Martial Arts World News Magazine Vol. 19 No.3 by Martial Arts World News Magazine

MartialArtsWorldNews.com

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry

VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

Groundbreaking New Martial Arts Business Building Experience Surprise, Surprise! Facebook Changed Again!

Shihan

Allie Alberigo How a Modern Ninja Thrives in the 21st Century Running a Traditional School.

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CONTENTS

FEATURES 26

Surprise, Surprise! Facebook Changed Again!

30 Groundbreaking New Martial Arts Business Building Experience 36

How a Modern Ninja Thrives in the 21st Century Running a Traditional School

99 FREE Tool of the Month

DEPARTMENTS 14

Industry Insights

17 Birthdays 20

Social 411

Industry Innovations

School Profiles

Classified Ads

Advertiser Index

YOUR INPUT 13

Share Your Story

Seeking Writers and Stories

Feature Your School, Organization, Accomplishment, or Event

4 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

COLUMNS 6 Editorial

Will You Be Crushed, or Will You Conquer? Master Toby Milroy

Martial Arts World News Faculty

12 Teamwork

10 Things Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Learned Owning a Martial Arts School Hanshi Dave Kovar

The Warrior Way

Confidence Part 2: Confidence is Born of Experience Grandmaster Bill Clark

Growth Hacks

What Would You Do with an Extra $50,000.00? Sean Lee

Ninja Business Tactics

First Impressions An-Shu Stephen Hayes

Pillars of Success

The Difference Between Culture and Principle Grandmaster Y. K. Kim

Management Excellence

3 Steps to Modernize Your Business Chief Master Kirk Pelt

Extraordinary Marketing

The X-Factor Grandmaster Stephen Oliver

After School Excellence

Gain the Secret to Skyrocket Your Enrollment Chief Master Mike Bugg

STAFF 76

Tactical Self-defense

First Impressions Grandmaster Tom Patire

Complete Martial Arts Concepts

How to be a COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTIST Professor Willie “The Bam” Johnson

The Millionaire Smarts Coach

Think Big Lee Milteer

Budo Philosophy The Dreggs Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci

Pro Shop Power

Mind Mastery

Back to School Fever Brandon Kim

How to Achieve Clarity Grandmaster Jessie Bowen

Master the Basics

I Have Good News and I Have Bad News: The Good News is that Success is Easy Master Tina Bane

Instructional Excellence

Use the Tangible to Reveal the Intangible Grandmaster Tim McCarthy

Tools & Tactics

Use the Basic Tenets of Self-Defense for your Business Amber Logan

Martial Arts Philosophy

The Tale of the Forty Brooms Part 2 Sensei Gary Lee

VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 PUBLISHER Master Toby Milroy EDITOR IN CHIEF Sean Lee MANAGING EDITOR Grandmaster Tim McCarthy ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Jeff Reulbach ART DIRECTOR Frank Meyer GRAPHIC DESIGNER Amen Blue WEB DEVELOPERS Erin Pham Manuel Huerta COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS Hanshi Dave Kovar Sean Lee Shihan Allie Alberigo Supreme Grandmaster Y. K. Kim Chief Master Kirk Pelt Grandmaster Stephen Oliver Chief Master Mike Bugg Professor Willie Johnson Amber Logan Master Tina Bane Brandon Kim Grandmaster Jessie Bowen Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci An-Shu Stephen Hayes Lee Milteer Sensei Gary Lee Grandmaster Tom Patire Grandmaster Bill Clark The mission of Martial Arts World News Magazine is to be the definitive source for information, news, education, ethical business practices, product reviews and innovative developments in the world of martial arts business.

Martial Arts World News does not accept any responsibility for unsolicited submissions. Our preferred method of submission is by emailing the editor at editor@ martialartsworldnews. com. Paper manuscripts and photos will only be returned if a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope is provided. All rights for letters submitted to the magazine will be accepted as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes, with the stipulation that editorial staff has the right to edit and comment. Martial Arts World News Magazine, its owners, directors, officers, employees, subsidiaries, successors, and assigns are not responsible in any way for any injury that may occur by reading or following the recommendations herein. As publisher, Martial Arts World News makes no endorsements, representations, warranties, or guarantees concerning any products or services advertised or otherwise provided herein, and we expressly disclaim any and all liability arising from or relating to the manufacture, sale, distribution, use, misuse, or other act of any party in regard to said products or services. This magazine is a copyrighted product of Martial Arts World News. All rights reserves. Reproduction in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 5

Editorial

Why Do Some Schools Flounder while Others Flourish?

MASTER TOBY MILROY is a 5th degree black belt. Known as “The Master Systemizer,” Master Toby Milroy has positively influenced more martial arts schools than anyone in our industry. He has built a successful multi-school organization, lead the national trade association for the martial arts industry, and coached some of the most successful martial arts school operators in the world.

➽Once again, I’m proud and humbled to have received so much positive feedback and words of encouragement since launching the new Martial Arts World News Magazine project! So for any school operator or instructor who has any feedback, thought, or comments, feel encouraged to send them to me at TobyMilroy@MartialArtsWorldNews.com or send to the editor at Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com. Today I’d like to ask you an important question. Why are some schools bursting at the seams with students, vibrant with energy, with plenty of revenue, a happy staff, and amazing growth, while other schools struggle to keep the doors open and the bills paid? This is a question I’ve spent nearly 30 years studying. Is it the demographics? Is it the “market”? Is it the style of martial art they teach? While these factors do play a role in the success of a school, I’ve worked with MANY schools that had terrible demographics (including a couple of my own), a horrible market, and bland curriculum, but still achieved amazing results. While I’ve also seen other schools with everything working in their favor but still struggle. So, what is the “formula” to build a fantastic martial arts business regardless of these external circumstances? Let’s explore one of the keys to the formula! Believe me, I know what your life is like! Not only have I run a hyper-successful chain of highquality martial arts schools, but I’ve also been fortunate enough to work with, and help grow more schools and organizations than virtually anyone in our industry. And in that experience, I’ve learned some pretty important lessons. When you turn the key in the door in the morning, you’re faced with HUNDREDS of things that command your attention. You’ve got to take the trash out. You have to make sure the restrooms are clean. You have to make sure the attendance cards are put away, and on, and on, and on. One of the BIG ‘differences’ between the school owners that kick serious butt (from a business standpoint) and those that struggle is the ability to focus on the things that are most important and valuable to the school, while those

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that struggle tend to get buried in the ‘minutiae’ of daily operations. I call it focusing on your “20% Time.” Typically, 80% of your results come from only 20% of your efforts/activities. So, what are our 20% activities? #1 - Marketing Whether we like it or not, the most financially impactful ‘activity’ in your school is driving more students into your school. How much of your DAILY time is dedicated to generating new students? Focus more time there, and you’ll see a big difference in your business. #2 – Sales Next, is creating sales opportunities, enrolling students, selling higher level programs and other revenuegenerating activities. If you are personally enrolling students yourself, you owe it to yourself and your business to study and master the sales process. If your staff is handling this for you, you need to surround them with great tools and systems to maximize their effectiveness. #3 - Strategy YOU are the CEO of your company. You are the Steve Jobs of your school. Without Jobs’ vision and direction, Apple would never have accomplished what it has. Even with lots of other talented folks at Apple, without Jobs’ focus on the vision for the company and his intense focus on making it happen, Apple would be just another Compaq or Gateway instead of the game changing cultural phenomenon we see today. If you aren’t focusing on the macro ‘strategy’ of growing your school, no one else will. You should block out time each week to focus on what your business “should” look like. What the results ‘should’ be, and then reverse engineer those results to plot out what you need to do to achieve them. Spend more and more time on your 20% activities, and you’ll be able to create more than enough revenue to hire, outsource, delegate, systemize, or automate the less valuable activities.

Check out ou r new MARTIAL ARTS BUSINESS D I SC USS I O N

G RO U P

No Egos – No Politics – No Trolls

Just News, Tips, Strategies, and Tools to Help You Grow Your School!

facebook.com/groups/MartialArtsWorldNews

OUR EXPERT FACULTY 6

Master Toby Milroy

An-Shu Stephen Hayes

Is a 5th degree Black Belt, the CEO and Publisher of Martial Arts World News Magazine, and the Executive Vice President for AMS. In addition to building a successful multi school organization, Master Milroy has positively influenced more martial arts schools than virtually anyone in our industry.

Hanshi Dave Kovar

has authored 20 books, worked as a body guard for the Dali Lama, supervised over 30 school locations worldwide, and was named “A legend; one of the 10 most influential living martial artists in the world” by Black Belt Magazine

Grandmaster Y. K. Kim

is an 8th degree black belt and recognized as the “Trainer of Trainers.” Hanshi Kovar is an internationally acclaimed instructor with black belt degrees in ten different martial arts styles. His systems have been implemented in hundreds of schools around the US.

Grandmaster Bill Clark

is the most successful martial arts business leader in the US, having written over 30 books on martial arts, business, leadership, and success. He has won numerous public service awards and is the founder of the leading martial arts marketing and management company in the US.

Chief Master Kirk Pelt

is a 9th degree black belt and a former PKA Fighter of the year. He is widely considered one of the top experts in martial arts business with over 30 years of leadership and innovation, having been inducted into almost every Hall of Fame in the industry. He is one of the largest multi-school owners in the world.

is an 8th degree black belt and is the President of a multi-million dollar, multschool organization, has a 30 year track record of success, and is currently on the leading edge of martial arts curriculum and business innovation.

Sean Lee

Grandmaster Stephen Oliver is the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing for hundreds of martial arts schools, who specializes in online and social media marketing using his extensive professional experience in sport and martial arts marketing, contract negotiation, and investment.

8 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

is a 9th degree black belt and is the founder and CEO of Mile High Karate schools and founder of the Martial Arts Wealth Mastery Program, formerly Extraordinary Marketing.

OUR EXPERT FACULTY 84

Chief Master Mike Bugg

Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci is the CEO and General Manager of the Budo International Publishing Company, a leading publisher in the martial arts with over 35 years in the Industry, including: Budo International Magazine and author of several books, The Immaterial Dimension, the Way of The Warrior and The Spirit. He currently lives in Valencia, Spain.

is an 8th degree black belt and the owner of a 1.5 million-dollar-a-year location, with one of the largest after school and summer camp programs in the country.

Grandmaster Tom Patire

Brandon Kim

is known as “America’s Leading Personal Safety Expert” and has appeared on Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, The Colbert Report, Montel, plus in mainstream publications such as Family Circle, Redbook, Fortune Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.

Professor Willie “The Bam” Johnson

is the President of Vision Martial Arts Supply, Los Angeles Branch, who helps school owners all over the U.S. maximize their retail sales and drive more revenue into their schools.

Grandmaster Jessie Bowen

is a 7th degree black belt and 7-time sport karate and kung-fu world champion. He has appeared in 4 movies, 16 stage plays, 11 television shows and two videos. He is also the national spokesperson for the Stronger than Drugs Foundation and the Champions Against Drugs.

is president of Karate International of Durham, Inc., a member of the American Martial Arts Association Sport Karate League and Hall of Fame, and has been a member of the Duke University P.E. Staff for over 25 years. He is the author of Zen Mind-Body Mindfulness Meditation and Zen Mind-Body Mindfulness Meditation for Martial Arts.

Lee Milteer

Master Tina Bane is an Intuitive Business Coach, AwardWinning Professional Speaker, and TV Personality who has counseled and trained over a million people throughout her career. Lee is Stephen Oliver’s Martial Arts Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire Smarts Coach and is also a best-selling author of educational resources.

is a 6th degree master instructor and owner of a Top Ten martial arts school with successful after school and summer camp programs.

MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 9

OUR EXPERT FACULTY 92

Grandmaster Tim McCarthy is an 9th degree black belt and is a martial arts educator with a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in education. He has been instrumental in developing two industry-changing programs, plus has directed and been featured in hundreds of martial arts videos and webinars.

Sensei Gary Lee the American Samurai, is a 9th Dan black belt, a U.S.A. Karate Federation gold medalist, winner of 5 Super Grand National Titles, a featured actor in the movie Sidekicks, and is the founder of the National Sport Karate Museum.

Amber Logan is a martial arts business development consultant with a background in multiple sales disciplines, event promotion, and an active student of the martial arts.

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Teamwork

10 Things I’ve Learned Owning A Martial Arts School

HANSHI DAVE KOVAR is an 8th degree black belt and recognized as the “Trainer of Trainers.” Hanshi Dave Kovar is an internationally acclaimed instructor with black belt degrees in ten different martial arts styles. His systems have been implemented in hundreds of schools around the US.

➽Recently I did a 16-day seminar trip to the United Kingdom. During that time, I interacted with literally over 100 martial arts school owners and close to 1000 students. It was an excellent way to see how far the martial arts industry has come and what a professional role the modern school owner has developed into over the years. Many times during my trip, I was reminded of what it really takes for success in this business. Below are 10 things I have learned while running my own school. Here we go… 1. Don't quit doing what you know works. 2. The difference between just surviving and thriving is in the details. 3. Schools that are always closed, always close. 4. It is never easy. But what is? All successful operators work hard. 5. Our product is what happens on the mat. Always teach a great class every time. 6. Leave your personal troubles at the door. Don't let a

12 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

bad mood mess with your interaction with staff and students. 7. Go to battle for your staff. Be the best instructor and leader you can be. 8. There are people all around you that are just ONE conversation away from being your student. You just have to look at your surroundings. 9. When you know the names of your students and their parents, they train with you longer. 10. Be open to new ideas, but at the same time, be wary of the next new trend. If you are not excited by it, and you don't believe strongly in it . . . it is not going to work for you anyway. For more tips and education on running your own school, visit our proven Kovar Systems website. Over 35 years of accumulated experience both on and off the mat gives Kovar Systems a unique position of understanding that can help teach you how to leverage yourself in the school owner business. Be introduced to the principles, processes, and tools used in 8 of our own successful and active martial arts schools.

Be recognized in future editions of Martial Arts World News Magazine. Our goal at Martial Arts World News Magazine is to support our industry and help you grow your martial arts school. It’s very useful for our readers to hear about YOUR specific experiences and results.

Here are some ideas on stories you could share: • New Rank Achieved • Opened a New Location • Award Won

You are part of a wonderful industry and community with Martial Arts World News Magazine, and now, you’ll be able to share and contribute to that community in a more rich and meaningful way than ever before!

• Discovered a Successful Marketing Strategy • Built a Retention System that Works Well • Tournament Results • Anything else that our readers might find valuable!

