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Frequently Asked Questions

General questions

  • Is it really free? Where is the catch?

    I know what you think: there's no such thing as a free lunch - well, that doesn’t apply to LocalDojo, it's really free! Not only searching itself, but also when you want to add your Dojo or use advanced features, all you need is to create a free account. We do not even ask you any personal information during registration - you just have fill your email address and create your password, that's all. You can complete your profile and add more details about yourself anytime later.

  • Who made it and why it exists?

    LocalDojo.com has been founded by a small company in the Czech Republic (central Europe). Our main goal is to help people around the world to find the nearest Martial Arts school or Martial Arts practitioners in their neighborhood.

  • How do I find Martial Arts Dojos in my area?

    If you want to start with any Martial Art or if you're in a hunt for the best Dojo in your area, simply visit LocalDojo.com and we'll show you nearby Dojos right away. If you want to narrow your search, let's say only for certain Martial Arts or add other parameters, you can and get more precise results.

  • I travel a lot, can I search for Dojos elsewhere than in my neighborhood?

    Yes, LocalDojo.com can be very useful if you travel often or if you are on holiday and want to explore a remote area for high quality Martial Arts schools nearby. Simply visit and select "Manually Set Location" and we'll help you search in the area where you're planning to travel or spend your holiday.

  • I have no previous experience, how do I recognize a high quality Dojo?

    The text below is just a quick summary, take a look at our blog for a more detailed guide on how to choose a Martial Arts Dojo.

    Each Dojo can gain rating and text review from other people, who practiced or have been practicing in this Dojo. For a basic rating, we use simple 5 stars system on a scale from 1 to 5 stars, when 1 is the worst and 5 is the best rating possible. We encourage our users to assess this basic rating primarily with the quality of teaching in Dojo, because we believe, that this is by far the most important thing in Martial Arts, everything else is secondary. So you can use this rating as the first criterion for your decision-making.

    All users can also add a detailed text review, where they can describe all pros and cons of this specific Dojo. These reviews are really unbiased, because Dojo owners have no control over them. Our team’s only intervention lies in a simple approval process, where we check for possible inappropriate or offensive language, that's all. But keep in mind, that these text reviews and opinions are strictly personal and what suits one, doesn't have to be good for the other.

    On top of that, it's always a good sign when teachers in a Dojo have a high technical grade (at least the 1st Dan), but this can vary Martial Art from Martial Art. Last but not least, the bigger number of teachers or high ranked students in Dojo usually means that you can gain more experience during training than elsewhere and grow much faster.

    Of course the best you can do is simply visit the Dojo! A good sensei never wants to pay for the first lesson and never force you into any bigger payments in advance as the only option. If you encounter any of this behavior, it's not a good sign.

    When you're in a Dojo, watch the sensei and his students before, during and even after the training. How was the mood in Dojo? How did people behave to each other? How did you feel after the training?

    Remember, it's always better if you have something to compare, so do not hesitate to try more than one Dojo before you decide what suits you the best.

  • Can I search for anything else than Dojos?

    (This will be available soon...) Yes you can and you even should :) Let’s picture this scenario: you've met a great practitioner on tatami, but you couldn't remember the name of this person, but you're sure you remembered his home Dojo or home city. Because he (or she) has own personal profile on LocalDojo.com, you can simply find this person and get in touch with him (or her) right through his profile page. Simply use and check the option: "Search for: people".

  • Why is everything only in English here?

    For two main reasons:

    1. it's the world's second largest native language and well understood almost everywhere on the planet, so there is a solid chance that people searching for you or your Dojo will understand your text.
    2. it's a language we know (on a basic level, as nobody from our dev team is a native speaker) and a language we can communicate with our users, you.

    Of course, when you're creating your profile or Dojo's page you can fill your data in your language so only headers and labels on your Dojo page will remain in English, if you think it's better, we are not going to stop you. We simply think that use of English is for the best at the moment.

Dojos

  • How can I edit my Dojo, when I didn't added by myself?

