MA club selling strategies?

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 3/15/2010 5:31pm

So I was doing some light training last night, working over some BJJ DVD noobs, trying out sweeps and the like that I can't quite seem to get to work on the more experienced grapplers I roll with, when an old karate guy walked on to the mats wearing a black belt preparing for a lesson.

Now, I've been waiting to ask about the karate style at the uni's sports centre of which I am a member, but of course the front desk knows little apart from "its karate". So I approach this old fella and ask him the questions needed for me to do a bit of research (on here).

He tells me it is Goju-Kai and I began thinking "more like Mc-Goju- Kai" whilst holding my hand up looking for a high five where none was apparent. He tells me he is not the Sensei, but is the assistant and that the club has been operating for 30 years. He asked me if I had done anything before and I gave him an abbreviated version because by then I really had lost interest in him and the style.

The guy was volunteering too much information and from my experience as a salesman this is bad practice. He was dropping too many names of karateka, specifically Japanese, as the lineage which said to me this was common practice when people asked about the classes and it would be like a mechanic telling someone with no knowledge of engines they need an influx converter capacitor for their piston ring reduction module. It would add an air of legitimacy that may or may not be warranted and for the ignorant, excite them enough to join. Fortunately I am not ignorant, in relation to this, anyway.

So I walked away only to have him follow me. As I was talking to my friends, he asks me how long I have been training and other **** which was annoying because I was trying to organise another day of rolling. I answered over my shoulder, making it obvious I had lost interest and the next thing I know I hear this familiar sound:
Whumph! Whumph! Whumph!
(If you couldn't pick it is the sound a gi makes when...)
...This dude was showing off his punching skills right behind me! I nearly cracked up.

Anyway, Goju Kai has been done to death here I believe, so discuss it or don't I don't care. But have a look at the photo on their website, to me it looks photoshopped, but I could be wrong:
http://www.gojukai.com.au/history.html

Also, what are some strange selling tactics or stories you've been told why a new school was trying to convince you to join?

**Deadmeat** · Posted On: 3/15/2010 5:40pm

I've known some Goju guys who could punch pretty damn hard.

One in particular, guy named Paul, also had a mean footsweep.

**Mr. Machette** · Posted On: 3/15/2010 6:46pm

Originally Posted by battlefields

to me it looks photoshopped, but I could be wrong:
http://www.gojukai.com.au/history.html

Is this for real? You didn;t make this up?

That photo is definitely fake, but it's not "photoshoped". It's an old school cut and paste. A freaking terrible one at that. WTF?

And why didn't you pretzel the guy for throwing punches behind your back?

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 3/15/2010 6:55pm

I did not perceive a threat. So that photo is fake. I couldn't tell if it was just the iPhone screen playing optical illusions with me. This looks like it could turn epic. I'll dig deeper.

**Mr. Machette** · Posted On: 3/15/2010 7:04pm

Originally Posted by battlefields

I did not perceive a threat. So that photo is fake. I couldn't tell if it was just the iPhone screen playing optical illusions with me. This looks like it could turn epic. I'll dig deeper.

In my opinion it is fake. Based on this:

Visible seams around the couple in the back, and a drop shadow from the cut out. It appears this drop shadow was intentional, to make it appear that they are standing in front of the wall, but it does not fit into the depth of field in the photo, it does not conform to the angle of the wall behind them, and it does not match any other shadows in the picture. In fact, it is pretty obvious that it is the shadow of a two dimensional piece of paper, cast against another two dimensional piece of paper. As I said before, there are also visible edges around the couple indicating a cut out.

Crap, in a second look, it appears that the entire photo has had parts of the background cut out. Strange, but not evidence of a chop in and of itself.

One odd thing is the placement of the Japanese couple though. The people in the foreground appear to be standing on a much lower plane than those ion the background.

I dunno man. It peaks my bullshit meter for sure. Probably worth a deeper look.

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 3/15/2010 7:46pm

Mine too. I can't seem to find a plausible lineage off the website. It's too confusing and I imagine it was designed that way. That photo raises so many questions. Hopefully someone with visual material fraud busting skills can help out.

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 3/17/2010 8:42am

Originally Posted by battlefields

But have a look at the photo on their website, to me it looks photoshopped, but I could be wrong:
http://www.gojukai.com.au/history.html

I was asked to have a look at this image:

This is a case of what I would call "potentially benign formatting", similar to what we encountered with Scott Sonnon's MoS diploma, where tampering was detected, but not in a form that altered the content in a deceptive fashion.

Question 1: Does this image show signs of tampering? Yes, there are two different sets of shadows at 2 different angles, and clear cutlines around the perimeter of the objects and persons pictured. Inside this perimeter the shadows have a certain angle, and outside they have a distinctly different angle, with no exceptions. The image you linked to is a rephotographing of a snapshot that has had a single contiguous piece cut out with a razor or scissors, placed in front of a uniform blue background and shot again.

Question 2: Is this evidence of fraud or deception? In my opinion, no. The Starlings and the Yamaguchis, the shelving, 1979 era video camera and backboard are all part of one uninterrupted image, with no obvious anomolies. The people have been clipped from the background. Unless he is implying that the discarded portion of the image is something other than what it was, I see no deception.

This looks like a photo that was cropped for media purposes (poster, flyer, etc) in the period before desktop publishing.

**pauli** · Posted On: 3/17/2010 9:01am

i have come to the conclusion that it's a photo of a lifesize cardboard cutout, and am now meditating on the thought process that would produce such a thing. it may involve googly eyes.

**Matt Phillips** · Posted On: 3/17/2010 10:07am

Originally Posted by pauli

i have come to the conclusion that it's a photo of a lifesize cardboard cutout, and am now meditating on the thought process that would produce such a thing. it may involve googly eyes.

It's one of those things they have in the lobby of a movie theater.