Input on urban survival classes, please...

[matty70]

A good friend of mine has started a new business that some of you may be interested in. Please check out the website and provide input, and suggestions for additional training and seminars you would like to see. Just doing a bit of market research for him.
Currently there is a class in Bristol on Tuesday nights, I have posted the info in the Training Classes Forum.
http://www.okami-tacticalsolutions.com

[Signmaker]

This thread will probably get locked for advertising, but just for the giggles, I'll toss two cents out.

The clipart of the mean looking wolf, cheesy Japanese images (including the samurai swords, wtf?), and completely vague description of training offered gave me zero interest whatsoever in spending money with these people. It strikes me as something a few teenagers from Black Belt Factory Inc. karate school put together on the weekend.

[Shadowline]

To be honest, the website needs a lot of work. I agree with the issues surrounding the clipart. I also think the animation controls need to be removed, and whoever coded the text needs to clean up the HTML coding. It just doesn't instill confidence when the site has so many issues. Other things to consider:

1. Black background websites do not traditionally fare well in the ecommerce or online business world.
2. The pages of different styles which gives the site an inconsistent feel.
3. Clipart controls look "hokey"
4. Put a picture of each of the instructors
5. Treat the instructor Bios like a resume. Pare them down to only the most important facts about each.
6. Focus on the product. As it is, the focus is on wolves and instructors.
7. Testimonials are powerful in ecommerce
8. No offense, but lose the link to wolves.
9. You have multiple Social Media links, and groups, but apparently no experience or influence in social media. None of these SM channels will be profitable if you don't get help launching them correctly. (hint: hurry up and get @okamitacticalsolutions . Cardinal sin of SM is to NOT get your company name....and you didn't.)
10. The site layout is not intuitive. You have hidden pages within the domain with extremely limited navigation.

I'd be happy to offer more feedback if they want. I pull for the small businesses, but having worked for a major ecommerce company I can tell you the site will probably be a failure (as will the social media presence). They need help.

[Grant Bacon]

Hello all, I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to look at the site, and thank you for the feedback. It is appreciated, and we'll work on addressing the issues mentioned. The businesses is new, as of the first of the year, and the website is newer still. That being said, none of us are from any blackbelt karate factory, and none of us are teenagers. We're attempting to work very hard at this businesses, and we take the field, the training, this business, and the safety of our clients and improvement of their skill sets extremely seriously. None of us are kids, or teenagers. We've got decades of training, and in some cases decades of service. We're all very professional people. The bio's on the website are all 100% legit. However, I'll freely admit that none of us are computer wizards, and we're all pretty much social media neophytes. I honestly don't think that any of us even have individual twitter accounts, so please forgive our lack of savvy, and lack of understanding of the importance of these media. That being said, we did create a business twitter account, which is @okamitactical (didn't think the "solutions" part was that big a deal, but again, we're not social media people). Coming into this business, our focus was on training, and has always been on training, and teaching, and creating something different than what you'll currently find in the vast majority of the training programs that are out there. We strongly believe in what we offer, and in the different flavor we can offer and bring to the tactical training community. The bio's showcase everything we've done, for the purpose of allowing people to see that we're not the average training program, offering what's become the standard training curriculum, that every other program seems to offer. Again, I honestly appreciate the feedback, and we're honestly working on making improvements all the time. We'll sincerely take your suggestions and criticisms into consideration, and we'll work on it. Thanks again, and please take care.

[Signmaker]

...training, and teaching, and creating something different...

[QUOTE=Grant Bacon;1865662]

...in the different flavor we can offer...

...we're not the average training program, offering what's become the standard training curriculum...

So then tell us what you do so profoundly different, instead of promising a difference with no meat behind it. Insistence on being "different" is a red flag to me in looking at schools, because it is more often some goofy crap that was never well thought out, and less often usable changes in a stale doctrine. Easiest way to prove your case is to be open about the way in which you are different from the other schools out there.

