dola, thought I'd mentioned but I also got great comments from the Dojo owner whenever we had a belt test for kids. He was giving class to adults while I was giving class to kids at the same time in a different room so the only time he'd see the kids in action was during belt tests. More than one time he's told me how impressed he was of how they delivered whatever they were asked for. Always felt good to hear. :)

FM

Coffee Warlord

08-05-2009, 11:15 AM

I'm wondering, CW, did you happen to think of that cause you started taking some MA classes, or maybe are looking into it? ;)

I'm actually looking into it...again. :)

FrogMan

08-05-2009, 11:19 AM

I'm actually looking into it...again. :)

come on man, do it! NOW! ;)

FM

Coffee Warlord

08-05-2009, 11:20 AM

come on man, do it! NOW! ;)

FM

Heh!

Looking back when this was originally posted, I can quite easily say I know why I never followed through on it last year. Was in the middle of house hunting, with a deadline looming rapidly on my apartment lease. Yeah, was just a tad pre-occupied.

FrogMan

08-05-2009, 11:28 AM

Heh!

Looking back when this was originally posted, I can quite easily say I know why I never followed through on it last year. Was in the middle of house hunting, with a deadline looming rapidly on my apartment lease. Yeah, was just a tad pre-occupied.

yeah, can see why. I did take a 6 month break when our second son was born.

He's now five and was preparing him to start taking classes when my hour with the 5-6 year old got cut. He so wanted to do karate with me that I decided to hold him off, have him take another swimming class and we'll start him in karate this Fall. He was so amazed by his brother with the bo at the camp show that he told us he REALLY wanted to take karate classes this Fall. :)

FM

FrogMan

08-06-2009, 08:49 AM

here's my son's open bo form, filmed about 3 weeks ago:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7l7kiv-OUnE&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7l7kiv-OUnE&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

he put together most of the sequence, based off a kata our instructor had done for us about 2-3 years ago. At one point, we had the same open bo form but I stopped practicing about 18 months ago and he continued. He added to our kata and came up with this one.

The little lady you see high fiving him at the end is our master instructor. She's a 6th degree black belt. She doesn't look like much, but she is insanely fast and you would not want to mess with her.

And then, here's the duo/synchro form they put together in a day and a half, practiced for a bit under two weeks and presented on the last day of karate camp:
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WFCO7D-xAAQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WFCO7D-xAAQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

It's the first time he's performed anything with music. He's always done all his forms without music. Mommy and daddy were incredibly proud of him. :)

FM

FrogMan

08-29-2009, 10:26 PM

and as of today, we now have a second black belt in our family. Andrew tested for his black belt this afternoon and was give the degree of junior black belt. I'm immensely proud of him. I was choking back tears when I saw him walk from the back to the front of the room when they gave him his belt.

Way to go son, you made daddy, and mommy, VERY proud today. :)

and in other karate news, his younger brother, our youngest son Matthew 5yo, started taking karate classes last Monday. He's been loving it so far. :cool:

FM

JonInMiddleGA

08-29-2009, 10:33 PM

Always an impressive accomplishment, he (and his parents, and his instructors) should indeed be quite proud.

thealmighty

08-29-2009, 11:01 PM

Note to self: Never, ever ever make any Pintendre jokes on FOFC.

Schmidty

08-30-2009, 12:19 AM

FrogMan

08-30-2009, 09:58 PM

Always an impressive accomplishment, he (and his parents, and his instructors) should indeed be quite proud.

as I said, I'm very proud. When our head insctructor was making her speech about how it was an achievement and a real proof of their dedication that they made it to the coveted black belt, I couldn't help but well up and looked at my wife who was filming the whole thing and she was all teary eyed. Then came the official handshakes and congrats as every new black belt were congratulated by all of us who're already black belt and when my son came to me, I couldn't help but simply grab him in a tight bear hug which he gave back right at me. My sons have given me plenty of reasons to be proud as a father, but this has been one of the most intense experience of my life.

