September/October 2021

MASUCCESS

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Distinguished guest Distinguished guest

CHATRI SITYODTONG

Tips for RETAINING IN-PERSON STUDENTS in a Virtual World

7 SUCCESS STORIES ISSN 2380-561 7(PRINT ) 2469-6889(ONLINE )

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How School Owners Are Combating COVID Item Number: MAS16421 Description: MASUCCESS SEP/OCT 2021

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ORIGINS

CENTURY MARTIAL ARTS AND MAIA

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EARLY BIRD TICKET PRICING EXPIRES 10/31/2021

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HOW CAN YOU ACHIEVE THE MAIA LIFESTYLE? MAIA has developed a Pathway to Success which guides school owners to the program they should be in based on their active count, revenue, and goals.

Schools with 50 students and schools with 250 students have different needs, which means they should have different types of coaching and resources. This step-by-step program will lead you to the reach your goals and achieve the MAIA lifestyle.

YOUR RESOURCE TOOLBOX FOR SUCCESS

BUILDING BLOCKS TO SYSTEMATIZE YOUR SCHOOL

TAKING THE NEXT STEP TO MAXIMIZE YOUR GROWTH

REACHING YOUR SCHOOL GOALS THROUGH ACCOUNTABILITY

ACHIEVING PERSONAL FINANCIAL SUCCESS FOR YOUR LEGACY

BEGIN YOUR PATH TO SUCCESS TODAY. TALK TO A COACH AND GET STARTED TODAY AT MAIAHUB.COM/CONNECT

© 2021 MAIA, LLC #20312

ONE OF MANY.

Pick one out of the crowd, out of millions, and you have a story. A journey.

A journey that would surprise you. So surprising, that you soon realize that the word “exceptional” doesn’t hold that meaning that you’ve come to know.

The power of a person’s journey, their story, is not an exception to life, it’s the rule.

Narrow that down to Century, to our family here in Oklahoma; you won’t be surprised.

Meet Robert Campbell.

Specifically, Rob. Get too formal with him and his signature booming laugh will set you right.

Rob started his journey with Century, as any journey begins: small. In the bag-finishing department of Manufacturing, Rob built equipment utilized by thousands everyday. It wasn’t long before he was a leader in the department, always driving others to excel and smile doing it. Quickly, multiple departments were vying for Rob to join their own part of the crew. He has since become the Associate Product Manager of Merchandising; equipment ranging from uniforms to sparring gear originate from his direction. And, all of this, more impressively, was accomplished simultaneously with his martial arts advancement.

During his time at Century, Rob has become a 7th degree black belt in Kung Fu San Soo. He owns, operates, and instructs a traditional Kung Fu Soo San school which passes on the teaching of Jimmy H Woo he learned from his Masters Ralph A Latimer and Richard Dinsmore to a new generation; he is (and will, knowing him) on track to be granted Mastery in Kung Fu. But we aren’t surprised. We’ve been privileged to know him, and our lives are better for it. His martial arts mastery is impressive, but that’s just another step on his journey. And in the grand scheme of his life, a small one.

One of many.

“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2021 Century, LLC. # 20443

CONTENTS FEATURES 24 ONE CEO

BY PERRY WILLIAM KELLY

Ever wonder how a journey of suffering can bring out the greatness in a martial artist? Read this profile of Chatri Sityodtong, the man who went from rural Thailand to the CEO’s office at ONE Championship.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021

COLUMNS 34 BLACK BELT LEADERSHIP

BY NGUYEN “TOM” GRIGGS

Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good

36 IN THE CLASSROOM

BY DAVE KOVAR

4 Quadrants of Business

58 TURNING POINT

BY HERB BORKLAND

38 LIFE DURING WARTIME

BY THE MAS STAFF

The struggle against COVID has rightly been described as a war.

Some martial arts school owners did nothing as the coronavirus attacked, and their businesses perished.

These seven schools overcame the odds and triumphed.

Charles Bouton: 70 Years Old and Still Going Strong

60 HEALTH KICK

BY TOM CALLOS

Overcoming Hip Problems

62 YOU MESSED UP! NOW WHAT?

DEPARTMENTS 10 FROM THE

DIRECTOR’S DESK 14 IN THE KNOW 16 HEAR FROM

YOUR PEERS 18 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 20 THE MAIA REPORT 22 MARKETING RESOURCE 22 SCHOOL SHOWCASE

BY KATHY OLEVSKY

48 HUMANIZE YOUR BRAND!

BY CRIS RODRIGUEZ

Thanks to COVID-19, much of the martial arts community has transitioned to online instruction.

Here’s what you need to do to keep your local students from going virtual when they’re bombarded by offers whenever they go online.

52 GENESIS

BY ROBERT W. YOUNG

It reads like a paperback thriller: Boy is kidnapped, learns martial arts for self-defense, becomes tournament powerhouse, founds Century Martial Arts, vows to pay it forward by creating Martial Arts Industry Association!

How Do You Let Your Students Go?