[Grant Bacon]

The best response I can offer to that is that this is combatives in the sense of the way a Kelly McCann, or others in that class look at Combatives. This isn't "martial arts", with no concept of real world applicable techniques. I frequently emphasize that techniques are useless without sound strategy, and knowing what you goal is in each situation. As well as knowing what the parameters of each situation are; or as quickly and as accurately as possible, under the circumstances, making an assessment as to these parameters. For civilians, 9 times out of 10, the goal is survival. Martial arts teaches (not really, but claims to teach) people how to fight. I view my job, as to teach people to survive, and to know what survival means in each situation. My job is to teach people to "win", but that doesn't mean that you will need to beat someone up. I'm not trying to turn people into supposed walking, breathing, killing machines. I am trying to turn civilians into tacticians with sound understanding of what they need to do to insure their own, and/or their loved ones survival. For miliary, police, security, etc., the parameters, and objectives each change to some degree. But this, from my decades of martial arts experience, and from speaking with students, friends, and associates, is a profound difference from most martail arts, or supposed combatives programs. I talk/teach realistically about weapon usage, weapons defense, psychology, criminal psychology and intent, and what you realistically can and can't get away with in a violent encounter. I distinguish violence from fighting. I'm not trying to train fighters or sport combatants, at all. I have a current student who as been a bouncer for 15 years, and he told me that I taught him how to read a room better in one class, than he'd learned in all that time bouncing. I use the term different, so that people don't just lump us in as a "martial arts program". It's not saying what we teach is better. If you want to learn a martial arts system, or something along those lines; or if you want to be a sports combatant, then this program isn't for you. If you're looking for another way of learning to be safe, and learning to keep your family safe then we offer that. I can explain more, but maybe that answers your question to a degree.

[Signmaker]

Just to be clear, I'm trying to belittle you or your training team, or say you're not good at what you do. I'm just trying to clarify what you have to offer an everyday Joe who is shopping for a school to train under. I don't know anything on the angle on military/LEO/security, other than where concepts overlap, so I cant offer much insight as a prospective customer of that training.

So far, what you have communicated to me, while all sound approaches, does not strike me as anything special when compared to your competition. It might be a better approach to forming the business to focus on a specialty you can offer the consumer, to differentiate you from others.

While having the skills to physically end a confrontation are vital, and your resume shows you are more than capable to teach them, the aspect of being able to train the skill sets needed to end confrontations non-physically is an attractive product. If you were able to teach that bouncer how to read a room in ways he hadn't in 15 years, you could certainly teach everyday Joe situational awareness tactics that could prevent a situation before it began. Personally, I feel verbal and body language de-escalation techniques are greatly undervalued.

[9orangeletters]

It played music as soon as I opened it, and I promptly closed the page.

Next.

[Grant Bacon]

@ Signmaker - In no way did I feel as though you were attempting to belittle me. So I apologize if I seemed like I was being defensive, because that wasn't my intention at all. I was honestly trying to answer your questions, and saw your questions as an opportunity to perhaps answer questions that others may have had; so I'm honestly thankful you asked them. I just ent you a PM that hopefully clears things up a bit better. The last couple of lines you wrote, are exactly what I was eluding to in my previous post. Situational awareness, verbal de-escalation, and body-language de-escalation are KEY skill I focus on for everyday citizens. When I stated that I try to keep people focused on their goals, and the parameters, etc., this is something I was referring to.

The one skill that I personally specialize in, and have a very high level of training in (and have taught to members of the special forces community), aside from empty-hand skills, is edged weapon tactics (and improvised weapons tactics also). There are A LOT of people, and programs, offering "real knife training", and there's A LOT of bad and dangerous instruction out there as a result. So I don't really emphasize that as much as I maybe should, as I'd rather people come in, talk to me, and see what it is that is being offered. Most, right away, acknowledge having never seen the type of instruction in this skill-set, that I offer, unless they have participated in a system of kali prior to attending one of my classes. I've been lucky enough to have trained in a variety of kali systems, with highly regarded instructors, as well as special forces based military combative systems, with high level personnel, and have figured out a way to strip out the effective, combat applicable skills offered in the various kali systems; and then teach it to the average Joe's, without as much emphasis on some of the more esoteric elements that usually come with studying this system of martial arts. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and asking your questions about the program. Take care.

P.S. We'll also take a hard look at the suggestion to kill the music. Thanks all.

[Cookieman00x]

My suggestion, come up with a calendar with the curriculum on certain days. For example, I would like to learn how to disarm a weapon but not interested in learning take downs or kickboxing. If I know what type of training is done on certain days, I would then know when to show up for what I want to learn.

Also, the website has no details, it’s very vague and the ninja wolf angle seems childish. While you’re at it, you could remove the mystical music because it’s a distraction but I guess that’s needed if there isn’t any site content.

I only comment because you asked for input.