Hi you all:

As most of us agree, we need to promote our school
better and our website is a key element. A focus of
our “marketing communication” is to draw people to our
website, where they can learn more about aikido and
what our school offers.

In addition to all the important info already on our
site, I suggest we add a section to present students’
comments on why we practice Aikido and why we train in
our school. Here are my thoughts behind this idea.

1. When someone considers our school, they want to
know not only about our teachers, but also about the
students. What kinds of people train there? Are they
all martial arts gurus or/and mostly muscular guys?
Do the adult classes draw mostly teenagers? Are people
nice to new comers? What do they get out of their
training?

2. Just like we read customer reviews on Amazon before
we buy a book, visitors will value the feedback of
students who actually have trained at our school. If
you look at the catalogs of community colleges, they
always have student comments on the cover.

3. Real people’s experience in their own words often
comes out more convincing. If I ask each of us “hey
why haven’t you switched to other schools?” or “why do
you practice aikido?” We all have something to say and
I bet the answers are not exactly the same. Maybe what
YOU want to say will click with the prospective
students.

4. One strength of our school is our sense of
community. Having student voices on our site helps to
convey that.

Student recommendations can be used for our website,
our brochure, the handouts etc. It is a low cost way
to develop our marketing content. By the way, it is
also a way to promote Aikido and share our experience.


Ok, that is my pitch for my idea. Kyle and I have
each written a bit about our experience.

Unless any of you have any objection, I will push this
work forward and send out group emails or approach
people asking for input.

What do you all think?
If you prefer to email me, here is my personal email
mbamonashi@...

Here is our write up:

Kyle:
Training at Seattle School Aikido: since June, 2005.
Prior martial arts experience: 3.5 years of Tai Chi

I did not take the beginner's series to start with
because I had some exposure to Aikido in the early
'90s. Because I have a bad knee, I have to be very
careful about the activities I take part in. Aikido
is an excellent way for me to be more active and
coordinated without wearing out my knee.

To fit Aikido training into my busy student life, I’ve
tried both morning and evening classes. It is a little
hard to show up for 9 am Saturday class. But I love
the regular jo practice in Mike’s class. The best part
of the school is how nice and friendly all the
students and teachers are. I may never test for a
belt, but with regular practice I continue to learn
and grow as a person.

Mona
Training at Seattle School Aikido: since March, 2005.
Prior martial arts experience: None

When I first thought about taking a martial art class,
three things worried me a lot. 1. I’m a clumsy person
so might end up feeling stupid as a slow learner in
class. Unlike falling behind in other courses, this
time everyone can see if I roll into a wall. 2. What
if someone accidentally knock my teeth out in
practice? For some reason I worried more about losing
a tooth then breaking a bone :-). 3. Life is so busy.
How long can I stick to learning something new after a
long day at work and the horrible commute across 520?
Fortunately I live close to the School, so I did some
“window shopping” and dropped in to chat with an
instructor once before I actually decided to take the
Beginner Series.

Seven months have passed. I still feel like a beginner
in Aikido but my fears have faded. I actually look
forward to training sessions. They are both
challenging and relaxing. It’s also interesting to
practice with people from different ways of life, men
and women, all ages. As a beginner, I really benefit
from the collaborative environment. The school is a
non profit. People teach at school because they love
to teach aikido. I never hesitated to ask any Sensei
(the teacher) to review a move with me after class,
which I probably would not have felt comfortable doing
if they were hourly paid trainers.

As much as I enjoy the training, I don’t think Aikido
is for everyone. I would not recommend it as a
shortcut to self-defense or an alternative to your gym
workouts. The best way to find out perhaps is to come
observe a class or even better join us to train for a
few weeks.




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