Minnesota’s oldest ju-jitsu school
World of Self Defense is a ju-jitsu “dojo” located a few blocks west of the Veterans Administration Hospital in South Minneapolis. It’s a second-generation martial arts school located in an old retail building space at the end of a residential block.
Ron Peterson opened the school in 1972. His wife used a portion of the building to run a small beauty salon. Ron’s son Steve took over the school in 1992 and together the Petersons have offered reasonably priced martial arts training at the South Minneapolis location for 53 years. They never got rich from the venture, but they were always able to make enough to pay the bills and re-invest a few dollars back into the school. That’s changed in recent years.
Cadillac expenses with nothing in return
Despite being worth $220,000, the property taxes for the building have steadily risen to nearly $9,000/year. For that kind of money, one should expect exemplary service in return, but Steve Peterson has experienced the opposite.
Several years ago, someone burglarized the building and stole a number of items that were later pawned. The Minneapolis Police Department took a report of the burglary and located some of the items at a pawn shop. Police later told Peterson that the suspect lived in Wisconsin, and they wouldn’t be pursuing the case any further.
Some time later, the school’s building was vandalized with graffiti. Peterson reported the damage to the police, but the only communication he ever received from the city was a letter demanding that he remove the graffiti immediately or be charged $250/hr for the city to come out and remove it.
In recent years the city began adding an $80 surcharge to his water and sewer bill, because the roof on the building prevents water from being soaked into the permeable ground. The city estimates that over 50% goes into the sewer, so they charge Peterson for that amount of “runoff.”
Earlier this year, the city removed a light attached to a telephone pole near the back parking lot of Peterson’s school building. When Peterson inquired what happened to the light, he was told one of the area businesses had been paying for the light, but the owner died several years earlier so the city removed it. Peterson went through the process of getting other neighbors and businesses on the corner to request with him that the light be re-installed. The city declined, citing a transformer being on the pole – the same transformer that was there at the time the light was removed.
When the light was removed it changed a well-lit back alley and parking lot into a dark space for criminal activity.
The camel’s broken back
Sure enough, several times in recent months vandals have come onto Peterson’s property after dark and tore apart the two air conditioner units that cool the building – one on the ground and one on the roof. They stole all the copper tubing and other materials of value from the units, completely destroying them. Peterson believes it will cost a minimum of $5,000 to repair the units – money the school just isn’t bringing in.
Peterson once again called the police and reported the damage but was routed to the city’s 311 line to make a tele-report using an automated system. Several days later he received a letter confirming that his case was filed and closed.
He also tried following up by calling a non-emergency police line to ask for an increase in patrols in the neighborhood. The person on the line told Peterson he’d have to call 911 the next time there was a crime in progress. This is the reality in a city with a police department operating at a 35% vacancy rate. There just aren’t enough officers to adequately patrol the city.
To add insult to injury, due to the vandalism Peterson’s insurance premiums are now going up 67% to $3,500/year.
Feeling abandoned
Unfortunately, Steve Peterson’s small business experiences are not unusual in Minneapolis in 2025. Skyrocketing taxes and expenses coupled with an utter lack of public safety or other services have left many feeling abandoned.
Add Steve Peterson to that list. The crime and disorder combined with the complete lack of response by the city has left him empty – and for the first time he’s considering pulling the plug on 53 years of doing business in Minneapolis.
If he does, it will represent yet another thread removed from the fabric that once was Minneapolis. Just another casualty of the destructive “Defund the Police” movement.