    It's possible, that your Dojo page was created by somebody from LocalDojo team. In this case, we have used public contact information from your website. If you want to take a complete control over your Dojo page, all you need is to verify, that you're the person responsible for this Dojo. How? Here is step by step tutorial:

    1. First, visit the page with the Dojo and click on "Edit This Page" in the menu on the right side.
    2. Now confirm that you're the person responsible for this Dojo (we call it "Dojo Manager") and click on the red button: "Send verification link" and we will send a verification link to "Dojo Contact Email" (it's the email address we found on your website as a contact email).
    3. Go check your email and click on the link we've sent you to verify your ownership.
    4. Now you can log in with an account you want to use for editing of this Dojo. If you do not have any account yet, you can create a new one (it's completely free) and we will assign this Dojo to your new account.

    No worries, you can delegate the rights to edit your Dojo page (as a "Dojo Manager") on another LocalDojo user anytime later. If you have any trouble to verify that you're the person responsible for a Dojo ("Dojo Manager"), please and we will help you personally.

  • Who can edit and manage my Dojo page and how to change it?

    This person is called: "Dojo Manager" and each Dojo can have only one Dojo Manager at the time. So, in case you want to transfer rights to edit your Dojo to any LocalDojo member, follow these steps.

    1. Log in to your account.
    2. Open the public page with Dojo where you're the Dojo Manager.
    3. Click on "Edit This Page" in the menu on the right side.
    4. You'll be forwarded to the page when you can edit this Dojo. You need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on: "Show advanced options" and the first form is: "Dojo Manager"
    5. Here you can transfer the rights to edit this Dojo to anybody else by writing email address of the new Dojo Manager. Just verify the change with your current LocalDojo password and that's all.
    6. You’ll remain as Dojo Manager till the new manager accepts the change by clicking on the link in his/her email.

  • Our Dojo is closed for good, can I delete my Dojo entirely?

    It's unfortunate, but it happens. First of all, please reconsider if it's really necessary - because, you can simply set the visibility of the Dojo to "Hidden" and your Dojo will be visible only for you, as a Dojo Manager as long as you want.

    If you really have to delete your Dojo completely, for whatever reason, you can do that if you're the Dojo Manager:

    1. Log in to your account.
    2. Open the public page with Dojo where you're the Dojo Manager.
    3. Click on "Edit This Page" in the menu on the right side.
    4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on: "Show advanced options" and the second form is: "Delete Dojo".
    5. Now simply confirm that you understand that this is an irreversible step and click on "Delete Entire Dojo".

    If you have any questions, please and we will help you.

Accounts

  • What is an account good for?

    By free registration, you'll become a LocalDojo member and you'll be able to use all LocalDojo features to:

    • and let others know something about you and about Martial Art you practice
    • collect and sort Dojos to your and stay in touch with people you know from tatami
    • add your Dojo or Dojo you know and be easily found among Martial Arts schools all over the world
    • to rate Dojos, write Dojo reviews and give some credit to people who you admire and learn from and more...

  • Do I need to have a special account as a Dojo owner?

    No, there is nothing like a special account. You have access to all features of LocalDojo with one account, we do not distinguish between a Martial Arts practitioner (student) or a Dojo owner (teacher) - moreover this line can blend someday ;)

  • What kind of information can others see about me?

    That's completely up to you. It's your decision - if you want to complete your profile by adding other information about you and have your own profile page public, it's great, because in that case other students and teachers can keep in touch with you. Or simply set your profile page as private (by default) and invisible for others.

  • Can I delete my account?

    Why not, it's your account right? But first consider this: your account is free, so it's better to keep your account inactive and reserve your nickname/Dojo page than deleting. You can very simply opt out of all unnecessary emails in your settings and set your profile page and Dojos page to "hidden", if that's what’s bothering you.

    If you really feel like deleting your account, you can do that on your Settings page:

    1. Log in to your account.
    2. Go to your settings page.
    3. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on: "Show advanced options" and the first form is: "Delete Account".
    4. Now confirm that you understand that this is an irreversible step and what that means and click on "Delete My Account".
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