FM

FrogMan

08-30-2009, 10:02 PM

Great news my friend!! Congratulation to him!!

My daughter is still plugging along and is a purple belt now. They're doing a lot of mma stuff too though. Jiu jitsu, Muay Thai, etc.

I'm also thinking of going for it. It just seems like such a positive thing, even though I have no fighting or tournament aspirations.

Thanks. :)

I don't remember which style your daughter is practicing but it seems like a pretty intense one. I'm taking some Jiu jitsu classes on Thursday nights this Fall, a new thing offered by my school, but it's nowhere to the point of really doing it MMA style, but more in a sense of control, the way policemen have to use it. Very interesting, and the kid (he's a 21yo second degree black belt) who's giving the classes shows the use and limitations of each and every techniques.

As for you, I can relate with the not wanting to really fight or do tournaments. Always depends on the style or the type of school. But there's definitely tons of positives to simply taking some classes.

FM

FrogMan

03-02-2010, 09:33 PM

well, two more years after that black belt test of mine and I'm facing yet another test. March 20th is the day that's been set for me to test for my rank of Nidan, or 2nd degree Black Belt (or in other terms, 2nd Dan).

It had been in the air for a little while now but the date was confirmed tonight. Two big week and a half is not a lot of time, but I have been taking classes steady for those last two years.

I know what I have to work on in those last two weeks and I will put in the hours to make sure I perform well. Wish me luck. :)

FM

Flasch186

03-02-2010, 09:36 PM

Georges St-Pierre is going to kick your ass!

Good Luck

FrogMan

03-02-2010, 10:09 PM

Georges St-Pierre is going to kick your ass!

Good Luck

oh, I know he would, but he does that for a living. I'd like to see him whip an excel spreadsheet around though... ;)

We've actually done a bit of MMA, minus the actual real punching, so mostly grappling stuff and it's damn tough and very demanding.

FM

BYU 14

03-03-2010, 07:28 AM

Best of luck and congratulations for sticking with this, it takes a lot of discipline.

albionmoonlight

03-03-2010, 07:55 AM

First, they take the hockey gold medal. Then, they turn FrogMan and his son into ninja assassins.

I don't know what Canada is planning, but I think that we should probably all start panicking.

albionmoonlight

03-03-2010, 07:55 AM

dola:

Oh, and good luck, FM :)

FrogMan

03-03-2010, 11:51 AM

Best of luck and congratulations for sticking with this, it takes a lot of discipline.

thanks and yes, it does take discipline to stick with it. Not that I find it hard or anything, but of our group of 11 who passed Shodan at the same time, only 4 remain active. A fifth was still practicing up until Christmas but has not been seen since. Of these 4, I'd expect probably only 2 of us will be ready for testing for Nidan.

I will be a test for many dan levels though. One graduating from 3rd to 4th dan, another from second to 3rd and 4-5 of us going from 1st to 2nd dan. Being at the bottom of the black belt ladder will be nothing to take off the stress I'll be feeling during that test.

As I said, I know what still needs to be worked on, now I need to convince myself that it's impossible for me to deliver a form as convincingly as how a 3rd or 4th dan would. But that's only me talking to myself at that point... :)

FM

FrogMan

03-03-2010, 11:53 AM

dola, and if I can add to that, I'm also happy and impressed that my 12yo son is still practicing withouth me having to force him in any way. Almost all kids who get to the black belt end up stopping almost right after getting their black belt.

FM

FrogMan

03-03-2010, 11:54 AM

First, they take the hockey gold medal. Then, they turn FrogMan and his son into ninja assassins.

I don't know what Canada is planning, but I think that we should probably all start panicking.

you don't want to see a hockey wielding ninja assassin, I'll tell you that. Think Marty McSorley, but you can't really see him coming... ;)

FM

terpkristin

03-03-2010, 05:26 PM

Damn, that's great, FM!
Best of luck!!

