starting up a business Aikido Martial Arts Dojo?

Question

I am thinking about starting up a business for a martial arts dojo the fighting style is aikido. I am having trouble thinking of a name to call it."example" red dragon aikido.

Answer 1

I'd stick to something traditional like Budokai or Budokan Aikido.
On paper you would put your city first so for example.

Toronto Budokai Aikido Club
or
New York Budokan Aikido

You'll find that Red Dragon and Rising sun or others like that are too common. Sell your dojo through the quality of training offered not a flashy name. Most people now associate all those names with comercial dojos and expenxive membership fees. Stay as affordable as you can and offer good Aikido.
Also what rank are you? With each art you have to be a specific rank to begin teaching or at least to teach certain techniques and some Provinces and states have laws to control who can and can not teach.
That is another reason why a lot of MMA schools are popping up. Guys with little or no training in specific arts are trying to make money off of the hype around UFC. Why do you think there were maybe only a few MMA schools in the major cities across North America a few years ago now there are thousands. By MMA I don't mean a Dojo that has a Judo Black belt and a Karate Black belt teaching there. I mean guys like Mat Hughes who have no real martial arts training teaching people basically how to tackle someone to the ground sit on their chest and punch them in the head.
People will know good quality trainig when they see it.

Answer 2

It's gonna be tough running an Aikido dojo for profit now that the UFC is so popular. I don't see that many new students anymore at the Aikido dojo, but the numbers are increasing at the MMA school I train at.

I remember when Steven Segal's movie 'Above the Law' came out the Aikido mats were full those couple of years he was making movies before the UFC and Royce Gracie came along.

Good Luck. Aikido is fun and I think wearing a Hakama is still cool.

How about something with 'aikikai' in it. Because you know all the Aikidoka look for an aikikai to train at if possible.

Answer 3

The effectiveness of aikido depends on your instructor. My exposure to aikido is such that I understand that there are at least two distinct styles of the art. On one hand, you have the aikido schools that focus on the principles of aikido and are more "soft." There is nothing wrong with aikido being soft, but there is a problem when you start having guys try to tell you that you can throw your chi or that you can toss a guy 14 miles with your pinky finger. There are more serious, harder styles that I like. Watching Steven Segal (as much as I hate to utter that name) is a good indicator of this harder, no-nonsense style of Aikido. In the end, I think aikido has a lot of good stuff to offer a student. However, too many people start believing that aikido is "magic" and will teach their techniques and theories with too much mysticism. If the aikido school close to you is like that, then you should spring for the class and go to a Brazilian jiujitsu school. Good luck. Have fun.

Answer 4

The Passive Aggression Dojo.

Answer 5

how about real aikido with full resistance and put underneath it "we spar full-contact".

Make sure you have a good accountant and a good attorney to help you set it up properly.

Please don't set up another bs aikido dojo where people just do compliant drills and never have any resistance. Please provide good training so your students can go and cross-train with other styles full-contact and have thier techniques actually work because they have trained them with resistance.

Answer 6

" Omega Ryuu Aikido "