66 CONSULTANT’S CORNER

BY KURT KLINGENMEYER

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

4 Keys to a Successful Referral Program

68 MASTERFUL RETENTION

BY CHRISTOPHER RAPPOLD

Simple Steps to Sparring Success

70 THE KICK YOU NEVER SAW COMING

BY BETH A. BLOCK

Gratitude

72 THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

BY PHILIP E. GOSS JR., ESQ.

When It Comes to Computer Access, Trust But Monitor

74 INSPIRATION OVATION

BY KAREN EDEN

Just Fall Down

“Tranquilize the mind to attain awareness, and exercise the body to become healthy and agile. Without tranquility, you cannot attain enlightenment.

Without good health, there will not be good circulation throughout the body. Adequate exercise makes the body strong and the mind healthy.”

— BODHIDHARMA

8 MASUCCESS

38

48

24

52 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 9

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

Back to School, Back to the Dojo

BY FRANK SILVERMAN

MAIA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

“It’s critical that you plan ahead for this busy season.

In addition to figuring out a process for recruiting as many new members as possible, you also must take precautions to ensure that you don’t lose your current students due to the influx of newcomers.”

S

ummer’s reaching an end. The Virtual SuperShow is behind us. COVID, as I said in my previous column, is in the rearview mirror. What’s next? Back-to-school season!

This is the best of the best of times for most martial arts schools.

As you know, columns are written prior to, sometimes months before, the release of each issue of a print magazine. It can be difficult to make sure all the information is exact and accurate when covering topics that are out of our control. As of the date this article is being written, not all schools have confirmed that they’ll resume fully in-person instruction. We don’t know yet how “normal” things will be through the winter months. What we do know — regardless of COVID and regardless of whether learning resumes in-person — is that the back-to-school season this year will be a great time for martial arts schools across the country.

It’s critical that you plan ahead for this busy season. In addition to figuring out a process for recruiting as many new members as possible, you also must take precautions to ensure that you don’t lose your current students due to the influx of newcomers. This always has been something to pay attention to, but it’s even more important today.

The following are four essential recruiting tools for the season.

• In-Person Presence You need to be present at both public and private schools as much as possible. Meet the teachers, set up a booth at welcome-back events and take any opportunity that a school will give you to have access onsite. You need to be there.

• Online Presence If COVID taught us anything, it’s that a virtual connection is every bit as important as face-toface contact. Having a fast-loading, easy-to-

navigate website for your school is key. A Facebook page is mandatory. If you need help in this department, call MAIA, and we’ll steer you in the right direction.

• Referral Program You need to have a great referral program in place. Make sure all students know that a referral is the best compliment they can pay their instructor. Now more than ever, word of mouth goes a long way.

• End-of-Summer Event Finally, you need to get everyone back from summer and from COVID quarantining. If it’s safe where you live, host a back-to-school party for all your students at your dojo. Such an event is not just for kids, either — get your adult students in on the fun! Organize special activities to reintegrate everyone into your school’s culture. This will translate to improved retention as you continue to grow. It does no good to enroll 20 new members if you lose 21. Holding special events helps you avoid this.

S J

As always, remember to stay in contact with all your students, old and young, new and longtime.

Call or email them, send them messages on social media, and sit down with them in your waiting area or chat on the mat.

Bear in mind that your most important tool for retention has never changed, and that is teaching amazing classes. When classes are fun, challenging and high-quality, students don’t quit. So as we approach September, keep your eyes on the ball and make it a great back-to-school season.

To contact Frank Silverman, MAIA’s executive director, send an email to teamcfck@aol.com. Find him on Twitter and Facebook at @franksilverman.

Ta

10 MASUCCESS

IS YOUR SCHOOL STRUGGLING OR DO YOU JUST NEED DIRECTION? MAIA Foundations will give you the building blocks to get back on your feet and systematize your school.

Coaches Mike Metzger and Shane Tassoul will dive into the four main components you should master in your business in just two months:

Take action and reserve your seat.

MAIAFOUNDATIONS.COM © 2021 MAIA, LLC #20499

STAFF

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

FRANK SILVERMAN IS THE

MELISSA TORRES IS THE DIVISION

Executive Director of the Martial Arts Industry Association, and the owner and operator of 11 martial arts schools in Orlando, FL. He’s also the author of Business Is Business: Passion and Profit in the Martial Arts Industry. Follow Frank on Twitter and Facebook @franksilverman.

Contact him at teamcfck@aol.com.

Manager of the Martial Arts Industry Association. She is a practitioner of kung fu san soo, Cage Fitness and yoga. She is passionate about helping school owners succeed and achieve their goals.

She can be reached at mtorres@masuccess.com.

THE MAIA REPORT

DAVE KOVAR OWNS AND OPERATES NGUYEN “TOM” GRIGGS, ED.D.,

BLACK BELT LEADERSHIP

is a sensei in Japanese jujitsu at TNT Jujitsu under Hanshi Torey Overstreet in Houston, TX. He’s the owner of Lead Connect Grow, LLC. Organizations hire him to develop black belt-level professionals in the areas of Teams, Leadership and Conflict Management. Feel

IN THE CLASSROOM

free to email him at tom@ntgriggs.com.

a chain of successful martial art schools.

