March 2019

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247

$

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A • • • • • •

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GET A COACH. GET RESULTS.

REAL SCHOOL OWNERS

R E A L R E S U LT S “We dove into the first year using MAIA Elite’s proven systems and in 10 months, we doubled our active student count and tripled our gross revenue.”

— George Sky, Sky Centers Martial Arts “In the past 3 years, we’ve doubled our membership base, and no longer stress to pay the expenses AND ourselves. We have more freedom in our schedules, and a well-trained team that has stepped up to handle a lot more.”

— Chris & Amanda Hamm, Hamm’s Martial Arts “The people of MAIA Elite are already successful and have been doing it a while. What better way to be successful than to find successful people and model your business after them.”

— Scott Mischke, Lantana Taekwondo “Every time I go to a conference, I realize that there is more to learn and that I can still grow and maximize my business. I go to work these days because I want to, not because I have to.”

— Michael Bank, Capital Karate “They have really connected the dots for us and really helped take our business to the next level.

— Kevin Nevels, Coppell Taekwondo

Schedule your free consultation today!

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A HELPING HAND IN YOUR STORY

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©2018 MAIA, LLC. #15869

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PA Y

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S OF T WAR

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Strong

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ANSWERS: 1)c. 2) Coral (red/black or red/white) and red. 3) Jason David Frank (Green Ranger). 4) “The Way of the Hand and Foot,” or “Kick Fist Way.”

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MARTIAL ARTS TRIVIA — THE DALAI LAMA

WORDS OF WISDOM

YOU ASKED WHAT IS YOUR OPINION (OR PRACTICE) WHEN IT COMES TO ALLOWING STUDENTS TO COMPETE IN THE OPEN TOURNAMENT CIRCUIT?

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New speakersandbooked! learn from

these martial arts leaders in Las Vegas.

Hakim Isler Known as the “Black MacGyver” on the TV show, “Naked and Afraid”, Iraq War vet, survival instructor, and 4thdegree ninjutsu black belt.

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Author, consultant and empowerment speaker with a 6th-degree black belt in traditional taekwondo.

DON GULLA

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apolo ladra Kali master and creator of the iKALI and Kali-4-Kids programs.

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© 2019 MAIA, LLC # 16252

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We’re seeking writers MASUCCESS is looking for freelance writers to join our dynamic team of U.S. correspondents. We pay some of the best rates in the industry and all payments are upon acceptance.

Writers should have some knowledge of the martial arts school business.

When responding, please feel free to pitch your story ideas (4 to 5 paragraphs including the type of photos/images that you can supply to accompany your idea).

We prefer email responses. Do NOT send any completed manuscripts. We do NOT have time to read completed articles and they typically do not t our standards or editorial format.

Please email your reply or story pitch to John Corcoran, Managing Editor, at jcorcoran@masuccess.com

We’re seeking story leads MASUCCESS is seeking reader tips and leads to nd successful school owners in the U.S. and Canada. If you know of a highly successful single- or multi-school owner who you believe can teach our readers the tricks of the trade, please submit his or her name, a brief description of his or her degree of success and his or her contact information. We will follow up on all legitimate leads.

Please email your leads to John Corcoran, Managing Editor, at jcorcoran@masuccess.com. jc

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HEAR FROM YOUR PEERS

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Which of the following best describes the highest level of sparring your students reach?

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70

%

FULL-CONTACT SPARRING

%

SEMI- OR CONTROLLEDCONTACT SPARRING

3

%

NO-CONTACT SPARRING

Approximately how often does your school practice sparring?

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64

%

23

%

WEEKLY

DAILY

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MONTHLY

%

RARELY OR NEVER

Which of the following protective equipment is required while sparring at your school?

83 19 90 36 88 83 48 47 %

Headgear

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%

Face Shield

%

Mouth Guard

%

Chest Protector

%

Gloves

%

Cup

%

%

Shin Protectors

(including elbow pads, forearm, or foot gear)

Other

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Century®

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FEATURES AND BENEFITS: UU UU UU

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3 HIGHLIGHTS: UU

LEARN KAMA TECHNIQUES, COMBOS, AND TRICKING FROM THE WORLD CHAMPION, MACKENSI EMORY!

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LEARN KAMA TECHNIQUES, JOIN US AS WE BEGIN A NEW AND CLASS GUARANTEED TO COMBOS, CHALLENGING AND TRICKING TEACH YOU THE TIPS AND TRICKS USED FROM THEBYWORLD MACKENSI CHAMPION, HERSELF. MACKENSI EMORY!

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JOIN US AS WE BEGINSchool A NEW AND Name CHALLENGING CLASS GUARANTEED TO TEACH YOU THE TIPS AND TRICKS USED

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School Name Class Start Date Times School Information: Address Phone Website

The Martial Arts Industry Association or Your School Name Here

SIGN UP WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR TODAY!

has completed

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SIGN UP WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR TODAY!

Student’s Name

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School Information: Address Phone Website

THE FLOW SYSTEM: KAMAS:

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Congratulations on your dedication and commitment to mastering the advanced level of kamas.

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GET STARTED BY ORDERING MACKENSI’S SIGNATURE KAMAS FROM YOUR INSTRUCTOR!

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The Martial Arts Industry Association or Your School Name Here

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GET STARTED BY ORDERING MACKENSI’S SIGNATURE KAMAS FROM YOUR has completed INSTRUCTOR! THE FLOW SYSTEM: KAMAS:

Student’s Name

MAIA, LLC. Congratulations on your dedication and commitment to mastering the intermediate level ©2019 of kamas. #16021

BEGINNER: THE BEGINNER LEVEL FOCUSES ON BASIC TECHNIQUES TO GIVE YOUR Date

STUDENTS A STRONG TRADITIONAL BASE. YOUR STUDENTS WILL ALSO LEARN A FEW

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The Martial Arts Industry Association or Your School Name Here

Mackensi Emory

SIMPLE MANIPULATIONS TO TEACH DISCIPLINE AND ENHANCE COORDINATION. INTERMEDIATE: INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS WILL EXPERIENCE A STEP UP IN DIFFICULTY

Student’s Name

TO PUSH THEM TO THE NEXT LEVEL. THE COMBOS AND FORM WILL USE THE DRILLS IN

THE FLOW SYSTEM: KAMAS:

has completed

A DYNAMIC WAY THAT INSPIRES CREATIVITY IN YOUR STUDENTS. ADVANCED: THIS LEVEL IS DESIGNED TO FINISH THE TOOLKIT NECESSARY TO BE A PROFICIENT KAMA PRACTITIONER, PERFORMER AND COMPETITOR. SPEED, POWER

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Date

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AND CREATIVE COMBINATIONS WILL ALL COME TOGETHER TO CREATE THE MOST POLISHED STUDENTS POSSIBLE.

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"The Flow System has aided me tremendously in my instructor training. I've been able to set my instructors in front of the program and know that they are going to know how to teach the bo staff fundamentally, all the way up to the more advanced techniques and combos.

We love The Flow!"

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THEFLOWSYSTEM.TV @2018, MAIA, LLC. #15867

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– NORMAN MACEWAN –

HAPPINESS IS NOT SO MUCH IN HAVING AS SHARING. WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET, BUT WE MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE.

“

What does sharing mean to you?

– DALAI LAMA –

SHARE YOUR KNOWLEDGE. IT’S A WAY TO ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY.

”

WEEK TWO

3. Tell us about a time someone shared something with you. How did it make you feel?

2. Why is it important to share?

1.

Ask Your Students:

their homework or offer feedback to your drill partner, you are sharing your knowledge and showing your friends and family that you care about them. One of the easiest ways to make someone feel special is to share something with him.

Sharing knowledge is an important way to participate in the martial arts environment. As your instructors, we share the things you need to learn, grow, and develop into the black belt you want to be. You can do the same by taking the time to share your knowledge, experiences and lessons you have learned with your fellow students and training partners. Sharing stories about your journey could help someone else avoid making a mistake you might have made or could point them in the right direction. We can all help one another pursue our goals if

Why is sharing knowledge important?

3. Where else do you share knowledge?

At home? In school?

2. What has your instructor shared with you lately?

1.

Ask Your Students:

we share those goals and spend time working toward them together. We can leave a lasting impact on the lives of the people around us if we share the things we know and the lessons we have learned.

among people, friends, families, communities or organizations.

KNOWLEDGE SHARING: An activity through which knowledge is exhanged

March 2016

Sharing is a skill that we talk about a lot when we are young, and then less as we grow older.