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Ureport Send your story ideas to Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Meet Mindy Kelly, the World Champion Martial Artist Behind The Art of Self-Defense Mindy Kelly has lived and breathed martial arts since the age of 4, when she first began her training. She’s since earned over a dozen world titles and became the first female judge on ESPN for martial arts tricking. Since 2005, Kelly has been a stunt coordinator and fight choreographer in Hollywood, coordinating music videos for Lady Gaga, Childish Gambino, and Metallica, as well as commercials for Under Armour and Sketchers. Her latest stunt coordinating project, the feature film The Art of Self-Defense starring Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, and Alessandro Nivola, and directed by Riley Stearns, currently boasts a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes— and it couldn’t have been done without her. Kelly was tasked with training the film’s stars, none of whom had any prior martial arts training. Eisenberg found the training sessions with Kelly especially essential. “It was really helpful because, on set, the fight choreography changed based on the scenes we were shooting. So everyone needed to have a really good background in it to keep up with those changes,” he explains. “Of course, I didn’t have to be as good as Alessandro and Imogen, both of whom picked it up quite naturally. I just had to make sure I looked believable doing it.” Co-star Poots adds, “Mindy pushed me hard, which I’m grateful for. She managed to make everything look raw and real, and once I got the hang of fighting, the moves felt like a dance and I absolutely loved it. Karate is such a beautiful martial art and to watch Mindy do the moves was startling.”

14 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

The film’s director Riley Stearns, a martial artist himself, says, “Imogen’s big fight scene in the movie is all her on screen. We used a stunt double for one specific jiu-jitsu move, but other than that, Imogen did everything else you see in the film. There’s no way we would have been able to do that without Mindy making it happen safely.” Nivola agrees. “Mindy was instrumental in helping me understand how Sensei would assert his authority over everyone around him without actually speaking a word,” he says. “A lot of the time I would simply study her on set. She’s an amazing woman, but also kind of terrifying because of her extreme poise and the intensity of her gaze.” “The Art of Self-Defense” hits select theaters July 12.

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INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Karate Helps Ease Symptoms of Parkinson’s, Study Shows

A karate school in Chicago has joined a team of neurologists to aid patients suffering from symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Fonseca Martial Arts, which has five locations in Chicago, is working with Rush University Medical Center in the fight against Parkinson’s with a program aimed mainly at elderly patients. The 19 patients, who are in the early-tomiddle-stages of Parkinson’s, were first tested physically and cognitively before attending classes. The patients were then tested again after ten weeks, attending class twice a week. Students and researchers alike have reported improvements in patients’ symptoms. Parkinson’s disease, a central nervous system disorder, can cause symptoms like tremors, slowed movement, rigid muscles, impaired posture and balance, loss of automatic movements like blinking 16 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

or smiling, and speech changes, according to the Mayo Clinic. Patient Brad Schlicting was diagnosed with Parkinson’s three years ago. He tells The Chicago Tribune that he has “noticed a significant improvement of his mobility and balance since [joining] the class.” Schlicting, now an orange belt at age 70, also tells the Tribune that he is falling less often, feels more limber, stronger, and confident. RUMC neurologist and lead investigator of the study, Dr. Jori Fleisher, was inspired to conduct the study by one of her Parkinson’s patients, who had the idea to use karate for symptom management. Dr. Fleisher partnered with the owner of Fonseca Martial Arts, John Fonseca, to create the class curriculum, which incorporates drills and training aimed “to improve balance, stride length, strength, and posture,” Fonseca tells The Chicago Tribune. Because of the promising results initially shown in the study, RUMC has green lit its second phase, which is slated to end in 2020. Fleisher attributes the program’s success to tangible results. “They felt instead of going to a support group and sitting around talking about their problems, they were able to see each other improve and achieve,” Fleisher tells WGN9 in Chicago. “And that was really powerful for them.” She emphasizes that all forms of exercise—not just karate—is beneficial to Parkinson’s patients. For Fleisher and Fonseca, the end goal, aside from helping those suffering from Parkinson’s, is making the curriculum available for all karate instructors worldwide.

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Martial Arts Celebrity Birthdays July

Bolo Yeung Dan Inosanto Jason Statham Donnie Yen

August

Michelle Yeoh Joe Rogan Ti Lung Gordon Liu

Happy Birthday on July 3 Happy Birthday on July 24 Happy Birthday on July 26 Happy Birthday on July 27 Happy Birthday on August 6 Happy Birthday on August 11 Happy Birthday on August 19 Happy Birthday on August 22

MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 17

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

The Martial Arts History Museum Celebrates its 20th Year

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Martial Arts goal-setting mindset, for others, it has made a career, it History Museum, the first and purportedly only one of its has helped them open a studio or protect them against kind in the world. Michael Matsuda, a former magazine pub- bullies; and for the select few, made them movie stars and lisher, 50-year martial arts veteran, and 10th-degree black household names,” adds Matsuda. “The least we can do belt in Monkey Kung Fu, founded the museum in 1999, and is give back to the arts that did so much for us by having a it has since been his dream to keep the history of the marmuseum that tells the story of the martial arts.” tial arts alive for this and future generations. The museum Although the martial arts are relatively young in Ameriis unique in that it exhibits the history of a variety of martial can history, it’s important to look back to where the arts arts styles, rather than came from: their history, just one discipline, and is traditions, and how they aimed towards martial arts made their way to the fanatics and non-martial United States and across artists alike. the world. “We have had First beginning as a many great pioneers in traveling exhibit, the musethe arts, many who sacrium toured across the naficed so much to come to tion as a 1,000 square-foot America, many who faced exhibit, traveling as far as racism and prejudice, and New Jersey, and opened still brought their arts here. The museum features countless relics from martial arts history. as a brick and mortar People like Ark Y. Wong, facility in the city of Santa Bong Soo Han,” stresses Clarita, CA in 2006. It was relocated to the city of Burbank, Matsuda. “There are many great people who also made CA, which has been its home for the past 10 years. The a name for themselves here in the West such as Chuck museum features countless relics from famous martial arts Norris, Joe Lewis, Benny Urquidez, Eric Lee, and so many movies like “The Karate Kid” and “Revenge of the Ninja,” more. Without a museum, without this museum, nearly evand even videos of auditions and press junkets. erything that they did, what they brought, everything would Describing the museum, Matsuda says, “It’s not a who’s not only be lost, but worse, forgotten forever.” who, even though there are obviously key figures that you “Books will come and go, students will change from one need to put up to represent the history generation to the next, magazines are nearly all gone. Let me of martial arts. These people are say this: in the 300-plus tours we have given at the museum, a part of Asian culture and show there is not one single kid who has ever raised their hand how it connects and is a part of when we asked, ‘Does anyone know who Bruce Lee is?’” American history as well. It’s a says Matsuda. “That’s pretty sad. Our most popular figure in blending of the two.” the arts is no longer remembered by this current generation.” Through coordinated efforts Matsuda, who can often be seen spending time at the and working closely with a museum, points out, “It is by your donations, your support, number of entities, there your help that keeps the Martial Arts History Museum alive are plans to relocate this and our history alive. It’s only by your support that we can year to significantly continue to keep your, my, and everyone’s legacy and larger facility. history alive for many generations to come. Please make a “The martial arts generous donation to support this great effort and to help have done so us celebrate year 20.” much for many The Martial Arts History Museum is currently located of us. For some at 2319 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA 91506, and often it has given holds events open to the public. The Martial Arts History confidence, for Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Donations are others, helped accepted and encouraged. Visit martialartsmuseum.com Museum Founder, Michael Matsuda them establish a for more info. 18 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

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SOCIAL 411 Google Ads Now Promoting Local Campaigns

Video Ads are Taking Over Facebook

Google knows that diligent consumers do some research first before committing to, say, a certain martial arts school. With Google’s new local campaigns, school owners now have the option to increase the likelihood that potential students will actually visit the school. Google Ads will enhance your ad with a user-provided school location, ad copy, images, a budget, and a bid. In other words, you can write your own listing in Google and they choose how much to spend promoting it. We recommend using a small budget at first, to test the effectiveness, and then maybe changing to text and pictures each month to see how to improve your results. Your investment in the exact place where prospective students search for martial arts in your area (Google) should increase the number of visitors to your school—and once they are in your school and take a dynamic intro lesson, they should become your new students.

Amid Facebook’s roll out of new advertising features, they revealed that they’ll be putting more emphasis on video content. This is probably because by 2021, it is expected that over 80% of all internet traffic will be video content (https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-much-iptrafficwill-be-video-by-2021-2017-6). But you can’t just post a quick spiel on your Page and expect that to work; in fact, Facebook’s new video ad optimization requires videos be at least three minutes long and uploaded by the Page rather than linked from an outside site. Use this new feature to your advantage by posting eye-catching videos of exciting demos and thoughtprovoking lessons, featuring you, your staff, and especially your students so that they will be shared with their friends.

Facebook Messenger Now Allows Ads

The Power of Hashtags

As we reported last month, Facebook announced an overhaul of their Messenger service: Part of that overhaul includes allowing users to create Messenger ads, which let school owners advertise directly to the 1.3 billion people on Facebook messenger (https:// www.facebook.com/business/ads/messenger-ads). As part of their emphasis on the video ad format, Facebook will also implement video ads in Messenger, albeit with different technical requirements than those posted on your Page, which can be found at https://www.facebook. com/business/ads-guide/image/messenger-home/messages. Facebook also provides an “automatic placements” feature, which delivers ad impressions at the lowest cost while still delivering results. Try taking some of the demo and lesson videos you created, editing them down to the shortest time with the highest impact, and promoting them as a messenger ad. 20 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

Hashtags are the unsung heroes of social media advertising. They’re free to use and reach upwards of hundreds of millions of different users, depending on which ones you use. Instagram is now the third most popular site in the entire world, with 1 billion users, behind only Facebook and YouTube. With hashtags, you’ll gain countless more likes, followers, and hopefully, more students. But you shouldn’t use just any general hashtag, make sure you’re using some specific to your school as well. #martialarts will reach millions of people, but how many of them are actually local? #yourmartialarts[schoolname] is good, but unless they’re already a student or parent of a student, potential customers aren’t likely following that hashtag. Now, if you use #martialarts[yourtownname] or #[yourtownname]martialartsschool, you’ll have a much better chance of reaching local martial arts fans. Don’t forget to also update your school’s profile with updated contact information so that if someone clicks on your profile, they know exactly how to reach you.

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INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS

AMSkids After School Martial Arts Program can Increase your Income $100,000 in a Year

After school students have better technique and better etiquette than other students because the after school students spend more time in martial arts class.

If you aren’t familiar with after school martial arts, the idea is simple: Working parents are working, so they can’t pick up their children at school and drive them to your martial arts school. If you can provide transportation from local elementary schools to your martial arts school, the parents can pick up their kids on the way home from work and get not only a safe place for their children to be after school, but also the benefits of a martial arts education. Working parents often have to choose between day care facilities at day care prices just to keep their kids safe. The good news is that your martial arts school can provide a better value because you provide transportation, safety, and the benefits of discipline, respect, and self-confidence. Even better news is that day cares charge 3 to 5 times what most martial arts schools do, so you can increase your income dramatically with just a few students. In fact, most schools can increase their income $100,000 a year with only 25 after school students. Some school owners have resisted the program, thinking it is just a babysitting service, when it is actually a way to provide a valuable martial arts education to kids who need it most: Those whose parents are working long 22 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

hours and can’t spend adequate time with them, especially single parents. School owners who have an after school program say that their after school students have better technique and better etiquette than their evening students because the after school students spend more time in martial arts class and more time in the martial arts school. Many school owners are somewhat hesitant because they don’t know how to do the program. We have heard from several schools that tried it on their own and failed miserably. However, those same schools, when they joined the AMSkids program, have earned $10,000, $25,000, even over $100,000 a month in extra income the first month. The key difference is the Starter Kit, which explains what to do and what NOT to do to avoid the most common pitfalls. Trial and error can be expensive. Following a proven leader is a much more direct way to success. If you would like to learn more about starting an afterschool martial arts program, click on this link to see a short video and to see some of the materials you could be getting monthly to make your program run smoothly and easily.

ourAMS.com/afterschool

INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS

Make America Safe Again Qualifies for a 3-Year Funded Grant Grandmaster Tom Patire has secured a privatized grant to train 100 qualified martial arts school owners to be part of this exciting new program. The grant provides free training for instruction and certification, free business and marketing advice, and free ad slicks to implement the program in communities all across the country. The program will kick off in 2020 as a community outreach program intended to provide mainstream-based personalized safety courses for children, women, and families who cannot afford the time or money to enroll in a martial

arts school full-time. The goal is to provide anyone in the Personal Protection Community who qualifies to join the movement to train everyday people to Make America Safe Again. This program doesn’t affect your existing programs because the training is vastly different, and you will have the ability to charge for participation in the program and keep the profits. You can apply by sending your name, school name, email, and phone number to tompatire@tompatire.com in early to mid July. Once you get the list, you will be notified about an upcoming conference call that will explain everything in detail. You can also follow Tom to get updates on Facebook at facebook.com/TomPatireMASA/.

Kovar Systems

Hanshi Dave Kovar is an internationally acclaimed instructor with black belts in ten different styles of martial arts. He is known as the “trainer of trainers” and his methods have been implemented in hundreds of schools across the country. He started coaching other schools in the early 1990s, and then formalized the training in the early 2000s. His basic concept is “Martial arts first, teaching second, business third.” He focuses on putting the student experience first. His Satori Business Community is a resource of likeminded individuals who share with each other and learn from each other. Members have described benefits like doubling retention and learning about martial arts marketing. The Satori Alliance focuses more on instructional knowledge and technique. They provide an instructional curriculum online that you can learn at your own pace. It’s an amazing resource for school owners and staff members alike to improve their classroom instructional skills. Check out this powerful resource for your own personal development and the development of your staff at kovarsystems.com/success. MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 23

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Marketing

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Facebook Changed Again! One of the greatest advantages of Facebook is that it is constantly changing. One of the biggest problems with Facebook is also that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s constantly changing. As a martial artist, do you want to complain about the changes, or adapt and overcome?

