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22 Responses to “Can anyone start a martial arts system?”

1. Linda on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   There are already some excellent answers to this question so I'll just ask one? If you wanted to learn to play the piano, would you go to a grade one piano player for your instruction? No? Well, why would you go to an untrained martial artist for your martial arts instruction?

   It is traditional, when someone sets themself up in a town as a martial arts instructor, for that person to be willing to take on the students of other similar martial arts who might challenge him to "give them a lesson". If you are willing to go through that and believe you are able to come through intact, go ahead!

2. Shredtheboard on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   i believe you need some.

3. Princess Paradox on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   You'll need some sort of exercise or self defence training qualification or you'll find it really difficult to get insurance and you can't operate without insurance.

4. GRAHAM C on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   A blackbelt would help lol

5. Chris M on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   I think you need to register with an official body to get proper insurance….

   As to just starting teaching stuff in a local hall…….i think you can just go for it….It may not be the correct way, but whos to say you are not good enough or qualified enough?

   However other MA classes tend to be popular because they have systems, structure, gradings, social aspects….so it would help to include some of this stuff.

   Hope this helpps

6. Walt B on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   There is no rule for who can and who cannot start a school or style, but make sure your teacher is okay with the idea first.

   There is also no rule that anyone has to come to your school. If you have something to offer, people will come. If you only have a little to offer, people won't stay around for long.

   Just like job interviews, prospective students will check your credentials.

   There is also a difference between a complete martial style and a self defense course.

   There is more to being a good teacher than knowing some technique and having a wall full of degrees and achievements. You should be able to get people of different levels of skill and abilities to understand your lessons.

   Good luck with everything

7. confusedmoon on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   I think you need to know what the hell you're doing!!!

   First, what rank are you? Who would wanna be trained by a white belt? Get at least a Black Belt of 1 Dan.
   Usually you start teaching, or open a school when you are 5th Dan.

   Second: Do you know ENOUGH to teach?

   Third is, are you a good enough teacher?

   You can't just start a MA school because it's cool. How old are you?

8. Rob B on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   I'm not sure if the UK has any standards, but I know in the US anyone can start their own school so long as they have a business license and do not use a trademarked name without permission.

   Now, to be recognized as a system you have to really have your stuff together and be recognized by an organization like the Society of Soke. To do that, you really need to be at least a 5th dan (IMHO) and take a few years to formulate everything.

9. cyclonis69 on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

   I have looked into this a lot. There really is no way to become an instructor of a specific art legally. Mainly because there are no regulations for teaching Martial Arts at all, in most government bodies. You can become a qualified instructor in most arts, through the high up members of the art. But legally speaking, I have yet to find anything about legality's involving teaching martial arts in the U.S. at this point. Insurance for students, however, is a bit trickier.

   Insurance takes into account what kinds of things you will be teaching. The more lethal your techniques, the more possibility of bodily injury. Insurance is actually fairly cheap considering what you're covered for. I found some for around $500 in the U.S. for a whole year. It goes by a per student rate, sometimes as cheap as $9.65 per head, as long as it is over the $500 U.S. Dollar minimum/ per year rate.

   Along with the insurance, you should also have students sign a waiver about who they can and can't sue, should bodily injury arise. This will be very handy to have in a court.

   If you do research about starting your own school, you can find tons of stuff online.

   My biggest factor in starting my own school was location. Having a location to teach at is the hardest part. It is not cheap, and this is what most of your money will go too. For now, I teach people at their houses for a very small fee. Just so I can feel better about my teaching curriculum and save some money, gain some clientel, and get my feet on the ground for now.

   Best of luck to you!

10. Steel on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    Do you mean legally or ethically? I won't pretend to know the laws as they pertain to this in the UK, but I will suggest that ethically, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. Of course you can, though.

    Here in the States, you need only have a good head for business and be a good salesman to open and run a successful school/class – there are no legal requirements as it concerns martial arts that are different from any other requirements, such as permits, licenses, and the like, over any other business (unless you infringe on someone else's method, such as a teacher who may claim ownership of a system). Anybody who reads a book or sees a Jackie Chan movie can start a class… That's partially why there are so many McDojos.

    If you learned from any sort of organization for an extended period of time from which you will teach all or parts of its method, it would be good etiquette to ask the teacher/coach, however.

    Since you appear to be sincere and have some semblance of honesty, I would suggest to go ahead and start a class, but market it in such a way that it reflects "street application" or "real life scenarios" and the like, as well as playing up how you learned while not emphasizing that you don't hold any traditional qualifications. Be honest with your students should they ask, though. And don't expect much in the way of respect from your peers…

    I think you will have more difficulty starting up than others, but good luck nonetheless.

    EDIT: I guess all of us are special enough to be in the "3 Thumbs Down Club". Not suspicious at all…

11. nwohioguy on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    Quite simply what you are doing shows three things:

    1. Your lack of honor for real martial arts.
    2. You do not realize that there is more to teaching than just "knowing" some moves. You have to master them first.
    3. You are setting yourself up for failure because no one wants to train with someone who has no qualifications.

12. Booyakasha on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    Sure, just as well as you can start your own branch of physics without a doctorate.

    You will be taken just as seriously by other recognized minds in the field. That's not to say that a person without a degree in quantum physics couldn't effectively join it with relativity in an elegant and effective way. It would just be very difficult for others to hear about, care about it, or be willing to put forth the effort to analyze it.

13. Ivonne F on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    Officially and according to tradition, you SHOULD be a master of at least one system before you are allowed to create your interpretation of that system (a.k.a., a new style). That's according to tradition, which often takes so long for things to work out that the founder is dead by the time his system is recognized. For instance, as famous as Bruce Lee was, his Jun Fan and JKD were not formally recognized as systems until 1981 (after he'd died in 1973).

