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Old 11-01-2004, 12:54 PM   #9
siwilson
Dojo: Kenshinkai Yoshinkan Aikido
Location: Portsmouth
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 450
England
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Re: Poll: How important is running an aikido dojo as a business?

Quote:
Ian Dodkins wrote:
I think this is the only time I have ever disagreed with Lynn. Admittedly Dojo's need to ensure they do not loose money, however I believe that they should be run as non-profit making and costs to students should be kept to a minimum to retain inclusivity (ideally free). In the past I saw many karate clubs which were run just to make money - the teachers started as soon as they could (and therefore were pretty poor standard) and they just went for numbers, usually kids.

In John Stevens excellent book 'the sword of no-sword: life of master swordsman tesshu", tesshu said something like "better to have one student who will understand my swordwork, than 1000 poor students." I believe this whole heartedly. We should be looking at quality and not quantity. Ueshiba's dispute with tokada was over finances (as far as I am aware ueshiba refused to pay the fee due from each of his students).

Instructor who are not teaching for financial gain are teaching for another reason; hopefully this is to transfer their knowledge. People may believe that because it is cheap it is not worth anything - but that is their problem. I believe aikido has instrinsic value and if people cannot recognise that they shouldn't be training.

Money is made by selling something for more than it cost to make it or by paying people less than they are worth for their services. Business and spirituality don't mix, because (profit-making) business requires overriding self-interest. I'm not saying it's 'wrong', just that we have to be aware of where our abundance and prosperity comes from, and what we are really aiming to achieve.
Ian

I agree whole heartedly. The line comes when the money coming from the students gets in the way of maintaining standards. Do you stop the students grading because they are not ready and risk losing income that puts food on your table?

If you are getting in to the business v profit definition, then Jun please clarify.

I would refer to profit making as a business and non-profit "for the members" as a mutual.


Osu!
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