26 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

Of course it takes time and energy to keep up, but that’s why you’ve got us. At Martial Arts World News Magazine, our goal is to keep you up to date on the tech that matters to you, so you can focus more attention on your students and your classes. Here are a few updates that can help your school’s advertising: 1. New 3-D images Just recently Facebook made available a new option for 3-D images. They are not easy to produce, so you won’t see them very often, but they are certainly eye-catching. For those of you who are members of ATLAS Pro and

the MA Biz Academy, they provide you with these scroll-stopping posts. Once designed, they are easy to use. You just upload 2 photos, one with a regular name and another with a name that ends in “_depth”, which is the signal for Facebook to automatically create the 3-D image. Right now they are only available for posts, not ads or promoted posts, and cannot be combined into a video or slide show. Of course, that could change in the near future. Please check out the Child, Adult, and AMSkids ads on mabizacademy.com for the past two months to see these amazing ads and put them to work on your school’s Facebook Page. 2. Facebook and Instagram Stories In recent months, Facebook has begun allowing users to create stories with up to ten pictures. These are more eye-catching and personal than regular posts, so they are a great way to get the attention of your prospective students. Facebook also now includes a section at the top of your newsfeed that highlights any stories, so you get premium position without paying for it. Facebook prioritizes stories on users’ newsfeeds, so don’t miss out on this powerful feature. You can also post the same story on Instagram. To make life easy, when you post a story on Instagram, you can also post it on Facebook with just a single click, without having to go through the entire posting process all over again. Just keep in mind that these posts expire in 24 hours unless you also save the story as a Highlight on your Instagram account, which we highly recommend doing. It’s a quick, simple tool to create content for potential students to see what your school has to offer. More and more advertisers are moving to Instagram as more and more buyers are shopping there, so this is a viable resource for new students. Some schools may also even find more success on Instagram than Facebook, depending on your demographic, as Instagram tends to skew younger. Check out mabizacademy.com for Stories and for instructions on how to post them. MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 27

Marketing

3. Facebook Offers You can create offers right on your Facebook page quickly and easily. You can offer discounts on your classes, on your enrollment fees, or create custom offers like 2 Weeks of Self-Defense Classes for $19.95. You can link the offer to your Amazing Martial Arts Website, or you can ask them to call the school. 4. Video Updates Facebook has made major changes for videos, particularly how they are ranked in user’s newsfeeds and search results, which can be an incredible advantage for your school. The video qualities Facebook now prioritizes are:

Loyalty and intent. Videos that users specifically search for will be weighted more heavily in users’ search results. Meaning that if Joe from Waukesha regularly searches for martial arts videos on Facebook, a video posted by your martial arts school located in Waukesha will be more likely to appear in Joe’s search results. Video and viewing duration. Videos that keep people engaged and are at least three minutes in length are also weighted more heavily. So your five-minute Demo video will be more likely to show up in 28 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

users’ feeds rather than a quick 30-second sales pitch. Originality. Facebook is cracking down on videos shared from other sources with what they deem as having “limited value.” This is great news because it means that videos uploaded straight to your Page are seen as more “valuable” than posts that were copied from another page or outside websites. These video updates can drum up serious interest in your school, so be sure to post videos from Demos or lessons as often as you can. Also be sure to include a link to your Amazing Martial Arts Website, as well as your school’s phone number, so they know where to reach you! 5. Page Recommendations

Facebook no longer uses Page Reviews. Instead, they have replaced the feature with Recommendations. A user will now be able to add tags, text, and photos to their comments, similar to Yelp. This allows your school to receive more authentic, engaging recommendations from students, which future students (or their parents) will see when they visit your Page. In order to utilize this feature, you must add the “Recommendation Box” to your Facebook Page. Encourage current students and parents to post their experiences to your Page so that prospective students can see how much they love your school. The internet is the most cost-effective way to advertise your school, using a combination of free posts and paid advertising. Please take advantage of these five methods of free posts. If you need help with your paid posts, don’t hesitate to call an AMS marketing consultant at 1-800-275-1600 to take advantage of one of their advanced marketing programs.

Think Tank

30 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

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Prizes: 1st Place: $1,000.00 cash & $3,000.00 prize package. 2nd Place: $500.00 cash & $2,000.00 prize package. 3rd Place: $300.00 cash & $1,000.00 prize package. 4th Place: $150.00 cash & $500.00 prize package. MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 31

Think Tank It’s a contest among seminar presenters to present the most interesting, most practical, most valuable seminar to the other attendees! It’s an amazing opportunity where anyone can become a seminar presenter with the right idea and presentation. If you’ve been looking for a chance to become a seminar presenter, this is it! For attendees who are not competing, you will see all of these creative new presentations in addition to some more established, extremely experienced and highly successful industry leaders who will share the latest and greatest strategies they are using in the top schools across the country. With this rare combination of new ideas and proven programs, you’re sure to find something to inspire you to take action right away to launch your school into even greater levels of success. The Think Tank will be held on October 11-12, 2019, in Raleigh, NC. It is sponsored by the USTC, so all presentations should be for Taekwondo schools. Here are some other guidelines: • Your presentation should contain the reasoning or purpose for your program; • You can enter one of two divisions: • Classroom Teaching, or • School Management; • All presentations must be made in English (possibly through a translator); • Presentations should be 20 – 25 minutes, allowing for up to 10 minutes of questions, but total time limit is 30 minutes; • Presenters must wear a clean dobok or professional business attire and any assistants must wear a clean dobok; • All presentations and content must be preapproved; • Video recording and still photography are prohibited during the event. Apply with a video and accompanying support materials described at www.thinktankseminar.com in the Contest section under To Apply, Submit the following. Submit your application to bbwjunlee@gmail.com before midnight September 26, 2019. The top seven applicants will be eligible to participate in the contest. You can also see the judging criteria on the website. There will be a USTC General Assembly Meeting (open to USTC members only), so if you are a USTC member, be sure to register for the event and attend the meeting. There will also be a golf tournament on Thursday, October 10, so if you are an avid golfer, be sure to register for that event separately on the website. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to attend this unique event. You will gain some surprising new insights that you won’t see anywhere else, and if you enter the contest, you might even win $1,000.00! Go to www.thinktankseminar.com to register or call 1-800-275-1600 for more information. 32 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

October 11-12, 2019 in Raleigh, NC Thursday Oct. 10th

• Master’s Golf Tournament fundraiser

Friday Oct. 11th

• USTC Council organization only meeting • Martial Arts Business Seminar Sessions

Saturday Oct. 12th

• Think Tank finalist presentations • Martial Arts Business Seminar Sessions • Hall of Honors Dinner

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS Grandmaster Y. K. Kim who is responsible for many innovations and initially raised the awareness of good business practices in the industry. Master Toby Milroy who has become a force in the industry in presenting successful business growth models and systems that get results. Grandmaster Tom Patire is known as “America’s Leading Personal Safety Expert” and has appeared on Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, and in Family Circle, Redbook, Fortune Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. Grandmaster Jun Lee who has championed the importance of maintaining martial arts tradition along with innovation and is the mind behind the Think Tank.

Shihan Allie Alberigo is the founder of one of the largest Ninjutsu schools in the world, the author of 4 books, and an entrepreneur with one of the first online coaching companies. Mr. Sean Lee who has several years of experience in advising hundreds of martial arts school owners to achieve business success.

And Many More To Be Announced!

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Shihan

Allie Alberigo 36 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

Cover Story

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Cover Story

Adult Ninjutsu classes keep the traditions and philosophy of the real ninja alive.

Shihan Allie Alberigo is the owner of two successful martial arts schools, the author of five books, a public speaker who has spoken all over the world, and runs a highly successful personal and business coaching firm. MAW: Thanks so much for taking this time out of your busy schedule to speak with us today. You’ve been running martial arts schools for 28 years. You’re running three martial arts schools and a club in Bermuda right now, and have been a very successful operator in our industry for many years, so we really appreciate you helping all of our folks out with some strategy. AA: I’m honored; thank you very much. I appreciate that. MAW: You’ve spent a lot of time helping school operators with TakingItToTheNextLevel.com and other coaching arrangements, helping them focus on the basics, so let’s start there. What are the core elements that you find to be so critical? AA: Let me tell you a story about a trip that I was brought in to go do. I think it was one of the super shows in Australia. They flew me into Australia, and I had a booth; this is going back probably 15 years now. The school owners over there were talking like they were struggling, and they were like, “We don’t have these things that you guys

have in the United States,” and were talking about all these systems, but they had just the basic minimal stuff. Of course, I’m really proud, so I would say, “Hey, you’re only doing a little, how many students do you have?” And they’d go, “Yeah, I’m really struggling, I’m at like, 475 or 675,” and I’m like, that’s not struggling! With the advancement of technology all these coaches come on board and everyone has a different get-rich-quick scheme, or some shiny bell and whistle that they could be selling, and I found that the people in Australia didn’t have all this stuff; what that means is they were buckling down on the basics. And they were doing it so well that they had this massive following. I think that a lot of times we have our hands in too many things and I fell for this, too, in the past. I had a system for every system that had a system for another system. My program managers were just spending all day trying to dot the “I”s and cross the “T”s and get things done, when their only real goal was to check boxes so that I was satisfied, but they

38 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

weren’t getting results. They were making phone calls, but were they getting the people, getting in touch with them, setting up appointments? No, because I wanted to see everything was being done. So you’re right: The basics are the most important, and I think most martial arts schools are missing them. There’s probably only four components to running a martial arts school: It’s new students, existing students (keeping those people active and excited, and creating those relationships with the students and the parents), then the third thing, of course, is a big, misunderstood part of the school: Retail. People are not retailing on a regular basis, supplying their students with what they need. And the fourth thing is upgrades. If we just focused on those things the schools would be unstoppable. MAW: I think my definition for that, for years, is enrollments, renewals, retention, and quality. AA: Yep, that! MAW: There’s a lot in there to unpack

Cover Story that you just described, but maybe the first bit is this: systems versus results, right? We know that learning a side kick once isn’t enough—you’ve got to practice it eight million times—well, how many times is your staff practicing it? Or do they get pretty good at it and you send them along their merry way? How do you deal with that in the school now? Now that you have a much more results-oriented approach, what does that look like? AA: I’ve realized now after many years of coaching that I can only fix certain people. No matter how much I talk to a specific person and give them great ideas and stepby-steps, if they don’t want to wake up in the morning and get down to business, they’re going to fail and I cannot change that. I can’t change who they are unless they are willing to work on what they need, which is themselves. We have to really understand that sometimes it’s about stripping down negative anchors, getting rid of what we perceive to be ‘real’ martial arts, or this, or that, and getting down to what we need to do to improve as a business owner. That’s very, very important and that’s my hardest part when it comes to coaching. MAW: You can wrap the best systems around somebody who has a flawed belief system about abundance versus scarcity, or they just feel like they shouldn’t be making money because they’re in a martial arts school. And I think the two have to go hand in hand. You can teach great martial arts and be poor, and you can teach great martial arts and be rich. AA: Right, and there are those people that feel like, “Hey, if I’m making a lot of money and doing well financially I’m a sellout.” People have said that to me, thinking that just because I’m doing well that I must have sold out somewhere along the line and they’re trying to find that crack in what I do, right? The other thing is that sometimes people don’t even know what they don’t know. That’s a saying I use all the time: you don’t know what you don’t know. So, if they don’t realize that they’re counterproductive or self-sabotaging, they are just going to keep repeating that process over and over again. Why do martial artists feel like they can’t make money? Why do they feel like they’re— I hate this term, I really do—the “McDojo”

Shihan Alberigo owns two school locations, East and West Islip, in Suffolk County, NY. The first school has been open for 29 years and is 6,100 square feet with 300 students. The second school has been open for 21 years and is 4,100 square feet with 150 students. He hosts the largest tournament circuit in the state of New York with 5 events annually and over 1,500 participants throughout the year. In addition, he also hosts an annual awards banquet that ranges between 300 and 400 attendees. Shihan Alberigo also hosts a Facebook Live vlog called “Lunchtime with Allie” every Thursday at 12:30 EST. Although controversial subjects are occasionally addressed, the main aim of the show is to create a platform for positivity as he shares topics relevant to living a happy, fulfilled life. About 3 years ago, Shihan Alberigo wrote a book entitled “The 5 Gateways to Happiness,” and the ideas of his positive message on the vlog coincides with the book’s theme. That message is also being used to help women abused in foreign countries. Additionally, Shihan Alberigo has a social presence on Instagram and Facebook through a page called the Vegan Ninja Chef. His page creates awareness about plant-based meals and health-related issues in a person’s diet. The page is designed to spread the word about plant based diets so people might be encouraged to limit their consumption of animal-based products. Beyond “The 5 Gateways to Happiness,” Shihan Alberigo has written 4 other books: “21st Century Ninjutsu. A Warriors Mindset,” “The Three Kings,” “Martial Arts Business 101 – Hooyah Living the Dream,” and “Beginner’s Guide to Ninpo.” He currently has 2 additional books in the works: a novel and a children’s book.

Shihan delivers a “mat chat” to his eager students. MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 39

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Cover Story term. Why even use that? You might be a sellout if all you care about is money and you’re throwing people through the rank system that don’t know anything, and they’re not learning anything, but I rarely see martial artists doing that. Most martial artists are out there trying to change lives one day at a time; they just might not be as trained, as skilled in the martial arts themselves, but they’re still out there doing the right thing. I would say 95% of them have the right goal. But, sadly, they don’t know how to actually apply those things, the techniques of martial arts and how to teach it. You know many fighters that could fight in the ring but they’re the worst teachers in the world, or some teachers that are phenomenal teachers and coaches but they’re terrible martial artists, so it’s a give-and-take. That’s where the struggle is sometimes with what we do in our industry. MAW: What I’ve seen, what you’re describing, is the higher we push quality standards—quality of technique for the students, quality of curriculum for the students, quality of the instructors—the more successful the schools are, the higher the tuition rate could be, the more referrals you get. AA: Yeah. MAW: You were describing part of what you were doing in your locations as getting back to basics; stripping away some of the inessentials and getting the team, and yourself, and everybody focused on the things that really make a difference. There are an

The future of the art of Ninjutsu is alive and growing.

awful lot of bright, shiny objects out there, and now there are so many technological solutions to almost every problem. But culture certainly seems to be is Proud to present the thing that has to be in place Martial Arts Business Leader of the Year first and, in most cases, fills in the gaps. You’re working a lot to Shihan Allie Alberigo on that with your locations and with your staff. What about the at the 2019 Think Tank traditional part of this? October 11-12, 2019 AA: I’m very lucky in regards Raleigh, NC 27612 to the art that I teach because it really separates and segregates ThinkTankSeminar.com me from any other styles, because I’m a ninjutsu school. Not a lot of people can say that. I’m really a classical, traditional ninjutsu school. help kids with ADD.’ I learned from one of two ninja masters. So, I I think every school in the country probuse that brand; whether it be Ninja Warrior ably thinks they do the same, exact thing. So, or whatever, everybody is a ninja something, what separates you from the rest? Who are ninja marketer, ninja ballet; everybody is you? What makes your school special? Why a ninja. I get annoyed; I’m like, that’s not a would someone go to you when, two blocks ninja! Just because they’re running an obdown the road, someone else is there? That’s stacle course doesn’t mean they are a ninja. the real question we have to ask ourselves: But I’m lucky to have that brand. Quite often what is the culture that you’ve built? Why people don’t even know what their culture is; are they there? And that’s important; that’s they don’t know what their brand is. How do about tooting your own horn, sometimes you build a culture if you don’t know what a selling the Grandmaster, or the head instrucculture is? I’ve asked people in my seminars, tor, as part of the brand or that experience. “What is your brand?” And people raise their And then you have to ask the question, hand and go, taekwondo, hapkido, karate, “Why does that benefit someone?” Who judo—no, that’s not your brand, that’s your cares if you’re the UFC fighter and you’ve style. What does your school represent? won 27 fights if you can’t teach? But if you Everything is all about ‘self-esteem,’ and ‘we could teach those skills and change my child’s life, now I’m listening. And what is the culture when I walk into the school? What is it that I do when I walk in? Do I feel like the website says? There are so many websites that are incongruent with what’s going on. Red, white, and blue flashing lights, and all this stuff, then they walk into this school that’s a tiny, little hole-in-the-wall and smells like bad socks. People are like, “Wow, I’m excited to go,” and then they get there and are disappointed. How does our message transfer from social media, to Facebook, to the school, and what you’re selling? MAW: Culture is critical, right? Systemization is critically important; but as you described, this over-systemization of the system for a system can sometimes becomes a burden in and of itself. You’re sort of bundling that together with your brand as well. Describe what that looks like in your schools,