Additionally, he operates Pro-Mac (Professional Martial Arts College), dedicated to helping martial artists become professionals in Business Management, Mat Mastery, Sales Mastery, Wealth Management and CuttingEdge Classroom Concepts. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Martial Arts Industry Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Contact him at dave.kovar@kovars.com or check out his blog at kovarsblog.kovarsystems.com.

HERB BORKLAND WAS ONE OF

TURNING POINT

Jhoon Rhee’s original white belts at America’s first taekwondo school and, later, a closeddoor student of Chinese “soft” styles pioneer Robert W. Smith. For three years, starting on ESPN, he hosted the weekly Black Belts TV show. He did the screenplay for Cynthia Rothrock’s HBO-featured Honor and Glory and is an Inside Kung-Fu Hall of Fame martial arts writer. He can be reached at herbork@comcast.net.

CHRISTOPHER RAPPOLD IS THE

MASTERFUL RETENTION

founder of a successful martial arts organization, Personal Best Karate, headquartered in Norton, MA. He’s a five-time world karate champion and is currently the executive director of the world-renowned Team Paul Mitchell, a championship team supported by sport-karate’s longest-running sponsorship.

Rappold is the author of the landmark MAIA program Retention Based Sparring. He can be reached at founder@personalbestkarate.com.

MIKE METZGER IS A MARTIAL Arts Industry Association consultant and the owner of 14 martial arts schools. He has consulted for various school owners around the world. He can be contacted via email at mmetzger@masuccess.com.

BETH BLOCK, A 4TH-DEGREE BLACK

CONSULTANT’S CORNER THE KICK YOU NEVER SAW COMING! 12 MASUCCESS

belt in karate, is the president of Block Insurance in Orlando, FL. Block has protected businesses that serve children for the past 24 years. She is the writer of Martial Arts Minute, a weekly riskmanagement newsletter. You can reach her at (800) 225-0863 or beth@blockins.net.

STAFF MASUCCESS IS PUBLISHED BY

SARAH LOBBAN IS THE ASSOCIATE Publications Editor for the Martial Arts Industry Association. She has trained and fought in MMA and muay Thai, and currently trains in jeet kune do. She can be reached at slobban@centurymartialarts.com.

IN THE KNOW KATHY OLEVSKY AND HER

YOU MESSED UP! NOW WHAT?

husband, Rob, own and operate Karate International in North Carolina. Kathy is the managing partner in their five-school operation. She’s an 8th-degree black belt with 32 full-time years of teaching and operating martial arts schools. She can be reached for questions or comments at kathy.olevsky@raleighkarate.com.

ERIC THE TRAINER (ERIC P.

HEALTH KICK

Fleishman) is a Hollywood-based celebrity personal trainer with over 28 years’ experience. He has worked with top actors and musicians, MMA fighters, and the military. He hosts the popular TV show “Celebrity Sweat,” which you can watch on Amazon Prime. His enthusiastic message of living a healthy life has been adopted by many groups, most recently the American Culinary Federation. For questions or comments, contact Eric the Trainer at Mainemonster@gmail.com.

PHILIP E. GOSS, JR., ESQ. IS a member of the Florida and several other

THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

Federal Bar Associations. Phil welcomes any e-mail comments or questions at PhilGosslaw@gmail.com and will attempt to respond personally, time permitting.

KAREN EDEN IS A 7TH-DEGREE

INSPIRATION OVATION

master of tang soo do. She’s a broadcast journalist who has appeared nationally on CNN, FOX and Animal Planet as well as on local affiliates for NBC and PBS. Karen is also a published book author and magazine columnist who has written for or been featured in every major martial arts magazine globally. Contact her at renedenherdman@gmail.com.

VOL. 22, NO. 5 // SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 EDITOR EMERITUS John Corcoran

MAIA LLC, 1000 Century Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73110; (866) 626-6226.

EDITOR Robert W. Young EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MARTIAL ARTS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Frank Silverman MAIA DIVISION MANAGER Melissa Torres ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sarah Lobban MAIA INTERNATIONAL CONSULTANTS Robby Beard Kurt Klingenmeyer Jason Flame Mike Metzger Antonio Fournier Adam Parman Cris Rodriguez Shane Tassoul ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Donna Diamond ART DIRECTOR Paul Duarte DIRECTOR OF MEDIA AND PUBLISHING DEVELOPMENT Patrick Sternkopf COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS

David Barnett Beth A. Block Herb Borkland Karen Eden Jason Flame Eric P. Fleishman Antonio Fournier Philip E. Goss Jr., Esq. Nguyen “Tom” Griggs IBISWorld.com Perry William Kelly Kurt Klingenmeyer

Dave Kovar Sarah Lobban Mike Metzger Kristin Miller Kathy Olevsky Suzanne Pisano Christopher Rappold Frank Silverman Shane Tassoul Melissa Torres Dwight Trower

CORRESPONDENTS

Herb Borkland (VA) Karen Eden (CO) Andrea F. Harkins (AZ) Andre Lima (CA) PUBLISHER

David Wahl

Perry William Kelly (CANADA) Terry L. Wilson (CA) Keith D. Yates (TX)

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts and photographs submitted to MASUCCESS, if they are to be returned, and no responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. All rights for letters submitted to this magazine will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and as subject to the editorial staff’s right to edit and to comment editorially.