This is because sharing is a learned skill, like walking or even basic kicks. We have to be coached through even the most simple kicks in the beginning, but as time goes on, they become natural to us. It is the same way with learning to share. As young children, we have to be talked through the steps, but as we mature and grow, things like taking turns, sharing stories or goals, or giving our time to others become second nature to us. Every time you take a moment to help a friend or sibling with

”

WEEK ONE

TAKING TURNS: Waiting for something that you really want.

“

March 2016

is caring.

“

Who do you want to share your goals with?

What do you enjoy sharing with your friends?

3. Why is it important to share?

2. What do you enjoy sharing with your family?

1.

Ask Your Students:

or even just their time with you? Did you feel like you knew them better afterwards? Giving people the chance to get to know who we really are only happens when we spend time sharing with them.

– UNKNOWN –

”

WEEK FOUR

3. What is one goal you want to share today?

2. How many of your peers have the same goals as you?

1.

Ask Your Students:

sharing your goals with other people you may find other people who have the same goals or similar goals. Share encouragement and work together to achieve your goals.

GREAT SATISFACTION COMES FROM SHARING WITH OTHERS.

One of the most important rules you will learn growing up is that “sharing is caring”. Your parents and teachers spend time teaching you to share because they know it will affect the rest of your life. Sharing is a vital aspect of every relationship you have with your family and friends. When we share with others, it makes them feel loved and gives them the chance to feel close to us. When that happens, those people feel more comfortable sharing with us.

Think of the people you feel closest to; when is the last time they shared a story, a memory,

SHARING:

March 2016

To succeed, you should share your goals with other people. Do not be afraid to share your goals with your family and friends. When you share your goals with people who are close to you, it means you can have support and assistance on a daily basis. This also helps motivate you to remain consistent and persistent to achieve your goals. Sharing your goals with other people can also lead to negative responses. Tune out the negativity and distance yourself from that person or people who do not believe in sharing your goals. By

– LEONARD NIMOY –

”

WEEK THREE THE MORE WE SHARE, THE MORE WE HAVE.

is achieving.

“ SHARING:

March 2016

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the sky's

the limit!

Before Wassim Khechen became a master instructor in our industry, he was a vital researcher at the University of Buffalo for the NASA Space Program. Today, with six successful martial arts schools on planet Earth, this rocket scientist and Alumni MAIA Wealth member reached for the stars to make his dreams come true in outer space and in the martial arts!

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ROCKET SCIENTISTS DO EXIST! YOU JUST DON’T MEET THEM OFTEN Wassim Khechen’s (pronounced, wa-sim’ catch’en) exceptional aptitude for science and his keen mind, among other great scientists, helped launch America’s probe of outer space in the 1990s. However, much to his parents’ chagrin, Khechen’s passion for martial arts would eventually take him down a path less traveled by his academic peers, leaving him to explore a world of his own creation.

Originally from Venezuela, Khechen moved to the United States in 1981, landing in Buffalo, New York under protest. A top-rated figh er in his own country (see sidebar story, “Training in Secrecy”), Khechen was poised to test his skills against the best figh ers in world. That was, until his father threw in the towel and took him out of the dojang and into a university far away from his taekwondo school in Venezuela.

“I was supposed to be fighting on the enezuelan Olympic Team, but my father insisted that I focus on my studies instead of martial arts,” Khechen explains. “He sent me to Buffalo, New York, to attend the University of Buffalo. I received a full scholarship that took me all the way through my Ph.D. in the studies of Polymers under High Voltage High Frequency and High Temperature for Aerospace Application.”

The University of Buffalo was one of just five unive sities in the United States that was funded by the U.S. government to work on America’s revamping of their space program known as Star Wars.

Khechen’s mastery in the field of elect onics made him an ideal choice to be on a team of U.S. government experts tasked with creating a complex electrical system for space travel.

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), also known as Star Wars, was a program initiated in 1983 under President Ronald Reagan.

The intent of this program was to develop a sophisticated antiballistic missile system in order to prevent missile attacks from other countries, specifically the oviet Union.

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“Our job was to create and find the right polymer that oes between the batteries/capacitors to create maximum power for space application,” Khechen explains. “We worked with an endless amount of variables, which include high voltage, vacuum, temperature and radiation. We had to do testing under all these circumstances to find the right capacitor to deliver the maximum power that could be used in space without failing.

“We were frequently at the Pentagon working with the Department of Defense. We also worked closely with NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration) and the army and navy. Anything that was related to weapons development is what we did.

“There were a lot of high-level politics attached to my job, which I didn’t like,” Khechen admits. “I also didn’t like working on creating a better weapon. I wasn’t made to destroy. I was made to help others, and that’s what I was doing by teaching martial arts.”

In 1996, Khechen walked away from academic and Star Wars research to teach martial arts full time. Every effort was made by those in charge of the program to reinstate Khechen, but he just wasn’t interested.

“Even though I had offers from the U.S. Army and the University of Simon Bolivar in Venezuela, I declined all of them. I wasn’t going to abandon my martial arts students. So, I went into martial arts full time. It upset my father very much at the time.”

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ENGINEERING A BLUEPRINT FOR CHANGE “I realized that schools don’t train students today the way we did it when I was a kid,” Wassim Khechen points out. “Schools are a business and their programs and training must reflect the sport aspect of martial arts without brutalizing students.

punched with the hand; now we punch with the whole body. The result is much more power delivered without putting stress on the body.

What’s important is how we manage to control the flow of blood while training. It puts you in control of your body and it’s much healthier.

“When I first started teaching, I was being very hard on them because that’s how I was trained. Now that I’m older, I understand that was a mistake. In fact, I lost many good students because I was following an outof-date philosophy that didn’t reflect the attitude of the current generation of students.

“In the old days, we would punch for power and if it hurt, we did 100 more. Same with kicks. In today’s world, we still train hard, but we take care of our body. If something hurts or feels strained, stop and find out what the issue is, then take care of it.

“I wish I’d had the vision back then that I have right now,” Khechen admits. “I understand that martial arts aren’t all about fighting.

Sure, that’s part of the art, but learning to grow as a person and how to respect yourself and others is also very important. ”It’s been said that with age comes wisdom. For Khechen, his perceptions merged with his engineering background to create a blueprint for change. His new focus is on creating a healthy harmony and stronger techniques by engineering a flow between mind, body and spirit.

“I’m an engineer; as such, I began to study the flow of how the body moves when executing a technique,” he explains. “In the past, we only

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“I want to make sure my students are healthy and enjoy their training. I have students in their 70s and I have people with other injuries that train safely and they are excellent fighters.

“We can keep the spirit of the old ways,” he insists. “We enhance the mental discipline of traditional training. When you need old-school power, you can explode into it at the very second you need it.

“By teaching students how to relax and to create a flow, you punch faster with more power. Basically, I’m still going to hit the same way as when I was 20. I’m 58 years old now and, by staying relaxed up to until the microsecond before I hit my target, I hit harder and faster than ever.”

1/7/19 9:30 AM

LEARNING THE BUSINESS THROUGH MAIA

MAIA’S BUSINESS SYSTEMS FIX ANY ISSUE

Walking away from a lucrative and prestigious career as a Research Associate at the University of Buffalo to teach martial arts took a lot of guts. But Khechen didn’t even flinch, and he n ver looked back.

However, when it came to learning the ABCs of building a martial arts empire, even a rocket scientist needs some schooling.

“I think my education background has helped me to become much more open-minded,” Khechen says. “I feel like I can never stop learning and that’s one reason why I’m successful at running multiple schools. I was brought up in a business environment, but it was not the martial arts business, and I didn’t know where to start.

“In 2011, I joined the Martial Arts Industry Association (MAIA) and the help I received was amazing. Frank Silverman and Mike Metzger helped me tremendously. I was stuck and they helped me to take my school to the next level of success. They aren’t just martial artists; they are entrepreneurs themselves and experts at creating business platforms and programs tailored to running a school as a business.

“We all have old habits that we bring with us as new school owners,” Khechen admits. “And some of those habits could cause problems that you don’t know how to fi . MAIA offers solutions that specifically outline what you need o do to correct the problem and to move your school forward.

“For example, I used to think that I only needed to sign 20 students a month. But I wasn’t thinking about the end result, which was how much money am I bringing to the school? I was forgetting to follow the Five Profit enters that I was taught to use.

“My coaches at MAIA showed me how to make effective phone calls, how to contact the school system and how to create programs for them, like an anti-bullying class,” Khechen explains. “The programs and ideas school owners get by being MAIA members will give them step-by-step instructions on how to get new students in the doors and how to keep them excited about their training.

“In the long run, it’s the little things you learn that can make a big difference in your bottom line. If you have a problem in your school, it can be like a cancer. What MAIA does is offer a cure for whatever ails your school.”

