new fma school in phoenix AR

[thekuntawman]

teaching gatdula's fighting eskrima and jow ga kung fu in phoenix. i might add kuntaw in a year from now. classes will begin in october.

if you are interested, please email me or dcmuhammad@gmail.com (this is my student in arizona).

classes are $175 per month.

[Go Jun Long]

I think I would like to watch a class (if I can)!

[thekuntawman]

hi

you are welcome to try it for a month, but i do not allow spectators to my classes. our school is very traditional, and to protect our style and our students i do not allow outsiders unless they are there to "participate".

if you do not belong to a school, why not try it for one month? theres no contract.

[kaliace]

Maybe it is just me, but $175 a month is really steep. Do you have a link to what is included with that price, such as unlimited classes?

Maybe I am to frugal, or I live in the Midwest, but what is the average price for a month of Martial arts training in your area. At a McDojo here it is around $100.


Respectfully,
Michael G Olive

[thekuntawman]

my prices are high, but you get what you pay for. there are not many people who will stay in a real martial art program (especially FMA), so this is why everyone likes the comfortable and safe drills-base seminar schools (teachers who learned in seminar instead of a full time teacher). so i have to make my living with less students, so i charge higher.

you charge what you think you are worth, and the students who want the kind of training you give will pay it. i cant pay my rent with anything less than a dedicated student who is willing to pay top dollars for top instruction. or they can spend $100 a few times a year for seminars, or $75 a month to a teacher who learned in seminars.

my style and training is not community college stuff, so i charge ivy league price. if i was in the philippines, where there is more teacher like myself, i would have to give in to price shoppers. i am not, i compete against people whose FMA is "on the side arts". again, you get what you pay for.

at my school in Sacramento, i charge $149 a month and i get it. why should all the authentic and devoted teachers have to have second jobs? and only the mcdojos get to live good?

students pay for my experience, my skill and my art. not my reputation or popularity in the magazines. i taught in parks, boxing gyms, other peoples karate schools, i dont have to do that anymore. actually i am offended if a guys walks in my place and tells me i am only worth what the community center charges, or the price of a video tapes. but then, to some people, that is only what the FMA is worth, which is why they will certify there students in 2 or 3 years (or less).

[thekuntawman]

oh, i forgot to answer your question.

there is nothing special with the tuition i charge, only that it is real training and a real arts. once in a while i give a special seminar inside the school when i teach techniques outside of the curriculum, or arts different from what class the students are in. i'll give an example:

• hung gar forms (tempting the tiger, FHK, iron wire)/eagle claw (6 forms)
• hand conditioning (i do this as a 3-month program)
• olympic style fighting
• ispada at daga
• double sticks presas style (1-10)
• boxing

i do not charge for them when i do them. if i bring a teacher in, its usually $25 a person, or i just pay the teacher myself and the students are free.

my students do not pay for their sticks, i get them very cheap mailed from the philippines, and they are heavier and stronger than what you can buy in the magazines.

what they pay for training in a way and a style that they cannot get anywhere else in the city. this is worth $175 a month.

[kaliace]

Rock on “thekuntawan”


I am all for you charging what your art is worth, and more specifically what yourself is worth. It seemed steep because I live in the Styx, and unless you want to train in a Tae-Kwon do or some other made up Karate art then you are out of luck.

Be proud of your art and charge what the market will stand.

Peace,
Michael G Olive

[Go Jun Long]

Nah, nevermind!!

[johnj]

Congrats Maurice for starting your group in Phoenix. There are only but a handful of FMA players so I am certain your flavor of training will be beneficial to others there especially if it is contact based. Not many FMA players out there play full-contact. I will be sure to visit your student the next time I am in AZ.

Nah, nevermind!!

As to Mike's note...why not invite him to participate for a free trial class. He may not be so quick to answer after experiencing it and possibly learn something.

[thekuntawman]

hi john!

i dont do free classes, it feels like i am trying to sell myself to students. we all do it in some kind of way, but its not my style. usually people will like what they see after they go some place else, or they see us somewhere. you know, it takes courage to walk in a school. some schools it takes more courage. but when a students doesnt want to take a chance with us, either its money, or not enough familiarity with me or the name, or intimidation. doesnt make me a difference because theres a place for them, and theres another student for me.

[johnj]

i dont do free classes, it feels like i am trying to sell myself to students. we all do it in some kind of way, but its not my style.

To each his own...I do not see it that way cause that is not what will sell. It will be your skill both physically and mentally. It will be you approach to functionality and it will be your integrity. For me, I offer it cause there is only one way to truely determine whether or not an instructor or style is for you. And that is to experience it first hand. And he can take it or leave it.

[thekuntawman]

i know, i use to do it. but i dont feel like a student will appreciate the art in one class. so what i do, let them try it for a month (of course, paying tuition too), no obligation to stay. we dont do contracts, so its a 6 month course. if they are not sure, a student can pay for one month and quit if he doesnt like it. but its like when you go to college, you cannt say, let me try one day. not even one month. enroll, spend a semester, and transfer if you dont like it.

my classes are different every time. some lessons are skills building, sometimes its footwork, sometimes sparring, sometimes watch me spar, sometime lecture. one day they wont get enough, but in a month he will see a lot, he will even learn something valuable.

[William]

Keep it real, don't comprimise the art, and stay true to your heart.

There are too many paper tigers out there offering watered down FMA as a side offering because it's growing in popularity. We've been over this in the past Kuntawman, keep it true brother.


Best regards,
William