Another controversial question....

Folks this is LA not podunk...Like New York the cost of starting a business here is huge. If you breakdown the fees per class/hour it's more than reasonable.

Even though he has the Seagal name and his mother's backing His business plan still must work in the real world.

Hopefully the next person who has something to say about this has actual experiance running a Dojo as a business and/or has actually practiced with the guy.

I wish him the best of luck.

William Hazen

William Hazen wrote: Folks this is LA not podunk...Like New York the cost of starting a business here is huge. If you breakdown the fees per class/hour it's more than reasonable. Even though he has the Seagal name and his mother's backing His business plan still must work in the real world. Hopefully the next person who has something to say about this has actual experiance running a Dojo as a business and/or has actually practiced with the guy. I wish him the best of luck. William Hazen

Oh I do too. I wasn't trying to deride his efforts and for all i know with those prices he'll just barely break even. My remarks come more from a student trying to also make it in this expensive world we live in; I could never afford those prices. Seattle has a fairly high cost of living too so i understand what you're saying...and it's a good point. Still, I have to wonder if there isn't another, more affordable way of teaching Aikido, but I'm not exactly a businessman...and from what I hear it can be very difficult to open a dojo and live off that.
To tie it back on topic, I can see how investing so much money into something might make a person train harder. Putting that much of my own short-handed resources into it would make me want to train very hard.

Roman Kremianski wrote: In theory, a "great" student of martial arts is a student who studies broadly outside of just Aikido, so saying that great students are those who stick in Aikido is a bit of an oxymoron.

Sound more like an excuse for quitting.

David

David Skaggs wrote: Sound more like an excuse for quitting. David

It could be, of course, but I wonder what the ideal between specialization and generalization is. In my own case I've really only studied Aikido, so I'm pretty specialized in my formal studies. I still feel I have a pretty solid set of self defense skills, though I can understand why some folks would look at that and think I might have blinders on.
That said, are we talking about the study of martial arts in general, or the study of conflict itself? I think Roman was speaking about one and you the other...though I initially thought along the lines of what you expressed.

William Hazen wrote: Folks this is LA not podunk...Like New York the cost of starting a business here is huge. If you breakdown the fees per class/hour it's more than reasonable. Even though he has the Seagal name and his mother's backing His business plan still must work in the real world. Hopefully the next person who has something to say about this has actual experiance running a Dojo as a business and/or has actually practiced with the guy. I wish him the best of luck. William Hazen

I might resemble that comment at some near time. I'm curious as could be about this dojo and I currently run a dojo (Can you say "ouch! my pocketbook"? I knew that ya could.). Certainly best wishes are appropriate.

Hi William,good on ya, man.

Sound more like an excuse for quitting.

Expanding knowledge of martial arts somehow translates into quitting?

Roman Kremianski wrote: Expanding knowledge of martial arts somehow translates into quitting?

Yooooo Eeeeeee OOOOOOO Yooooooo OOOOOOO

Yooooo Eeeeeeee OOOOOO Yoooooooo OOOOOOO

WIlliam Hazen

William Hazen wrote: Folks this is LA not podunk...Like New York the cost of starting a business here is huge. If you breakdown the fees per class/hour it's more than reasonable. Even though he has the Seagal name and his mother's backing His business plan still must work in the real world. Hopefully the next person who has something to say about this has actual experiance running a Dojo as a business and/or has actually practiced with the guy. I wish him the best of luck. William Hazen

After reading some of the comments here last night I went to bed wondering if people have any idea what the cost is to lease any reasonable amount of space in Southern California... There's a reason so many aikido instructors work out of garages, community centers, churches, etc. Rent ain't cheap here... And making a go of it in a crowded market isn't the easiest thing.

On any other aspects of it... Well, I have no clue what the guy's training or quality is at. Time has a habit of shaking these things out. If he's offering quality training he'll survive. If not...

I wish him the best of luck as well. I imagine he probably has a lot of resources to fall back on to make it work. And more power to him.

In my third year as a student, I left as well. My skill was growing like a wildfire. I connected with the art mentally, physically, and emotionally. I understood it. If ever I hit a brief plateau, a seminar would cure that. The problem was, once I broke through my plateau, my skill was propelled exponentially it seemed. It got to the point where no matter how hard I tried to be humble and realize that daily training should not be earth shattering shugyo, I became bored and sensed that my training had reached a stagnant, fruitless pinnacle. I was not being challenged by sensei or kohei.

Touching on developmental physchology, we can kinda relate to Vygotsky's theory. We are supposed to give a child something just beyond their reach so that learning and progress can take place. How many of us have trained for prolonged periods without the feeling of something just beyond our reach? Thats what I am talking about. Oddly, it was only when I trained with a very high ranking official did I realize the temporary unreachable.

We are curious creatures and the human spirit is not satisfied with the mundane. As a sensei, I strive to keep things interesting and by truely having a beginers mind. I try to learn new things to introduce. Sometimes I just go with it according to how I feel but usually I use technological planning to ensure a curriculum that is challenging and inducive to learning. Have I had a student to leave due to a high skill level? Not to date. Have I had students leave? Of course. Who hasen't? Some students leave due to the severity of the training. Some leave due to financial reasons, etc. I don't play favorites and I don't tolerate pubescent behavior.

Joseph Madden wrote: That's mainly directed towards the sensei and seniors on the forum. Do you honestly feel that the very best students at your respective dojos leave? Do those students that show the greatest "physical" abilities in the art, an almost innate sense of timing and technique leave far earlier than the merely adequate students. Feel free to give examples if you wish. Also note that this question merely pertains to physical abilities and has no spiritual side.

Hi Joseph,
Yes, it is true.
These guys need a very charismatic teacher that will fascinate them, and will give them long term motivation. There are not very many teachers like that in US and Canada.
The other aspect is, before come to aikido, they are already engaged in some kind of career in Real World, and this career offers them a lot of challenges, they are quickly going up. And they have less and less time to do a hobby -- aikido.

Brad Medling wrote: In my third year as a student, I left as well. My skill was growing like a wildfire. I connected with the art mentally, physically, and emotionally. I understood it.