42 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

Cover Story what’s your unique message, and how do you craft that for yourself? AA: I will answer that but I wanted to add that my daughter, when she was younger, had to have surgery and we went to SloanKettering because she has this thing called MF—which is like these little fibromas under her skin—and I had an experience where, from the elevator guy to the garage attendant, these people were so caring and loving, and me, as a business owner, I’m wanting to know what system they’ve done. Everyone is treating me and my daughter so amazingly and I said to the one janitor, “Do you guys go to training?” He said, “No, we just love what we do so much and we care about our clients so much, and we’re empowered.” That’s the key word: We’re empowered to make decisions without repercussion. There have to be parameters set where there are guidelines that we follow, but if everyone has the same desire as the ultimate in customer service, then that’s going to be an unstoppable experience. For example, I did testing on Saturday and after I was all done I texted everyone a little special message about each kid, and one of the parents said something like, “It was just an unbelievable experience; the spiritual connection you have to the process of the promotion and what you did.” I was like, “Wow, that was really cool,” because that actually is what I’m striving for. Every instructor wants their students to be amazing. They want them to be able to defend themselves, they want them to be productive citizens, right? We just find sometimes we can’t find the connection to do that, and I think it’s about treating every individual as an individual. You have to try to treat that person for whatever their needs are. If a mom comes and their kid has ADD, you’re going to work with that child because his ADD may be different than the other child’s ADD. As instructors, as school owners, we have to start looking deeper and connecting more with those people. It doesn’t matter if you have 100 or 400, you just have to take the time via software or whatever, send them out a text message; it takes you two seconds. Or send them an email and communicate that they are the most important person. That’s the kind of thing that makes us feel like we’re a part of the culture. It makes me want to stay. It makes me want

Shihan Allie Alberigo teaches a dynamic curriculum, including many eclectic and traditional weapons.

to buy into it. It makes me want to be a part of that feeling. You want to feel proud about your school; you want your students to feel proud about it, right? That’s something that we are missing sometimes when it comes to social media. And when I say social media, it doesn’t mean the internet. It means the group of social interaction. Real, live, faceto-face interaction. MAW: That was the original deal. The original deal was a lobby -- that was Facebook -- those little touches. AA: Right. MAW: Every instructor needs to know the unique circumstances for each individual student. When you’re looking at developing staff for multiple locations, describe what types of systems you have in place and what kinds of tactics you use to make sure that you’ve got people that might

be ten miles away, or a state away, or a couple of states away, to anchor in those cultural norms. How do you work on that? AA: I just had that experience with my Florida location. My partner in that business has everything that I have, every system, everything that I do, but there were still gaps and no matter what I was saying, he was only doing portions of it. I would say, “How come you didn’t do X, Y and Z when I told you to?” And he would say, “Well, I didn’t really see it as being that essential.” Until he really started to open up his mind and started to see the reasons for these processes, and see how they work, did he buy in one thousand percent. That was the biggest issue. I find that, at certain times, we may do things as owners, even as an instructor, like, “Do this move because you need to do it for the future,” and if they don’t see the relevance to it they’re

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Cover Story not going to put as much value on that movement. I see everything as a piece of the puzzle. When some people are just trying to throw puzzle pieces away, getting rid of them because they don’t understand, it’s not that they don’t see; it’s that they’ve never been taught or they don’t have the proper instruction, or they have never seen it through those eyes. We have to also see it from that parent’s perspective. If a parent wants their kid to develop self-confidence, what do they really mean? We have to be clear and understand what their verbiage is -- what the parent’s words mean to them. MAW: One of the scenarios you see in the technology business, and in helping martial arts school operators with pieces of technology and applications, we can become a victim of the “bright, shiny object syndrome.” What’s your experience been in that arena? AA: That’s what I always hated about going to those business seminars. I got asked a few times, “What would you like to speak about this year?” I’d say, “How about we speak about the basics?” “Oh, that’s not shiny enough.” People don’t need new and bright; let’s make the old systems, the basics, brand new and shiny because that’s what they need. Just buying a seminar-in-a-box or a system and teaching, that’s not what’s going to make you successful. I have not strayed from my roots for 28 years. I’ve lived the martial arts; that’s all I’ve done for the last 28 years. I don’t have other jobs. I’ve made millions and millions of dollars, and I don’t mean to say that in a braggadocios way because it’s not like I’ve pocketed it all, but my schools have had millions of gross dollars coming through the doors. So, how do you do that? Well, you have to have your stuff together. I didn’t do that by buying the new seminar, the new Tae Bo or whatever was out at the time. I stuck to the basics; stayed with what I did right, what I knew to do, and I kept on going with that. This is what people are missing. They are selling themselves out for that chance to make money and they are losing out on what they’re good at. They’re good at what they do; now they just have to find the right clients that love what they do. MAW: Why did you get into the business to begin with? The great thing about martial arts is that it’s such a highly profitable,

Shihan Alberigo’s program focuses on martial arts training that begins with discipline and self-control.

highly scalable business that you can make a great living teaching whatever style you want to. AA: We’re always looking to buy that “bag of nothing,” I always say. We want that next thing. We want a coach to give us all the answers, but we’re not willing to put the time in. Or we want to buy that system. What happens is we don’t need 5,000 people, we only need 150 to 200 members that are paying a good fee. If you’re charging $150 to $200 a month, and you have 200 to 300 students, you’re making $40,000 a month. I spoke at one of the conventions and I talked about this martial arts calculator. I’m like, “Here’s the martial arts calculator, people: it’s $100 times 100 students, so I could make $10,000. If I want to make $20,000, I have to have 200. If I want to make $30,000, I have to have 300.” I said, “That’s not the real martial arts calculator. The martial arts calculator is about one student and how to maximize profitability, get them in an upgrade program, sell them some retail.” Well, when I was done teaching that seminar, I swear to God, people flooded my booth wanting to buy the calculator. They actually thought I had a calculator! It was so confusing to people. What I was trying to get people to understand is that you don’t need a million people in your school, or a thousand

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people, to make a super large living. Most people buy into that idea: “Hey, I’m going to have a 22,000 square-foot facility with rings, and this, and that” when, in reality, they can have a little 2,500 square-foot—and that’s a decent-sized school—and make $50,000 a month, or $40,000 a month, and make $30,000 profit. Profitability is king. Profit is king. MAW: You have some interesting ways to maximize retail in your locations. What are some strategies, or tactics, or some belief systems you have about retail that might be useful for a school? AA: The first strategy is to change the thought pattern that retail is a hindrance or an annoyance. I used to train the brother and the family of Criss Angel, the magician— J.D., a great guy—and he would say, “Shihan, everything you do on the floor is amazing, but this lobby area just isn’t cutting it.” And I have a gorgeous lobby, but it wasn’t neat, and I’m going, “What do you mean?” He said, “It just doesn’t have the feel.” I was actually going to speak at a show in Vegas and he says, “When you come out, we’ll hang out, we’ll go to the show, and I want to take you to all of our retail outlets.” When I did, he’d say, “Well, what do you think?” I’d say, “It’s amazing.” He goes, “This is our world.” The minute people step in, they’re in the world of this feeling, the Criss Angel

Cover Story

Traditional training focuses on the basics to develop strength.

experience: His logo, the smell, the sales, the DVDs, the music that’s playing. They created an environment where I didn’t think about anything but his products while I was in there. We don’t do that in our schools enough. It goes back to that stigma, like, “Oh my god, if I retail I feel bad about it.” I’ll give you another quick story I have. Years ago, for Christmas, we had all these little action figures that a parent could buy and stuff in a stocking. Why shouldn’t I sell it if they’re going to go to a Toys ‘R Us down the road and buy it? I kind of still had a little bit in my head that worried me: am I a sellout? So, one time, this kid is crying hysterically, “I want this Hulk doll!” and I walk up to the mom and apologize, and she goes, “For what?” I said, “If I didn’t have that here, he wouldn’t be bothering you to get it.” She goes, “Yeah, but then I’d have to drive to Toys ‘R Us. He’s been wanting that and you just happen to have it. I’m thankful now I can buy it; maybe not now, but I’m going to buy it from you. Why wouldn’t I? You’re saving me the trip, the time.” It opened up my mind to say, “Why are we all afraid to sell certain things?” Why are we afraid to actually have a retail outlet? Why are we afraid to add in some tchotchke items for Christmas or do some special-

order items on a regular basis? I think that we have to change our mindset in regards to that when it comes to what retail is all about. MAW: Howard Schultz (the former CEO for Starbucks) -- one of his concepts about Starbucks is that it becomes the “third place.” You’ve got work and you’ve got home, or school and home, but then you have this place in the middle, this “third place.” And the idea of Starbucks is to become that place where you hang out. I guess the previous generation’s version of that would be the corner pub. We’d go sit at the bar and have a couple of drinks with friends. It becomes that thing. The martial arts school very much has that opportunity to really be the “third place” that’s incredibly positive to the outcome of the student and the family. So, by tying in the parts of retail that support what you’re teaching, that now helps penetrate the “second place” . . . the home. We get those messages to go home with the student. AA: I’ve had kids that wanted to quit and parents would turn to them and go, “I’m not giving up my time with my friends,” because they made so many friends sitting in my lobby every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So, again, building that culture where everyone feels like the old TV show Cheers, where everyone knows your name—that’s what we need to build that culture. That is the culture

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that I’m talking about; that Starbucks experience. MAW: That ties into another item that you guys do really well, which is bridging the gap home. Bridging the gap with communication -- describe that a little bit more. How are you reinforcing communication processes with the family and student? AA: Like on that testing that I just did, immediately afterwards I reached out on text message because it seems like emails will get to them eventually but a text message they’re going to open up within seconds. So, I sent a quick, real, genuine text about how happy I was to have them involved and all of them really seemed very happy to hear from me. I think sometimes school owners feel like they’re very invasive. I have a few people that I coach and they go, “You know I’ve sent out three or four emails and one of the people said to me, ‘I get so many emails from you!’” I’m like, “Listen, don’t let that person change how you think about everyone else. They’re just one person that’s annoyed by your emails. So tell them to opt out. But the 50, or 60, or 80, or 100 other people love hearing from you.” They can always hit delete; they can always read the message and not respond. It’s not like you’re bombarding them in the middle of the night at 2 AM. If people feel you’re genuine and it’s for their benefit, they’re willing to listen.

Cover Story This is where I get annoyed at some of my clients, where they feel marketing is about being online, especially Facebook marketing. You can pay for ads but when you’re doing social media posts it shouldn’t end with, “Hey, $14.99 special and here’s my number.” It should just be a post about what you do, who you are, what makes you special. If they are interested, they’re going to reach out to you, they’re going to click on your website, and they’re going to find you. You don’t have to end every message and make it sound like a sale because, if it does, it becomes disingenuous at that point and people don’t believe the message is real. You have to be genuine about the messaging and show true care. Not so that you can eventually upsell them—it will happen—but that’s not why you’re doing it, right? MAW: It’s about us sitting together, and I’m helping you down the path to be able to help you create a better life. We’re in the perfect business model for that; we’re in the perfect career for that kind of environment. But still, some are fearful of that. AA: I think the majority of school owners really do believe that they’re there to help people. We all believe we have the magic pill; we think martial arts will change people’s

lives. We’re afraid to get people to buy it because we think that we’ll be seen as these sellouts, as a salesman. I realized that the more I think positively, the more positive energy I push out into the environment, even in my lobby when I’m talking with parents. Parents are connected to it. There’s really no negativity. About eight or nine months ago I had a few negative parents. No matter what, they would complain; they’d always find the bad stuff. Once I got rid of them everyone was just so positive and I love being there much more, too. Sometimes we have to get rid of the rotting apples to have that really positive environment. MAW: A little cancer kills the whole body. Some might argue that, well, when you’ve got 340 students in a school it’s easy to fire one or two because you’re not that worried about the income difference, or you’re not that worried about losing the two students. But you better have the discipline to be able to make those decisions when you only have nine students or you’re going to have those problems as you grow up. AA: And you might not ever get past nine students. For example, someone says, “Oh, that’s expensive. It’s $130 a month,” and then they go, “Well, I’ll give you two

for $100.” I just had this happen to a friend, where someone was really down on their luck, a single mom, blah, blah, and my buddy went out of his way and said, “I’ll cut you a deal,” and she went right back to her two friends and told them that she was getting a deal. Now the friends all wanted the deal, too, and they don’t have any financial issues. So, he had to not sign up the one and threaten to kick the others out as well. You don’t give a deal; you could scholarship someone, maybe, but don’t ever say you’re giving it away for cheaper. Never, ever let people get deals. It’s not fair having this person paying $150 with the other paying $100 because they’ve got a better song-and-dance, right? So, the minute I cleared that toxicity out of my school, people are going home like, “Oh my god, you’ve got to join, this is the best place to be, we love it, my friends love it.” Now the environment is changing. It’s important for us to get rid of that one toxic person because you’ll have everyone else quit and you’ll never get new people. MAW: It feels like it’s hard to make those decisions because you really care about your students and you don’t want to affect that student negatively, but you’re in charge of the entire organization. You have to make

Creating a positive school culture goes a long way in developing successful students. MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3 47