“I’ve talked about creating harmony as a way to teach martial arts by using your techniques in an efficient manner that eates a nice flo ,” says Khechen (see sidebar story, “Engineering a Blueprint for Change”). “So, what is the difference between martial arts and business?

“None,” he answers the question himself. “They are the same thing.

“If you have the right person that’s properly trained as a manager, he or she will keep the business flowing smoothl . To make that happen, you must fi st have the proper business platform as a guide.

Again, I’m referring to how effective MAIA can be to any type of business.

Khechen likens the process to learning to throw a good kick.

“You must practice doing it correctly,” he says. “The same is true with the business end of running a school. Whatever the business sells, follow the culture of the business programs just like you follow the culture of your class and they will both work in harmony.

“All of these platforms are addressed in MAIA’s programs. MAIA has a system in place to fix any issue a business owner will ace. They can show you how to grow any business, but it comes down to having the focus and dedication to follow the program.”

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“My coaches at MAIA showed me how to make effective phone calls, how to contact the school system and how to create programs for them, like an anti-bullying class. The programs and ideas school owners get by being MAIA members will give them step-by-step instructions on how to get new students in the door and how to keep them excited about their training.”

1/7/19 9:30 AM

TRAINING IN SECRECY! In 1970 and 1978, Wassim Khechen was crowned National Champion in Venezuela and also the South American Champion. His path to victory, though, was originally cloaked in secrecy to hide his training from his parents.

“I got started in the martial arts because my older and much bigger brother liked to hit me,” Khechen explains. “Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been a fighter and was constantly getting into trouble. I wanted to be the best fighter possible.

“So, when a friend took me to his taekwondo school, I knew that was something I wanted to try. But I had to keep it a secret from my dad because I was always getting into fights at school and I knew he wouldn’t let me learn taekwondo. My reasoning was, since I’m always getting into fights at school, if I learn taekwondo I could start beating everyone up.”

To hide the fact he was secretly training, Khechen kept his uniform at his friend’s house.

Six months of hard traditional training instilled a new sense of respect for himself and for others.

Soon, the former schoolyard pugilist noticed his grades were improving and he wasn’t fighting and getting into trouble at school.

“I was still training in secret, keeping it from my dad,” says Khechen. “I was a yellow belt when one of my cousins came in to join the school and saw me. He promised not to tell my dad, but guess what happened?

He did tell my father. But dad said I could keep training unless my grades dropped.”

With his father’s cautionary blessing, Khechen stopped fighting in the schoolyard.

Instead, he put his skills to use as a tournament fighter and became a force to be reckoned with in and out of the ring.

“Once I learned that you didn’t have to get upset if you lose, I relaxed and began to have fun as a fighter,” Khechen says. “Once the pressure was off me to win every time, I became a champion.

“Anyone can become a champion,” he adds.

“In life or in business, if you train hard or work hard and have the right tools, you can become a champion in anything you do. But you have to know where you’re going, set your goals, and have the right people to support you — and you’ll achieve your dream.”

This byproduct of martial arts training didn’t go unnoticed by his father, even though his dad still had no idea that his son was learning martial arts.

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USING THE FIVE PROFIT CENTERS

CREATING LEADS THROUGH COLORING PAGES

“After leaving the Star Wars program, I was finally doing what I wanted to do, and that was teaching martial arts at my own school,” Khechen says. “My fi st location was a very small school. I only had a handful of students, but I grew it to where I had more than 500 students.”

He then bought another location, also in Buffalo. Master Khechen’s Martial Arts Academy is, he says, three times the size of the original school. It serves as his headquarters for what has grown into six locations. Five are in western New York and one’s in Charlotte, North Carolina. His total number of students is around 2,000.

“I want to make sure that every one of our schools clears at least $40,000 a month,” explains Khechen. “Some of our locations are already well beyond that, and some of our younger schools are still working towards it. But $40,000 is our standard.

“All you need is a couple hundred students and you can do that easily. I just follow the Five Profit enters program from MAIA to make that happen. The Five Profit enters is a series of steps designed to grow your school and increase your profits. tep one is about tuition. It shows a school owner how to get students in the door and how to keep them coming back.

“Step two is the school’s membership upgrades and how to upgrade services. Our upgrades include the Black Belt Club and the Masters Club. Our membership is $159 a month. An upgrade to the Black Belt Club is $179 and our Masters Club is $189 a month.

“Number three is a pro shop that sells bags, pads uniforms and weapons. Profit enter four is about how to do testing. We charge a fee every time someone tests for a new belt or level. And for number five Special Events] we do tournaments. For us, tournaments aren’t so much about making money, but about keeping our students with us for a long time.”

Number five also includes vents, private lessons, birthday parties, Buddy Day and Movie Nights.

“Every month, we have one different event in the school,” Khechen says. “We charge for every event because we have staff running those extra events.”

Khechen created a unique way to build his contact list in local academic schools by using coloring pages. Once a month, he picked a theme based on whatever holiday was at hand. For example, in December, kids grabbed their favorite crayons and drew a picture associated with Christmas. Then Khechen meets with different schools, clubs and organizations and tells them he will donate a dollar per coloring page that is sent to his school.

The sound of free money for a crayon drawing of Frosty or Tom Turkey or a zombie at Halloween opened a lot of doors for Khechen.

In the process, he has created a mammoth-sized contact sheet for potential students.

“It’s very effective and the kids love it,” Khechen says. “This gets us into [academic] schools and the PTA (Parent Teachers Association). I came up with the idea of giving a dollar to the PTA for every coloring page that I display in my school.

“To submit a coloring page, it must contain the child’s contact information,” he explains. “I use that information to build my contact list, and I can get as many as 500 a month. And if I only get a handful of students from the $500 I gave to the PTA, it’s money well-spent.

Then, at the end of the month, we pick one winner and he or she gets a $100 gift certifica e.”

Master Khechen’s Martial Arts Academy in Buffalo is, he says, three times the size of the original school. It serves as his headquarters for what has grown into six locations. Five are in western New York and one’s in Charlotte, North Carolina. His total number of students is around 2,000.

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RESPECTING GRAVITY If anyone knows about the power of gravity, it’s Master Wassim Khechen. It was his expertise on the subject that sent rockets into outer space powered by the batteries and capacitors he helped to design for NASA’s Star Wars Program.

“You must respect gravity,” Khechen warns. “Gravity affects everything we do as marital artists. By using different angles, you can put your opponent into a position where gravity is your friend. If you know how to move or maneuver your opponent into a position that takes away his or her balance, you can punch or kick or throw with much more power and effectiveness.

“It takes time and understanding of angles, not just your opponent’s but your own. The way you stand, your stance, it all plays a part in how you use gravity to your advantage. “

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“I teach the science behind movements, so students understand why a foot goes there instead of over there, and why it’s important to maintain a straight posture.

Knowing how a simple step in a specific direction and angle can offset an attack, because now gravity is assisting you to control what the other fighter does.

It’s a science of movement. If you lift your leg to kick, but you’re off angle you could injury your back. Also, that could set you up to be swept off your feet.

Then gravity is your opponent’s friend.

“This type of body management is difficult to teach to young people because, at their age, they don’t have years’ worth of injuries to worry about. But as you get older, understanding how to use gravity prevents injury, because your body is in perfect alignment and it makes you a better fighter.”

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SUMMARY “To submit a coloring page, it must contain the child’s contact information. I use that information to build my contact list, and I can get as many as 500 a month. And if I only get a handful of students from the $500 [$1 per page] I gave to the PTA, it’s money well-spent. Then, at the end of the month, we pick one winner and he or she gets a $100 gift certificate.”

“This is a business,” Wassim Khechen strongly emphasizes when speaking about his schools and his martial arts career. “McDonalds doesn’t give away free French fries with every burger. We are a business, too, and I have bills and employees to pay just like everyone else.

“I do a lot of public speaking and I’m always asked how do I manage to run six locations,” Khechen says. “To me, managing a business of any kind is like having a family.

“When you have only one child to raise, it’s not that difficu . If you have two kids to raise, it becomes a little harder. Add a third and it gets even harder. My point is, if you do a good job with the fi st child, what you learn from those lessons will help you with the second child and so forth.

“My family is the people that train under me. They know what I expect of them and they pass those lessons on down the line. In effect, we are creating a culture, or a formula, for others to follow.

“To be successful in business you need to have a culture in your school. By that, I mean you’re developing a method of understanding how classes should be taught. After someone proves that he or she can run a class according to the culture of the school, the next step is for them to learn what it takes to run that school as a business.”

Khechen believes that if you want to soar to the top of your business, you must bring along the people that you have trained and that understand the culture of the school.

“I want all of my people to become wealthy and successful,” Khechen says. “Teaching someone how to run a martial arts class easy; anyone can do it. But teaching someone how to run a martial arts business is hard.”

Khechen has built a growing martial arts empire and, in the process, has morphed into a martial arts entrepreneur who plans to expand even more — way more — this year.

“My goal is to open up six more locations,” he says. “Five of them will be in Charlotte, North Carolina. Once we are done there, then I would like to duplicate our success in Miami, Florida.” e

m Terry Wilson is a multi-Emmy Award-winning TV personality/ producer and freelance writer. He may be reached at tleewilson@ gmail.com.

To read more about many other successful martial arts instructors, visit the Martial Arts Industry Association’s website at www. maiahub.com. Through this constantly-enhanced website, members can access a massive amount of useful information for school owners on just about any topic from A to Z.

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M W TE

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I WILL NOT BE SILENT

MACKENSI EMORY WORLD CHAMPION TEAM PAUL MITCHELL KARATE

“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2018 Century, LLC. 011/2018 #15779

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©2018 MAIA, LLC. #15779

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I • • •

JU W TE

. e m

“C

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I WILL NOT BE SILENT

JUSTIN ORTIZ WORLD CHAMPION TEAM PAUL MITCHELL KARATE

“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2018 Century, LLC. 011/2018 #15779

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©2018 MAIA, LLC. #15779

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ZSOLT MÓRÁDI TEAM PAUL MITCHELL KARATE FIGHTING CHAMPION

CenturyMartialArts.com/cgear (800) 626-2787

“C

“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2018 Century, LLC. 09/2018 #15604

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LET’S UNITE & SPEAK OUT AGAINST BULLYING Team Paul Mitchell Karate and Century Martial Arts have joined forces around the mission of bringing an end to the silence of bullying.

Together with UnifyAgainstBullying.org we are encouraging your schools to get involved in sending a strong message to your community.

#UnifySelfieChallenge Thank you for your support on October 13th for the Social Media Takeover. Let’s keep the momentum going and continue to stand together against bullying!

Encourage your students, parents, and staff to take the Unify Selfie Challenge.

It’s easy! Just write the word Unify on the back of your hand or a piece of tape, place it over your mouth, and take a selfie! When you post on your social media just use the text below. Make sure to challenge your friends, favorite martial artists and celebrities!

TYLER WEAVER WORLD CHAMPION TEAM PAUL MITCHELL KARATE

“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2018 Century, LLC. 011/2018 #15779

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©2018 MAIA, LLC. #15779

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DO YOU KNOW...

THE 7 STEPS FOR TEACHING A DRILL? THE COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TEACHING CHILDREN? METHODS FOR TEACHING CHILDREN THAT WORKS BEST FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE?

MO S T S C HOOL S DO NO T H AV E T HE B A SIC UNDER S TA NDING OF C HIL D P S YCHOL OG Y A ND T HE PR OPER WAY OF T E A C HING 3 - T O 6 -Y E A R - OL D S .

T H A T ’ S W H Y C H I L D D E V E L O P M E N T E X P E R T, M E L O D Y S H U M A N DE V E L OP E D T HE ULT IM AT E C HIL DR E N ’ S C UR R IC UL UM .

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HEY GUYS! I want to personally invite you to attend my pre-conference event, “The Ultimate Instructor Development Workshop for Anyone Teaching 3- to 6-Year Olds”, at the 2019 Martial Arts SuperShow! Last year, we hit record attendance numbers and I don’t want you to miss out.

This workshop will break down how to teach your youngest students, using age-specific methods that will not just get them engaged for one class, but will start to lay the foundation for learning and retaining martial arts-applicable skills. Learn specific methods to teaching young children and creative drills you can take home and implement immediately! Even if you have never taught children, this can even become your favorite class!

Visit MASuperShow.com for more info. I hope to see you there!

-

N

Melody Shuman

P.S. If you are already a PreSKILLZ member, you will get one ticket to my pre-con plus a bonus hour of behind-the-scenes training for free!

Tr an s f or m your clas s e s .

V isi t Pr e SK IL L Z .c om today. ©2019 MAIA, LLC. #16164

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GIS, GRAPPLING...

GAMENESS! CENTURY’S NEW PARTNER In July 2018, Century Martial Arts and Gameness, the Dallas, Texas-based martial arts company renowned for its high-quality Brazilian jiu-jitsu gis, announced they had formed a joint venture. Beyond benefitting the companies, the new partnership will predictably have a positive impact on both their customer bases.

BY SARAH LOBBAN

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GAMENESS JIU-JITSU ROOTS “Gameness is one of the largest jiu-jitsu brands in the world,” explains Kris Horner, owner of Gameness for the past eight years.

“It’s also one of the oldest jiu-jitsu brands in the world.”

To fully appreciate what it means for Gameness to have reached the level of success it has today, you have to understand the evolution of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) within the United States. It didn’t always have the status it does today. In fact, before the 1980s, the sport was virtually unknown.

Rorion Gracie, son of the legendary Helio Gracie, one of BJJ’s founders, brought the art to the U.S. in 1978. Despite Rorion’s expertise and the quality of education he offered, he struggled to make BJJ catch on. Part of the problem was the fact that, at the time, Americans associated martial arts with what they saw in Bruce Lee films. That is, striking, kicking and weapons. Since BJJ has none of these things, it went largely overlooked.

Because BJJ was still overshadowed by arts like karate, wouldbe BJJ students had a hard time finding the necessary uniforms.

(If you’ve ever tried grappling in a karate gi, you know it makes a terrible substitute).

This was before online retail became common. So, the average student couldn’t simply turn to the internet to get what he/she

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needed. Most people relied on their martial arts instructors to supply them with gear and uniforms — and their instructors were in the same gi-less boat.

Gameness was founded in Nashville, TN to fill that product void. Kris Horner knew a good thing when he saw it. He bought the business from the original owner and moved it to Dallas, TX in 2010.

“He saw a need in the market for quality products that gym owners could provide for their students,” says Horner. “As a gym owner himself, he was having a hard time doing that, and knew others would be as well. So, he founded Gameness.”

A FOCUS ON CUSTOMERS As the first U.S. jiu-jitsu gi brand, Gameness quickly assumed responsibility for helping the sport grow. The company played a key role pitching in to help at tournaments, and today still supports the competitive BJJ community, at both a local level and through the Gameness ProTeam (see sidebar story, “Meet the Gameness ProTeam”).

It also gave BJJ gym owners, who had once struggled to find any uniforms, a wealth of options to choose from.

“Gameness was one of the fi st companies to really pioneer low-

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volume, high-quality custom products,” Horner says. “We brought some new technologies to the market. We also created a sublimated patch program that’s expanded into screen printing, and further expanded into fully customized rash guards.”

In doing so, Gameness gave gym owners — including local and single-school operations — a way to offer branded products in their own gyms. This allowed them to better establish their businesses, and to draw more students through their doors and into jiu-jitsu and the martial arts.

As it became obvious that jiu-jitsu was a growing industry, competitors began to pop up. However, Gameness stayed at the head of the pack thanks to a simple, twofold strategy. One: Deliver high-quality, affordable products that school owners could readily sell to their students. Two: In every action, put the customers first.

“We pride ourselves on world-class customer service,” Horner explains. “If you hang out in the Gameness hallways for very long, you’ll hear someone talking about customer service, which is really the test in everything we do. If we’re trying to make a decision about what to do regarding a person or practice, the question we ask is, ‘What will improve our customers’ experience?’”

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THE ROAD TO SUCCESS This customer-fi st strategy has made Gameness a well-loved name in the BJJ world. Look for information on Gameness online. whether you turn to blogs, review forums or martial arts chat sites, and look, you’ll find them cited. You’ll get a clear picture of a company that’s popular and admired by everyone from beginning students to pros to school owners.

It also won the respect of another martial arts company: Century Martial Arts, located just three hours north of Gameness in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Century and Gameness were never direct competitors. Although Century carries some BJJ gis and belts, its main market is traditional martial arts schools. More importantly, Gameness’ story and values resonated with Century founder and CEO Mike Dillard.

Like Gameness, Century had started small, when one enterprising person noticed a need in the market. As it grew, Dillard was mindful of Century’s original mission to help spread martial arts and support school owners. He kept customer service as a top priority — and recognized other companies that did the same.

“We saw when Brazilian jiu-jitsu fi st started exploding in popularity in the United States,” Dillard remembers. “Several companies had entered the market. We watched this as it grew. It

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GAMENESS became apparent to us that Gameness was going to be one of the winners. They established a reputation for service and quality, and those are key elements in our business.”