    That should be a shout out to a lot of ppl out there, since there are many so-called "new styles" being presented with the founder still living, ppl that officially are NOT masters of any style, nor famous for their contributions to the MAs. There is no justifiable reason for these ppl to be recognized for anything. Case in point would be Kuntao-Jiujitsu, created by a kid that claims to have been a sensei at the age of only 11, a man who today is still too young to be considered a master by the old standards once used in Japan (and whose training cannot be officially verified).

    In today's times, ppl can BUY certs and ranks in pretty much any style they like. In the back of Black Belt, there are always ads for companies selling vid programs and certs. Several of those vid programs, like Dark Dragon Kenpo, come with certs for every rank vid you buy . Now, you're an instant 3rd degree black.

    Then, there are numerous orgs that will sell you "Black Belt Hall of Fame" & "Instructor of the Year" certs. Suddenly, without any real experience in the martial arts, you now have this record of being great.

    Then, there are other orgs that will sell you "official" recognition of your art, like the World Martial Arts Masters Federation, which will not only rank you, but will also acknowledge your art and you as the founder.

    It may be the easiest thing in the world to burst the bubble of some of these ppl. I've personally looked up info on the so-called teachers that ranked some of these fake masters and recognized their styles, proving that they either never trained with such men or that those men themselves had no authority to recognize styles.

    NO SINGLE MAN RECOGNIZES A STYLE, NO MATTER WHAT HIS RANK!!! Whole national and traditional organizations do this, often several generations into the art. So, any claim that a single person allowed for the creation of a style are fake.

    Case in point, one of the most recent additions to the Kung Fu realm was about 3 years ago. One of the founding members of the old Black Kempo Karate Federation was a ranked Kung Fu instructor for 10 years before they formed the BKKF back in the 70s. He quietly continued to teach his Kenpo and Kung Fu for 30 years, watching as his students consistently beat competitors from all over the world. He traveled and trained with many famous ppl, becoming more and more recognized. Now, at over 70 years old, his personal interpretation of Kung Fu is now an officially recognized system by authorities in China.

    That's a kicker right there. If a man claims to have his own system of Karate, then it must be officially recognized in Japan or the Ryukyu islands. Kung fu must be officially rrecognized in China or Taiwan. Muay Thai must be officially recognized in Laos or Thailand or Cambodia. Silat or Kuntao must be recognized in the Malay Archipelago (stretching from Indonesia, and Burma all the way down to the Philippines).

    So, officially and traditionally, you have to meet a number of rank and age and time-in-grade and affiliation requirements for your interpretation of older ways to be considered real. Modern/ fake ways, however, side-step all that with treachery, trickery, deceit and lies.

    If you're going to create your own system w/o going through the traditional process, be truthful enough to call it a "combative" style or a "self-defense" style or something like that. Don't call it a martial art and don't tag any traditional names (like Karate or Kenpo or Kung Fu) on it. Show proper respect to the arts in that way.

14. pugpaws2 on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    nwohioguy has the best answer so far. Several people here are a bit confused which is not surprising. The martial arts are full of misconceptions that get passed from one person to the next.

    I agree that no one wants to train with someone that does not have valid credentials or real knowledge and skills. Those that have them don't need to ask what is needed.

    As for legalities. In the U.S.A. and bozo that does not know anything can open a dojo. He is only required to do the things required of any business. Problem here is that you will be out of business in no time if you don;t know what you are doing.

    Credentials can be bought from con artist and fake organizations that sell them. They mean nothing. Documents will not fool anyone that knows what real martial arts are.

15. ATL PJA Wyldstar (wa-ya-\y) on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    Most certainly yes you need qualifcations. Would you join a University that gave out degrees that held no meaning when you were done because they are not recognized?

    This is also important recognizing your teacher is authentic and for real so to be that teacher you must meet standards of teaching or be labeled a McDojo or fraud.

16. Sensei Scandal on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    Let me add that there are people who are legitimate martial artists and still operate fraudulently.

    So now… what does that make you?

17. Bluto Blutarsky70 on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    unfortunately no.

    that is why there is so much bullshido out there-

    its kind of like in the days before medical doctors were required to be licensed.

    anyone can open up a gym whether you are real or a quack.

    quacks will eventually be exposed, but not before they rip off the public and possibly get someone killed or seriously injured.

    PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!

    don't open a gym unless you have tested and sparred against resisting opponents to the degree that you know your stuff works against legitimate fighters.

    you are not just taking your own health and well bieng into account, you are possibly endangering someone else's welfare if they rely on what you teach and it is crap.

    i'm not saying it is- i can't tell you if it is because i'm not in the UK and have never met you- but i hope if you are not up to par or aren't sure then at least have the common decency to make sure you are teaching people well.

18. Jordan on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    probs just a licence and a black belt maybe?. i think there is some coach classes, just ask other coaches that run a martial arts class and they will probs give u better info

19. Frank on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    So let me get this straight. You have what you call "martial arts skills"…you have zero qualifications and you want to teach women only, with your "not so honorable technique". Sounds like your first students should be some female cops with a back-up team standing by to bring ya in. Make sure you really promote yourself well, let every other martial arts school know you are there…im sure they will find it in their hearts to help you out.

20. Fredric J on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    consult ur city about that cuz i know that it could be different for different cities

    since you have martial arts experience cud u answer this please
    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AmR6_eEE8t2sGPs5n6oi3VDsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090324182317AA7jUd5

21. bbads2000 on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    If you have no qualifications…I doubt you have the skills. Sorry…

    And as others have kind of pointed out, you are taking responsibility for your students. Their actual lives. How prepared are you for this?

    I suggest that you give up the idea.

22. Darb D on May 27th, 2009 9:04 am

    you absoulutely do not

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