I was in my shed today, trying to catch a buzzing fly with just a pair of chopsticks, when a rebellious, dark-haired youth of about 17 barged in.
“Hey are you the maintenance man?” he asked.
“No,” I said, without looking away from the buzzing fly.
“So are you gonna come and fix the faucet?”
I grunted. “Not my job.”
“Unbelievable!” the youth said. “Well, will you at least teach me karate?” And then he launched into the following monologue:
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I’m at a point where I don’t know how to go about my karate practice. I have zero funds, no bank account, and just arms willing to fight. But how do I go about doing this?
Should I start my own dojo and market it as “Join me in my journey as a newbie karateka”? If yes, how do I attract students that way? When I have no credentials or any incentive for anyone to join my dojo for that matter.
I know it’s useless trying to beg for help, because this stuff is what other people pay you for. But I’m proud that I at least tried. I’ve never asked anyone for help before you.
I would appreciate a lesson about for aspiring karate masters. I’m not pitching myself in any way. All I ask is guidance.
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Maybe, maybe… if only I had a collection of rusted old cars. But I don’t.
So I guided this rebellious dark-haired youth towards the door.
I opened the screen door and nudged him through it. And as I closed the door behind him, I gave him some parting advice, in my best broken English:
“You go YouTube. Free. Watch. Apply. Then go Amazon. Book, five dollar. Read. Apply. Read next book. Watch next YouTube. Apply. Apply. Come back. Five year.”
In less broken English:
It might seem cruel not to take in this youth and give him proper guidance.
It might seem cruel to send him away.
It might seem extra cruel that those who have the greatest need find it hardest to get a bit of good advice.
Except frankly that’s bullshit.
There’s never been such an abundance of free and good information out there. Or if you don’t want free and good, then $5 and really good.
The fact is, there is nothing new under the sun.
What I do, what everybody else in the course and coaching business does, is package up and simplify proven old knowledge, make it fun to consume and easy to believe in, to save you time and headspace, if that’s the kind of thing you can afford and choose to pay for.
If that’s not something you can afford, no shame in that. But in that case, you have to use your other resources — time, ingenuity, willingness to work — to get the same results that maybe you could buy with money.
I don’t currently offer any trainings about starting your own karate dojo.
But I do have a training teaching you the fundamentals of karate itself, ie. writing emails that make sales and keep readers reading.
There’s nothing new in this training. But it is proven, via literally millions of dollars worth of sales. And it is fun and easy to read. And it will save you many hours of time, if time is what you value over the bit of money I ask for this training.
Hai? Then you go here: