Partnering with a Martial Arts Dojo

Spend time browsing the threads on the affiliate section of the CrossFit message board and you will quickly discover that many new affiliates sooner or later face the same dilemma: "Should I set up my own box or work out of an existing gym?" Neither option appears particularly attractive when starting out. Setting up your own box seems dauntingly expensive and sends waves of doubt through even the most hardened business mind. "What if no one turns up?" Likewise, working out of a gym is fraught with frustration when the realization sinks in that very few gyms will allow chalk, handstands on the wall, grunting, or dropping weights. So, although having your own box is the ultimate dream of most new affiliates, and renting space from a gym is an obvious stepping stone, in the beginning, neither option really appeals.

Well there is another option, and it's one that we at CrossFit Brisbane stumbled on by accident. It has proven to be the best of both worlds, providing the feel of our own box while minimizing our initial outlay. While we were in the midst of trying to resolve the "where should we set up shop" dilemma, one of our clients suggested that we talk to the local martial arts dojo, and from the moment we walked in, it was clear that we had found the ideal home for our start-up phase.