Shintaro Higashi has spent his entire life inside martial arts schools.

His father opened Kokushibutō Institute in New York City back in 1963, and today Higashi continues that legacy while also consulting for gyms across the country.

In a recent YouTube video, the judo and jiu-jitsu black belt distilled decades of hard-earned experience into five core lessons that he believes determine whether a dojo thrives or slowly dies.

The first, he says, has nothing to do with medals:

90% of the time people don’t care about that.

Person comes in. Hey, how are you? How’s it going? Are you here for a trial? Do you have experience in martial arts?
We would love to get you set up.

His second priority is safety, which he sees as the ultimate responsibility of the owner:

If someone tears an ACL in that gym, it’s on you, the dojo owner.

When there’s fear in the dojo and when people are scared for their safety, they’re not going to come back.
I’d rather not anyone get their knees blown out in the gym under my watch.

Cleanliness is the third pillar.
Higashi hires professional cleaners weekly and enforces strict hygiene rules, calling them out publicly when needed.

Fourth, he challenges the obsession with competition. Even in elite gyms, only a fraction of students ever compete:

Judo is for everyone. You should be inclusive.
Teach everyone and anyone how to do judo, how to love judo, how to make it a really fun time.

Finally, Higashi tackled a taboo topic: black belts training for free.

After hearing someone else say: “Your non-paying members are hurting your paying members, what kind of a business model is that?” he changed his outlook.

Now, he insists on paying drop-in fees himself:

If you don’t take this drop in fee, I am leaving.
I am not coming in here and working out with you guys.

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