Change the Image, Not the Programs

Letter to the editor of Martial Arts Professional Magazine

I enjoyed your article in the January issue "Superior Black Belts, Inferior Teacher." I believe that many of us can identify with this example.

As martial artists, many of us once believed the goal was to develop great fighters. Tough tenacious individuals that could and would do anything for the art or their instructor. NAPMA has referred to these types of dojos as dungeon schools. They are generally dirty, and the instructors brag about how tough their student body is— all 40 of them. Many believe that the more students you have, the more you have sold out. It is this attitude and emphasis on students breaking boards and bricks, winning trophies, doing push-ups on their knuckles, and fighting full contact, that has given martial arts the kind of attendance that we have come to expect and accept in the west. There is, of course, significant value in these activities, but is this the primary image we want to project to the general public as martial artists? The highest percentage of the population that has ever practiced in the U.S. at any given time in history is a mere 1 to 1.5%.

I agree with Mr. Graden; the general public knows what we offer and have chosen not to attend. They would rather do aerobics, run or do almost anything else for exercise than participate in a traditional martial arts program. Maybe the problem is the perception of what we are offering and how we are offering it. From a business perspective, finding out what the market desires, and then providing just that, is the quickest way to fill our schools. As attractive as this sounds, would we really be teaching martial arts? The real danger is that our programs become so watered down, and we become so concerned with the market needs that we change and alter our program with each passing trend. We eventually lose any hint of what we once were.

I think the ACMA is a step in the right direction to help educate our industry in how to better serve all of our target markets. This is a good start; however, there is no easy fix. It is a constant never-ending battle to learn and grow as a professional in this industry. Most of us have spent ten times as much time and energy on developing our technical ability that our individual arts demand. Although this is crucial, good technical ability is just one piece of the puzzle. We need to spend time and energy on our ability to teach. This can be broken down to communicating and motivating our students. I think we are capable of finding more ways of inspiring our students than just giving them rank.

Rather than altering our programs to gain acceptance from the market we need to alter our image. Martial arts in the United States has been perceived as individuals who are mostly blue collar, tough, young, and militaristic. They fight at the drop of a hat and gain great ego gratification from being tough and macho. In recent years, dojos have become a great place to bring little Johnny or Judy for discipline, self-control, confidence, and developing their concentration. Martial arts can be a wonderful program for kids, but we have almost fallen into the realms of gymnastics, or T ball. "It is great for my kids, but I'm too old for that."

We must change the public perception from one of fighting and self-defense to a path for living healthy and creating satisfying lives, which is the epitome of martial arts. If our society understood how profoundly their lives would be affected through the practice of martial arts, I don't believe that we would have to chase the market, but rather the market would truly chase us.

Sifu Robert Brown