Elitism

Recently I was contacted by a visitor to the blog and my website, the individual wanted to know where I got off by restricting membership in my dojo and how I could talk about morally correct behavior when I am an elitist karate snob. I have to say, I had to read his message a couple of times, to make sure that I was reading it correctly. Furthermore this individual never asked about membership in my dojo or even about visiting it.

On my website, I have the following statement; “We are a small private dojo therefore, all prospective students must apply for membership and due to the size of our dojo, we often have a waiting list. Visitors may not stop by without an appointment. To find out more about visiting or to initiate the application process, please contact us.”

Now someone please correct me if I am wrong, but it is my dojo and I am the Kancho of that dojo, so by all rights I should be able to decide who comes and who goes from said dojo, right?

I do not have a commercial dojo, nor do I want one, I have been down that road and find it counterproductive to teaching old style karate. I limit the number of students I have, because I don’t want a lot of students, I want to be able to give one on one instruction and not teach the masses.

I do not consider myself an elitist karate snob. The methods of instruction in my dojo are not for everyone, we train hard, we train seriously, most students that are accepted do not last long, even though they know up front that the training will be difficult, most do not make it past 5^th kyu.

So you may ask what my criteria are for allowing a student into my dojo, they are pretty simple;

1.       A sincere desire to train.

2.       Seriousness, Commitment and Devotion.

3.       Be a good person

Now having said that here is the true test, the meat and bones of it;  I will not allow anyone into my dojo, that I would not allow into my home or around my children. So if that makes me an elitist karate snob, then so be it.