Ninja night at the dojo?

Nope, you heard this right folks, ninja night at the dojo. Not just ninja night mind you, pizza parties, Little Dragons sleepovers, you name it, they have it. I just have one question for you guys, when did our beloved dojos become competiton for Romper Room? " Dojo" means hall where THE WAY is studied. Not a place to study The Way, and make a lot of cash with non-related activities.

I can hear the business owners lining up right now. They are saying stuff like" well if you are not in business to make a profit, you should not be in business." I agree, I own my own school. But I believe that the things that we teach in a dojo should at least be related to martial arts. Kickboxing classes, Yoga, all of these things have peripheral value as it pertains to martial arts. But come on man, how necessary is it to have pizza night at a dojo?

Not at all, I would say. But there are martial arts organizations that tell that I am wrong. They speak of all of the ways to make money. After school programs, summer camps, and more trust me. But I just don't believe that they have any place in the dojo if you cannot them to the Martial Arts. There are concerns about inappropriate conduct, students being infatuated with teachers, and about a zillion other reasons that make "ninja nights" a bad idea. I personally know a man who lost his amazingly profitable business because of one false accusations from a student. Why risk it?

Ninja nights? Do the students learn ninjitsu that night? Nope! But a lot of kids want to be ninjas. So why not cash in on the gimmick? I can tell you why: Because it is wrong and misleading. If you want to learn ninjitsu, learn it. I have no problem with what art you study. But don't use the fantasies of small boys to bolster your bottom line with cheap gimmicks.

I recently had a conversation with a gentleman in Washington. He has a very profitable school and he has weekly birthday parties on Saturdays and Sundays. He explained to me that basically his parties are a introductory class with cake. He makes sure that the birthday kid gets their due, but that the fun games that are played are all Martial Arts related with to stoke interest in the guests to do Martial Arts after the party is finished.

But having said all of that, having themed parties merely as a way to make money is besmirching the name of our Martial Arts. Have a good one!