/tk

FrogMan

04-24-2010, 09:40 PM

didn't remember posting a date in here, well that March 20th test never happened. Some change in the date due to an 8th dan who couldn't be there on that day and a new date was set. That new date is tomorrow, at 3 pm.

We learned maybe a couple of weeks before March 20 that the test was being delayed and it bummed me big time at the time cause I had bee training real hard and had really started cranking up the intensity and all. Took me a good couple weeks to cool off, not that I stopped training or anything but I didn't have the same passion. Now that we're finally getting to it, I'm really ready and I'm getting anxious to get it over with. For the last few nights, I've been waking up at odd hours in the night. Last night, my wife told me it felt to her as if I was doing karate under the sheets, moving sharply my legs.

Tomorrow's the big day, wish me luck. :)

FM

JonInMiddleGA

04-24-2010, 10:07 PM

Break a leg Froggie ... erm, well, you know what I mean ;)

FrogMan

04-24-2010, 10:22 PM

Break a leg Froggie ... erm, well, you know what I mean ;)

specifically in that case, it'd be "break someone's leg" ;)

or as somebody is bound to say in 3, 2, 1... "sweep the leg"

Thanks Jon.

FM

k0ruptr

04-25-2010, 04:42 AM

my wife told me it felt to her as if I was doing karate under the sheets

thats what you call it these days hmm...?

Icy

04-25-2010, 05:12 AM

FrogMan

04-25-2010, 07:49 AM

Good luck Frogman!

I also practiced Karate for 6 years when i was younger, and i wish i never stopped, as i loved it. I just left it because our karate school had to close on bankrupt when the local government opened a public school that was way cheaper, and i felt too loyal to my old teacher to join that new school.

I have been thinking about starting again now, 15 years later, but most of martial art schools in my city are more into kick boxing etc, i guess because the MMA trend, and i enjoyed more the slow paced and more mental Karate that i practiced (Goju Ryu style). I never joined any fighting competition in the past, only kata ones (and i was so proud of finishing 3rd once in a kata couples state competition when i was 13 years old).

that is very cool Icy. Yeah, there are many schools that turn toward MMA style teaching. Some are interesting in the brazilian jiu-jitsu stuff but other are simply killing machine factories. Goju Ryu is a very traditional style, kudos to you for practicing it. Hopefully for you, you'll be able to find a school you like someday. It's never too late to start again, I started practicing when I was 32. Had never done any martial arts before.

Thanks for the good luck.

FM

FrogMan

04-26-2010, 02:16 PM

well, it only last some two and a half or three hours this time around but it was frigging intense, both physically and mentally but I did it, I'm now officially a second degree black belt, i.e. Nidan. :)

My body's only a bit stiff today, not as stiff as I expected it to be to be honest. Maybe a testament to how much I trained in the weeks leading up to the test.

Here's a picture of me with my two sons after the test:
http://heavyink.com/galleries/67/6289.jpg

My oldest son came to me and hugged me so hard I thought he was going to crunch one of my ribs. I had the feeling he understood what it meant, maybe after seeing me train so hard in the last few weeks. He's also a black belt, and I'm sure he can relate to it as he could be up to test for the same degree in maybe two years.

FM

Icy

04-26-2010, 02:26 PM

Awesome, big congrats!

terpkristin

04-26-2010, 05:42 PM

Great job, Steve!!! :)

/tk

JonInMiddleGA

04-26-2010, 05:47 PM

Great job, congrats

FrogMan

04-26-2010, 07:57 PM

thanks guys. Just got back from the dojo and how gratifying was that. I usually take a class on Mondays but due to some circumstances, I was asked to replace as a teacher for three consecutive Mondays, starting last week. Felt pretty good having many people come to me to congratulate me, ask me how it was to perform in front of an 8th dan and so on. Not that you do it to be congratulated, but it is a big deal to most everyone who practice martial arts and I still don't realize it, just like I didn't realize I was a black belt the very next day I got my Shodan. Having people come to you like that sort of helps it sink in, if that makes any sense... :)

FM

FrogMan

03-16-2011, 10:24 AM

I my nearly annual visit, I will piggyback on this thread instead of starting a new one but I need to talk about this somewhere. I was offered something crazy last night: to own and run my own dojo...

