Costs of setting up in the UK

2 of my instructors in the past 6 years had worked on the door for a number of years. Again this isn't something we need to worry about.

I'm not going into this venture thinking I'm gonna make a shed load of money. I'm going into this venture because I want to create a class that I've always wanted to go to.

There's always been a problem with the fantastic classes that I've gone to:

A. They don't allow techniques from other disciplines into their gym. This could be because the instructor is stubborn or simply because the sport doesn't allow it. A simple example would be a Western boxing right hand in an East Asian discipline.

B. It's sport focused. The class I'm going to at the moment, the instructor touches on what you can't do in the discipline because it's illegal. I'm not interested in competing and neither is most of the people that go to these places.

 

Innovation. Some people have the talent some don't.

Where? I don't see any official documents. Just looks like an opinion to me.

 

There are in effect two sets of rules, crossing both of which can cause you problems.

The first of these is cultural norms in your environment. Different environments have different tolerances for physical responses and if you cross those lines you could be looking at police involvement or potentially more unpleasant group escalation/retaliation.

The second of these is official and is well documented. It is the law. With respect to physical intervention and self defence it is something that I lecture on for a living and I cover in my own regular classes. For more guidance as a starting point I suggest you visit the CPS website (although a good instructor will know far more than is covered there and will automatically build appropriate responses into their physical training regime).
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/self_defence/

Experience as a bouncer or security guard or police officer does not necessarily mean you know about self defence or are qualified to teach it. There are areas of experience that overlap with that discipline, just as there are areas of being a good Sports MA coach (particularly in the contact disciplines) that overlap. Neither however encompasses all the knowledge or skills needed to teach good self defence because both operate in a different situational and psychological context.

 

If you call it mixed martial arts or mma you will be considered a fraud if you are not teaching the sport specifically.


You can call it whatever you like, but if you consider opening a school with no qualified mma instructors then you sir will be considered a fraud.


Other than that, you sound like an over - confident under - qualified idiot.


I still wish you the best and hope you succeed though. Good luck

 

Because its a web forum genius not a repository

His qualifications are beyond reproach and he is one of the few people I have endorsed without being asked to do so...and from me that means something

You ha e crap all idea what you are doing, no background, no skill and no hope. With this being a forum full of global and experienced artists selling an idea will easily take root if it has merit

Yours doesn't

Someone with a self professed " marketing" background who fails at that is probably full of crap. That same person being unable to even use google definitely is

 

I can absolutely sympathise with that as I've never been 100% happy with any class I've done (and that feeling is the basis of many a club or style getting started) but I think you are approaching this from a very naive position.
Better to gain a teaching qualification with an association you are mostly happy with (which will take you 5-10 years or so) and then run classes under that that also incorporate the kind of stuff you think they are lacking.
Mitch on here would be a very worthwhile source on how go about that kind of venture.

 

Plus setting up classes that poach your current teachers student base, will get you on his 'naughty list' for Christmas.

 

He isn't planning to teach. He's basically planning to set up a facility and market for teachers (feel free to correct me if I am wrong).

He basically wants to do what the guy who runs the facility I teach out of does. You don't need experience or qualifications in martial arts to do that. It's really all about having good marketing knowledge and money.

With that said experience in martial arts can help you understand the market better, but it doesn't make you an expert in that field. I can safely say that from my own experience.

You will also want a bit more than a hall. You'd want your own studio space so you can set up a ring/cage, store equipment, etc.

 

Being told what to do and how to do it by people who don't know either. I'm sure they'll love it. The OP sounds like a PHB to me. I still don't know why the instructors would think they need the dead weight.

I got into teaching out of necessity. It was either that or close up the dojo. I still teach when the sensei is away on training or mission. I do it for love of the art and, I can do it because I know enough to teach. I wouldn't do it if I didn't like it.

Having to 'work' for someone who doesn't have a clue about the art or the SD aspect, but who insists on telling me how to teach and what to teach... yeah. No.

 

The OP might like the thread I've linked to below where members here have listed what they would look for in their ideal venue.

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121449&highlight=ideal+training+venue

 

If the existing replies haven't convinced the OP of the unwiseness of calling his class MMA, I doubt anything will, but to take it out of the realm of the theoretical for the moment: I have a friend who owns & operates a JKD school. His main class used to be called "Mixed Arts" class, because it's literally that, a mix of arts. (Mainly Kali, Jun Fan, Muay Thai & grappling, but that's not really relevant to this discussion). A few years back, once the popularity of MMA-the-sport (referred to hereafter as MMA) skyrocketed, he kept getting people calling up who saw the phrase "mixed arts" and leapt to the conclusion that he taught MMA, even though the website clearly indicates it's a JKD school with a heavy Kali focus. My friend's deal is "real martial arts for real people," not training fighters for sport. So he changed the name of the class. Problem solved. By the way, my friend has had to expand to a larger location three different times in the fifteen years he's been running a school, so clearly he has some degree of a handle on the business side of things.

 

Most of the mma guys in my class are there for fun. It is real martial arts for real people.

 

I think E-Rocker's post gets to an important point. Chadderz hit it too. If you use the term "MMA" or "mixed martial arts," but teach something non-sportive, then you're being deceptive. Either unintentionally or on purpose. If it's on purpose, then you're cashing in on the current popularity of MMA by making reference to it in your name. Then pulling a bait-and-switch at the door.

If it's unintentional, then you have an opportunity now to set it straight. You're not teaching MMA. If what you're proposing is a fusion of other styles, then simply choose another word that gets to that point. "Combined," "integrative," "hybrid," etc. "Mixed martial arts" already has a specific connotation. Using the term anyway, now that you know that, is duplicitous.

So now you need to clarify what you're actually planning on teaching. And you need to find a way to attract teachers actually qualified to teach THAT. My concern would be that, if there are people out there qualified to teach at that level, and you're offering them a nonpermanent hall arrangement, they could presumably just teach on their own, couldn't they? If you were offering them a genuine training facility, I could see that a little more easily.

I get the impulse. I do. Like PASmith, it's been ages since I had a class that did precisely what I wanted it to do (and that includes my own classes, in the interest of full disclosure). And I admire your confidence. It'll serve you well AFTER you clarify your position. Until then, it's a liability I'm afraid.


ap

 

Fair point.

I believe my friend's intention in using that phrase is to let people know that they don't need to already be a good athlete to come learn some genuine martial arts (i.e. not something he just made up). Neither I, nor he, meant anything disparaging against MMA. The friend in question is a level 2 CSW coach, amongst his other qualifications.

 

The arts in MMA are for everyone imo. At least where I train there is a wide variety of age and gender which is a key sign of a good place to train for anyone.

 

Sounds like a good school. Am I correct in recalling that you train under Rick Young? I know he & Rick Faye are friends, although I don't know if there's a formal affiliation. My guy's school is formally a branch of Rick Faye's school. It makes sense that they'd both be running welcoming places.

 

Yeah. He's fully certified under Rick Faye.

 

Cool. Rick F. is a good guy & speaks very highly of Rick Y.