Cover Story they might not be good at recordkeeping, organization, sales; so we have to make sure that we take that quality and we put them in there. My good friend John Gaysten from Illinois trains with the Gracies. He said to me that one of the Gracie brothers, Royce, who he trains under, said to John, “When I teach you the choke, or you teach the choke, do you do it once? Do you do it five times?” He goes, “No, we keep on working on it.” “And do you correct him along the way?” “Yes.” “And how many times have you done this choke?” “Oh, maybe a thousand times, ten thousand times.” “Well, why don’t you do that with your staff?” Why aren’t we correcting them, and teaching them, and re-correcting them? Shihan Alberigo focuses on the basics to achieve amazing I just got rid of a few people recently that student outcomes and business success. don’t have what it takes to be the program manager. I’d rather have no one than have someone that’s doing a bad job. It’s scaring sure the whole organization is healthy and away more people than anything. So, it’s cancer is a sure way to kill almost anything. finding the right people and training them AA: I always say that if you have a kid regularly, but also finding the right person in your class and there’s ten kids in the for that actual job. class, and the only name you keep yelling MAW: Whether it’s martial arts or any out is, “Joey, stop it! Joey stand up! Joey!”all other activity, if it’s not a good fit, then the the other parents are watching and they’re longer you stay in it, the more time you saying to themselves, “Why aren’t my kids waste not the more opportunity you find. getting the attention that Joe the troubleHigh-performing martial artists do not almaker is getting?” They’re going to be like, ways equal great teachers. Just because I won “Maybe we’ll just go somewhere else because a gold medal in the Olympics doesn’t mean I don’t want him involved with that kid.” So, that I can communicate with a seven-yearwe have to be careful that we’re not throwing old, or I can articulate that to a 19-year-old out the baby with the bathwater, so to speak. adult, or a 45-year-old man who had MAW: This all goes back to underback surgery two months ago. standing what your culture should be. AA: I just recently tried a new model Being disciplined about focusing on over the last two years where I’m hiring the basics, focusing on empowering people from outside my system beteams to make the right decisions as cause it’s pretty hard. Ninjutsu is very is appropriate in that culture, and specific but I hired some people who making sure that that follows all the is Proud to present were strikers or grapplers because we way through to the customer—the Martial Arts Business Leader of the Year do all of that. One guy that works for student has to be an example of that. me now, his real expertise is in striking As you’re looking at staff developto Shihan Allie Alberigo and grappling, so he takes that porment, if you want to scale, if you want at the 2019 Think Tank tion of the class and runs those drills; to work on lifestyle things and pursue people love that with him. But they’re other activities you’ve got to figure October 11-12, 2019 not coming to him for all of the really out how to develop a great staff, and Raleigh, NC 27612 antiquated martial arts techniques your team is really exceptional. What ThinkTankSeminar.com that I teach. I’ve hired other people that are the two or three things that you’re were from my system, they knew my really focused on in developing highquality staff members? AA: The first thing I would say is that you have to not expand prematurely. I’ve talked so many school owners out of opening a second location. You have to be careful that you don’t bite off more than you can chew because sometimes you can make more money having one really good school, versus three or four that are mediocre, right? So we always say it’s mastery, not mediocrity. That’s the big thing. Years ago there was a guy standing in my lobby. He’s an ex-biker, single dad, his wife left him, his hair is really long and greasy, he’s leaning up against the wall, he’s like, “I’m depressed. I’m out of work. I can’t handle life. I’m nearly going to commit suicide.” I’m like, “Hey, do you need a job?” I hire the guy. MAW: We can fix that! We can fix you! AA: Right. What the heck? If he had a resume that said all that stuff, I would shred it as fast as I could and run from it, but as instructors we tend to hire people because we’re compassionate for them or we want to fill seats. We’re not like a CEO or a company that is looking for a great manager or a head person -- they’re looking at the resume, the qualifications, their experience. We need to do better vetting of our people. It’s about hiring correctly for the job. We can try to take a kid who wants to learn martial arts and eventually turn him into an instructor, and then eventually try to turn him into a manager when, in reality, he just doesn’t have that personality trait. We have to be really careful what position we put people in. We don’t want to overburden them as well, because they may be a great instructor, but

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Cover Story martial art, and they were terrible. Their attitudes were terrible. They taught terribly. They just scared more people away or turned more people off than they were worth. And I was like, “Everyone starts somewhere,” but I’m not thinking of it the right way. I was hurting my business by being kind to him, and you have to be very careful that you don’t do that. MAW: We have to be as granular and as pedantic at the teaching skills that we are teaching our instructors as we are about the nuances of the style that they’re learning. AA: It’s also about storytelling. You can learn the systems and go through the drills and teach them, but you still also have to have a certain charisma and personality. Not everyone is born with that. They have to have some dynamic to them that makes people drawn to them. My only recommendation is to hire an instructor that’s twice as dynamic as you. You can still be the owner and teach the high ranks, but you’re not going to be able to grow your school because you don’t have that personality, you don’t have that attitude; people are not going to be drawn to you. MAW: As the martial arts school operator, your role is equal to that of the CEO. So the whole “Grandmaster: It’s my art, and I’m the guy” thing is great for technical, but really bad for everything else. What’s been your experience in that? You’ve worked with a lot of clients that have fallen into that category. AA: I remember training with Steven Seagal and he said to me that the biggest problem with the martial arts is you can’t have an organization if you’re not organized. Another reason I hate the fact that people call things “McDojos” is because if anyone ran their school like McDonald’s ran their business, they would be the biggest business in the world. Thinking about Hamburger University, how they make their hamburgers and then move it from one section to the next section so nothing is ever missed; so they can replicate the same taste, feel, no matter what country they’re in; so that someone knows they’re getting the same quality. Why would that be a bad thing if you were a McDojo? Because it means you’d be teaching and everyone would come out quality black belts. But I get it. It’s fast food, it’s quick and

easy; that’s the side that most of these martial artists are seeing. But I love the systemization and that’s so very important. If we were a brand-new college and, let’s say, we were around for ten years and people came to our college and we said only one percent of the people graduate, I don’t think I’d want to be in your college. I want to go to a college that has a higher rate of graduation; that has a higher rate of job fulfillment, a higher rate of education. But yet, in our schools, some of these people brag, “Yeah, I’ve only promoted four black belts.” How long have you been open? “Oh, like 40 years.” Well, maybe you’re not doing a good job at this, are you? What are you doing wrong? What is it that you’re missing? I’m not asking you to sell out, I just want to know what your sticking points are, your problems, your issues that these people are not coming through your door. MAW: Harvard’s graduation rate is 87% over four years. That means they drop out 3.25% a year. Most martial arts drop out more than double that per month. Who has higher quality standards? Does Harvard have low quality standards? No. Are their teachers really crappy? No. Are their outcomes kind of not-great? No. AA: And what are they charging? MAW: $64,780 a year right now. AA: Exactly, and we’re charging $130 a month and people are like, “I don’t know if it’s worth it.” Sometimes we’re the best-kept secret in our own school. I’ve had a school, maybe about a year-and-a-half ago, some guy says, “You’re not the only guy in town. I could go to anyone in town.” I said, “If you want to go to any other martial arts school, you’re correct, but I am the only guy in town that teaches what I teach.” There’s no one, in fact, on Long Island, unless they were my student, that teaches this style. So you’re wrong in that respect, but you may think that I’m the only one in town. Maybe I didn’t do my job to explain it to him enough how special we really are and that’s a big problem many schools fall into as well. MAW: Your role as a CEO, as it was Steve Jobs’ role, is you’re the mouthpiece for the company. You’re the figurehead. You’re the face of the company. If you’re not going to be out there tooting your own horn, who will? Nobody is going to do it for you.

Shihan Alberigo with his proudest accomplishment: his daughter Kiara.

AA: And if you feel embarrassed, then do something with your staff and educate them on how to do it for you; or the parents that love you -- have them help you with that. I’m not saying I brag about who I am, I just talk about our school and why it’s so awesome. I’m only a small component of that. The parents are a component, the students are a component, my instructors are a component, my staff; this is something that we forget. Sometimes we are afraid to talk about who we are, and what we do, and why it’s so special. MAW: If you’re truly invested and interested in the long-term outcome of your students, then financial success in this is a direct result of that. It’s not about learning shady sales tactics and some bright, shiny pieces of technology to help do all this stuff. Your time with us today helped to underscore that quite a bit. If you are interested in having Shihan Allie take a look at your operation and shed light on some dark corners that might need it, TakingItToTheNextLevel.com is a good place to get started. Believe me, it’s valuable time to spend; you need somebody in your ear who can see what’s really going on and help you overcome obstacles. And I think that one of the things that you’re accomplishing with clients is giving them that level of perspective that they might not have. AA: Absolutely.

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School Profile

Korea Taekwondo is Part of the New York City School System Master Regina Im’s Korea Taekwondo is the only one among thousands of martial arts schools in New York City with a contract as an educational vendor with the New York Department of Education. She leveraged that influence to establish strong and growing school.

Master Im teaches Taekwondo as an enrichment program to students in the New York City School System.

MAW: Master Im, would you mind filling us in on the history of this program? RI: There was a big opportunity given by the Korean Consulate – like maybe 2005 – when Taekwondo got accepted as physical education in Massachusetts. In 2008 they opened that information to the public through the Korean Consulate, so I attended a workshop and I realized that this would be a great opportunity for Taekwondo masters and the public schools. I collected the information from the Korean Consulate. . . . I was told that the grandmasters were trying to get into the New York City public school system for decades. When I eventually connected with a principal, no one else wanted to teach the course, so I ended up teaching the course myself with my two colleagues. We offered the program for free for one semester, in order to build the reputation and relationship. The next school year we taught in 5 schools to prove that Taekwondo would work for New York City kids: Two of them were high schools, one of them was middle school, and two of them were elementary schools. The next semester we started getting paid from the principals. MAW: And this is for teaching one time a week for a Master Regina Im 15-week course? 50 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

RI: Yes. This school year we taught in 17 different public schools. . . . we average about 7 schools per month. MAW: What advantages has this program had for your professional martial arts school? RI: In 2008 we really didn’t have anything . . . we didn’t have money for a school, but teaching in the public schools didn’t cost us anything (only time). After 2 years of teaching in the school system, we opened our Taekwondo dojang in 2010. Until 2015 our focus was only the public schools, so our dojang was very small – I had less than 100 students, maybe 900 square feet. MAW: And in 2015 you moved. How quickly did you grow after that? RI: When we moved, we had 70 students, because not everyone was able to come with us. We went from 900 square feet to 2,500 square feet and we have over 300 members now, and about 270 of them are active. MAW: What would you say is the key ingredient that separates your school from other schools and enabled you to become an educational vendor with the Department of Education? RI: We know what the school wants, we know what the principal wants, and we know what the kids need. We teach P.E. in charter schools where they don’t have a full-time P.E. Teacher. In regular schools we don’t call it P.E., we call it an enrichment program. If you visit our school website at http://ktkd.nyc there is a media kit that explains what we do for our New York City public schools. MAW: Thank you, Ma’am, for sharing your experience with us.

School Profile

Martial Arts World of Lake Mary Chief Instructor Juan Villamizar opened his 2,400 square foot school a few years ago in a prime location, teaching seven classes a day. Like many schools, he struggled at first, but then had two major breakthroughs.

Martial Arts World of Lake Mary had maxed out their after school program and needed to find a bigger location.

AMS: How was it going the first year you opened, Sir? JV: It was rough, Sir, we were just making the bills . . . not a lot of profit, so everything was focused on how we could make a solid profit and keep it stable. AMS: And then about a year into it you opened the after school program? JV: Yes, Sir, once we opened up the after school program, that totally gave us less stress because that covered our bills, so the evening program was pure profit. AMS: So, a struggling school, even in a prime location, started an after school program and jumped into profit fairly quickly. JV: Yes, Sir. AMS: So let’s set up where you were a year ago today: roughly how much were you making a month? JV: We were making about $14,000 a month. AMS: So that’s your baseline, and then you jumped into the iENROLL System in ATLAS Pro. How quickly did it make a difference? JV: It took about 1 month before it really started kicking in, but then I was getting opt ins at 1:00 in the morning, 2:00 in the morning, 6:00 in the morning. It was really an exciting Chief Instructor Juan Villamizar time because the next day of busi52 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

ness we were just focused on getting them in and teaching a quality class. AMS: So . . . that much difference: By the second month, you were getting daily referrals – at least one person every day. JV: At least one person every day, Sir. Some days we’d have 5 or 6, but minimum one a day. AMS: Fantastic. Now, what difference does that make as far as your income? JV: We ramped up another $6,000.00 a month and maxed out our after school program – but because of the space we could only handle about 45 after schoolers in that location. AMS: So you literally filled your school and you had to start looking for another place to move? JV: Yes, Sir. Because the system was working really well for us, I didn’t really need a prime location. So I found a secondary location just about 1 mile down the road, $4000 cheaper (half the rent) and the space was almost double the size at 3,400 square feet. AMS: Wow! That’s quite a difference! You earned an extra $6,000, saved an extra $4,000, got a bigger space and maxed out your after school program! JV: Yes. I feel very lucky, Sir. AMS: Thank you, Sir, for sharing that with us. We look forward to your continued success and getting an update in the future. To learn more about the ATLAS Pro system that made such a dramatic difference in Instructor Villamizar’s school, go to AtlasMartialArtsSoftware.com.

We provide integrity-based coaching and community resources to busy martial arts school owners that save you time and grow your business. MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TODAY VISIT WWW.KOVARSYSTEMS.COM/SUCCESS

The Warrior Way

Confidence

Part 2: Confidence is Born of Experience

GRANDMASTER BILL CLARK is a 9th-degree black belt and a former PKA Fighter of the Year. He is widely considered one of the top experts in martial arts business with over 30 years of leadership and innovation, having been inducted into almost every Hall of Fame in the industry. He is one of the largest multischool owners in the world.

➽Experience is the second factor in building self-confidence. Selfconfidence, like any other ability, is learned. Through repeated and educated risk taking, you gain experience and your confidence in your own judgment grows. Eventually, you are guided by the desire for achievement, rather than the avoidance of what you fear. This increase in confidence is the product of practice and experience. You can gain experience easily: • Involve yourself in your industry’s trade association, • Coach a local soccer, baseball, or football team, • Volunteer your services to a local charity organization, • Join a local Toastmasters, Rotary Club, or fraternal organization, • Get on the homeowners committee, PTA board, or Save the Trees committee. Opportunities to take a leadership position and gain experience are all around you. All you have to do is pick one, then lift up the phone, and take action. The experience you gain in the politics, processes, and problems of leadership will form the groundwork for dealing with situations you will face on a grander scale as a leader in your organization. As Lee Iacocca, the famed CEO who brought Chrysler back from the brink in the late 1980’s once said, “My overnight success, like most overnight success, was 20 years in the making.” Indeed, there can be no long-term success without practice and experience. Once success is achieved on one level, it cannot be maintained or surpassed without more practice. Become an Expert The third factor in building confidence is not just to acquire knowledge and experience, but to become really good at something. Demonstrate a measure of achievement in some field. Everyone can be good at something.

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For example, when I was told I was good at Taekwondo, when I first began to train as an adult, this was the first time in my life I had been told I was good at something, and that changed my life. Use the confidence you derive from things you do well to carry over to other aspects of your life. Focus your thoughts on a hobby or pastime at which you excel. Now consider what conditions or circumstances allow you to excel at this particular pursuit. How could you recreate some of these conditions to help you excel in other areas of your life? As the great scientist Marie Curie said, “Life is not easy for any of us, but what of that? We must above all have confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” For more information visit TheEvolutionOfKrav.com

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Seeking Stories! Martial Arts World News Magazine is the definitive source for information, news, education, ethical business practices, product reviews and innovative developments in the world of martial arts business. We are always on the look out for notable, engaging and valuable stories for our readers! If you, your school, organization, event, product, or service has a story that might be of value to our readers, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love to hear about it!

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Ureport Contact us at: 407-895-1996 or Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com

Growth Hacks

What Would You Do with an Extra $50,000.00?

