Lots of Martial Arts Schools Are Closing?

[David Jamieson]

Running a martial arts club or a gym has been a hard go for the last year and half.
I have seen some innovative ideas from a few different teachers out there who keep their classes going with online instruction.

Still, rent and taxes on buildings that you have your physical school in are there.

I sympathize with those people who are going to have a little more uphill than they want or need to get their groove back.

[Jimbo]

Martial arts schools in general had been closing in my area for years now, since WAY before the pandemic. Even several BJJ academies had come and gone. In my observation, martial arts are nowhere near as popular, especially as an activity for adults, than they were back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and maybe into the ‘90s, and may never be again. A lot of it is the popularity of MMA, but not all of it. Mostly the classes I’d seen while out and about in recent years are kiddie TKD, karate, jujitsu, etc., classes. And it’s clear that when children are the main (or only) focus of a MA school, standards of quality drop dramatically.

But I’m not lamenting the fact. It’s just the way the world is. Martial arts today don’t hold the fascination for young people/young adults that they did in past decades. Now, people can view anything at the click of a button and think they know all about it. And for most people, MA practice is seen as a high-effort, low-reward endeavor.

[YinOrYan]

In my observation, martial arts are nowhere near as popular, especially as an activity for adults, than they were back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and maybe into the ‘90s, and may never be again.

Yeah, "high-effort, low-reward endeavor" sums it up well. I think another factor that's often overlooked is the amount of handguns out there compared to back in the ‘70s and ‘80s...