So in this part 2 of how to found and run a dojo let’s take a look at what my old Sensei referred to as a “Country Dojo”. What is that and, what are the good and bad points about one of those?
After knowing that we had to leave the “Y” (from part 1 of this short series) we looked at alternatives that other people we personally knew had done. The organization that my Sensei started had member dojo in probably 10 or 15 different states and even a couple of dojo in Canada and they ranged Texas to Florida to Washington DC to Washington State.
All of them had come to his organization and teachings via word of mouth, referrals, having met at Judo shiai, or attending week-long training clinics. Many/most did not have the time or financial commitment that he had put into his dojo which had a fully sprung floating floor with professional mats on top covered in white canvas that was about 2,500 sf in size with dressing rooms and showers, so they did what they could the best way that they could in order to stay in Budo and actively train where ever they were.
After moving to Houston from my small hometown I fell in love with springs and good mats, up to that point having experienced only folding gymnastic mats laid on concrete at a community ed center. Unless you’ve trained on what essentially is no padding at all, you simply have no idea of what that is like; nor can you viscerally understand the joy of discovering training on a professional grade floor like they have at the Kodokan in Tokyo.
So while everyone loved his mat, they couldn’t match his facilities or his commitment of running a professional curriculum. Long story short, they did what they could but largely fell short for several reasons.
First, holding regular classes on a consistent calendar schedule can be difficult. If you’re running a small dojo and have no senior ranks you can depend on and you’re sick one night, then class is cancelled and your students are disappointed. Having a large group of dependable teachers under you can be very difficult to grow if your entire student population is less than a dozen people most of whom are in class on an irregular basis. Having a much larger group of students in the dojo means that about a third are really regular in class, about a third are kinda’ sorta’ regular, and the bottom third come so infrequently that it might take them ten years to make Ikkyu. I had one of those once and it took him 9 ½ years to make Ikkyu since we don’t promote strictly by “time in grade” but instead by actually training, knowing the material, and being able to demonstrate that knowledge.
Having a large student population means that you have a fair-sized group of deshi who stay and train and progress over the years with the most senior and capable rising to the top. They become an essential part of the dojo such that you, the guy running the dojo, can simply pass classes off to someone for a week or two and just not worry about it because you have some depth in your personnel resources. Best of all though, is that you don’t really need a lot of these high-level players; only 2 or 3 that you can really trust and depend on but, you must have the foundation (large enough group of students to work with) to grow them first.
Next, it can be difficult to teach advanced material with enough repetition so that deshi can learn it and become truly competent; not just competent mind you, but reaching high-level ability in the art. A throwing art such as Aikido requires ukemi to understand the quantum mechanics relationship between tori and uke. Not being able to take enough ukemi for your tori means that they will never feel the throw a sufficient number of times to become really good at it. Additionally, your ukemi will never properly develop since you can’t take enough falls for them and over time you'll develop a hesitation at being thrown which increases the chances of your being injured if anyone really hits the mark and you can't avoid the breakfall.
Why is this? The mats in a Country Dojo generally do not have the quality of a permanently installed sprung floor that is bolted into the concrete (or wood, whichever). The common element of most Country Dojo (unless the Sensei has a budget large enough for a permanent location with a floor installed, such as owning your own building) usually must have an arrangement such that the mats are rolled/folded out for class, and then put away after bow-off so that the next group can come in behind you.
One solution for this can be renting mat time in a gymnastics school which many do but now you’re back to the issue we had at the “Y” which was, keeping the assigned mat time, not having the gymnastics people pre-emp your classes due to a calendar shift or gymnastics competition (which happened to us more than once) or having the kids run across the training area wearing street shoes. And that’s if their liability insurance will permit them to take-on a martial arts dojo that may or may not use weapons for training.
So with that said, without equipment designed to allow a maximum number of falls with a minimum level of pain and discomfort (did I mention taking bad ukemi on thin folding mats on a concrete floor?) students “top out” and find that they can only take so many falls a class. Worst of all is that if you are running older students who may not have the physical conditioning of a high school or college-age person, then for them the ukemi become close to impossible to learn, much less become good at simply because it hurts ….. a lot. How many blown out shoulders can one person tolerate?
Staying at the same location can be very problematic. One small dojo group that Sensei had was relegated to moving from public school campus to public school campus. They were renting mat time from the wrestling teams at each school (for the mat availability) and as the school calendars changed or as school dismissed for holidays (meaning no classes allowed during Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Spring Break) and the summer, they would spend a month at one campus before being told to move to another down the street. Nothing can discourage growth like never being in the same place for very long (no one can find the class, "I could swear it was here just last week!") and it really complicates any advertising since your address is always changing. Growing class size is critical for the survival of the dojo so this small group of maybe 10 to 15 that I was personally acquainted with and taught clinics for managed to hold on for several years but never grew and finally folded the mats and went home.
Expectations of the students can become an issue. If someone wants to try out Aikido and can find your small Country Dojo at a rec or community center somewhere then they likely will not mind paying $30 or $40 a month for classes. However, don’t expect a student to pay $100 a month or up unless you can fulfill their expectations of a better than average training floor, dressing rooms possibly with showers, decorations for atmosphere (we have a lot of calligraphy and art work hung everywhere) and a professional level environment with easy parking.
When I first started it was in a community center with terrible folding mats on concrete and I was paying $12 (yes, twelve dollars) for 6-weeks’ worth of classes. That class fee won’t even pay for advertising today so the worse and more temporary your facilities are, the lower the odds are that you can hang on to having a dojo, much less actually grow it into something because you won’t impress potential students like the karate shop down the street does. You may have a better martial arts product overall but remember that marketing (and closing the sale) can be everything.
So what is an alternative?
One is to teach only weapons classes such as Iaido, Kendo, or Jodo. By focusing only on weapons work and not teaching an art form that requires breakfalling you can eliminate the need for mats. Wood floors would be nice but smooth concrete, tile that is not irregular with grout joints, and linoleum will work and all the comments above on floors can be disregarded.
However, all the other comments fully apply here also. Regular location and training times that don’t change. Having full backup instructors in case you go out of town on vacation or work or you have the flu is critical. Having facilities that look acceptable. Good marketing for student population growth. Etc.
So while switching to a weapons form cancels the need for flooring, the other issues still exist. If you can’t get past four or five players including you then reaching high-levels of performance becomes difficult as the size of classes ebb and flow and no one is really there often enough over a course of potentially years to really and deeply learn something. One or two students drop out and now you not only have to find replacements to make whatever expenses you may have, but the instruction starts over from scratch and all that prior instructional development is lost. Over time, your higher-level skill sets stagnate because there are few students who can test your ability and if those that you do have fall out, then basically that means that you are topped out, quite possibly permanently.
Ah! you say. But I can bring in a senior instructor. Maybe. The last time we brought in a senior instructor in anything it was into four-figures in cost so for a country dojo with say six to a dozen players tops, you can’t make that nut and now you have to spend personal funds to travel there instead and then try to bring it back, share it, propagate it, and then push it forward.
By now I’m sure that if you were considering opening a small study group (or a Country Dojo) you’re discouraged and questioning your sanity at such a thought.
Don’t be. Remember what I started off by saying at the first ………………… you do what you can the best way you can. Just remember to temper your expectations and be realistic in what you think you are looking for. Also remember that sometimes being a student instead of the Sensei means that you can just train and not worry about the business aspects.
Next installment ………… Go Big or Go Home & The Mechanics.
L.F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudokan
Houston, TX
September 20, 2019
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