MAIA, its owners, directors, officers, employees, subsidiaries, successors and assigns are not responsible in any manner for any injury that may occur by reading and/or following the instructions herein.

As publisher, MAIA makes no endorsements, representations, guarantees or warranties concerning the products and or services presented or advertised herein.

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. MASUCCESS is a trademark of the MAIA. © 2021 MAIA LLC. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

The mission of MAIA is to grow, promote and protect the martial arts industry, and to provide benefits to its members to help them become more successful.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 13

IN THE KNOW

WORDS OF WISDOM

BY SARAH LOBBAN

MY ATTITUDE IS I TRAIN LIKE A CHAMPION, WIN LIKE A CHAMPION, AND IF I LOSE, I LOSE LIKE A CHAMPION. — CUNG LE

MARTIAL ARTS TRIVIA 1

Which celebrity has not appeared in a film with Chuck Norris?

A) David Carradine C) Christopher Lee

3

The nickname Conde Koma, or “Count Combat,” belongs to whom?

4

Which word does not fit in the sequence: kwoon, dojo, mongkol, dojang?

B) Ben Stiller D) Chris Hemsworth

The Indian art of pehlwani is a style of ________.

A) wrestling C) boxing

2

B) stick-fighting D) self-defense

to the Gracies. 3) wrestling. 4) mongkol. It’s the headband worn by muay Thai fighters. The other words mean “training hall.”

ANSWERS: 1) Chris Hemsworth — but Norris has been in a film with Hemsworth’s younger brother Liam. 2) Mitsuyo Maeda, the man who taught judo 14 MASUCCESS

YOU ASKED DID YOU TEACH AT YOUR SCHOOL OR AT ANOTHER LOCATION BEFORE OPENING YOUR OWN SCHOOL? STATS SPEAK

I taught at one of my mentor Master Chun Rhee’s locations for two years before buying the school from him.”

— TOMMY LIGHTFOOT, LEAD BY EXAMPLE TAE KWON DO, FAIRFAX, VA

APPROXIMATELY

65

Yes, I taught for my instructor, then through a rec center, before opening my own location.”

— CHRIS HAMM, LEGACY MARTIAL ARTS, HARKER HEIGHTS, TX

Yes. That allowed me to build my teaching skills while helping students. It was a very rewarding way to learn the trade.”

— KEVIN NEVELS, COPPELL TAEKWONDO ACADEMY AND CHAMPIONSHIP MARTIAL ARTS, LAS COLINAS, COPPELL AND IRVING, TX

PERCENT OF PEOPLE VIEW ONLINE SEARCH AS THE MOST TRUSTED SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE AND COMPANIES. SOURCE: FORBES.COM

I taught for my instructor for nearly a decade before opening my own school.”

— DAVID CHURCH, CHURCH’S TAEKWONDO AMERICA, MARYVILLE, TN

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 15

HEAR FROM YOUR

PEERS 16 MASUCCESS

1 2 3

FOR HOW MANY YEARS HAS YOUR LONGESTTERM STUDENT TRAINED AT YOUR SCHOOL?

18% Less than 5 years 36% Between 5 and 10 years 21% Between 10 and 15 years 10% Between 15 and 20 years 14% More than 20 years

DO YOU ASK NEW STUDENTS HOW THEY FOUND YOUR SCHOOL?

82 % Yes

18 % No

DO YOU DO AN EXIT POLL TO DETERMINE STUDENTS’ REASONS FOR LEAVING?

47 % Yes

53 % No

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 17

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

INTRODUCING THE USA KARATE COLLECTION Century®

www.CenturyMartialArts.com

USA Karate Punches These gloves are approved by the USA Karate Federation, so you can wear them at any event sanctioned by that authority.

They feature one elastic strap over the palm and two over the fingers — the fit can never be too secure! They also have an adjustable elastic wrist wrap with a hook-and-loop closure.

1

USA Karate Shin Instep Approved by the USA Karate Federation, these shin-instep pads are perfect for training or competing. The boots have an easy-to-wipe-clean vinyl exterior with padded-foam shin coverings and detachable foot guards. Elastic bands secure the feet, and two adjustable elastic bands, one each on the lower and upper portions of the shins, provide a secure fit on the legs.

2

INTRODUCING THE WORLD ELITE UNIFORM COLLECTION Century®

www.CenturyMartialArts.com

Student Ribbed Uniform This lightweight student taekwondo uniform is made of 6-ounce ribbed fabric and designed with comfort in mind.