Long story short our main school opened a second dojo maybe 10-12 minutes from the main dojo last Fall. From its opening, I've been teaching one evening of class there every week with an increasing number of hours added on at the main dojo as the weeks went on.

City being split the way it is, people in that part of town (Eastern part) often don't really go to the main dojo, even though they have full access to all the classes given at both dojo. I'm being told that with the fixed cost at that dojo, it was profitable from the get-go in last August but that it went in the red around January. 50 students is about their breaking point although I've not seen any hard numbers yet.

What makes this offer quite interesting is that I'd be given the keys to the place with every bit of equipment that's in place and everything that's been put into the place to make it a nice dojo. This means pads, mats, mirrors, even a cheapo laptop PC. This includes maybe 10k of improvement and equipment. Two dates could work for the transfer: May 1st or September 1st. With a may 1st transfer of control, I'd have to assume the likely losses for the Summer months, assummed to be around 7-8000$. For a transfer at about the start of September, I'm told that while I wouldn't have to assume those losses, then they'd have to put a price on the value of the dojo. Also to keep in mind is the fact that registrations are usually done around the end of August, so not being in charge by then could hinder the signing on rate.

I currently give (or assist in) about 6-8 hours of class a week and I'm at either of the dojo 6 days out of 7. Yeah, one of these days is for me to take a boxing class with my son, but still, I spend a lot of my evenings there, mostly giving classes. I would not be training as much if I were to involve myself in managing a dojo and that's one drawback but I could build on something like a new dojo like that. My oldest son will turn 14 in a couple weeks and is already a junior black belt. He'll be eligible to receive his Shodan with his 14th birthday. He's already helping me on some of my classes and I'm sure he'd be ecstatic to come and help me run the school. After watching him teach, I know he will be good at this as he matures a little. He's already amazing with a bo staff in his hand and would be an asset for me to have as a bo staff instructor.

The two owners of my school (husband and wife in real life) have been at this for 15 years now, even though they're only in their mid/late 30's and have started many smaller dojo over the years. The dojo is their sole source of income although I must say they also run a succesful partnership program with the local high school in which they teach karate to 25-30 highschoolers four afternoons a week. They say it takes 4-5 years to bring a new dojo to maturity, i.e. for it to see its first black belt graduate. They have a pretty well established structure from which I could build upon. I'm thinking if I could grind it out for the next few years and build something good, we (as a family) could have something real nice together. My youngest son is only 7 and has been practicing for a year and a half now. In maybe 5-6 years, he could get his black belt and start helping us out too.

Anyway, not sure I'm so much looking for tips, hints or advices about if I should do it or not. Probably just needed to put it into words somewhere but if you have any thoughts/advices/warnings, feel free to share...

FM

Coffee Warlord

03-16-2011, 10:38 AM

Neon_Chaos

03-16-2011, 10:39 AM

That sounds awesome.

Can you rename the dojo to Cobra Kai?

Coffee Warlord

03-16-2011, 10:43 AM

FEAR DOES NOT EXIST IN THIS DOJO.

FrogMan

03-16-2011, 11:06 AM

I guess a few good starter questions...

You have a day job, yes? That you're going to keep? Can you handle the increased load and responsibility of, in affect, having 2 jobs?

Are you financially able to absorb some losses and put some money into it?

Sounds like a really spiffy and fun opportunity. But there's financial and mental headaches there that you really, really need to consider.

very good questions indeed, and questions I'm still pondering myself. This was offered to me yesterday, right after our instructor class and as I said, no hard numbers were revealed as he was mostly gauging my interest in such an adventure.

