Shen Dojo Kickstarter campaign aims for $10,000 in 50 days to fund second floor build-out

After relocating from Grand Rapids' Heartside to a new space at 401 Hall St. SW one year ago, owner and instructor Dan Muschiana of the healing and martial arts studio Shen Dojo is looking toward community members to help build out his new location, hoping to raise $10,000 in 50 days through a new Kickstarter campaign. 

"It's always one of the challenges with start-up companies, needing some funding for growth and development into the next stages," says Muschiana, a Kendall College of Art & Design graduate who became interested in Japanese culture and the healing arts while working as a freelancer post-grad. 

"I actually learned a lot of my ability to understand education, healthcare, business, how to develop an idea and take it to fruition and how to stay focused on a project," he says. 

His plan is to use $5,000 of the $10,000 fundraising money to build out a second and third training area dedicated to community classes, public projects and one-on-one tutoring space. He also plans to equip the space with supplies for teachers and smaller tables for future Japanese language and calligraphy classes. 

Muschiana plans to invest $3,000 of the fundraising monies in new spring programs and workshops and to secure costs for the three new instructors he recently hired to lead courses at Shen Dojo.

"I've got three great new instructors from Grand Rapids and around the city with a lot of really amazing backgrounds that I think will help contribute to the team," he says. "I brought them on board so myself and another instructor who is involved with the dojo can create new programs centered around the healing arts." 

Shen Dojo's courses – which range from yoga and Tai Chi to Aikido, Uechi-Ryu Karate and Rinzai Zen Meditation – are taught with a larger notion of wellness behind each, an idea Muschiana has rallied around for a number of years while working as an instructor for wellness and healing programs in area hospitals.

With $1,000 of future fundraising money allocated for developing studies to advance local wellness initiatives for cancer patients in Grand Rapids, he says he hopes to increase his partnerships with community businesses in the medical field and beyond through meditation and healing techniques.

Muschiana points to studies done by Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, which show healthier employees involved in employee wellness programs not only pose less risk to insurance companies because of increased wellness overall, but also make up a more productive workforce and are able to provide a better level of care to patients, to boot. 

"Businesses willing to invest in their employees are going to see a really great long-term return on investment for some of these workshops," he says. "Those businesses that are innovative, willing to seek creative methods, get a little bit outside of the box in order to accomplish this and see more productivity are those that are really going to benefit, and those are the businesses I really want to connect with." 

Click here to donate to the Shen Dojo Kickstarter campaign, or find Shen Dojo on Facebook to learn more.

By Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Shen Dojo/Dan Muschiana