Freakonomics Of Self Defense
The book "Freakonomics" by Steve Levitt and Steve Dubner has set the way we view why things happen on it's ear
. Morality is how we want to act, economics is how we really act and freakonomics is the study of why we act that way. The premise of the book is that ALL human beings act in self interest based on personal gain and how we are viewed by our peers.
The book argues and proves that people will always seek to maximize their benefit and how a small percentage will even cheat. One of the examples used is real estate. The perception is that you seek out the expert because she has knowledge about getting the best price for your house. She is the expert and knows your neighborhood. She will be able to list your house and might even have a prospective buyer. For her efforts she will get 6% of the sale of your home your home. You think that since she's getting a percentage of the sale price, it's in her best interest to sell it for as much as she can. Unfortunately the opposite is true. It's actually in her best interest to sell your house as fast as possible.
Let's say she lists your house for $300,000. Her commission on that house is 6% or $18,000. But in reality that's not the case, her commission is only $4500. Because she will have to split the commission with her agency and if the buyer comes from another agent, which they almost always do, she will have to split that commission with them as well. In the end she only makes 1.5% of the total sale price.
Now let's say she get's a low ball offer of $250,000. Her commission on that sale is still $3750.00 (only $750 off of her original commission). If she wants to stick to stick it out for a higher offer she is going to have possibly spend weeks showing your house, spending money on ads and entertaining offers. The more time and effort she puts into marketing your home for an extra $750 isn't worth it for her. Plainly put, while you're out $50,000, she's out only $750. This being the case it is impossible for both of you to be on the same page. In the time it would take to be trying to get top dollar for your home, she could be promoting other houses and getting new listings. Her goal is to churn out as many sales as possible, not to get the top dollar. In the time it takes to get top dollar for your house she could have sold another house and made another $3750!
The problem with this is that you and your expert's goals are not aligned. the same holds true for you and the martial arts school owner. You want to get in shape and learn self defense as quickly as possible. The martial arts studio owner however wants to keep you involved as long as possible. According to Steve Oliver of NAPMA (National Association of Martial Arts Professionals) the average time someone spends in martial arts is 6 months. The goal of a martial arts studio owner is to keep the person enrolled for 3 to 5 years.
This is why most black belt contracts are exactly that, three to five years long. The studio owner makes most of his money off of monthly tuition and promotion exams. This doesn't include summer camps and tournaments. The more months you're enrolled, the more money he makes. The more interested you are, meaning the more you advance, the more expensive the exam fee becomes. So while you're trying to reach your goal as fast as possible, the school owner is trying to slow your progress. The longer he can string you along, the more money he makes. It is not in his best interest to give you what you need in the shortest amount of time possible. It is not in the best interest of the school owner to make you proficient and self reliant. It is in his best interest to make you dependent and indentured which are the exact opposite of your goals.
The primary way he does this is INFORMATION. He gives you a lot of it, a lot more than you need. Techniques, forms, weapons, self defense, sparring, the possibilities are limitless and never ending. In fact part of the function of an organization like NAPMA is to give school owners more information and curriculum ideas in the spirit of keeping the students engaged and enrolled. The purpose of a martial arts studio, according to NAPMA, is to enroll, retain and renew students. they accomplish this by convincing you that you need a black belt.
From the minute you walk into the dojo you're told about the black belt and how it holds all the answers to all your questions. Everything you see reminds you about the ultimate goal, the black belt. For the martial arts school owner, his goal is not you getting your black belt. From a business stand point it doesn't matter. His goal is to keep you enrolled for four years, anything that is gravy.
Now I know there are good and bad martial arts experiences. I have had both. But what we are talking about are the forces at work that are beyond both your and the school owner's control. When you and the person contracted to do a job have different goals it is only a coincidence that it works out at all.
Let's say for example, you're an excellent student and you can absorb anything thrown at you. I mean you're like the Natural.If you were in the conventional sports world and you could play baseball no one would care how long you played, only that you could hit, throw, catch and understood the game. The same does not hold true in the martial arts world. No matter how good you are, there is still a minimum number of classes or time you must attend in order to get promoted. Or there are a set number of promotion events through out the year. You're ability to
understand and demonstrate the material has no bearing on the time requirement. In reality you should be able to test for as many ranks as you wish all the way up to black belt if the goal of the school owner's goal was aligned with yours.
by: Matthew McKernan
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