What are your ways to promote.......?

I'm always open for any kind of discussion about martial arts as long as the people participating are conscientious and willing to hear a different point of view from the mainstream. There are both good and bad things that come from learning a combat sport, just like there are good an bad things that come from learning a martial art that's led by a bigot or somebody who just doesn't have the skill they should in order to teach.

The biggest battle I have found, if I want to impress upon a person the real quality in studying a traditional martial art, is getting past the popular idea of karate and kung fu being worthless when compared to muay thai or Brazilian jiu jitsu. I personally have NO problem with those systems or any arguments of their ability to be used in self defense for quality protection. The issue I have is with the fad mentality of our society, locking onto an entire method of study based off one person's success, or discounting another method based off of another person's failure or the majority of fraudulent instruction.

So generally, when I am attempting to broaden somebody's perspective I give a brief history, and the more practical and traditional training methods of old. I have always found this to reduce the prejudices against the idea of karate or kung fu, and bring awareness to finding the right school with the right instructor.

If that doesn't work completely, and they are very interested and I really want to convince them then I will give a demonstration. None of it will be preplanned, I will not make them attack in a predetermined manner so I can practice a few times, and I will allow them - in fact I encourage them to attack me at random with full intent and force. That usually gets things where they need to go, but sometimes they still don't believe, and I just drop it there, as its wasted breath.

Testing is the only way I will promote however that test is cumulative in nature and covers all aspects from basic skills, self-defense and application, one steps, kata, as well as fighting. Along with those things a student's attitude, knowledge, and the way they carry themselves is also graded. There is a minimum time in grade before a student can test and testing and promotions are not automatic in my school nor will I test a student before I think they are ready to be promoted irregardless of the time they have been their current rank. That is the only way a student can advance and be promoted in my school although I do know some schools also base it on other things, including competition.

By showing proper respect and discipline to others, set as an example to my co-practitioners the way I deal with people not only inside the dojo as well as the way we live outside the gym.

We must be aware on all the words that came out from our tongue, because people will automatically judge us according to our personality, and positive praises can easily achieve if they mirror some good behavior and attitude from us, which will carry also the name of the Martial Arts school and gym Instructor if they knows you are one of practitioner.

There are some ways to promote your website.The first thing choosing the appropriate keyword from your website as well as good quality content.Then you follow the Plan A process.

the best way is by word of mouth. students telling their friends that they should come by and check it out. if you are just opening a studio then this isn't really an option.

1) public demonstrations. ask your former trainers/training partners to help out and go to schools, parks, community centers, anywhere that you can do it publicly and get people walking by and seeing what you guys do. outside next to a busy street, you need to show people and get it in their heads that your style is both effective and interesting.

2) go to a copy store make about 2 thousand copies of your flyers and drop them off at the local elementary, middle, and high schools for kids to take home to their families. if the school doesn't like it then you could tell them you will give a 10 dollar kickback to the school each month from each kid that signs up. you can also do this kind of promotion in other areas, the local gym, martial arts supply stores, sporting stores, etc.

A) on your flyer you need to tell briefly what your style is and where it's from. (only a few sentence 5-6 at most). tell the benefits of training (self defense, discipline, helps with public speaking, confidence etc.), tell them the pros to training traditional vs modern. (the forms allow for at home training, more self defense application, about controlling opponents not merely destroying them, allows for advanced concepts to striking, there is a history stretching back hundreds of years). you can write down the cons of training to fight in mma but you would need to be ready to defend that statement. (mma is more of a sport and promotes fighting, you don't want to go to the ground during a fight, etc.)

3) discounts. i'm trying to become a police officer and when I do I will offer free martial arts classes to military/police personel. this gets people interested, students, and its good for the community. but also you should add to college students, returning students, people from other disciplines, family discounts. also you should add enrollment discounts where if someone brings in someone and they sign up they both get half price the first month. so you are still getting the first student's enrollment, but you know that the following month you will have another already involved.

A) offer free classes, 2 weeks to a month. the longer they are heavily involved the less likely they are to leave after the free class. 1 class they can forget about it, they can be intimidated, fearful, or it could have just not gone well. they also begin to make friends

B) free uniform with enrollment

C) if someone can't afford the tuition then you should work with them, make them clean the floors, advertise, hang flyers, anything that you can have them do so that they can make up the cost. if someone is late on fees don't hound them for money, a gentle reminder every so often, but having students is more important then having one tuition. have a meeting with them and find out why they aren't paying. also you should run scholarships for those who can't afford classes.

4) classes, make each one challanging but fun. you want them to leave thinking this was an amazing class and they can't wait to come back. you also need to add classes on as many days as possible. classes per day is important, but also if you have classes every day mon-fri then you get more people then if you had it on tue/thur. if you had it two days a week then people who already have prior obligations can't make it both days, and if they can only make it one then they won't think its worth it.

A) if a child is enrolled and the parent wants to also but isn't sure then have parent/child classes. offering the parents a chance to work with their children. also you should give the parents 1 free class a month so that they know what is going on with their child.

5) cost to schedule. you shouldn't over charge. if you see a class open at $130 and you try and match that but they are open for 20 classes a week and you are open for 1-2 then you need to keep that in mind. I know many people who have joined a class with the exact amount they are paying per class. but then if a class is charging 130 and are only opened for 2 days a week and you are the 20 classes don't go to $160, you need to make it affordable for more people. in some cases the more you charge the less you make. if not everybody can afford your classes then you are loosing a very large group of people.

6) help out the community, free woman's self defense seminars, police seminars, fire department seminars, children escape seminars, as many public seminars as possible.

if you need more help, questions, comments, etc feel free to emal me.