Brian Kagen pick: “An Open Letter to Strip-Mall Martial Arts Clubs” by David Shevitz

“Dear Owner: Before I begin, I want to first say that I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt on a number of things. For example, I’m more than happy to assume that you are, in fact, a skilled practitioner of some sort of martial art. I may not know what that martial art is–and you might have just made it up yourself. But I’m okay with assuming that you put in some considerable time learning what you now know. I’m also willing to assume that you’re genuinely interested in improving the lives of other people through martial arts training. I don’t even have a problem with the fact that this interest may run parallel to your interest in making money–a dojo is a business, after all. You have bills to pay just as anyone else does. I’m not even going to give you a hard time about some of your fees–when I built my dojo, I looked at retail locations. I know how expensive they are, so I would expect your prices to reflect that reality. In short, I want you to know that I’m not looking down on you. I respect you, and I appreciate the situation you’re in.

So if I can respect you, how about you showing some respect for yourself? Or, if you can’t do that, how about your students?”

Please click here to read entire article.

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Posted by Aikido Journal on Sep 25th, 2009: Reader Pick (post a comment)