Ask any judo coach what their biggest challenge is and it's always not having enough judo players on the mat. Ask any keen judo player what their biggest frustration is and it's always not having enough training partners.
If you don't have a great instructor or coach, you could still learn judo from books and videos. But if you don't have training partners, you can't train. Judo is not a solo sport. You need training partners to do drills with and more importantly, to do randori with.
Last Friday, we had the biggest turnout so far since we moved into our new premises in Bangsar. A total of 21 people were on the mat. Numbers like that are difficult to sustain. So that was really an anomaly. But I figure on any given session (we have three in a week), we could get about a dozen or so players on the mat.
I consider a dozen players to be a critical mass. That's six pairs of players -- enough to have variety during drills and randori. To consistently be able to draw up to a dozen people for every session is no mean feat.
I'm talking about adult judo players, not kids. For sure there are children-based judo clubs that can draw more than a dozen each time but when kids go for judo class it's because their parents want them to do judo, not necessarily because they want to. With adults it's different. Every single adult on the mat is there because they want to be there. They choose to be there. We all know just how busy people are with work and family and chores. It's really hard to find time for sports. So to be able to get a dozen or so adults on the mat for training is pretty damn good, in my books.
To be able to get an average of 12 players on the mat, you need to really have critical mass in your club membership. Maybe about six of them are solid regulars who come for every single session. Those are our anchors whom we can count on. Come rain or shine, they will be there. Then there are those who come regularly but only once or twice a week. You can count on them being there but not at every single session. Then there are the ones who come once a fortnight or so. You never can tell when they will show up. But when they do, they help make up the numbers.
Obviously if you have just a dozen members you won't be able to get 12 players on the mat for each session. To get 12 players regularly, you'll need to have at least two dozen members because at any single session, you cannot expect to have more than 50% of your members showing up (if they are working adults; children are different).
We now have a critical mass of slightly over two dozen members. It took us over three years of blood, sweat and tears to achieve those figures. It certainly wasn't a case of "build it and they will come." To get to where we are today, we did a bunch of things right.
Firstly, instead of engaging in stupid judo politics (which preoccupies many judo clubs), we focus on our players' needs. Our mission has always been to provide a great environment for our members to learn and play judo. That is our raison d'etre.
One of my players, who came to us from another judo club, told me that what he likes about KL Judo is that we focus on finding solutions. Instead of politicking we focus on finding ways and means for our players to have the best training environment.
The other day I overheard one of players, who has been around the Malaysian judo scene for a long time, telling another player: "I've been to so many judo clubs in Malaysia and this club is the only one that's not political. The focus here is on judo."
Secondly, although we are a private club that's run on commercial terms, what fuels the club is passion. I've actually had a few players in the past leave the club because they didn't like the fact that I would regularly pester them to come for training.
I know some people might say as long as the player concerned pays his or her membership fees, why should I care if they come for training or not. Well, I do care -- a great deal -- because if they don't come for training, their judo won't improve and their absence means there are fewer training partners for those who do attend. That is why I always pester people to come for training. I want the sessions to be great and for that to happen, there needs to be a critical mass of players on the mat.
I make no apologies for being passionate about judo. If you want a coach who doesn't give a damn about whether you attend training or not, then this club is not for you. If you join KL Judo, I promise you I will pester you to come for training until you get sick of me.
Thirdly, we put a lot of effort into showcasing our training sessions via a mix of livestream, blog postings, pictures and video highlights on social media. Setting up the cameras for livestreaming and recording the sessions actually takes up a lot of time. Writing blog postings, editing pictures and video clips all take up a lot of time. But it's because we do all these things that people are able to get a really good sense of what training at KL Judo is like.
Through our social media postings people get to know more about our training methods, how hard our players train and crucially, how much fun and laughter we have on the mat. One of our overseas fans who follow our social media postings regularly recently commented:
"It was an insightful reading into your teaching structure and your judo sessions. Watching your videos and reading your articles makes me feel as though I know your club well. I can’t wait to visit your club!"I recently did an analysis of our membership and found that the majority of our players found us through the Internet. A few came through referrals and word-of-mouth but most of them read our blog, watched our livestream or saw some of our social media postings. So, yes, all the time spent on social media content is worth it. Crucial even.
Lastly, we take great pains to foster the right club culture. One of our players who had been missing from training for more than a month had just came back for training the other day and he told me how great it felt to be back. He also remarked about how good the spirit and attitude of the members are. This guy has been with us since the early days when we were in Cheras so he's hardly new to the club. Yet, after all this time, the club culture that we've fostered is something that never ceases to delight him.
This doesn't mean we haven't had problematic players. Just like any other club, organization or society, we've had some bad apples come our way. People who were dangerous, egotistical or simply had the wrong attitude towards training. Those people are gone now. In some rare cases, we actually had to ask them to leave because they were too disruptive to the club culture that we've worked so hard to foster. But in most cases these disruptive figures naturally left on their own because once a strong club culture has taken root, it acts as a natural defense against disruptive forces.
Doing those four things: (i) avoiding judo politics and focusing instead on judo (ii) being passionate about judo (iii) investing time and effort into social media content (iv) fostering a great club culture -- are all critical success factors. You can be sure we will continue to do these things and more to continue to grow the club.
We are ready to take it to another level by partnering with Activ Studio, a boutique fitness studio that will help us to professionalize our club. Prior to this, we ran the club with a lot of heart but it was still an amateur effort. Now, we are going professional which is exactly what is needed in order for us to reach greater heights. But that's a topic for another blog posting.
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