SEAN LEE is the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing working with hundreds of martial arts schools, who specializes in online and social media marketing using his extensive professional experience in sport and martial arts marketing, contract negotiation, and investment.

➽Would you get a bigger school? New floors or new

Schools who already have an AMSkids program will tell you that their students behave better and have better techequipment for your students? Maybe buy a new car? Spending $50,000 isn’t really hard. Most people already nique than their night-time students because they spend know what they would do with the money. The main prob- more time in class and more time at the school. lem for most of us is earning The best part is that we have that extra $50,000. ‘‘Fortunately, you are a martial arts all the materials and support Fortunately, you are a you need to run the program. school owner, so making an extra martial arts school owner, so We can tell you step-by-step making an extra $50,000 is not how to get it started, and how to $50,000 is not that hard.’’ keep it growing. If you can folthat hard. All you need to do is low instructions, you can be sucstart an AMSkids program that cessful in this program. Literally hundreds of schools have. offers after school martial arts and a summer camp, and So, there you have it: Step-by-step instructions to get you can do it this year. better students and an extra $50,000 in income. All that’s It’s not magic. It takes work, but most martial artists I left for you to do is decide how you want to spend it . . . know aren’t afraid of work. The difference is that with the Start an AMSkids program today, and earn an extra AMSkids program you get paid well for your work. With $50,000 or More this year. only 12 new students in your After School Program and Summer Camp, you could earn an extra $50,000 this year. Call 1-800-275-1600 Of course, if you get more than 12 new students, you can earn more income.

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Ninja Business Tactics

First Impressions

AN-SHU STEPHEN HAYES has authored 20 books, served as the personal security attaché for the Dali Lama, is responsible for over 30 school locations worldwide, and was named “A legend; one of the 10 most influential living martial artists in the world” by Black Belt Magazine

➽I think certainly the decor is a crucial element. If you’re aiming at upper income people, these are people who maybe go to a country club, their dentist office that they go to is beautiful, where they work may be nice, and then they come to your martial arts school and it’s just an empty room with a couple of mats and white walls and a couple of slogans painted on the walls… Whoa! This is not what I’m used to! And so it can set up a disconnect already with the person. So our training hall is very colorful – we have it painted in maroon and a deep gold, with green walls in certain areas, and lots of wood. And by all means, get rid of the folding chairs! That’s an expectation thing, you know. “Well, we had folding chairs in my place when I was learning.” Yeah, but you learned in a crummy little basement from a hobbyist. Get rid of the folding chairs. It doesn’t cost that much more money to buy nice padded chairs. Put up other inspiring things… but that’s just my opinion. A lot of us are so familiar with our martial art, and if we have an Asian background, we’re familiar with that Asian background and the language. Then a new person comes in (they know nothing), so they can be intimidated by all of that. We wear different clothes, they are bowing before they go on the mat, they’re using strange words, they don’t know what that means, but everybody else seems to know. People can kind of shrink back from that. Now that’s in an Asian-oriented martial art. I think there are a lot of Americans, younger (much younger than me) running schools where it’s run as an American operation, they use English, they might have a suit that they wear, they might have certain practices, but I think two things: I think number one if we can reduce that impression on people when they first come in, make it accessible, and this relates back to who you have greeting people. You have real people making real greetings to individuals. So in our schools we borrowed from some of the more liberal fundamentalist churches in our area, and they recruit people from the church to be greeters — they might do it for three months and they even wear a little pin. A real person looks around and just greets everybody that comes in. So I think that’s one way to start: A warm, cheerful person greets you. So there are going to be two people who come in:

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Somebody who is just coming in with somebody, and we can say, “Are you with somebody here?” They’ll say, “Yeah, I brought Becky in — she’s my granddaughter.” The greeter will just start a conversation like that, or it will be a new person who says, “No I just came in for some information.” The greeter will say, “Oh, wonderful!” So you've right away found out who they are, and you’ve gotten over that awkward kind of thing. The second thing that I think is important when people are coming in is that people are doing martial arts these days for all kinds of reasons. Obviously, there’s a fitness crowd who think, “Hey, I’m bored at the gym, and I just want to lose some weight.” We don’t really deal with that a lot in our school. We’re qualified, we’ve tried fitness programs with very personable instructors, and our people are interested in something a little deeper. If you want to go lose weight go to the gym. And even self-defense, as obvious as that is, you know with all the laws these days regarding self-defense and getting into fights — just carry a little shocker thing, and you’ve got self-defense handled. So we ask, “Why are you really here?” There’s a deeper level of what people are experiencing, but this could be my schools and the emphasis that I put on personal development using the martial arts curriculum as a way to set up parallels for conflicts people have at home, or at work, or at school, or wherever they go — that may be unique to our schools.

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Pillars of Success

The Difference Between Culture and Principle

GRANDMASTER Y. K. KIM Is the most successful martial arts business leader in the US, having written over 30 books on martial arts, business, leadership, and success. He has won numerous public service awards and is the founder of the leading martial arts marketing and management company in the U.S. For more information visit YKKim.com

â&#x17E;˝Unfortunately many people have a miscon-

ception of the difference between culture and principle, which causes pain in their lives and prevents them from achieving true success. The principles of life are the rules of nature. I cannot, you cannot, and nobody can change nature. For a clear example, the sun rises in the East and will never rise in the West. More personally, whether you are white, yellow, or black, you must breathe for survival. Therefore, all 7.5 billion people on earth must follow nature to survive and succeed. Culture is personal or group (organization, ethnicity, or country) lifestyle based on what they believe in. However, beliefs can change, and cultures can change any time. Therefore, if you want to change your life, you can change your beliefs and your lifestyle to improve yourself for a successful life. No matter who you are (white, black, or yellow), without harmony and balance -- which is a principle of life -- it is like you are disabled. With harmony and balance, you can be optimistic about the future! Since I found what I was missing, I have worked tirelessly to build a balance between physical, mental, moral,

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financial, and life success -- The 5 Pillars of True Successâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; that changed my life. Since then, I felt free from mental anguish, and I started to feel healthier, wiser, more confident, wealthier, and happier. Now I can say that I am truly successful. I realized that only achieving the old American Dream in the modern world cannot lead to a truly successful life. The 5 Pillars of True Success empowered me and revolutionized my life. It helped thousands of my students, and I am sure it will help you: You can be whatever you want to be; you can have whatever you want to have; you can do whatever you want to do; and you can change your lifestyle. You can change your life, you can help change others, and if you can help change others, you can change the world to make it a better place to live. In future columns, I will show you how to build The 5 Pillars of True Success: Physical, Mental, Moral, Financial, and Life Success. If you would like to gain access right away, order the book at ykkim.com. You will have harmony and balance and an unforgettable experience that will transform your life and create a successful future.

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Management Excellence

3 Steps to Modernize Your Business

CHIEF MASTER KIRK PELT is an 8th degree black belt and is the President of a multi-million dollar, multi-school organization, has a 30 year track record of success, and is currently on the leading edge of martial arts curriculum and business innovation.

➽A modern martial arts school needs three things to be successful: Exceptional Curriculum, Exceptional Leadership, and an Exceptional Business System. First, an exceptional curriculum is easy, exciting, and meaningful to teach, plus easy, exciting, and beneficial to learn. Martial arts training requires two things: Physical training and a philosophy of discipline. Martial arts training without philosophy is no different than organized street fighting. But without physical training, you have no martial arts because without action nothing happens. Action requires a quality body, and a quality body requires physical fitness. An exceptional curriculum will make your students physically fit and mentally strong, so they will stick with you for life. Second, exceptional leadership is modern leadership. Traditional leadership was positional power; modern leadership is personal power. Positional power was based on a hierarchy, similar to a master and slave relationship. Personal power is based on the individual’s ability to motivate, inspire, and assist others to maximize their potential. For example, an instructor who relies on positional power teaches all students equally by showing the correct technique and expecting students to imitate that technique as closely as possible, whether they are tall, short, thin, fat, old, or young. Positional leaders are strict, with little of the flexibility they expect their students to develop. An instructor who is also a leader, who relies on personal power, teaches students fairly, not equally, which means he shows the purpose of the technique, how to adapt the technique to the individual’s needs, and the benefits of training. An instructor who develops his personal power will motivate, inspire, and encourage each one of his students to maximize their potential, but according to their

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own needs and abilities. He does not expect a 6 year-old and a 60 year-old to perform the technique the exact same way. He understands their different needs and abilities, and helps the student understand there is more to the art than the physical expression. Third, an exceptional business system must be simple, practical, and beneficial, so you can make more, spend less, and increase profit. The best modern martial arts business systems include outstanding software, like ATLAS Pro, that not only save time by keeping records and organizing data, but also save money by empowering your staff to do more in less time. You also need a powerful school website that helps you dominate search results and generate positive local reviews, and a social media plan that brands your school with the benefits your prospective students are looking for. Truly exceptional business systems provide all these aspects in one place, so data flows seamlessly from one area to another, and the system doesn’t cost you money, but actually makes you money. Just like the martial arts, these three steps are not a destination, but a journey. Curriculum, leadership, and business systems are constantly evolving, and require a relentless pursuit of excellence. To become and remain exceptional, you must continually improve your methods and expand your options, to take advantage of technological advances while still remaining true to time-honored values and principles.

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Extraordinary Marketing

The X-Factor

GRANDMASTER STEPHEN OLIVER, is a 9th degree black belt and is the founder and CEO of Mile High Karate schools and founder of the Martial Arts Wealth Mastery Program, formerly Extraordinary Marketing.

➽I’ve been pondering…. What’s the X-Factor that makes some school owners wildly successful and others failures? It’s a difficult question. For some of the answer I’ve looked back to my many years running schools. For my own organization, if the truth be told, more branch managers failed than succeeded. It wasn’t for lack of “Pre-Screening” the new hires. It certainly wasn’t a lack of training and training opportunities. It wasn’t for a lack of effective systems. Most in our industry fail by default. They never really look for education. Never get an opportunity to learn about all of the many details that are involved with really running a business. They think that their Martial Arts Skill and Knowledge will be enough. Really, it’s only a meager beginning. Some of the most skilled and knowledgeable martial artists of our generation have died broke, or were forced to make their living doing something else -- forever doomed to be an amateur at their first love and to be a professional at something else. But that basic ignorance that most unfortunately never get beyond isn’t what I’m trying to figure out. The harder issue is, “What makes otherwise intelligent people with access to all of the necessary systems and training fail anyway?” In my own company I was the “Turn-Around” guy. Jeff Smith did it for most of his years with the Jhoon Rhee Institute: The #1 Location was always the one that he was directly running or supervising. I would periodically put myself in my worst location and get it going. When I had it run up to #1 by a pretty good distance, I’d turn it back over to a staff member with the admonition that there would be hell to pay if it fell more than 10-15%. It was both the “Lead-Dog” theory of management (everyone will pace the leader), and proof that all of the excuses used by the previous manager were only that: excuses. It wasn’t the location. It wasn’t the community. It was the staff. What was startling was how quickly most of the turnarounds happened. Often it was clean house of the bad attitudes and all of the unnecessary stuff (well organized files, collections of marketing materials never distributed, etc.) and then almost a vertical rise to huge numbers. But back to the “X-Factor.” What is it that most are missing that only a few have? I can tell you that it’s NOT I.Q. Certainly to be successful you must be fairly intelligent, but some of the most intelligent and educated (not, the same thing, by the way)

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school owners that I’ve known have failed. It’s not Charisma. While it’s nice to have that trait – naturally or learned – it’s not the key. I’ve hired A LOT of highly charismatic instructors over the years. I’ve seen very low-key school owners and staff be very successful, even though some of them were rather severe introverts. It’s also not training. Although it’s NECESSARY to learn all of the skills of running a business, I’ve had staff members who could teach someone else everything but just couldn’t execute themselves. I’ve worked with owners who could “write the book” but couldn’t run their business. Honesty. This is A Key. But, it’s not enough. If you don’t CONSTANTLY LEARN, then you fall behind. Keep Learning. Keep Relearning. What’s the key? To really expand a school you need a high level of “Esprit De Corps.” Among the student body, among the leadership in the school, and among the staff. Some think that’s high energy classes. It’s not. Some think it’s success in tournaments. It’s not. Some think it’s about high levels of athletic talent among the students. It’s not. What is VERY important is a genuine team atmosphere in your school. It’s about each individual being recognized as an individual. It’s about high levels of rapport between staff and students – AND – among students and parents. It’s about the entire school being a family and a series of “small families” among different belt levels or “teams.” It’s also about a family environment throughout the school. Often in turning around a failing school the first thing I did was fire 10-20% of the student body. Well, actually first I’d fire the Branch Manager and/or the balance of the staff. Then I’d go about very quickly and aggressively weeding out the “cancer” in the school. See, really in a failing school often the “WRONG” students stay and the “RIGHT ONES” drop out. Many who would have been fine with the right leadership become cancerous. Some of them can be fixed (you’d be amazed at the positive benefits of 100 new white belts on everyone’s attitude), while others must go away before they infect any of the new people. Staff’s the same thing. You can’t hire great new people if you let the old ones with bad attitudes or low expectations “infect them.” For a Free Copy of Two of Stephen’s Books, goto: www.MartialArtsWealth.com

After School Excellence

Gain the Secret to Skyrocket Your Enrollment

CHIEF MASTER MIKE BUGG is an 8th degree black belt and the owner of a 1.5 million-dollar-a-year location, with one of the largest after school and summer camp programs in the country.

distributing a single flyer or hanging even one poster. ➽The best place for you to find students to join your school is in school . . . academic While other schools struggle to make a name in their comschools, that is. Academic schools are the best munities with expensive radio buys, you are building real places to find potential students for your kids relationships with prospective students. Then, when you program: Thousands of potential students in circulate flyers, hang posters, or post on social media conyour neighborhood, all in one place. cerning a special event or to make a special offer at your What gives your martial arts school a secret advanschool, you’re likely to see a much better response. tage over other businesses when it comes to getting into Being a Partner in Education also opens doors to you academic schools? You also run a school and you are also with other local businesses for joint promotions and partan educator! Your nerships. You can goals are in line with exchange coupons those of your local and offers, trade flyacademic schools: To ers, hang posters, and help children learn share posts on each and grow in a positive other’s social media environment, and to pages. You can coequip them with the promote the release skills to be the leaders of new films, work of the future. You with family restauare not selling video rants, and even work games or junk food. with other martial You are selling a betarts schools. Being a Partner in Education opens doors for joint promotions and partnerships ter way of life, better Getting involved behavior, and the hope with schools and other local businesses. in the Partners in Educaof a successful life. tion program is easy. Just call each school in your immediThe best-kept secret for you to “break into” the school ate community and ask about their program. If they don’t system is the Partners in Education program. The Partners have one, perhaps you can start one and become their new in Education program is designed to connect businesses favorite community supporter. The key to any commuthat care about the education of children in their communication with public (and private) schools is to begin with nity with schools. The type of relationships and opportuwhat YOU can offer THEM. They are not particularly nities are limited only by your imagination. You can go to interested in helping you get rich. They are interested in the academic school and teach a gym class or be a judge at their own goals and events, so the quicker you can provide the science fair. You can teach a class on how to Stop the something of value for them, the quicker you will earn Bully or donate athletic equipment to the physical educatheir trust and cooperation. Then, after you have done tion program. You buy an ad in their school newsletter enough for them to feel indebted to you, you can ask for (online or printed) or offer prizes for school contests and something in return. competitions. You can even sponsor a fundraiser for the I personally have a great relationship with my loschool or the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA). cal schools from being a partner in education and from The secret advantage of being a Partner in Education teaching P.E. classes. It has been so successful for my after is that it gives you an opportunity to get to know the chilschool martial arts program that teachers and guidance dren in your community, the teachers, and the parents. counselors often refer students (and their parents) to my You can gain great exposure for your school without ever program.

