Felicia: Cool question, Matt!1. Kata: Senchin/Seiuchin2. Movie: “Fearless3. Weapon: Tonfa4. Book: “Zen in...
RickMatz: The Square Form of Wu style Taijiquan, the Seven Samurai, Taiji straight sword, The Inner Chapters by...
nunoaku: greetings from portugalThanks for sharing!violence leads to violence, thats comon sense.Lack of violence may...
SueC: 1. Bassai Dai. I don't actually know the kata yet, it's on my next grade but I like watching others...
Nic12: 1. My art doesn't have any empty hand kata.2. Sanjuro3. Sword (katana) by default. 4. The Demon's...

The Student’s Guide to Surviving a Traditional Dojo

June 22, 2009 | Author: Matthew | Filed under: How-To, Martial Arts, Site News, Tips and Tricks, children, ebooks, karate

The dojo can be a perplexing place. Everything is different – the clothes, the atmosphere, the terminology, the etiquette…it truly is a whole different culture. Why then are we expected to jump in without any knowledge of what to expect? Even experienced students get tripped up by the intricacies of the martial arts.

Every dojo has its own way of operating, but over the years I have found certain foundational concepts that lead practitioners to success and longevity in their training. I have also noticed some very common pitfalls that trap students in ways they never saw coming. It is my goal with this ebook to give students of all ages and ranks a deeper understanding of how to prosper in their chosen art.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE EBOOK NOW

Who It’s For:

This ebook is for traditional martial artists of all styles and experience levels. I start at the very beginning in order to help prepare individuals who have never stepped foot in a dojo. I move on to explain how to achieve continued success for current students, and end with advanced advice for people who are black belt and beyond.

Parents who are starting their kids in the arts can also benefit. As a parent, it is critical that you have an understanding of what is normal and abnormal behavior in a martial art school. Furthermore, you’ll want to learn how to deal with problem students, teachers, and other issues that could arise. You can also pass this ebook on to your child (depending on age of course) as it is written in a very accessible manner.

What’s Inside:

Here is a small sampling of the info covered inside -

Achieving a beginner’s mindset
Learning the martial arts uniform and belt
Taking care of yourself and avoiding pitfalls
Stretching and effective practice
Handling problems with teachers and other students
Fighting and self defense
Dealing with rank and hierarchy
Shuhari and lessons in being advanced

How To Download and Spread the Word:

To download the ebook, click on the above link or right here. If you are having trouble viewing it, make sure to install the latest version of Adobe Reader (which is also free). The ebook will likely open in a new window – from there click the little disk in the upper left hand corner to officially save it to your computer.

Link:

If you’d like to link to the ebook and tell your readers about it, here is some html (you can actually win some cool prizes by linking in):

<a href = “http://www.ikigaiway.com/2009/students-dojo-survival-guide/”>Free Martial Arts Ebook – Student’s Guide to Surviving a Traditional Dojo</a>

Tell a Friend:

Do you know someone who is either a martial artist or who has children in the arts? Help them today by sending a quick email with this url!

Stumble It:

Fan of Stumbleupon? If so, click here:

I hope you enjoy the book, and if you have any comments please leave them in the field below. I’m always looking for feedback or thoughts on what you think I should write about in the future.

Share This (Good Karma Guaranteed):

This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 and is filed under How-To, Martial Arts, Site News, Tips and Tricks, children, ebooks, karate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

MartialArts808

I should explain I take the word prejudice in it's actual definition. For example, my prejudices are cottage cheese and cochroaches

Rick

MartialArts808

A very good well thought out post, but I found it prejudice against the martial arts business peson

Rick

Matt__A

Rick - I come from a very classical martial arts background so I can see how I might seem stodgy from time to time, especially in the context of the modern business realm.

Thanks for your comment and I hope to see you around the blog again!

businessplanpresentation

Hi,
Really nice post! Thanks for sharing such an informative article. Keep up the good work.

Business Plan Presentation

ben

when i used to do a martial art there where allot of pitfalls and what seemed like strange traditions to get into in even quite a relaxed dojo. this guide is propably invaluably to poepleing wondering whether martial arts are for them and intergratating into a dojo

Matt__A

Thanks for saying so ben - I hope I can help some people in that way!

tindonet

thanks for sharing.

Pete

Hey, Matt. Good book! I gave it a quick plug over at my blog at www.stateofmyarts.com.

Sensei M.R.Raza

Its realy good My Name is Sensei M.R.Raza Plz contact me my Email address

GrasshopperK

I'm a little behind the ball but I just finished your book. What a great little resource. Especially like your comments about 'burners' and 'faders' and your concluding chapter about training with a beginner's mind. Job well done Matt :)

J.Graf

I just started reading the book. So far so good.

Sean C. Ledig

Hey Matt,

The review is up on my blog at www.carportkwoon.blogspot.com

Matt__A

Awesome sean, thanks a lot.

jessecrouch

In case you didn't see it yet: http://martial.jessecrouch.com/2009/06/survivin...

Good book =)

Matt__A

thanks jesse, much appreciated!

SueC

Hi Matt, I've read your book and posted a review on my blog today with a link. I think the book's great and will be really useful to practicing students. My only slight gripe with it was that you didn't include anything about learning kata and bunkai - big topics in the style of karate I do! But everything else is great - I wish it had been available 2 years ago when I started out. Congratulations.

Matt__A

thanks sue - those topics are very important in my style also. I think the only thing that made me avoid that was trying to stay broad enough to accommodate other martial arts beside karate (ie sparring is really prevalent everywhere). Ultimately though it was a case of deciding how to keep the book short and accessible - certainly those topics would have been a good addition.

Massimo Gaetani

Having had a quick browse through the Ebook I am highly impressed of its content and I will read it carefully. I will put a link to this page on both my personal blog and my club’s blog. Keep up with the great work!

Bob

Review posted: http://www.budobeyondtechnique.com/2009/06/revi...

FoxyCitrus

I love your book! Best ever!

Love the thank yous page the best ;-)

I am sharing it with friends at work tomorrow, and making it required reading for my interns. No joke.

Neal Martin

Just getting round to downloading now. Sounds like good stuff. I'll be sure an post a review as soon as I can.

Branden

Fannnnnnnntastic Mattsan!

I *may* have skimmed upwards of 4 or 5 pages, but successfully spent the early hours of work reading your book.

I'll make sure to blame me getting fired solely on you!

Great book!

Jackthestripper

I'm reading the book now, it's fantastic =D

Bob

Looks good. I will do a review too. I have been very busy and need to get posting again. I also have a follow up for Hikite in the works.

Robin

Wow, just looking though your book - this is really great. If I can do it justice, I'll write a review.

Matt__A

I hope you do, I'd love to hear your feedback. This also reminded me to put you in my blogroll, which I should have done awhile ago.

Robin

Okay I moved it. It's a little widget now. yay! :)

Sean C. Ledig

I just read it. Good stuff. I'm working on a review to post to my site. I'll let you know when it is finished.

Matt__A

Looking forward to it sean!

Robin

Alrightie - the link is in my Blogroll! I apologize, it looks kind of weird right now in that spot. I'll see if I can make it a little nicer after my Bagua class tonight! :) Cheers!

Matt__A

Much obliged robin! I hope some of your readers do indeed get ikigai with it. haha

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