Kris Horner adds, “I think there’s a lot of mutual respect [between Century and Gameness]. Everyone works very hard to serve our customers.”

TEAMING UP If you’re a Gameness fan and you’re wondering what this news means for your favorite gi brand, don’t worry! The Gameness team will remain the same, and their headquarters will remain in Dallas.

Both Horner and Dillard are keen to stress that the partnership was made by mutual decision. In fact, it was Gameness who came to Century with the idea.

“During [a martial arts seminar] in Dallas, Kris and I were both there,” Dillard recalls. “He approached me and broached the idea that we might do some kind of merger. His sincerity and his intelligence [stood out], and he seemed like a good guy. I thought, ‘This is someone we can work with.’”

The further talk of joining the companies progressed, the more it seemed like the partnership was meant to be.

“I realized that Century absolutely has the culture of high integrity, and taking care of their customers and employees,” says Horner. “That aligned itself really nicely with the environment that we have at Gameness.

“We both try to work hard and have fun. We take our job and our customer service very seriously. We’re very passionate about those things. We have an environment where everyone works hard together and enjoys the martial arts along the way.”

SHARED CULTURES Speaking of enjoying the martial arts: Part of the reason the decision to merge was so easy is that Gameness and Century share very common cultures. Of course, both have the commitment to customer service, but it goes beyond that. The companies don’t just make martial arts gear, but are actively involved in the martial arts community.

“Most of our employees train [in Brazilian jiu-jitsu or other arts],” Horner says. “It’s not uncommon for employees to be

GAMENESS AT THE MARTIAL ARTS SUPERSHOW If you attended the recent 2018 Martial Arts SuperShow, which took place July 1st through 4th at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, this news about the Century/ Gameness partnership probably came as no surprise. Walking the tradeshow floor, you would have noticed Gameness among the 70-plus vendors featured at the Show.

This was Gameness’ first appearance at the Show, and it was a hit!

Reese Hall, a Gameness Brand Ambassador, was manning the Gameness booth when Century Social Media stopped by for an interview. Like many people on the Show’s final day, Hall seemed tired, but his enthusiasm was undimmed.

“It’s [been] really cool,” he says. “I’ve been reading Black Belt Magazine since 1986, and I’ve been involved with martial arts my whole life. So, it was kind of like a dream come true for me to get to see so many people. . . like Justin Wren, John Hackleman, Mike Swain. A lot of the guys

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who are still very prevalent in jiu-jitsu and judo.”

Of course, it’s practically impossible for a lifelong martial artist like Hall to attend the Show and not have an amazing experience. That’s because the Show offers so much for so many. But how was the Show for Gameness as a company? “[Attending the Martial Arts SuperShow] has been great for us. We’ve gotten to reach out and make new contacts that we normally wouldn’t be able to have conversations with,” he explains. “It’s definitely beneficial to open some new doors.”

Hall was not the only one excited for Gameness to be at the Show, however.

Again, the primary goal of the Century/ Gameness partnership was to benefit both company’s customers. Asked if people had seemed excited to see Gameness, Hall chuckled.

“Everyone [has been]!” he exclaims. “It’s been exhausting — in a good way!”

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GAMENESS

GET TO KNOW THE GAMENESS PROTEAM Like many martial arts companies, Gameness helps sponsor athletes by providing them with support and gear in their art of choice — in this case, Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). However, Kris Horner points out that Gameness doesn’t just sponsor anyone who wants to showcase the brand. They have to meet high competitive and moral standards, too.

“We look for athletes that are not only amazing athletically, but also promote jiujitsu on a global basis through competitions, seminars and social media,” Horner explains.

“By supporting these athletes, we believe we can help introduce more people to jiu-jitsu and grow the jiu-jitsu community.”

When the Gameness/Century partnership was being formalized, there was no question that the ProTeam was a feature that had to stay!

Here are just a few of the extraordinary members of the Gameness ProTeam:

JOAO GABRIEL ROCHA Simply looking over the list of titles Joao Gabriel Rocha has won gives you a sense of his strength as a competitor. As a colored belt (someone who is past a white belt, but has not yet reached black), Rocha was a CBJJ Brazilian National Championship winner and two-time IBJJF World Championship winner.

He had won the juvenile version of both championships in earlier years.

However, his most impressive battle took place off the mats. in 2014, he was diagnosed with cancer and had to halt training and competing while he underwent chemotherapy. Throughout the ordeal, he drew on his BJJ training for strength and remained focused on returning to the sport.

Since returning to competition, he has twice won the IBJJF Pan American Championship, among other achievements.

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RAFAEL “FORMIGA” BARBOSA If you follow mainstream Brazilian jiu-jitsu news, you may have heard Rafael Barbosa’s name recently. In August of this year (2018), he won double gold at the World Master Championship held in Las Vegas.

Barbosa was inspired to begin his training after witnessing one of the original BJJ greats, Royce Gracie, compete in the UFC. Barbosa helped co-found the Soul Fighters team in Brazil, uniting several teams together into a collaborative, mutually supportive environment.

In 2005, Barbosa moved to the United States from Brazil, and today teaches in Texas, where he moved in 2017.

OSVALDO MOIZINHO Osvaldo Moizinho began training in martial arts at age 8, but he didn’t discover BJJ until he was 16. However, he quickly made up for lost time, throwing himself into training with a passion. He pushed himself to excel, but his BJJ career was fraught with challenges.

He describes a low time in his life, when he spent all his money to enter the Worlds, only to lose in the first round. When he moved to the U.S. from Brazil, he spent time living out of his gym.

But Moizinho persevered. Today, he’s an instructor at Ares BJJ in Modesto, California, which he cofounded. Since the loss at Worlds, he has gone on to become a three-time World No-Gi Champion and World Masters Champion.

To see more Gameness ProTeam members, go to Gameness.com/ProTeam.

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GAMENESS

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scheduling training sessions together before or after work or during their lunch breaks. That helps a lot when it comes to getting to know the customers. It also helps us understand the needs of the gym owners.

“We’re also conveniently located in Dallas, where we’re surrounded by a lot of high-quality athletes, including members of the Gameness ProTeam, on a regular basis. We’re very close to those athletes, which is helpful in terms of product development.”

Likewise, Century has fostered a “by-martial-artists, for-martialartists” mindset since day one. So, any new projects taken as a joint Century-Gameness venture won’t just stem from business collaboration. It would derive from more martial artists getting together and sharing ideas.

A WIN FOR THE CUSTOMERS As you would expect, when two customer-service-oriented companies team up, the result is improved benefits for both of their customer bases. Although the partnership is still relatively new, Horner and Dillard are already looking ahead to find new ways to bring the best of both worlds to their customers. “[As a company], we think about, ‘How can we deliver even more value to our customers?’” explains Horner. “How can we give them sort of a ‘bigger bag of tricks?’ In visiting with Century, we discovered their ability to embroider, their ability to do screen printing, and a lot of customization assets that they had. It would take us years to acquire the equipment and the expertise to be able to do those things. So, that was very compelling for us.”

And then, of course, there’s the Martial Arts Industry Association (MAIA), Century’s consulting branch. MAIA provides advice and guidance for martial arts school owners. Many schools have used tools and resources from MAIA to successfully expand their businesses, increase student retention and improve their numbers.

However, MAIA’s clients are mostly traditional martial arts schools.

This is not by design. There simply isn’t as much knowledge of Century or MAIA in the jiu-jitsu community. However, in Horner’s opinion there’s no reason MAIA can’t work just as well for jiujitsu schools.

“There’s a different curriculum [in a BJJ gym]. But how you serve the customers, how you do student retention, how you bring people in the doors, is the same,” adds Dillard. “In a martial arts school, the best thing that can happen is to create a community environment.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu has always had that.

“Brazilian jiu-jitsu gyms produce some great MMA figh ers, but that’s not all they do. They produce great younger people with all the same tenets — respect, courtesy, perseverance — as any martial art. I think [these schools] are a match for MAIA. If we can get a few more BJJ schools to try it, I think it’ll spread. We can really help them, and that helps everybody.”

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Horner agrees.

“The same techniques [other MAIA schools use] can absolutely be applied to jiu-jitsu,” he states. “They have a lot of value. But the jiu-jitsu community isn’t necessarily aware of all the amazing things Century has done for martial arts as a whole. I think Gameness can help shed some light on those resources.”

Century customers, on the other hand, will gain more exposure to Gameness and all it has to offer. Retail customers, who may train in traditional martial arts as well as jiu-jitsu, will now have a single channel to all the gear they need for their training.