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Have Your School, Organization, Accomplishment or Event Featured in

Martial Arts World News Magazine!

As professional martial arts school owners and instructors, it’s important that we stay up to date with the latest tools, tactics, and strategies for operating a successful martial arts school or organization. We here at Martial Arts World News Magazine are on an unstoppable mission to help our industry grow, and one of the best ways to do that is by sharing “what’s working” and what’s not! So, we want to feature schools, school owners, instructors, organizations, students, and industry contributors that might have a story our readers would find valuable. No story is too small or to big for consideration so long as there is value to our readers!

• One of your students overcame great obstacles to achieve their Black Belt? Awesome! • You’ve opened a new location? Great! We’d love to hear about it! • Your martial arts association just set a new record? Great! Send us some information!

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Ureport Send your Story Idea to us Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com Or Contact us at: 407-895-1996

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Tactical Self-defense

First Impressions!

GRANDMASTER TOM PATIRE, is known as “America’s Leading Personal Safety Expert” and has appeared on Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, The Colbert Report, Montel, plus in mainstream publications such as Family Circle, Redbook, Fortune Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. He has written several books and has personal safety programs that can be incorporated into your martial arts school, available at TomPatire.com.

➽ When I took on one of the biggest challenges in my life, which was writing a book on Personal Protection for the mainstream (Personal Protection Handbook), my research, interviews, and exploration of human nature lead me to some unique discoveries that not only made my book better, but also allowed me to grow as a person and a published writer. One of my main discoveries was the proof that a picture is worth a thousand words, and those words can become good press or bad press in the world of advertisement depending on the photo itself. Here is what I mean: Since this publication is in the world of growing martial arts businesses, we all need to realize that the majority of the everyday people are not attracted to ads that focus on fear factors, combat, or annihilation. Why? Simply because good people avoid ads or TV commercials like that for many different reasons. Now that doesn’t mean that systems with combative techniques, which many in the martial arts are based on, should not be taught. What this means is that you must approach advertisement in a more civilized, diplomatic manner, in a way to intrigue your customer base and not scare them or turn them off. Here’s my proof: I selected a group of moms and dads from an organization my wife belongs to in order to gather some feedback on advertising for my book. I asked them to review three different types of ads that all focused on different martial arts based programs. The reason why I did this is I needed to see what goes through everyday, non-trained people’s minds when they view ads from the martial arts community. I used photos already out in the mainstream through different publications, except I left the systems out and just let the picture do the talking. The first photo was a well-groomed guy in a very plain white martial arts uniform, wearing a black belt with four stripes. The photo was non-aggressive and the person wearing the uniform was in his mid 50’s. The feedback on the photo was as follows: 1. Wow look at the stripes on the belt. 2. He must have started as a youngster in order to become that high of a black belt. 3. That’s some accomplishment, but takes too much time. The second photo was another guy about the same age in street clothing grabbing someone’s throat and eyes, and screaming as he was doing it. His eyes were wide open and his face was full of aggressiveness. The photo represented

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the complete look at combative arts. The feedback on the photo was as follows: 1. That guy is insane. 2. There is no way I can ever do that to another person. 3. Which one is the bad guy? The third photo was a man wearing a plain black belt in a white uniform, helping a child kick who was a white belt wearing a white uniform. The man, again, was similar in age to the other photos. His demeanor came across as gentle and helpful, and the child (who was about 9 years of age) had a genuine smile on his face as he was executing his kick. This photo represented the warmer side of martial arts. The feedback on the photo was as follows: 1. I would like to learn more about this school. 2. The child looks like he is really having fun. 3. Finally something that is non-aggressive for my child.

The lesson that I learned from these comments and others like them is that in order to broaden our market, we need to broaden our vision. To do that you need to get out in the community and make martial arts more people friendly. Right now many of us either cater to children or to young adults, but we all know or should know that the adult market is seriously lacking. For this to change we need to educate ourselves on the adult market, which takes more community interaction by opening more direct lines. The key to your success will be to listen and adapt and become that chameleon that can change colors according to environments. Remember: Success is not given; it’s achieved. Until next time - Be Safe!

Complete Martial Arts Concepts

How to be a COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTIST

as you develop the mind, body and SPIRIT of a CHAMPION ➽It took a 6’ by 8’ jail cell for me to realize that I had the

PROFESSOR WILLIE “THE BAM” JOHNSON is a 7th degree black belt and 7-time sport karate and kung-fu world champion. He has appeared in 4 movies, 16 stage plays, 11 television shows and two videos. He is also the national spokesperson for the Stronger than Drugs Foundation and the Champions Against Drugs.

qualities of a complete martial artist. I struggled with the thought of the inside being like a tunnel and losing my breath from being claustrophobic. I had to go three inches below my belly button and realize that the true teacher was inside of me. Through the screams, emotions, pain, and tears, I began to become one with my movement, and that allowed me to make it through twelve months of incarceration in a maximum-security prison without a fight, sex, drugs, or any of the old behavior that got me there. Because of the foundation I came from, all of the tools I needed were inside of me because my Kung-Fu journey was always about becoming a Complete Martial Artist, which is 360 degrees of knowledge. Yes, a person that understands the blending of hard and soft, and soft and hard, must be an individual that strives to be a great person, a great technician, a great student, a great parent, a great husband, and a great teacher. As my movement supported my next level of growth, fighting (yes, fighting wisely and training proficiently), each day I focused on combat and fitness. At this point of my training, it was more about the attributes I needed to have to bring a mindful flow to all I do. This was the part of being ready to express myself, telling my story, and being true to myself. There is a saying that goes like this: “Who we are is God’s gift to us, and what we do with this gift is our gift back to God.” This approach to my transformation showed me how to live in the seconds of each minute, making sure the small, unseen things empower me. A transformation of such magnitude was a struggle because I had to surrender in order to win. Yes, I had to let go of all I thought I knew, as I became more effective in all aspects of my life; cutting out all wasted time. My daily journey included praying, writing, meditation, listening to music, studying people skills, communication development, business planning, practicing UMAC (Universal Martial Arts Concepts), and script writing. Yes, I created two plans for success: My negative lifestyle plan and my positive lifestyle plan. Through all of this, I learned to love myself and became my own best friend.

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I began to discover the holistic universal approach to martial arts rather than a simple egotistical selfgratifying approach. I began to like the benefits of martial arts and how they would help me to live the life of a complete martial artist in this fast-paced world. It’s about universal principles and traditional values, with a modern approach. Regardless of which martial art you practice or your level of experience, this story will help you to dig deep within yourself to find the inner harmony of self-expression and the ability to flow in harmony with the universe. You will see that Mixed Martial Arts is nothing new, and that all we have is a stylish display of our own interpretation that is burst upon the ABCs of the entire martial arts family. You begin to understand that martial arts, with a philosophy, do help develop you into a complete martial artist with the mind, body, and spirit of a champion. Remember, champions do what they have to do and not what they want to do. This journey of being complete is never-ending, and the value of it all is priceless and limitless. We are on a never-ending journey of personal mastery, learning to be as one with all things good and bad. We will use these personal discoveries as stepping-stones to personal greatness. I was once asked who mentors the mentor. The answer is the mentor, and this is a must, especially when the time comes for you to stand for something or fall or anything. It’s going to be between you and God. You see, we all need to successfully express ourselves and all that is within us. The teacher, coach, parent, or leader is only there to help you discover this creative spirit that provides solutions to all problems. You just have to get out of your own way and trust in the process. Essentially, they are not the motivator, they are an extension of that intense unstoppable force or the urban spirit. So on this selfish quest to be your best, you will become selfless and a great leader that teaches people to find themselves. Once again, like me, you will realize that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear, and that spiritual teacher is the God within us all.

The Millionaire Smarts Coach

Think Big

LEE MILTEER is an Intuitive Business Coach, Award-Winning Professional Speaker, and TV Personality who has counseled and trained over a million people throughout her career. Lee is Stephen Oliver’s Martial Arts Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire Smarts Coach and is also a best-selling author of educational resources like Success is An Inside Job and Overcoming Unproductive Behaviors.

➽To really get to the next level in life, you have to THINK BIG. Your success, or lack of it, reflects what is in your mind. Your current reality and success is the sum of all the thoughts you have had about going to the next level. If your life seems small, it’s probably because your dominant visual picture of your life has been small. If you think big, you will get big results. I want to share with you a personal story. At a very young age my father told me that if I did not know what to do in a social environment, I was to look around for the most successful person in the room and copy her or him. This advice has served me very well both personally and in business. My first real grownup job after being a Radio DJ was to sell advertising for a Radio station in Norfolk, Virginia. When I first got into sales, I did what most salespeople do: call on an account, sell them, and then service the account well, hoping for repeat business. I was always trying to find new accounts and going through the entire process again and again. I started to notice that the most successful salespeople seemed to work on big accounts, not a hundred small ones. Now, I’m not a person who believes you should put all your eggs in one basket, but I did start to see the cumulative effect of working on big accounts with multiple locations. It was a more effective and efficient way of doing business. After I left selling radio advertising, I started working for and eventually owned part of a company that sold electronic sound systems, commercial phone systems, and paging systems for commercial buildings. In the past, the salespeople had always called on the mom-and-pop businesses, small retail shops and business offices. When I came on board, I decided to dream really big and go for chains of supermarkets, drugstores, entire shopping centers, and office buildings. I will admit to you that it took longer to make a sale, and there was more red tape, more gatekeepers to get past, and more hoops to jump through, but the result was a much bigger sale. I found that once I did all the work to sell one location and they liked my work, I was then in line for multiple sales. I created relationships with large companies that could bring in much more revenue than with the small accounts. Every day, I visualized myself working with really big names in the chain store business. I imagined myself

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flying to the corporate headquarters of big businesses and saw them sign contracts for several locations at once. I began to see my commission checks in my mind, and they were huge! Some of these accounts took a bit of time to sell, but I stayed with the visions of working with the big boys until I made it happen. Once I was in with these big accounts I made triple the money than I had earned before, and now I was actually doing less service work. I will share with you that this MINDSET of Thinking Big helped me create the success I’ve enjoyed my entire career. When I decided to become a speaker I didn’t think about doing it on a local level. I envisioned myself speaking internationally and to huge audiences! Since we’re all self-fulfilling prophecies, having those big thoughts and taking action made that a reality in my life then and still today. Thinking Big leads to taking more risks, asking for what you want, and laying a foundation of future success. The old saying “you can’t win if you don’t play” is so true. You must leverage your time, experience, and knowledge in the best way possible. Don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Life is Short – Go For It NOW! Lee Milteer is an Intuitive Business Coach, AwardWinning Professional Speaker, and TV Personality who has counseled and trained over a million people throughout her career. Lee is Stephen Oliver’s Martial Arts Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire Smarts Coach and is also a bestselling author of educational resources like Success is An Inside Job and Overcoming Unproductive Behaviors. Find out more and receive Lee’s 90 Minute Successfully Grow your Martial Arts School Seminar – register at: www.MartialArtsWealth.com

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Budo Philosophy

The Dregs ➽ “What matters are

SHIDOSHI ALFREDO TUCCI is the CEO and General Manager of the Budo International Publishing Company, a leading publisher in the martial arts with over 35 years in the Industry, including: Budo International Magazine and author of several books, The Immaterial Dimension, the Way of the Warrior and The Spirit. He currently lives in Valencia, Spain.

not the low blows we receive, but the print they leave on us.” – Yasmina Khadra What is left, what remains at the very end, is often all there is in reality. Our personal history programs us; facts are forgotten but the marks stay. We can forget about the facts themselves, but the ruts by which water flowed one day remain printed in our personal and unique orography. What makes up our own landscape are often those paths; what makes us act in one way or another are not so much our highly valued knowledge and different skills that overlap like small highways drawn in a cyclopean landscape of immense marked canyons, tilled by emotions, patterns, and quite often by situations unconsciously lived. Thoughts, reasoning, reflections, our esteemed modern brain in a word, perhaps is not as important as it itself thinks. How many times have we acted in a way completely opposite to what it tells us? In this sense we are all bipolar, we are all sailing in contradiction, because we live immersed in a world of opposites, where perceiving the value of the complementary is not always easy to appreciate. The best example: Tastes, that usually whimsical decision that decants us in front of any person or situation in the first seconds of the meeting. If we can be so categorical in the small things, why can't we see that we are so also in the big things? Reason, logic, even what we call morality, much too often have the same value as that of a fart to fend off a lion. The lion, the mighty lion, is much more basic, older, and less malleable than our prefrontal cortex. The roads started on the eve of our existence established primitive guidelines that sanction the territory of our truths with immense power. Roads for synapses to pass precisely thereabouts and not right next; to decide the opposite to what we think that is good, or to what others have agreed in the form of rules. Knowing yourself starts with knowing that we are

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sailing in a continuous sea of doubts; certainty is just an illusion, a decision that perhaps comes from another place and another hidden will that it would displease us to accept if we came face to face with it. But we like to feel important, scanning the horizon from the command deck, sailing the storm of life, because accepting our smallness and the scarce maneuverability of our choices, and of the one that takes them, would be even worse. Who is really on the command deck? In the end, that is at every moment, the remainder, the dregs, are all we have to face our present, to decide about the future, that monster we face from the self-imposed certainty in a sea of considerations chosen much more arbitrarily than the way we would like to accept. The Being itself, what pulsates and flows behind all that is what the ancients called the spirit, the breath that fills every corner of this complex biological gear, this network of roads, synapses, and electric shocks that is the brain. Without it, the empty shell is only a pretense; death is the certainty that teaches us that truth, the price we have to pay to see beyond the obvious, the evident. The brain is not what we are... it's the mechanism, and its roads are the dregs of past experiences, and you know: Water that has passed by can't move the mill... but it sure sets out a path! “Thoughts, reasoning, reflections, our esteemed modern brain in a word, perhaps is not as important as it itself thinks. How many times have we acted in a way completely opposite to what it tells us?”

