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Tatsu Dojo

The Art Of Commitment

Updated: Dec 2, 2024

Recovering from a black belt test at Tatsu Dojo.
Exhausted Martial Artist

Most people who read this blog on a regular basis know that I own and operate a small martial arts dojo and run it out of our three car garage.  For all intensive purposes, I am a one man show: I do all of our website stuff, advertising, books, etc.  And unless I am recovering from, I don’t know, major surgery, I teach most of the classes.  It is certainly not the nine to five gig I’ve had my whole life and unlike a regular job where you can expect to get paid twice a month for basically showing up and doing what you agreed to do, it’s not exactly a steady line of work.  When I decided to open the school commercially, I realized I’d have to get used to the fact that there were no garuntees, which is pretty significant for some one who spent the better part of 38 years relying on a paycheck.  And you cannot start a business like this unless you are completely committed.  You have to strap in for a really, really long ride with very distinct possibility of not achieving your goal.  Kind of like martial arts training.


In all of the years I taught prior to opening our school, I was very choosy about who I allowed to train.  Now, this wasn’t too hard on military bases which is where I did the majority of martial arts classes for the better part of 10 years.  Back then, most of my students were active duty and they were used to a certain level of physicality and discipline.  After retiring from the Air Force and attending several local schools, I found the “Goldilocks Syndrome.”  Some schools were so fixated on fighting and equally so insanely ego driven that you had to armor up to go there lest you head to work every week with a black eye.  On the other hand, some places were so soft that many of the students might get knocked over by their own flatulence.  I wanted a dojo, much like the few I found long ago in the U.S. and in Japan.  A place with an acceptable amount of fear, pain and violence coupled with community, friendship and respect.  And friends, that kind of place is actually really hard to find unless you create it.


But if you’re going to have a profit-driven dojo, you have to accept the fact that everyone has their own motives, their own reasons for being there.  Sounds easy enough, but the truth is, the dojo I run today is different than the ones I had when we just asked for donations.  For instance, in order to exist, a commercial school needs volume.  That means I have to offer 22 classes a week, unlike the three I used to offer when I had day job.  It also means that I need to be a lot more tolerant of occasional attendance.  Again, every one here has their own motives, goals and responsibilities.  Some of our students work jobs that require a tremendous amount of travel.  Others have growing families - I know what it’s like to be the father of young children and teenagers with activities.  To be clear, your job (or school) and family should take priority over your study of budo.  Any seasoned teacher will tell you that.  And so, when we have lulls in attendance, like we had over this fleeting part of summer, I take all of that into consideration.  People have lives and responsibilities outside of the dojo.  Furthermore, I would not recommend everyone approach training the way that I have; believe me, it caused a lot of unnecessary strife.


The hard truth is, traditional martial arts (budo) is slowly dying.  Not an easy thing for me to say given the fact that it is my main product, if you will.  Think about it:  I want you to try to sell something that most people do not understand much less think they need.  They'd rather go to a kickboxing class or a CrossFit gym for instant results. And once people come through the door, I have to give them the hard facts; this is a long haul.  A lifelong haul.  And by the way, I’m not going to reward you with different colored belts that stroke your ego.  I’m not going to put patches and symbols on your plain, white uniform.  I will encourage you when you do something right, but I won’t always pat you on the back.  As a matter of fact, I might use a painful reminder, like the whack of a bamboo sword on your calf to get you to stop coming up on the ball of your foot when you kick.  Better that than an inevitable ankle sprain.  You won’t test on a regular basis; instead, you will test when I think you’re ready and it will be two or three years before you can try to get your brown belt.  You will be expected to do what your body allows which is frequently different than what your mind permits.  You’ll get hit, pushed, thrown, joint locked, choked, scraped and generally beaten.  A lot.  If you stay long enough, you’ll understand that in order to temper the mind, you start with the body.


It is a small number of people these days who are interested in everything I just mentioned.  But if you are one of those people and you’ve found a dojo like this one, let me give you a piece of advice:  Commit.  Commit to training at the dojo as frequently as your schedule allows…especially when you don’t feel like it.  That’s the best time to train.  If you can’t make it to the dojo (which is totally fine) then train at home or on the road regularly.  That way, when you are able to make class, your training and others’ will be beneficial.  Commit to eating well, to regular exercise and strength training.  These disciplined actions will improve your karate.  When you’re in a hotel room after a long day of meetings, take two minutes and run through a kata; stretch, do some punches.  Kick over your chair for a few reps.  Do some deep breathing as we’ve done after class many times.  Make this a part of your daily routine, even if it’s just a few minutes.  That’s how you stay committed.  That’s how you make it a part of your life.


That last sentence is the most important.  Budo should be a part of your life; not your entire life. And try your best not to allow it to become nothing more than a hobby. Eventually, over time, it should be part of what defines you, just like anything else.  Believe me, it is a unique and far less traveled path these days. 


But it’s worth it.


Dave Magliano

Tatsu Dojo

Jissenkan Budo

Dojo Cho

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