What Is a Dojang/Dojo
By Grandmaster Bob Chaney
Training place for Martial Artists
Dojang is a Korean term for training place. Dojo is a Japanese term for training center. Dojang’s/Dojo’s are miniature cosmos where we make contact with ourselves—our fears, anxieties, reactions, and habits. It is an arena of confined conflict where we confront an opponent who is not an opponent but rather a partner engaged in helping us understand ourselves more fully. It is a place where we can learn a great deal in a short amount of time about who we are and how we will react in the world. The conflicts that take place inside the Dojang/Dojo help us handle conflicts that take place outside the Dojang/Dojo. The total concentration and discipline required to study martial arts carries over in to daily life. The activity in the Dojang/Dojo calls on us to constantly attempt new things, so it is also a source of learning—in Zen terminology, a source of self-enlightenment. (Joe Hyams: Zen in the Martial Arts)
We gain firsthand experience working intellectually and physically thru staged conflicts and prearranged scenarios in an arena which provides a safety net while learning to confront, understand, and master our fears. Insight, knowledge and creativity are gained thru progressive problem solving and experimentation and sustained attempts at mastering new techniques. Self-confidence, and courage—necessary for coping with and overcoming life’s everyday problems, is fostered free from the harsh, unforgiving mistakes we make in the outside world.
We quickly learn the consequences of our actions and deeds that prompt retaliation or acceptance from the multitude of partners and opponents we face which collectively create a life time of experiences in a short period of time. We discover the power to accept our weakness and short comings or the authority to make change. The social skills, determination, discipline, confidence and structure gained thru Martial Arts training systems forge strong minds and strong bodies that are the building blocks that produce leaders. If you have trouble working thru your Martial Arts training program you will most certainly have even more difficulty working through the trials and tribulations everyday life will throw at you.
The Dojang’s/Dojo’s are not perfect worlds, neither were they ever intended to be. But neither is the real world we spend our lives in. The Dojang’s/Dojo’s are merely intended to act as a surrogate training arena that helps prepare us for the harshness life can throw at us in the outside world.
Studios are constantly bombarded with criticisms from disgruntled parents and students on a regular basis. Successful studio owners communicate daily with other studio owners and heads of World Organizations, on a global level and collectively share industry secrets and apply like solutions. If it were possible to sit down and explain the reasons and grounds for the many policies, rules and procedures that govern any successful Martial Arts studio with each student and parent personally it might free us from criticism and condemnation but that’s neither a possibility nor a practical solution. Everything is subject to cause and effect. Students frequently make requests based on their individual needs and wants without realizing the consequences of what they are asking. What we do for one we must do for everyone. Compromising any part of the system often sources grave consequences that can put students into direct danger, threaten the financial stability of the studio and completely undermine the integrity of the system.
Search out the studio that you think will provide the training you are looking for then make an appointment and prepare a list of questions that are important to you and your family. Don’t fall into selecting the studio closest to you by proximity or the cheapest price. You are putting yourself or the most important person in your life, your child, into the hands of someone that will have a tremendous influence on the way you or your child will think and conduct yourselves. Temecula has a lot of very good Martial Arts studios to select from just be sure they are going to supply you with the training you are looking for. Take your time and personally visit each studio before you make a final decision and then trust your instincts.
Some studios focus on training amateur and professional fighters while others focus on developing family values and still others focus on tournament competition while the next studio may focus on art form and fitness. What are you looking for? What is important is that you choose the right studio for you.
Dojang is a Korean term for training place. Dojo is a Japanese term for training center. Dojang’s/Dojo’s are miniature cosmos where we make contact with ourselves—our fears, anxieties, reactions, and habits. It is an arena of confined conflict where we confront an opponent who is not an opponent but rather a partner engaged in helping us understand ourselves more fully. It is a place where we can learn a great deal in a short amount of time about who we are and how we will react in the world. The conflicts that take place inside the Dojang/Dojo help us handle conflicts that take place outside the Dojang/Dojo. The total concentration and discipline required to study martial arts carries over in to daily life. The activity in the Dojang/Dojo calls on us to constantly attempt new things, so it is also a source of learning—in Zen terminology, a source of self-enlightenment. (Joe Hyams: Zen in the Martial Arts)
We gain firsthand experience working intellectually and physically thru staged conflicts and prearranged scenarios in an arena which provides a safety net while learning to confront, understand, and master our fears. Insight, knowledge and creativity are gained thru progressive problem solving and experimentation and sustained attempts at mastering new techniques. Self-confidence, and courage—necessary for coping with and overcoming life’s everyday problems, is fostered free from the harsh, unforgiving mistakes we make in the outside world.
We quickly learn the consequences of our actions and deeds that prompt retaliation or acceptance from the multitude of partners and opponents we face which collectively create a life time of experiences in a short period of time. We discover the power to accept our weakness and short comings or the authority to make change. The social skills, determination, discipline, confidence and structure gained thru Martial Arts training systems forge strong minds and strong bodies that are the building blocks that produce leaders. If you have trouble working thru your Martial Arts training program you will most certainly have even more difficulty working through the trials and tribulations everyday life will throw at you.
The Dojang’s/Dojo’s are not perfect worlds, neither were they ever intended to be. But neither is the real world we spend our lives in. The Dojang’s/Dojo’s are merely intended to act as a surrogate training arena that helps prepare us for the harshness life can throw at us in the outside world.
Studios are constantly bombarded with criticisms from disgruntled parents and students on a regular basis. Successful studio owners communicate daily with other studio owners and heads of World Organizations, on a global level and collectively share industry secrets and apply like solutions. If it were possible to sit down and explain the reasons and grounds for the many policies, rules and procedures that govern any successful Martial Arts studio with each student and parent personally it might free us from criticism and condemnation but that’s neither a possibility nor a practical solution. Everything is subject to cause and effect. Students frequently make requests based on their individual needs and wants without realizing the consequences of what they are asking. What we do for one we must do for everyone. Compromising any part of the system often sources grave consequences that can put students into direct danger, threaten the financial stability of the studio and completely undermine the integrity of the system.
Search out the studio that you think will provide the training you are looking for then make an appointment and prepare a list of questions that are important to you and your family. Don’t fall into selecting the studio closest to you by proximity or the cheapest price. You are putting yourself or the most important person in your life, your child, into the hands of someone that will have a tremendous influence on the way you or your child will think and conduct yourselves. Temecula has a lot of very good Martial Arts studios to select from just be sure they are going to supply you with the training you are looking for. Take your time and personally visit each studio before you make a final decision and then trust your instincts.
Some studios focus on training amateur and professional fighters while others focus on developing family values and still others focus on tournament competition while the next studio may focus on art form and fitness. What are you looking for? What is important is that you choose the right studio for you.