It features an elastic waistband. The inner top band adjusts the size to the individual. The fabric is a 91-percent/9-percent polycotton blend that gives maximum durability. Shrink resistant.

Machine washable. Imported.

3

4

3

World Elite Dan Uniform This new 6-ounce uniform is the ideal instructor’s uniform for practicing kata and giving demonstrations. The embossed ribbed fabric is designed for comfort. It features an elastic waistband and a 91-percent/9-percent poly-cotton blend for durability. The inner top band adjusts to the size of the individual. The cuffs have six rows of stitching. Shrink resistant.

Machine washable. Imported.

4

World Elite Fighter Uniform Designed for combat, this 4-ounce uniform uses mesh panels to provide enhanced breathability and flexibility.

Composed of durable 100-percent polyester with an elastic waistband, it has six rows of stitching on the cuffs. Imported.

5

5

For more information on these and other great Century products, call a helpful Century Sales Representative at (800) 626-2789 or visit www.CenturyMartialArts.com.

18 MASUCCESS

GAMENESS.COM © 2020 Gameness. #19911

THE MAIA REPORT

See You Soon!

BY MELISSA TORRES

MAIA DIVISION MANAGER

“At MAIA, we try to hold continuingeducation events throughout the year to help you grow, stay motivated and reach your goals.

We host three a year for our MAIA Elite members, and just this year, we have opened up those events to all schools.”

20 MASUCCESS

N

ow that things are finally getting back to normal, industry events are revving into high gear. Although Zoom has become the norm, we all are looking forward to gathering in person again. When we take time to step away from our daily grind and attend an educational conference, we come away with renewed dedication and focus, ready to implement everything we learned.

At MAIA, we try to hold continuing-education events throughout the year to help you grow, stay motivated and reach your goals. We host three a year for our MAIA Elite members, and just this year, we have opened up those events to all schools.

Although space is limited and not guaranteed for non-Elite members, if you act early, you can get access to the same content as Elite school owners.

With that said, I wanted to let you know about a couple of upcoming opportunities so you can act quickly and reserve your seat. First, we just wrapped our 20th-anniversary SuperShow virtual event. It was an awesome show featuring keynote speakers Brent Gleeson and Robert Teschner. We also had business-content sessions from Cris Rodriguez, Mike Metzger, Shane Tassoul, Kelly Murray Grys, Richard Plowden and Frank Silverman.

Championship Martial Arts instructors Nick Peterman, Abid Benwali and Eric Santamaria delivered actionable instructor-training tips. Other highlights included Black Belt Live interviews with ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong and film star Michael Jai White, plus some amazing giveaways and new product demos from the Hype Team.

You’re out of luck if you wanted a chance to win a prize, but the even more valuable recordings of the SuperShow are still available. To own all the content, visit MASuperShow.com. While you’re there, read about our live 2022 event in Las Vegas.

It’s scheduled for July 18-20 at Caesars Forum, with discounted rooms available at Harrah’s.

The next MAIA Elite event will take place October 22-23, 2021. If you weren’t able to attend

our June event in Dallas, don’t wait to reserve your spot in Tampa, Florida! More details will be announced in the coming weeks, but I guarantee you’ll get actionable content to improve your retention, revenue, referrals and more. Hear MAIA consultants Mike Metzger, Cris Rodriguez, Shane Tassoul, Frank Silverman, Adam Parman and Kurt Klingenmeyer as they present on a variety of topics that address the pain points experienced by full-time and part-time school owners. We’ll also feature a separate instructor-training track, so make plans to bring your team members. For details, go to MAIAHub.com/Events.

Finally, we just finished the Next Level Summit in Orlando, Florida, at the Championship Martial Arts world headquarters. This event featured two days of intensive, hands-on training in which small groups of attendees got to witness the team at CMA execute a live mass enrollment. If you missed this workshop, be sure to follow MAIA Edge on social media because they’ll do it again in the coming months.

I encourage you to commit to attending at least one of these upcoming opportunities for learning and growth. The events are designed to give you a chance to step away from your school so you can come back with fresh ideas, new techniques and training advice from a team of experts who are on your side. In addition, you’ll get a chance to network with other school owners and instructors.

If you have any questions or want to know which event you should attend, reach out to us on our Facebook group MAIA Hub or message me directly.

We look forward to seeing you in person soon!

To contact Melissa Torres, send an email to mtorres@masuccess.com.

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MARKETING RESOURCE

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The world is tough ... be tougher The world is a tough place.

Stresses are all around us and it takes a toll on all of us. Our martial arts program will not only give you an outlet for your stress but also get you in great shape and teach you self-defense skills that can help you in a bad situation.

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22 MASUCCESS

Date:

RESILIENCE IS ONE

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THE MARTIAL ARTS.