School owners who shop with Century and already offer Brazilian jiu-jitsu will be able to expand their programs with all the custom options Gameness brings. Even non-BJJ schools, who might not be interested in Gameness’ gi uniforms, can benefit from offering fully customized rash guards!

And, of course, the biggest benefit may simply be the one found in the old axiom, “Two heads are better than one.”

“ When two customer-serviceoriented companies team up, the result is improved benefits for both of their customer bases. Although the partnership is still relatively new, Horner and Dillard are already looking ahead to find new ways to bring the best of both worlds to their customers.”

“We think that by putting the two companies together, we can exchange best business practices,” explains Dillard. “There’s no doubt we can learn something from Kris, and I hope he learns a thing or two from us.” e m Sarah Lobban is the Associate Publications Editor for the Martial Arts Industry Association. She can be reached at slobban@ centurymartialarts.com.

Through the newly enhanced MAIA website, you can access nearly any piece of information, from A to Z, about what you want to help grow your school. Visit www.maiahub.com to also find other great features available only online.

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and TRAIN WITH THE BEST S ee more P re-Conference event detail s at M A Super Show.com

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© 2019 2018 MAIA, LLC. #16098

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Bo Staff & Kama Instructor Training Workshop

Martial Arts Business Forum

Mackensi Emory, jackson MackensiRudolph Emory & & Robby Beard jackson Rudolph Date & Time: Sunday, June 30, 2pm-6pm

Cost: $99

Frank Silverman Date & Time: Monday, July 1, 9:30am-1:30pm

The Legends of Kali II

Cost: 2 people for $99

The Ultimate Instructor Development Workshop for Anyone Teaching 3- to 6-Year-Olds

Apolo Ladra & Dan Inosanto Dates & Times: Saturday, June 29, 3pm-8pm Sunday, June 30, 8am-1pm Sunday, June 30, 3pm-8pm

Cost: 2 Sessions - $299 3 Sessions - $350

Gameness Presents: Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa & Joao Gabriel Rocha

Melody Shuman Date & Time: Sunday, June 30, 2pm-5pm

Cost: $99

(Bonus Hour for PreSKILLZ members 5pm-6pm)

MAIA University Instructor College

Rafael “Formiga” Barbosa & Joao Gabriel Rocha Date & Time: Sunday, June 30, 2pm-5pm

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Cost: $99

Dave Kovar Date & Time: Sunday, June 30, 2pm-5pm

Cost: $129

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We Are Soliciting Schools To Present In Our School Showcase.

If you’ve ever thought about seeing yourself and your school featured in the pages of MASuccess Magazine, now is the time to act! Simply email Sarah Lobban, slobban@centurymartialarts.com saying, "I would like to be considered for the School Showcase."

Sarah will send you an application to complete and return. All applications will be reviewed by the Editorial Board, and will notify you if your are selected.

Š2018 MAIA, LLC. #15836

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why you need Martial Arts SuperShow

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One of the areas where breakthrough stem-cell therapy has shown incredible results is in the field of orthopedics, joint pain and chronic pain. At NovaGenix, a clinic located in Jupiter, Florida, veteran black belt Tim Bruce and his partner have successfully treated injured martial artists of all types, from pro fighters to school-owner instructors. Using same-day stem-cell procedures, patients can come in and receive treatment in about one hour — and the cost is very reasonable!

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T R E AT M E N T Before I delve into my current position treating the injuries of martial arts athletes with state-of-the-art, regenerative-medical techniques, I want to share my martial arts background. I want readers to know that I’m just like a lot of you. I’ve spent most of my life practicing various martial arts. My training ranges from a traditional “old-school” style of karate to, eventually, modern Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), the art I fell in love with.

Coupled with my medical education, my long and diverse martial arts background gives me a unique — and more personalized — agenda in wanting to help my fellow martial artists. My partners and I were able to capitalize on our martial arts experience and, so far, have been successfully treating injured BJJ and mixed martial arts (MMA) figh ers. That’s what I do today.

ANOTHER KID STRUCK BY THE KARATE KID LIGHTNING BOLT! But my story really begins more than 30 years ago, when I saw the movie The Karate Kid, in 1984. As a youngster, it inspired me to try my hand in the martial arts.

After weeks of persistent begging, I was able to convince my parents to sign me up for lessons out of a local Okinawan karate school that was run by a very strict, traditional Japanese sensei. He was very tough and demanding, and I was young and undisciplined.

When practicing katas, if our feet were an inch off f om the proper positioning, he would hit us with a bamboo cane he carried around. This practice would most likely not fly in today’s day and age!

I enjoyed sparring and learning cool self-defense techniques, but the formality and intensity proved too much for me at such a young age. I did manage to earn my blue belt,

Tim Bruce attacking the arm in a BJJ competition in Boca Raton, Florida.

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Dr. Sigman Performing PRP on BJJ World Champion Herbert Burns.

but it was a short-lived career. Like that of many young kids who start taking martial arts classes, it ended way too soon.

However, I can say that the several months I was there did instill in me some valuable knowledge that translated well outside karate and into life. I learned quickly that karate, like any other martial art, takes a lot of hard work and discipline for an individual to become successful.

It was a work ethic that I took into all future endeavors.

BJJ SPEAKS TO HIS HEART I had possessed natural talent and was instinctually drawn to martial arts. So, it was only a matter of time before I retried my luck at finding a new doj . Eventually, I found my way back into a few other martial arts academies. I was able to study a little judo, kenpo and tang soo do. But it wasn’t until 1998, when I was in my early 20s, that I found Tai Kai Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, an academy in Delaware run by Mike Bidwell.

Bidwell is a successful black belt instructor who currently has a massive online following in the BJJ community for his webpage, BJJ After 40. I had been attending the University of Delaware and had wanted to try BJJ after meeting a few Brazilians. I saw the effectiveness of submission grappling in the early UFC events. I tried a class and instantly fell in love.

I had finally ound my calling in martial arts. I had found the one discipline that made the most sense to me and matched well with my natural physical gifts. BJJ spoke to me and I quickly began to excel. I

eventually received my black belt after over a decade of training and my current rank is 2nd-degree black belt.

As coincidence would have it, I ended up meeting another jiu-jitsu aficionad , Andy Stock, who, much like me, had stumbled upon BJJ and quickly fell in love with the art. He had moved to South Florida from Lexington, Kentucky, where he had begun training in the martial arts with Michael O’Donnell, a Carlson Gracie, Jr. black belt at Four Seasons MMA. He had reached out to me online after moving to the Boca Raton area and had asked about a good school to continue training. I suggested the school I was attending, and he came to it to give it a shot.

USING MARTIAL ARTS CONNECTIONS TO LAUNCH A BUSINESS Andy and I became friends and this is where the story of NovaGenix begins. He had approached me about an idea to open up a medical clinic in Jupiter, Florida with him. At the time, he was a 1st-degree black belt in BJJ, a personal trainer, and was also running a few anti-aging clinics in the area. He wanted to start his own clinic.

He knew the clinical side of the business inside and out. Together, we figu ed that we could start a clinic that offered treatment for your typical patient, the men and women who want to look and feel better.

C ON T I N U E D ON PAG E 8 1

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BY TIM BRUCE

HIPI N J U R I E S AND

R E P L AC E M E N T S H A V E B E C O M E A N AT I O N A L I N D U S T R Y E P I D E M I C !

CAN THESE ALTERNATIVE

T R E AT M E N TS H E L P ?

Hip injuries and martial artists are, unfortunately, no strangers to one another. Quite possibly, even more so than any other sport, martial arts training places more stress on the hips.

WHAT CAUSES HIP INJURIES? When athletes start reaching their 30s and 40s, you begin to see a significant increase in the number of both hip injuries and medical procedures, including hip-replacement surgeries. One of the big factors is osteoarthritis, which is a condition caused when the labrum (the ring of cartilage that follows the outside rim of the socket of your hip joint) is dislocated during the act of kicking.

In particular, the roundhouse kick is notorious for putting incredible stress on the joint.

The power generated from the legs can do significant damage, as demonstrated when professional football and baseball player Bo Jackson ended his dual career with a hip injury. He generated so much force running that he pulled his hip out of the socket and damaged the blood vessels that supply the area in the process. This disruption of blood flow to the hip caused a condition called avascular necrosis, which is degeneration of bone tissue due to lack of blood flow to the region.

When the largest muscles in the body and the thigh and hip jointly

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execute a kick, it can shift and pull the labrum out of its place inside the capsule. This is what can cause dislocation and osteoarthritis.