Yes, I would keep my day job, at least for quite some time. Not sure if it'd ever get to be good enough for me to leave my current job, at least not while we still have kids in the house. I could see myself taking an early retirement and keeping a dojo like that as a side venture for my old days though.

As for the load, as I said, I've already been either teaching or training most evenings of the week and I spend my Saturdays there from 10 to about 1:30 with both my sons. Sure, I'd expect there to be more administration work and all, but how much remains to be seen. At the most, the school could require me to be there from 6 to maybe 9 every evening but that would be the extreme situation, I'd think. I think I'd be able to hande it and eventually would try to hire some assistant/replacement teachers on an hourly basis for an evening or two a week that could free me up to do the managing...

The financial part is a bit more tricky and again, I'm still pondering it all. I don't have much put aside for dark days, much less for a venture like this but I'm thinking my parents could cover for me by lending me some money to at least get this thing off the ground.

It is indeed a fun opportunity and yes, it involves a bit of financial and mental gymnastics. As I said, the first approach was only done last evening and I'll still ponder it for a week before sitting down with him to talk numbers. I'm pretty much going into this in the same order you set up your questions: 1) impact on me and our family life in the short term, then on the long term and 2) financial impact and risks...

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts...

FM

Dodgerchick

03-16-2011, 12:54 PM

wow, very cool

JonInMiddleGA

03-16-2011, 01:22 PM

wow, very cool

+1

terpkristin

03-16-2011, 06:27 PM

Slick!

Sounds like there are a lot of things to be considered (and sounds like you're considering all the ones I could think of off the top of my head...I'm no expert in business things), but it sounds like a nifty opportunity!

Good luck with the decision-making process...and let us know what happens!

/tk

FrogMan

03-24-2011, 09:18 AM

a week has passed and I've been spending a lot of time thinking about this, the whole thing. After the first wave of shock, the idea has seeped into my wife's mind too and we talked about it a lot over the weekend. She is very supportive although nervous about all that is new about the whole thing.

Yesterday, I met with my sensei, the husband in the husband/wife owner pair I mentioned above. I had a bunch of questions regarding fixed costs of running that particular dojo as well as potential for growth and also what he thinks the breakeven point might be in terms of number of students. Over the weekend, he'd sent me a business plan they have put together the case of starting a new dojo from the ground up. Even though it might sound like franchises, the dojos they start are not franchise but entirely independant schools, and I would run my own dojo within some basic rules but entirely with my own self, i.e. I'd clearly be the boss as to schedules would be, when and how fats the belt tests would happen for my student and what kind of classes I'd be willing to give.

Typically, our dojos all give kenpo karate and kickboxing classes. I'm a Nidan (2nd degree black belt) in our style of kenpo so those present absolutely no problem whatsoever, but the kickboxing classes are a different animal. At first, I was thinking I wouldn't be able to give those classes, seeing how at the main dojo, they are training people who want to fight in the ring, but there are many people who simply want to train to get/stay in shape while hitting pads and doing kicks and the more I thought about it, the more I'm convinced I could go for that clientele and simply go for the cardio workout. I've been taking an hour of boxing a week with my son since January, simply to keep myself in shape, and it's mostly a big workout. I'm the prototypal kind of customer who wants to get in shape but has no intention whatsoever to jump into a ring at any point in time. Almost half my studentship could come from these kickboxing classes.

After that, I'm already thinking about specific self-defence classes like the one I'm already giving at the main dojo and something you guys might not think but that could work for us around here: karate in English. We're talking about an hour long karate class I'd give in English for French speaking kids who'd like to practice their English. The Quebec City area is mayb 95% French, but many parents are acknowledging that their kids will need some sort of basic English for the future. It's a win-win when kids can get to practice their karate and do it in English. We tried to get a class like that off the ground in January but there were not enough kids who signed up for it, and the dojo owner had to pay my hours. Now, if I'm giving the class and simply asking parent 5$ an hour in extra, it's 5$ per hour of pay right in my pocket.

