MARTIAL ARTS BUSINESS | 5 MUST KNOW TIPS for a DOJO or GYM • Correct Me If I Am Wrong

Sometimes we forget that running a Dojo or Gym is also a martial arts business. Whether it is Aikido, BJJ, Judo, MMA or any other Dojo or Gym, there are some universal business principles that should be applied to have a successful martial arts school. Even if you run it as a passion, that passion will not be sustainable and will not last long if you will not be able to earn enough finances. How to blend your martial arts passion with a martial arts business? We will talk about it with these top 5 tips.

Running a martial arts business is similar to regular business, yet of course in martial arts business you have to take into account your martial arts foundations. You do not want a McDojo since martial arts first of all serve a certain purpose and your martial arts business plan should first of all be suitable to fit that purpose. While you can get martial arts business coaching, a lot of things you can learn yourself, yet you need to understand how business works in general and see it at least part as passion and part as business.

In the end your martial arts business success depends largely on how you will deal with people. In the end it's people who practice martial arts and it's people who will support your martial arts business. If you are not able to deal well with your people, if your martial art is too hard on people, very few people will come, even if you are very good in martial arts. Yet of course we also do not want to trick people into believing they are successfully learning martial arts without really learning anything. So a balance between success and failure in martial arts is very important.

In the end when you run a martial arts as business, specially if martial arts is your main profession, you need to make sure you find a balance between passion and business, balance between success and failure in your teaching methods, yet also keep martial effectiveness as well.

Tell us in the comments how is your martial arts business? Are you running a successful Dojo or Gym? What principles do you use in your work? What is your secret to your martial arts business success?

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[Docinaplane]

Very good information! I workout at a school run by a Cuban man with tremendous martial arts experience, but the reason he has the most successful school in the city has little to do with that. He has a big personality and loves to teach, and people can feel this. In addition, he does what you suggest and goes beyond like no one I've ever seen before. For one example, with his younger students, he goes to their teachers in school to see where he can be helpful to them in areas where the student may be having difficulties.

[MartialArtsJourney]

So these are the top 5 tips for running a successful Dojo or Gym that I've picked up working as a professional in this area. There are many more, yet I hope these insights will help you find balance between your passion for martial arts and also the business side of it which makes it possible to do it full time and share your passion with others.

What are your insights in running a successful Dojo or Gym?

PS: Positive shout outs to Eimantes, the editing guy of AikidoSiauliai, who did a great job editing this video :)

[matthewgraybeal]

I am starting a small self-defense business, this is well-communicated. Excellent tips. I found your videos while surfing for inspiration.

[HECTORARTUROA]

This video is based in a very deep analysis. Msybe you could do a video, if you have not made one yet, about how to keep a martial arts teaching channel. Thanks in advance.

[Parkourred]

This video is a diamond in the rough. Thank you for the information! Should have a lot more views for how great and insightful it is.

[wagutoxD]

Loved it! Very insightfull! Thanks, Rokas! Will reflect uppon those points!

But... what about that starting push, when you don't have your own place... tips for oppening a dojo would be nice! Or just share your own experience with Aikido Siauliai!

Cheers!

[RoninZDojo]

Thank your for your tips. There is some great value in them!

[czj]

I would like to hear about how you advertised your school. I know that the dojo has been closed. But in the future maybe when you are trying to setup a new school/gym, I think it would be nice to hear about the marketing that you do.

[MohseenLala]

I liked this, do more advice videos in the future.

[bidibum]

Man this video is so motivational, tanks for sharing your knowledge

[davidsonh]

the most important rule in buddism is walk the line between the yin and yang.

[cornerofthemoon]

I'm not saying that "everyone passes" but being too strict with beginners and failing them from the yellow belt test is a sure fire way to cause a mass exodus with customers.

[lorenzhansen]

How do you get the first students when starting a Dojo?

[darosaweb]

Hello, about the students who also teaches, do you pay they? How do you deal with the students that helps you?

[masterchristopherchandler]

Grandmaster hop gar lama Kung fu big fan vary pond

[Orimthekeyacolite]

I usually stay out of these discussions but you've said something that really bothered me. You talk here about the self-development and self-defense aspects as two separate and even opposite things. And I understand that you're probably talking from a commercial point of view: "since there is this stereotype between your audience, you might as well play along with it and give people what they expect". Yet I think it's crucial for a martial arts instructor not only to refuse to play along, but to actively explain and show to students how self-development is not just some abstract thing, how it's the most important tool for self-defense. It is sad to me that words like "self-development" and "spiritual practice" in martial arts became little more than a socially excepted euphemism for saying "I have no idea what these guys are doing, probably some ridiculous bullshido with zero practical application". And I think instructors are partly to blame for it, for not explaining enough how self-development is not separate but neatly interwoven into the fabric of a self-defense art.