An important part of our annual review as a non-profit organization is the results of our student demographic survey. The survey is conducted on-line every year as an anonymous opportunity for our students to provide useful information that helps us when applying for foundation grants or donations from external organizations. The information also forms part of our own internal report card for how well we are doing at satisfying you, our students, as well as how well we are meeting our mission and goals in general.

A little over fifty percent of our active student body responded to our request to complete the anonymous on-line survey between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2008. The results were then compiled and provided to our US Grants and Fundraising Chair and posted on our TMAA website as part of our open disclosure and transparency in operation protocols.

The results of the survey are listed in comparison to our 2007 survey and show some gains and losses in certain areas of our operations. "The percentages can be a little deceptive" says Grand Master Ken Craig, President of TMAA. "With only half of our active students responding to the voluntary survey, the figures don't necessarily reflect the full spectrum and diversity of our organization and our student body. The survey is necessary however as many grant foundations will require this information in order to make a grant determination."

The one statistic that has not changed is that of those responding in 2007 compared with 2008, 100% of all respondents reside in California, USA. "This is a little misleading as we actually have some students in Kentucky, and we have representatives in a number of different states around the US, but it is undoubtedly true that the majority of our current activity is based around our headquarters in San Francisco, California" continued Grand Master Craig. 

TaeKwon-Do students make up the bulk of our student population at 74%, with HapMoosaKi-Do coming in at a strong 35%. Our gender distribution changed to show an increase in male identified students from 57.9% in 2007 to 65.5% in 2008. This has corresponded to a decrease in our female and transgender population which is unfortunate but may reflect lack of participation in the survey rather than a real loss in these categories. "We are committed in our outreach efforts to attract female and transgender students to our different clubs and activities" says Grand Master Craig "but our figures are typical of many martial arts schools. For many reason, females and transgender individuals do not initially perceive the martial arts as an attractive endeavor. We are determined to change that perception."

View the full demographic survey results on our web site at:

http://www.trianglemaa.org/content/view/196/155/