Last week I had a phone call with yet another marketing agency promising to help me gain more students and grow our school. I had hoped this one would be different, but the pitch is always the same: buy their systems and strategies (I get that), and let them do all of my social media. The “system” is kind of like the Matrix; an array of sales funnels, email marketing and annoying phone calls that bug potential clients based on algorithms and other data until they do a “discovery call” with me, just like the one I had. Sad thing is, I knew what I was getting into but I am an old school martial arts teacher in the digital world…out of my depth, as it were.
The social media part is simple: have their experts blast Facebook and Instagram with posts about our school. They write the content, do the pictures, etc. Canned advertising for a world in which any small business like mine may get five seconds of someone’s attention. Again, I completely understand and if I were smart, I’d just do it. There’s one small problem: Authenticity.
The part that always gets me is that these companies all seem operate on the idea that I want to have a martial arts academy where I have two to five thousand square feet, a staff of instructors, a testing and belt system that follows a specific timeline, (charging for each belt) retention strategies, growth strategies, etc., all so that I can achieve the famed “Seven-Figure Dojo,” allowing me to rent more space, buy a bigger house, a nicer car and all that other stuff. And even when I try to tell people I don’t want all that other stuff, they still try to sell it to me and probably think I have a hole in my head. What’s so bad about wanting to be the small grocer on the corner rather than the supermarket? I believe this is very achievable, I'm just not sure how to get there.
Our dojo may never sustain me enough to do it full-time, but at least I can invest my time and resources with a full heart. I can do this because everything we teach comes from years of experience: experience with success and failure, learning what actually works and what doesn’t, through difficult moments, loving relationships, struggles with faith, the knowledge of times I should have been a better man, and with happy memories. Go some place else and you may learn MMA, BJJ, karate or something like it, but I doubt you will find the raw passion that comes from a lifetime of dedicated martial arts training. It exists in places like mine, people who teach out of their homes, very small rentals or even in the park. We teach because we have a desire to share the experience that molded and shaped our lives with others — to help others. Real teaching comes from a place in the heart for other people.
The hard part is helping folks to understand that real training, authentic training has nothing to do with belts, titles and trophies. Real training begins and ends with humility. Not just bowing, or wearing a white belt, not just cleaning the mats after practice. Humility is what separates someone who has a heartfelt desire to change their life from someone who just wants to dip their toe in the water. Lack of humility is the main reason why someone cannot stick to their weight loss and fitness goals. Lack of humility is why some people never achieve the degree they want or never seem to get the job or promotion they desire. You see, humility requires self-sacrifice; your time, your energy, your desire to serve yourself through food, screen time, things your can’t afford, through meaningless physical pursuits, etc. Humility isn’t just being a kind, quiet person; a humble person is someone who understands his or her faults and then spends every day trying to get better. Humility is the beginning and end of a successful career, a fruitful marriage, good parenting and a life of faith.
In order to create a dojo experience where people have the chance to practice humility, there must be a hefty dose of reality. And the reality is this: authentic martial arts training is physically demanding and mentally exasperating. It’s supposed to hurt and it’s supposed to be difficult. It takes months and years to learn the basics, even longer to have a physical understanding. In my mind, a good teacher is a person who demonstrates kindness and passion along with occasional severity. Like a parent. That’s why an 18-year-old cannot teach someone in their 40s effectively. Sure, they can demonstrate a basic technique but they will lack the years of lonely practice sessions, periods of doubt and frustration. They will also not understand how art imitates life. That takes wisdom and wisdom only comes from pushing through hard times and learning how to appreciate joyful moments.
There are a few paintings in the Museum of Tokyo by Japan’s most famous samurai, Miyamoto Musashi. Apparently, one of the paintings was gift to a feudal lord whom Musashi visited for several months after the famed battle with the Yoshioka sword school where he supposedly fought some 30 men using his two swords. The painting is simplistic; a cormorant perched on a ledge. The feudal lord asked Musashi how he could paint so beautifully given his brutal pursuit of self-perfection through the way of the sword. Musashi said the first few times he attempted to paint, he held the brush like a painter, but he could not bring his mind’s picture to the canvas. Then, he held the brush like a swordsman, and was finally able to express himself.
Dave Magliano
Tatsu Dojo
Jissenkan Budo
Dojo Cho
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