School Information

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How a Journey of Suffering Brought Out the Greatness in ONE Championship’s Chatri Sityodtong • by Perry William Kelly

26 MASUCCESS

“I always say that the path to greatness for all of us, for every single person on this planet, is suffering — suffering through failure, through adversity, through tragedy, through setbacks, obstacles, mistakes. It is that journey of suffering that brings out our greatness.”

— Chatri Sityodtong

Y

ou, the readers of MASuccess, probably are better acquainted with suffering than almost anyone else. You suffered through however many years it took you to become an instructor in your art. You struggled through the growing pains of building your school from the ground up. And over the past two years, you persevered through the worst health and business crisis in 100 years.

Even though you’re bruised and battered, you’ve remained in the fight because you possess the warrior spirit — much like the hero of our story.

Chatri Sityodtong is the CEO of ONE Championship, a Singapore-based martial arts organization that CNN and Forbes say produces events that are viewed by 1.3 billion people. He may be a globetrotting millionaire — he was worth $350 million at press time — but he’s cut from the same cloth that you are. At heart, he’s a lifelong martial artist and an instructor who’s dedicated to his schools.

Chatri believes that training in martial arts “empowers us with an unbreakable warrior spirit to conquer adversity in life.” His track record proves that he has this grit. He’s overcome seemingly unbeatable odds to rise to stratospheric heights in business, all while believing that his suffering is what forged him into the man he is today.

MASuccess recently chatted with Chatri — at 10:30 p.m. after a 16-hour workday for him — in an effort to find out what makes him tick, how he rolls with life’s ups and downs, the secrets behind his success, and what you and he have in common.

SILVER SPOON Born Chatri Trisiripisal to a Thai father and a Japanese mother in Thailand, Chatri was later given the ring name Yodchatri Sityodtong (“extraordinary warrior”) by the head of his fight camp.

Even though he grew up in a well-to-do family filled with love, he was a bit of a rebel in his early years, he said. More interested in chasing girls than in studying, he spent plenty of time in the principal’s office.

One day, after he was suspended for starting a food fight in the cafeteria, he sat at the breakfast table with his father. His dad asked what he wanted to do with his life. When the youth responded that he wished to study medicine, his father curtly told him that he’d never amount to anything.

The words hit young Chatri like a muay Thai kick. Only later did he acknowledge that the incident “lit a fire in my belly and changed the course of my life.”

The next couple of years saw him putting his nose to the grindstone and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Tufts University. Then life delivered a second sucker punch.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 27

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN It’s often said that when the day is darkest, a ray of sunshine will peek through. Such was the case for Chatri, whose mother had come up with the notion that the only way out of their predicament was for him to apply to Harvard Business School and then get a good job. The dutiful son complied. Then at a particularly bleak moment in their life, a letter announced that he’d been accepted.

I wondered out loud how he summoned the courage to seek an elite education in America without having a means to pay for it. “I will say it is twofold,” he replied. “You need a reason for

Photos by Singyuin Christy

A financial crisis hit Asia in 1997, and Chatri’s family lost everything seemingly overnight. With no savings and no home, his father abandoned his family. They were forced to live in a shack they managed to acquire through some friends and struggled to scrape together enough money for meals.

For Chatri, this proved a pivotal period, one that ultimately revealed his inner self. “Going through that suffering really taught me that I am a fighter in life,” he said. “I’m so grateful for those days in poverty. Without all those days of suffering, I would never have discovered so much.”

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Photos by Singyuin Christy

fighting. If you are not fighting for a reason bigger than yourself, then you are dying for nothing. At that time, I was fighting for my mother. Watching her cry … it was devastating [and] shattered my heart in a million pieces. One night, I decided I never wanted to see my mother crying again.

“Equally important was that I am a lifelong martial artist. All my years of training and mental toughness, warrior spirit, and grit and resilience came into play. If you are lucky to have trained in the martial arts, that gives you the warrior heart to conquer adversity in life.

The true essence of martial arts is internal — the journey of conquering your doubts, fears and insecurities so that you can unleash your greatness in life.

“The true essence of martial arts is internal — the journey of conquering your doubts, fears and insecurities so that you can unleash your greatness in life. And that’s what martial arts gave me. I really believe that martial arts is one of the greatest platforms for human potential.”

Arriving at Harvard with a single suitcase and $1,000 that he’d scrounged, Chatri had one overriding thought: “How am I going to pay for school fees? I’ve got to go look for loans. I’ve got to go look for jobs.”

So he did just that. He secured a student loan, he taught muay Thai part time, he delivered Chinese food and he tutored other students. In short, he worked his butt off. He even created a spreadsheet to calculate his disposable income. It came out to $4 a day.

During his second year at Harvard, Chatri was able to bring his mother to the States to live with him — literally. Even though it meant risking expulsion from Harvard, he had her stay in his dorm room: mom in the bed and son on the floor.