Over time, the repetitive nature and power of these kicks can slowly erode the connective tissue, leaving little options other than total rest or surgical intervention. Historically, martial artists have been taught to ignore the pain and push through these minor nagging injuries. This is unfortunately one of the worst things that one can do for his/her body.

PAIN DOES NOT MEAN GAIN! When a martial arts practitioner begins to feel a twinge of pain, he/she needs to reevaluate their technique and make the necessary corrections. This prevents a small problem from turning into a significant medical condition that will require both intervention and significant time off to heal.

You must listen to your body early in the development of an injury.

If you do, you may be able to alter the onset of the chronic conditions that result from tens of thousands of kicks, and allow you to continue leading active and healthy lifestyles, free from pain and discomfort.

Hip replacement surgery is becoming all too common today for men in their 50s, who have spent the last 20 to 30 years practicing martial arts.

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HIP SURGERY During a typical procedure, a surgeon will make an incision along the side of the hip and detach the connective muscles at the top of the thigh bone, exposing the hip joint. He/she will then remove the ball portion of the thigh bone with a surgical saw and attach an artificial joint to the bone with a surgical-grade material that essentially cements the new joint in place.

Damaged cartilage and tissue is then removed, and the replacement socket is attached to the hip bone.

The replacement ball portion of the thigh bone is now inserted into the artificial socket part of the hip. A drain may be put in place to help remove any excess fluid.

The muscles are then reattached, and the incision is closed.

Depending on the surgical technique, an incision scar could be anywhere from 2- to 10-inches long. The patient will remain in the hospital bed for up to a week, immobilized to prevent the new hip joint from moving. The process of recovery is usually pretty lengthy, and practitioners need to avoid any pivoting and twisting on the affected hip for at least 6 to 12 months.

PREVENTION MEASURES WHEN YOU’RE YOUNG There are a few things that one could do to help prevent the deterioration of the hip when you are in your 20s and 30s: • Practice proper nutrition • Maintain body weight • Engage in strength and flexibility training • Train with focus on proper form, balance and technique.

If proper care and conditioning is made part of a normal training routine, athletes can continue to train hard well into their 50s, 60s and beyond.

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS ONCE DETERIORATION STARTS But what alternatives are there for patients who have already begun to see a deterioration in their hips? Platelet-rich plasma therapy (see main article) and stem-cell treatments may be an alternative that many patients find particularly beneficial and interesting.

Alternatives to hip surgery through regenerative medicine can help men and women who suffer from hip pain from common injuries

like hip arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteonecrosis, hip bursitis, and other degenerative hip-related medical issues. The benefit of stem cell treatments and platelet-rich plasma therapy is twofold. It can help: • Reduce inflammation • Regenerate the connective tissues that have been breaking down and deteriorating from years of martial arts training There is little downtime and the patient will begin to notice improvements over the next few weeks after the procedure, which is minimally invasive.

STEM CELL THERAPY One option is stem cell therapy. Adult stem cells may be harvested from a patient’s bone marrow or fat and processed and injected into the hip socket. There, they will begin to regenerate new tissue and repair damaged cells.

Another alternative is mesenchymal stem cells derived from umbilical-cord blood. These cells are younger and may provide greater regenerative capabilities than a person’s own cells. Stem cells can renew themselves, differentiate themselves or turn into other cells within your body, thus eliminating the need to replace an entire hip joint.

By repairing damaged tissues, stem cell procedures can help heal the body naturally from within without having to undergo an invasive surgical procedure.

PLATELET-RICH PLASMA Platelet-rich plasma or PRP is a procedure where positions will draw a patient’s blood and concentrate the platelets and inject them into the hip socket. There, they will begin to attach themselves to damaged tissue, release growth factors and recruit the stem cells to start repairing the area with chronic pain and injury.

These procedures void the risks and complications that come with hip-replacement surgery. For martial artists looking to continue training and participating in the sports that they love, PRP and stem cell therapy may be the best first step in treating the pain and discomfort associated with hip injuries. This should be seriously considered prior to undergoing the more costly surgeries that we all dread.

“What alternatives are there for patients who have already begun to see a deterioration in their hips? Platelet-rich plasma therapy [see main article] and stem-cell treatments may be an alternative that many patients find particularly beneficial and interesting.”

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Tim Bruce promoted to black belt in 2010

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“We were in the unique position. We could treat some of the injuries that come with the daily training and competition that many athletes and fighters subject themselves to. Because Andy and I were deeply entrenched in the martial arts community, we had many connections to high-level fighters, coaches and teams in the MMA world.�

Above: Dr. Sigman performs PRP on UFC Light heavyweight contender and Swiss-born MMA fighter, Volkan Oezdemir. Left: NovaGenix founder Tim Bruce.

But also, we could offer expert medical care to athletes and other martial artists, to help them with issues like nutrient and hormone deficien y.

We also knew that we were in the unique position in another context. We could treat some of the injuries that come with the daily training and competition that many athletes and figh ers subject themselves to. Because Andy and I were deeply entrenched in the martial arts community, we had many connections to high-level figh ers, coaches and teams in the mixed martial arts (MMA) world. We saw this as a unique opportunity to run a successful operation that could help a lot of people.

We did some research, looked deeper into the idea and decided to go for it. We opened NovaGenix in late 2016. As fate would have it, one of my jiu-jitsu students, familiar with our plans, knew a physician who was looking to start up a practice doing the same thing. Dr. Timothy Sigman was local to the Jupiter area and one of the most highly experienced physicians in the field of anti aging and hormone-replacement therapy.

We met with him, often at night after teaching our jiu-jitsu classes, and learned about his vast experience and expertise as a physician. We discussed various protocols for many of the services we had planned

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on offering. We also learned about some of the ideology, procedures and philosophy he had when dealing with patients and practicing medicine.

THE MAGIC OF PRP His demeanor, personality and wealth of knowledge made him the perfect fit or our vision of what we had wanted NovaGenix to become.

We quickly built out our modest practice from scratch and began treating patients for hormone deficien y, weight loss and something called PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) therapy.

Please bear with me now as I briefl explain a few technical facts about PRP. I promise to be brief, but try to give you, the reader, enough basic info in just three paragraphs to grasp what makes PRP work as a regenerative medicine.

The process involves taking a few test tubes of blood from a patient, then, spinning them in a centrifuge machine to separate the blood into its various components: red blood cells, white blood cells, the Buffy coat and the plasma that contains the platelets.

These platelets contain growth factors and cytokines, which are the cells that heal the body from the inside out. Platelets are universally known to be the cells responsible for causing blood to clot. However,

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T R E AT M E N T platelets also contain hundreds of proteins that play a significant ole in healing and repairing damaged tissue and injuries.

When preparing a PRP sample, we will increase the concentration of growth factors in the sample 10 to 14 times greater than what is contained within normal blood. When injecting that PRP into areas of chronic injury — like tendinitis, arthritis or even an acute ligament, tendon or muscle injury — we begin to see the incredible benefits of PRP for athletes.

HEALING WITHIN A FEW WEEKS! REALLY? For example, let’s take a patient with a partially torn ACL or meniscus, who may need surgery. In many cases, he can receive PRP and heal within a few weeks and no longer need to undergo any surgical procedure to recover. He can even be healthy enough to continue training and compete.

Now, to be honest, I had never heard of PRP before we met our medical director, Dr. Sigman. I was well-read on science, biology and medicine, but PRP was a new topic for me.

He had told us about regenerative medicine, the clinical benefits of PRP and the process involved. It honestly seemed like science fiction to me at the time: too good to be true. I was educated and a former nationally certified eme gency medical technician (EMT) and thought, “How come I’ve never heard of PRP before?”

After some research, I discovered that PRP has been around for quite some time, but has been used mostly in Europe. As it turns out, the United States is way behind many other developed nations in certain areas of healthcare. The slow acceptance of stem-cell therapy and PRP is another example of medical treatments that we should be embracing, but are being held up due to regulatory limitations and lack of insurance coverage.

OUR FIRST “EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECT!” I was interested in PRP for sure, but wanted to see it for myself. So, after a little thought, we recruited one of my jiu-jitsu students to be our very fi st “guinea pig.”

He was an amateur MMA figh er and really tough guy who trained hard, but was unfortunately prone to injuries. Ankles, knees, hip, elbow, shoulder, wrist — you name it, he hurt it!

At the time, he had been injured and off of the mats or three months because of the damage he had sustained in training. I talked to him to see if he wanted to come in for therapy and he scheduled an appointment to receive PRP. We were able to process a significant amount of blood f om him and performed several injections on most of his major joints that had injuries. I had very little understanding of how long the process of recovery for him would take, since he was my fi st experience with PRP. But the doctor explained that he should see results in a relatively short amount of time.

