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Old 03-17-2012, 07:32 AM   #60
Shadowfax
 
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Dojo: Allegheny Aikido, Pitsburgh PA
Location: Pittsburgh PA
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 948
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Re: Differences between female & male practitioners

Quote:
Tom Verhoeven wrote: View Post
So this was not a discussion on differences between female & male practitioners after all, but rather a market-inquiry to get a feel of the response if gender separate classes in Aikido were to be introduced.
A dojo is here presented as a business. Aikido has become a product. The student a consumer. And society a market.
No it really wasn't. Jackie is not the OP and the first post was a different discussion altogether. However I do agree with you as far as a dojo really should not be a commercial based thing. It just seems really wrong to me. OTOH as Jackie's posts progress it looks less and less like what she wants to do really is a business venture at all and I suspect that her model is going to run into some problems. The business model is about finding ways to make a profit. Her thoughts seem more and more towards an aikido version of joining the local YMCA. It just seems wrong to me but to each his/her own. She might not be taken seriously by the aikido community but perhaps her "business" might appeal to a number of people.

The thing is this is a discussion that has happened in my dojo a few times. If you start offering a class just for women and another just for men, then you start getting people who want a class just for handicapped and just for Jewish and just for gays etc...(not targeting any specific community just tossing out examples) and so on and so forth. Who is going to teach all of these classes? If one is running a dojo and only planning to make ends meet with the dues and out of pocket then teacher must have a day job.


My other question to you Jackie is this. You have been training in aikido for 10 years. So my guess is that you are somewhere in around shodan or nidan. California has many fine dojo run by individuals who have much more experience so it is not like there is a lack of places for people to go and train. What has influenced you to decide to open a dojo of your own rather than to continue to train and grow under a more senior and experienced teacher?

Last edited by Shadowfax : 03-17-2012 at 07:39 AM.
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