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Pro Shop Power

Back to School Fever Pro-Shop sales are an effective way to generate income!

BRANDON KIM is the President of Vision Martial Arts Supply, Los Angeles Branch, who helps school owners all over the U.S. maximize their retail sales and drive more revenue into their schools.

➽The new school year is about to begin for all of your students. Just like any other school, they need to have the supplies and gear to participate in all the fun activities. Help your students prepare for your classes with the gear they will need by having a pro-shop sale. One option is to hold the sale before school starts so that they buy from you before they spend all their money at the mall. The other option is to wait until after school has started and you have a fairly large group of new students. In order to get them thinking about the things they will need for class, you will need to make a detailed list of items for each class, each art, or each belt level. Make a checklist that is available to each person with the prices of each item, both regular and sale price, so they can see how much they’re saving. This way, they can create a budget for themselves and know how much they will be spending. For those who can’t pay for everything at one time, set up an automatic payment in ATLAS so they get their supplies right away and get them at the sale price. Be sure to hang a poster in the lobby promoting the pro-shop sale to get everyone excited about all the new things they can get for class while saving money. Have each staff member start promoting items in the pro-shop at the beginning or end of every class, maybe even both. As it

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gets closer to the pro-shop sale, have the staff members wear and suggest items from the pro-shop to as many students as possible. Your pro-shop sale will have even better results if you give your staff incentives. Let them know that they will receive a bonus based on the number of sales for that month compared to the rest of the months. You will surely see a significant difference for this promotion if you use this method. Another way to use incentives is to offer coupons and discounts to the students. Give discount certificates away as a sign of recognition for hard work like the student of the month, classroom hero, most improved student, honor roll, or any other positive form of reinforcement. You may also choose to do an extra percentage off on their next purchase. Another suggestion is to play certain games or have a specific contest, like a VIP promotion where the winners get a gift certificate or an extra discount on the pro-shop sale. The only thing missing is your inventory list. You may want to double up on your inventory for this promotion, so go through your inventory checklist to make sure you have more than enough supplies for your students. You can lose many sales by being under stocked, and there is no guarantee that they will come back to get the item they wish to purchase at a later date, so whenever possible take a deposit on the order with the understanding they will pay the rest when the product arrives. The main focus in a pro-shop sale is to increase revenue in your school while getting your students more involved in their training with supplies and equipment. By having your students and staff use or wear your products, they create the perfect marketing tool without even knowing it. So, start planning your pro-shop sale with your staff now.

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MIND MASTERY

How To Achieve Clarity

GRANDMASTER JESSIE BOWEN is president of Karate International of Durham, Inc., a member of the American Martial Arts Association Sport Karate League and Hall of Fame, and has been a member of the Duke University P.E. Staff for over 25 years. He is the author of Zen MindBody Mindfulness Meditation and Zen Mind-Body Mindfulness Meditation for Martial Arts, as well as several other books, programs, and audio CDs on meditation and success training.

➽Clarity is a crucial step in where we end up

in life. Just like the GPS system used in your mobile phone to direct you to any place you desire to travel, clarity is a programmable step for a successful journey. For a martial arts student it will mean the difference between achieving the next belt rank or quitting. Whether or not you make the most of your life or not, this article will touch on some of the variables for success and some of the things that maybe holding you up or blocking you from achieving your destiny. Let's check in on the scientific reality. Before we get started let's clarify the definition of clarity. Clarity is "clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity; the state or quality of being clear or transparent to the eye.” So, for a moment I don't want you to think about the physical eye of seeing. I want you to think about the inner eye, the Mind's Eye of clarity: These are the visions that you hold in your head, by your belief, your desires, and your expectation. Your navigation system is based on the G in GPS: The G = your goals, the P = your purpose and the S = your steps creating a systematic three-step process that works as a roadmap to guide you on direct routes to plan and achieve goals. Achieving clarity in all areas of your life is important.

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Some people assume that just sitting and starting on a list of goals will give them clarity on what they want. It’s not that simple. You must first realize that you alone are responsible for clarity in your life and your significant other, and that friends or co-workers cannot give it to you. It’s an internal thing. There are several ways to change not only your clarity, but your overall mental and physical health. You may not realize just how much stuff you carry around in your head that doesn’t need to be there: Your “to-do” list. Your reminders. Unfinished business. Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. That's an average of 2,500 – 3,300 thoughts per hour. That's incredible! Without some type of system through meditation, it's almost impossible for the mind to focus on any one task. All of that is using up your mental RAM, leaving little working memory for complex problems and clear thinking! Visualization and clarity go hand in hand. When you take time to visualize the life you desire, everything will come into focus. Take time each day to sit quietly and begin to visualize everything in your life as the way you want it to be right at that moment. Really feel it throughout your body. As you do this each day, you are building the muscle of clarity. Your clarity will get stronger and stronger each day, and those 90-day goals will be very clear and attainable to you.

Master the Basics

I Have Good News and I Have Bad News:

The Good News is that Success is Easy ➽Success in the martial arts business is easy, when you

MASTER TINA BANE is a 6th degree master instructor and owner of a Top Ten martial arts school with successful after school and summer camp programs.

have the right tools – but that depends on your goal. The bad news is that too many martial arts school owners think they have the right tools, but they do not. Let me give you an example: The Samurai sword is a great tool for learning principles like discipline, balance, timing, and accuracy. It was a great weapon of war for thousands of years, but nowadays it can’t hold a candle to an AK-47. The final battle in the movie The Last Samurai showed beyond a shadow of a doubt why they were the last samurais. Of course you don’t need particularly great discipline, balance, timing, or accuracy to kill someone with an AK-47, as evidenced by far too many mass shooting deaths in cities all across our country. Am I saying that there is no value to sword training? Absolutely not! The sword is a great tool for learning the principles of the martial arts, and the principles of a successful life. As I said earlier, it all depends upon your goal. If success in a martial arts school is easy when you have the right tools, then what are the right tools? First you need a good curriculum, and second you need a good business system. What is a good curriculum? That, too, depends on your goals. If you want a financially successful school with lots of students, then a curriculum that you learned in the armed forces is not the right tool. The curriculum that was developed by feudal warriors hundreds of years ago is as obsolete for a modern martial arts school as the samurai sword is as a weapon of war. Times have changed. Goals

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have changed. Martial arts schools that don’t change will be slaughtered like the last samurais. I’m not saying the techniques don’t work or that the principles are no longer valid. I am just saying the teaching methods had a different goal, so many are not appropriate. Seriously think a moment about the legends of the great masters. How many students did they have in those stories? One? Two? Some had maybe twenty-five long-term students. Can you run your school on 25 loyal students? Once again, it depends on your goal. If you want to spread the values of the martial arts to as many people as possible, then you want thousands of students. Of those thousands, you may have only a few who will eventually become masters as they did in the legends, but why sacrifice the benefits to the thousands? In order to reach out to those thousands, you need a good business system to market what you have to offer, to maintain a big enough school for them to practice comfortably, and to manage your money to stay open. The even better news is that a modern curriculum and modern business systems are currently available from other successful schools, and many successful school owners are willing to share their knowledge with you. Anyone who wants to be part of this wave of the future can contact my friends at AMS. It’s time to face reality: The movement is happening, whether you agree with it or not, so you have to decide whether you will be one of the warriors of the new martial arts, that brings the traditional values and principles into the 21st Century, or one of the last samurais.

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Instructional Excellence

Use the Tangible to Reveal the Intangible ➽A friend of mine was walking into a con-

GRANDMASTER TIM MCCARTHY is an 9th degree black belt and is a martial arts educator with a master’s degree in education. He has been instrumental in developing two industry-changing programs, plus has directed and been featured in hundreds of martial arts videos and webinars.

venience store when a group of young kids recognized her. “Hey, you’re that martial arts teacher! Show us something!” My friend replied, “OK. I’m going to show you the most important skill I teach.” She then bowed to them. Of course, the kids wanted to see a flying-spinning kick or something visually exciting. Instead, he showed them the outward expression of discipline and respect, two skills that would take them a lot farther in life than the fanciest flying-spinning kick. To me, that story sums up the challenge (and the benefit) of teaching the martial arts. We enjoy the benefit of the tangible, visually exciting skills that require the intangible, internal improvements to achieve. Make no mistake: Student retention depends on perceived benefits. As long as students see and feel benefits, they will continue to train. When they stop seeing and feeling any benefits, they will quit. It is our job as instructors to lead them along the path of benefits. Like the children who recognized my friend, most beginning students want to see tangible benefits. However, in my opinion, the most important benefits of martial arts training in modern society are the internal, intangible changes we make. Fortunately for us, the means of attaining the intangible benefits are the tangible goals we present to bring about those changes. A skillful instructor can gradually move the student’s attention from the external improvements to the internal improvements by helping him set the appropriate goals.

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So lets focus on one example: weight loss. Because two out of three people in this country are overweight, that means that two out of three of your new students will perceive an immediate benefit of taking your classes if they lose weight. Weight loss is tangible and measurable – better yet, it is visible. If your new student loses twenty pounds, she is not the only one who will notice. All her friends will notice, and she will become a walking, talking billboard advertising your school, eternally grateful for the change you made in her life. How can you bring about that kind of change? As most of you already know, just attending class three times a week will usually not cause a significant weight loss. The students need to make some bigger internal changes. They need to take the lessons of discipline and self-control out of the classroom and into the dining room. We must also do our part by taking an active role in helping our students achieve their goals with additional instruction in the principles of nutrition, perhaps information on supplements or weight control programs, and tools to help them measure their progress. As your students achieve their goals, help them move their attention inward by understanding that their loss of physical fat is a result of losing mental fat, and their gain of physical strength and skills is a result of gaining mental strength and confidence. As time goes by, the physical, tangible changes will appear smaller and less important, but if you have done your job right, your students will be more aware of the intangible mental and emotional changes they are making and continue their training, because (like physical strength) mental strength takes regular exercise to maintain . . . or increase.

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Tools & Tactics

Use the Basic Tenets of Self-Defense in Your Business ➽One of the most basic tenets of self-defense is to use

AMBER LOGAN is a martial arts business development consultant with a background in multiple sales disciplines, event promotion, and an active student of the martial arts.

your strong points and cover your weak points. If you want to survive, you don’t attack an assailant’s fist with your face . . . Your business should follow the same model: use your strong points, and cover your weak points. What are your strong points? If you have a professional martial arts school, you are probably a great teacher. Your students love your classes. They respect you and cherish the time you spend with them. You should spend most of your time teaching and mentoring, to keep your student retention high and encourage word-of-mouth advertising. If you love the martial arts, chances are also good that you love to tell people about the benefits of martial arts training. That makes you a great promoter. The more people you can talk to, the more people you can convince to take your classes, and the more students you will have. You should also spend a large part of your time promoting, to recruit more students and help your school grow. What are your weak points? I know I don’t know you, but I’m going to guess that you didn’t become a banker or an accountant because you enjoy teaching more than you enjoy business. For most martial arts instructors, collecting money from students is not a strong point. My experience with talking to martial arts masters all

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across the country is that they love teaching the martial arts and hate asking for money. In fact, most masters love their students, so if the student comes with a financial problem, the master’s first inclination is to say, “Don’t worry about the money. Just keep training, and pay me when you can.” That response sounds noble, but is not a great business plan. If you are nice to enough students, you will eventually have to close your school, and punish all your students – even those who paid faithfully. What can you do? Be professional. Hire other professionals to cover your weak points. If the toilet breaks, call a plumber. If you are not particularly good at sales, hire a program manager who is. If you are not good at keeping accurate records, use a management software program that specializes in the martial arts, like ATLAS Pro. If you are not an expert in tax law, pay someone like H & R Block to help you prepare your tax return. If you are not a good bill collector (or even if you are good at it, but don’t like to do it), hire a professional billing company like AMS to handle your tuition. In order to defend your business from a variety of threats, use your strong points to grow your business and cover your weak points by hiring professionals with the knowledge and experience to help you. It’s not only sound business, it’s also basic selfdefense.

Martial Arts Philosophy

The Tale of the Forty Brooms part 2 (Continued story from last issue)

SENSEI GARY LEE, the American Samurai, is a 9th degree black belt, a U.S.A. Karate Federation gold medalist, winner of 5 Super Grand National Titles, a featured actor in the movie Sidekicks, and is the founder of the National Sport Karate Museum.

I finally got to the hardware store, soaking wet and scared because I didn’t know what to expect. Mr. Williams had received a phone call and was expecting me when I walked in the store. He had put duct tape around both ends of the handles of the brooms so I could drag them back to the dojo. I could see Mr. Williams felt sorry for me. I was a big kid, but I was only nine years old and a major storm had hit Honolulu. Mr. Williams said, “Kid, I will let you take the wheel barrow. Just bring it back. I don’t know what you did to make Sensei Kishi so upset!” Well, it helped a little, but not a lot. Sand, rain, hard rain, a wheel barrow and a kid pushing it for ten miles . . . well, you can imagine. I was tired and mentally wasted. I cried a lot that day. I learned the lesson: Never talk back and always respect your peers, but most importantly, never question or raise my voice to Sensei, for he is the teacher. Osu! I finally got back to the dojo and was met by Sensei at the door. He looked at me and I broke down and cried again. I said I was sorry for my attitude and it would never happen again. I believe that day changed my life. I can’t remember ever getting upset since that walk in the rain. Sensei Kishi and I bonded that stormy day like father and son. Oh, by the way, what happened to the forty brooms? That night Sensei Kishi demonstrated Kyoshi-Jujitsu. He gave the brooms one at a time to each black belt present. Then he instructed each black belt to attack him with an overhead or thrusting strike, broom handle forward.

96 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 19 | ISSUE 3

What I saw next I have never seen again in all my world travels: He broke the brooms in half. The punch from the arm symbolized the attacking blow. He was so precise that he would break it low symbolizing the wrist and then high which would be the elbow breaking. He stopped at thirty-nine and said, “Gary, get the last broom and bring it to me now!” I was so scared, and it was so silent you could hear a pin drop on the sand. Remember there were over thirty black belts there plus all the students. No one knew what my day had been like or the lesson that I had learned, but that was okay because I did learn. So, I took the last broom, got into attack position and waited for Sensei to Kia for my attack. I waited and waited. It seemed like forever. He moved, I screamed and thrust the broom forward as hard as I could with my body and soul. He caught the handle, flipped it over, swept me to the floor and was sweeping my face and body in about three seconds from the time I had thrust the broom at him. Wow! He could have broken my arm and taken me out of the picture. He helped me up, hugged me, and we both said, “Osu.” For the very first time, I realized what “osu” meant: RESPECT, RESPECT, RESPECT! Then he gave me the unbroken broom and said, “Gary you will not forget this day for I would like for you to sweep the front area of the dojo every day after school or until you leave.” The front of the dojo area was sand! I took the broom and said, “Yes, Sir, Sensei.” I swept the front area every day until I was fourteen and left for the mainland.

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