Nevertheless, he did well at the university and started attracting attention. Before he even graduated, companies were offering salaries of $250,000, but he had other ideas. He knew he wanted to work in a field that “ignited his soul” and had been devising a business plan with classmate Yau Soon Loo. The two relocated to Silicon Valley and started a software company, which they sold a few years later for $40 million. Because he knew the pain his mother had suffered, Chatri then headed to Wall Street, determined to make enough money to keep that from ever happening again.

He initially worked as an investment analyst, then became a managing director at another firm before launching a $500 million hedge fund. Rising to the top of Wall Street after a decade represented a bittersweet victory. While he was set financially and his family would never go hungry again, he felt, in his own words, “completely empty inside.”

That’s when he decided to return to his roots.

FIRST LOVE Although their relationship was estranged for a long time (they eventually reunited a few years before his father’s death), Chatri’s dad was the person who sparked his interest in muay Thai. It started when he took the 9-year-old to Lumpini Stadium to watch his first fights. The kid came home itching to start training — much to the dismay of his mother, who didn’t want him involved in such a dangerous sport.

Chatri said that he initially took up muay Thai to beat up bullies and impress girls. But after years of training, he started to understand the deeper meaning one gleans from training.

“I can tell you that the true essence of martial arts is the journey of continuous self-improvement,” he said. “Through the practice of martial arts, we inherit confidence, mental strength, courage, tenacity, work ethic, humility, compassion, integrity, kindness, respect, honor, discipline and much more.”

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 29

In 2009, Chatri, now living in Singapore, founded Evolve MMA, which he cultivated into a chain of academies spread across the region. He chose that name because he wanted them to be inspirational places where people could evolve into whatever they were meant to be in life.

His dreams, however, entailed more than simply running a bunch of schools. He wanted to unite Asia’s 4 billion people and get them to focus on their cultural treasure that was the martial arts. In July 2011, he partnered with former ESPN executive Victor Cui to launch ONE Fighting Championship, which later became ONE Championship.

Miesha Tate (left) and Rich Franklin (right)

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Photos Courtesy of ONE Championship

ONE MISSION

ONE — which now organizes bouts in muay Thai, kickboxing, MMA, karate, silat, san da, lethwei, taekwondo, boxing and submission grappling — is proud of its many “firsts.” It organized its first event in September 2011 at Singapore Indoor Stadium. In 2012, it held its first female fight. In 2018, it promoted its first boxing match. In 2016, it produced the first fight card by a major MMA organization in Thailand and the most-attended fight card in Macau’s history. In 2019, it entered into a partnership with Shooto, and in 2020, it partnered with One Pride MMA, giving champions from those groups their first shot at a contract with ONE Championship.

One of the most radical firsts that Chatri introduced into the fight game is designed to protect athletes. In an era when fighters are frequently hospitalized because of dehydration while attempting to make weight, ONE became the first organization to use “walking weight” rather than a number measured at a pre-event weigh-in. Fighters are monitored at their training camps and are tested to ensure that they’re hydrated sufficiently prior to their bouts.

Much of ONE’s success hinges on the quality of people associated with the promotion. Former UFC champs Rich Franklin and Miesha Tate serve as vice presidents. As color commentators, ONE has used the talents of Bas Rutten and Renzo Gracie. Over the years, Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Roger Gracie, Brandon Vera, Sage Northcutt and Vitor Belfort have competed.

This focus on excellence has catapulted ONE to the top. It’s now Asia’s largest sports media property with a reach that extends into 150 countries. Although it’s valued at close to $1 billion, financial success is not what drives Chatri. During our talk, deeper martial arts themes kept surfacing.

“It comes down to values, heroes and stories,” he said. “We always talk about celebrating values that every family can cele-

Photos by Paul Duarte

His training began at the Sityodtong Gym in Pattaya, Thailand, under Yodtong Senanan, a legend in the country. At the time, the facility was an elite fight camp with a reputation for churning out top-notch pro fighters. It didn’t host beginner classes and didn’t cater to foreigners on martial arts vacations, which made it rather intimidating for the youngster.

“Every fighter at Sityodtong Gym was a genuine monster — except for me,” Chatri recalled. “I had never felt so much pain in my life. Heavy bags were filled and packed tightly with sand, and each kick felt like my leg was on fire. Training was brutal, and the intensity was insane. With my lungs burning for oxygen, I had to sneak off to puke in the bathroom a few times. I don’t even know how I survived a 12-kilometer run, 15 rounds of heavy bags, pad work, clinching, 500 sit-ups, etc. on my first day. At the end of that day, my shins and feet were bruised, battered and swollen.”

Luckily, a senior instructor called P’Tu (or Papa Daorung, as he’s known today) took the youth under his wing. Chatri went on to compete in 30 professional muay Thai matches and was appointed one of four conservators of Sityodtong muay Thai by grandmaster Senanan before his death.

Photos Courtesy of ONE Championship

Photos by Paul Duarte

Demetrious Johnson

brate with their kids and grandkids. We want heroes that inspire and unite countries by their shared achievements. And we want to tell their stories of overcoming adversity, tragedy and poverty to inspire humanity.