Finally, very positive point is that it looks like the lease would remain under the name of the company of my sensei and I'd be subleasing it. This would kinda protect me in case We'd back out of it say in two years. The original lease of for 5 years, renewable for another 5. We've just done year one.

Anyway, it's all shaping up nicely. Still lots to think about and still quite a few things have to happen, like the eventual incorporation into an LLC (in order to limit my responsability to my initial money input) but it's looking good so far.

There is an incredible appeal to making it a family business that could eventually become my old days income. My sensei is adamant that this school is just destined to be really profitable. It's well located, which I agree, and it's near a sort of school that I'd liken to a local community college, although we don't call them that in Quebec. In Quebec, we have one less year of high school than in the US but everyone is required to go through two years of preparatory school before going to University. This type of school also offers three years technical programs that people can go through to become technicians and go straight to work instead of going to college. Anyway, this school has 3000 students and my sensei told me they'd put together a complete communication plan to fully submerge with ads the school in order to bring in the 18-20 year old crowd. Plan was said to be worth something like $5000 and could be done in maybe 2 years, once I'm well established and the company's got some money stashed away.

Thanks for reading me, sometimes I feel like I really just need to talk this out. I met with my sensei yesterday at 4:45 after getting home at 4:15 so I had just a sandwich for dinner. We talked for 30-40 minutes then was giving three hours of class and got home at almost 9 and talked about the whole thing with my wife for an hour. Watched some TV and got to bed at almost midnight and my mind was racing. The next half hour, I felt like talking about and thought I'd never want to go to sleep then boom, 12:30, lights out. :)

Anyway, that's another long post, almost feels like a real life dynasty in the making. :)

FM

JonInMiddleGA

03-24-2011, 09:44 AM

FrogMan

03-24-2011, 09:57 AM

Having that sort of school environment nearby does seem to have some pretty good potential. There's several angles to be worked there, including both the self-defense angle as well as the fitness angle, both of which typically appeal strongly to young women.

absolutely agree. Having a "self-defense for women" type of class could also be something I could work on. I mean, adapting my techniques to lighter women looking to just gain confidence could be a big draw. The fitness angle, you couldn't be more right. Typically, the boxing for fitness and kickboxing classes I've seen at all the dojos I've been around have always had about a 50-50 split between men and women. A lot of women get into boxing/kickboxing to get in shape, and sometimes to evacuate the daily frustrations. Nothing like imagining the face of an ex on a pad or bag to make you punch a bit harder. ;)

Here's a freebie for you: once you're established enough to have gotten past the "where did I put the keys" phase, work with the school to offer an occasional freebie basic self-defense class. Those are usually pretty turnkey once you get the presentation down but would be a sweat equity way of getting bodies through the door without spending much cash on marketing them.

Note taken for future use, thanks. :) My ability to adapt and demonstrate self-defense techniques will be an asset for me, that I'm sure of. I've already established myself as a good reference amongst the instructors at the main dojo. The last year has been good in getting my name out there, probably more than I had first realized.

Then, looking more to hook the kids already in the school to more paid extra classes, the ability of my son with a bo staff will be instrumental to us building a generation of young kids who're really into competing and training with the bo. I'm sure you've seen some videos of him, there are a few on FB, but I've seen some kids' jaw really drop when looking at him spin that bo and perform a form. :)

He performed at a walkathon for breast cancer last year and I'm sure having him keep on training and perform once or twice would act just as you say, as free advertizing...

FM

FrogMan

04-10-2011, 06:42 AM

Had a nice 3+ hours meeting with them yesterday afternoon and the pieces of the puzzle are finally starting to fall into place.

IT had been a fairly slow two couple of weeks before that as the hard drive of the computer in that dojo died on them, (yeah, I know, it looks suspicious, but I trust them) and they were unable to retrieve any of it. Because of that, they couldn't give me figures as to how many students were signed up for that one dojo.