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THE HEALING PROCESS Everyone is different, and people will have several factors that influen e the rate at which they heal. So, I didn’t think much of it until three weeks later, when I walked in the gym and noticed him training again — at full speed, nonetheless! He went from being unable to even work out due to the significant amount of pain f om his injuries, back to training in martial arts and preparing for Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournaments and MMA competitions.

HOW WORD OF OUR SUCCESS SPREAD This particular “experimental” student also happens to host a podcast about MMA and fightin , called The Sixth Round, where he had recently interviewed current UFC figh er and Brazilian jiu-jitsu world-champion Gilbert Burns.

He would split time training between the Jupiter Jiu-Jitsu Academy, where I teach, and the Combat Club in Lantana, where Burns and his brother, Herbert, teach. The latter’s also where a significant number of pro figh ers would work out and train.

After Burns saw the quick recovery and healing from PRP that this student experienced, he approached me and asked if we’d be able to help him out as well. He had gotten injured during a training session for an upcoming bout in the UFC and was unable to fully use his right arm. He was still trying to teach classes and do what he could, but he was only able to partially demonstrate moves and training was out of the question.

We think Burns is one of the hardest workers and toughest human beings alive! So, for him to be limited in his training meant that he was in legitimate pain. We scheduled a time for him to come in and performed platelet-rich plasma therapy in the injured arm.

Our fi st patient, as pointed out above, recovered amazingly well, but I was nervous for this one. After all, the guy is a highly respected BJJ world champion and UFC veteran with a winning record in the Octagon. I really wanted this to work out because it didn’t just have professional implications for our clinic if it was successful.

Burns is one of the nicest guys that you could ever hope to meet.

I really wanted him to be able to recover so that he could continue fightin , training and teaching.

It was around two-and-a-half-weeks later when I went into the gym and saw Burns again, who met me with his famous smile and came up to greet me. I asked him how he was feeling and his response was something I’ll never forget.

He said that after the fi st week, he wasn’t sure because it didn’t feel any different. But around week two, he started to notice a substantial difference. He said that he went from being in significant pain to 100% better within that brief period of time. In fact, he had already started training again and working out in preparation for upcoming fights.

To say I was relieved is an understatement. The results were so impressive that word quickly spread. Soon after, we were able to treat his

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brother, Herbert Burns, who is also a pro MMA figh er and BJJ black belt world champion. Herbert, too, was able to recover from his injuries and went on to fight in M A events, BJJ super fights and, ecently, won the American National Championship at the IBJJF event in Las Vegas.

Within weeks, we were getting calls and treating high-level UFC figh ers every other week, it seemed. Hands, wrists, shoulders, necks, elbows, backs, knees — we were treating them all. The amount of injuries and conditions coming through the doors was staggering.

CLIENTS COULD RELATE TO US AS MARTIAL ARTISTS Some guys treated old problems that they had been fighting th ough for years, while others needed help for injuries they had sustained during camp a that jeopardized an upcoming figh .

The fact that two jiu-jitsu black belts were running a clinic where they could receive treatment that helped heal figh ers’ injuries helped entice figh ers to call us to schedule appointments. It made other martial artists comfortable in knowing they could trust our honesty and integrity.

Many guys would tell us that they hated doctors, but were relieved when they found us because we could relate and tell them honestly what was going on with them. Almost all of them had stories where a doctor told them that they needed to stop training in martial arts.

As we know, that’s not an option for figh ers whose livelihood depends on their ability to train and compete.

The fact that we knew what they had to go through and were familiar with their injuries on a personal level made it easy for figh ers to entrust their health and best interest to us. It opened up the flood ates, and more and more UFC figh ers started coming in for treatments.

As BJJ and MMA are small communities, all the teammates of figh ers we successfully treated — who also had various injuries ranging from chronic pain to fairly serious muscle, tendon and ligament tears — started calling us and walking through our doors. We started treating

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HOW L O N G DOES IT TAKE

’

WHAT S IT

&

COST?

One of the areas where stem cell therapy has shown incredible results is in the field of orthopedics, joint pain and chronic pain. At NovaGenix here in South Florida, we use same-day stem cell procedures.

DURATION OF TREATMENT The process of receiving PRP therapy/injections is rather simple. Most patients are in and out of the clinic in about one hour.

Here’s how it works.

Patients will come in by appointment and have their blood drawn and processed, which takes around 30 minutes. After that, we prepare them for the injections, through sterilizing the area of the body which is about to receive the injections.

Depending on the complexity of the injury and area(s) being treated, the process of injecting the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) solution usually takes anywhere from five to 15 minutes per bodily site. The patients are then ready to go home.

Each bodily site requires just one single treatment. It’s that simple. If you have multiple injuries to be treated, let’s say your neck and your knee, they can be treated simultaneously. It doesn’t require a totally different treatment.

We tell patients to limit activity for 72 hours after the PRP treatment. This gives the platelets the best chance to adhere to the damaged tissue and begin the process of healing.

After PRP, it usually takes a few weeks to notice the effects, and up to four to six weeks for the totality of the results to be fully understood.

COST The costs involved in receiving PRP treatments will vary based on a few factors: • The number of bodily sites being treated.

• The total number of injections.

• The total volume of PRP. • The complexity of the injection site(s).

All of these factors will determine the exact costs for each individual patient. But typical ranges start at around $500 for simple cases and could go up to $1,500 for more complex procedures.

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T R E AT M E N T

black belt instructors from various local academies and, once they experienced relief, their students would be soon to follow. As a lifelong martial artist and black belt in BJJ, it was personally gratifying to be able to help out the guys who are currently competing and showcasing the art and sport that I hold dear. Despite not training with these guys to prepare them for the fights, i ’s a good feeling to know that we had our part in helping them. We have personally saved several fights or the UFC by treating patients who were a month out from stepping into the Octagon, who sustained during their training camps that would have prevented them from fightin . Fortunately, they came to us and received PRP and were able to heal in time to figh .

SUMMARY We’ve been able to successfully treat a large number of pro athletes who seek us out for medical care. We’ve worked with professional MMA figh ers, world-champion martial artists, pro boxers and rugby stars, pro golfers and hockey players, and collegiate baseball, football and softball stars, among others. We have a client-filled all of autographs that’s a Who’s Who of pro athletes in the South Florida area.

Both my partner, Andy Stock, and I still love training, teaching and even competing in our respective age groups. This new treatment therapy has been another way for us to entrench ourselves into the world of martial arts and make a difference, if not on the mats, through the business we started, nurtured and have grown. e

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Tim Bruce has trained in martial arts for some 35 years, is a 2nd-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has coached, been a judge, referee, competitor and instructor. He started teaching BJJ in 2004 and has written about sport jiu-jitsu for several publications and websites. He currently teaches at the Jupiter Boxing Club in Florida.

Bruce and his partner, Andy Stock, currently own and operate NovaGenix, an anti-aging and hormone-therapy clinic. With locations in both Jupiter and Fort Lauderdale, NovaGenix claims to be South Florida’s premier regenerative medicine, stem cell, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy clinic. To learn more, call (561) 277-8260 or send them an email to info@NovaGenix.org.

Disclaimer: As publisher, the Martial Arts Industry Association (MAIA) makes no endorsements, representations, guarantees or warranties concerning the products and or services presented in this article. 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 such products and/or services.

To read hundreds of articles and columns vital to your school business, visit the Martial Arts Industry Association’s website at www.maiahub.com.

Through this constantly-enhanced website, members can access an enormous quantity of useful information on just about any topic from A to Z.

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U T E P R AY E R T R E E S IN T H E B L A C K F O R E S T O F C O L O R A D O .

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The Biggest E vent in the Industry is scheduled at the Bell agio Hotel.

Hotel Alert: You may be contacted by hotel discounters claiming to be association with the Martial Arts SuperShow, using high pressure tactics in offering accommodations. Many of these companies are known to engage in fraudulent behavior. To book accommodations at the Bellagio, we recommend using the reservation link on the MASuperShow website or call in your reservation at the number listed above using the Group Code: SMAR0619

GROUP CODE SMAR0619 888.987.6667 MASuperShow.com S at ur day, June 2 9, $ 2 39.0 0* S unday, June 30 - T hur s day July 4 , $ 14 5 .0 0* *Plus resort fee and tax

#MASS19 #MASS19

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PRESENTED BY:

@MASUPERSHOW @MASUPERSHOW YOUTUBE.COM/MAIASUCCESS YOUTUBE.COM/MAIASUCCESS SpONSORED BY: PRESENTED BY:

© 2019 MAIA, LLC # 16071

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