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Old 01-03-2006, 09:22 PM   #6
Ed Shockley
Dojo: aikikai of Philadelphia
Location: philadelphia
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 84
United_States
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Re: Private vs. Public Dojo: Your thoughts

I'm sure that we all have seen financially solvent dojos. There's a karate school across the hall from us with a huge after school kids program that makes more in a week than we make in a month. The complication of Aikido and space requirements make it more difficult but it also is a great "product" and a good Wharton mind could sell it in sufficient numbers to make it go, especially in cities without staggering real estate rates. Still, the question of this thread is private versus public dojo. I'm going to repeat Jorge Garcia's initial comment in different words. A Sensei is someone who has something to give to the art. Their understanding of technique and ability to inspire and instruct drive them to open a school for the advance of Aikido and the principles that are inseparable from the art. This is why so many do so poorly financially. Their focus is not on the business but on the teaching. Unless they have sound partners, great Sempai a rich spouse or luck then the business suffers. The question that I pose to Bob is, "Do you have something worth giving to Aikido that warrants enduring the struggle to keep a school open?" If someone is Saito, Tohei, Sugano, Saotome, Yamada or a talented disciple of a shihan then nearly any price is worth paying to spread the movement encoded message of Aikido. I am not being in the least snide. I have met many Sensei who fit that bill, in fact most do. Skip Chapman is only a third Dan I believe but walk into his dojo and you are lifted up both technically and spiritually. My two Sensei, Henry Smith and Nizam Taleb, both come from completely different lineages and their interpretations of movements are different as can be and yet both are born to teach and challenge each student to grow on and off the mat. Donovan Waite, Shihan captured his interpretations on tape in order to challenge Aikidoka to closely examine classical movement principles. Do you have something comparable to share? If you are developing an idea then that seems perfectly suited to a private dojo. It's a laboratory to collectively explore concepts. If you already have a vision or can translate a vision of your teacher then the issue is not private dojo but how to get more students. Good luck whichever road you take.
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