As I said, there's the main dojo and this one a little on the side of town. The class hours right now are opened to either dojo to anyone signed up at either of the dojo. While we know some people signed up at "my" dojo and only take classes there, there are some that use the hours available there to supplement what they can get at the main dojo. Thing is, there are only a few who take classes only at "my" dojo, mainly because the schedule had always been set up in a way to cather to the beginners.

By me taking over in May, there was always this question on my mind of how we'd transition between the two management. Would we make a clear cut change of hands on May 1st and I'd have to tell some people to pick a place without them even being show what I could offer them or would we do something else? Well, I was offered a great "something else" yesterday. Something that would allow people to go to both dojo for the four months of Summer but in which I would be compensated as if a certain number of students were "my" students while I'd start offering more hours of classes, making my name better known to higher up belts in the hope of hooking up a few of them. The moment I saw the figures, I knew I was able to live with that.

My worry had been all along that I wouldn't be able to get past summer without getting all in debt, then not be able to have money for announcing before the big open doors we always do in August, then see it snowball (in a bad way) with subscriptions being under expectations and then be in trouble when Fall comes and be forced to close down the whole experiment before Christmas. This transition plan would insure that while I would see some loss over Summer, they'd be way under what I have as startup money, even after revising the numbers downwards a bit.

After that meeting yesterday, I'm in a "built it and they will come" kinda mood and we're plowing forward. Almost a month after the first talks of this and thinking it over a whole lot and talking it over with my wife, we (not only I) are convinced it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for a passionate martial artist like I am. My wife is on board with the whole thing, even offering her help to work the office in times of rush (august/September and January mostly) and I even caught her saying she'd maybe try some cardio kickboxing class if I offered one.

Even before yesterday's meeting, as I was crunching numbers, I caught myself trying to figure out how many students I'd need to leave my day job and make this dojo our many source of income. The number is surprisingly reachable in my opinion.

In those number crunching sessions, I've also come up with a price plans for different types of classes (karate, kickboxing, combined plan, kids plans) that mimics thos of the main dojo. I already have an idea of how many hours of class I'd have to give on my schedule in the Fall in order to present a satisfying offer to customers, something that will make people say "yeah, he's serious". Really stoked by the whole thing.

Next up will be talking to an attorney for the creation of an LLC and getting the whole started under my name. It's all new to me but as I said before, they have been doing this for 15 years now and this 3 hours long meeting yesterday reconvinced me that they are there to help me. I got a lot of little things to learn but I'm no idiot. Baby steps and we'll get there, wish me luck. :)

FM

FrogMan

05-26-2013, 08:42 PM

resurrecting this thread as this update is more of a personal nature than about the dojo. A little over five years after first testing for my Shodan (1st degree black belt) and 3 years and a month after testing for my Nidan (2nd degree black belt), I successfully tested and was granted the degree of Sandan (3rd degree black belt) yesterday afternoon in a test that lasted about 3 and a half or 4 hours.

It was a special kind of test in that I was the only one testing for Sandan while 10 others tested for Nidan. There more people there are, the less pressure is on any one person. When you are alone, and nobody other than the testers are allowed to watch, you are not allowed much room to err.

While there are 154 persons with a Shodan degree who've trained under my Sensei, 49 more with a Nidan degree, I become only the 14th with a Sandan degree. Very proud of this accomplishment, even prouder of the kind of test I was able to pull off. All comments were absolutely positive. This test was my first since becoming Sensei of my own dojo and it came as a validation to my two sensei of my ability to learn and assimilate their teachings. I was told by one of them that she felt I had not only met her expectations but even surpassed them.

I'm a little sore today and it seems getting more sore by the hour. Will be a tougher time tomorrow but I don't care. Life is good...

Here's a pic of me with my two Sensei. :)

FM