Amir Khan

“This is the DNA of ONE Championship. Yes, we have a lot of action, a lot of fun fights, etc. on our social media, but we do spend a big portion of our content on inspiring the world and not promoting senseless violence.”

Nowhere is this focus better illustrated than in Aung La N Sang, the first world champion in any sport to hail from Myanmar (formerly Burma). Chatri believes that if his story inspires a street kid in Manila or a young woman in India to become a success, ONE’s core mission will have been accomplished.

Charity is another key component for Chatri, and it’s something he learned from his mother. When he was just 13, she forced him to volunteer as a teacher of English and math for underprivileged kids in a Bangkok slum, and the experience forever changed his perspective. It made him realize how unfair life could be — the odds of these kids escaping poverty or even getting a good education were close to zero.

One of his core beliefs is that “we have been put on the earth to leave it better off than how we have found it.” And he’s certainly walking the walk in this regard. For the past three years, the Evolve Warrior Scholarship Award has given $10,000 scholarships to students from underprivileged families. ONE also SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 31

has joined forces with Global Citizen, the world’s largest NGO in global social movements. Together, they’re working to solve the planet’s most pressing problem — extreme poverty — by 2030.

And ONE supports Boys’ Town Home, a charity for abandoned children and youth in need, as well as the Singapore Children’s Society and Children’s Cancer Foundation.

Perhaps most touching is how Chatri takes care of martial artists in need. For example, he repaid his mentor P’Tu’s early act of kindness by hiring him years later as a coach at Evolve, where he now earns more than he ever could in Thailand and lives a comfortable and productive life.

HIGHER CALLING I asked Chatri if it was difficult championing the martial arts values of honor, respect and discipline in the world of combat sports, where violence and trash talking seem to be the norm. That was his signal to explain what’s permissible in ONE Championship.

“I don’t mind trash talking per se — especially if it is authentic,” he said.

“If it’s about skill, if it’s about someone’s heart, if it’s about your ability, your dreams, personality, character, that’s fine. [But] I think there is a line that you shouldn’t cross.

Crossing the line for me, which other organizations have let their biggest stars do, is to insult religions, insult genders, insult wives, kids or family members, even sexual orientation. That is unacceptable. As a media property, we have a responsibility to use our power and influence in a positive way and not in a way that only focuses on monetization.”

I asked Chatri how that will factor into his plans for ONE Championship post-pandemic. Ever the canny businessman, he kept his cards close to his chest lest he give away something his competition might jump on. He noted, however, that according to the recent Nielsen industry report, ONE is now the third mostviewed sports-media property worldwide, and to celebrate that milestone and ONE’s 10th anniversary, the company will stay true to its roots “For me, it’s to continue to always grow and never forget our mission — that fans or their parents come up to me and tell me

how we inspire them or how we gave them strength at home or how we changed their life,” he said. “That’s the fuel to my fire.

It’s as simple as when a cancer patient tells me, ‘I wanted to fight because I saw your heroes fight.’ These are the stories that really shape me and inspire me.”

BRIGHT FUTURE As my time with Chatri drew to a close, I asked if he was optimistic that this period of suffering brought on by COVID-19 will lead to future greatness. Even 16 hours into his workday, his eyes lit up when he replied.

“Yes, I have not lost one iota of confidence in martial arts schools or the martial arts industry or anything that is going on in the world,” he said.

“Here’s why: At the end of the day, martial arts is a huge net benefit to society. Not only do we get our students happier, healthier, fitter and more productive, [but we also] forge in them values of integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage and compassion. Millions of children all over the world are able to bullyproof themselves through martial arts and not have their self-esteem shattered by bullies.

“At its core, martial arts is a wonderful thing that has been a part of Asian society and culture for the better part of 5,000 years. Martial arts has survived through wars, pandemics, recessions and everything else. It is definitely rough times for everybody, [but] the martial arts industry will snap back stronger than ever once this pandemic is over. It might seem dark right now, but it’s always darkest at midnight. But always remember the sun rises again.”

I have not lost one iota of confidence in martial arts schools or the martial arts industry or anything that is going on in the world.

Perry William Kelly has a sixth-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu and is an instructor in four other martial arts. He’s the former national coordinator for use of force for the Correctional Service of Canada.

In 2017 he was a karate gold medalist at the World Police and Fire Games, and in 2018 he received the Joe Lewis Eternal Warrior Award. His website is perrywkelly.com

Chatri Sityodtong had some advice for the readers of MASuccess: “I know that everyone has been going through a very difficult

time all over the world and the martial arts industry has been suffering. Some of you have had to actually go bankrupt, and some of you are on the brink.

“But I will go back to [this]: Why did you start your martial arts school in the first place? It’s your passion, it’s your purpose.

Never forget that. That will be your strength in the darkest moments.”

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In addition to running ONE Championship, Chatri Sityodtong manages to find time to finetune his martial arts ability at least an hour a day. He now sports a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Renzo Gracie.

Chatri’s passion for the arts led to his Black Belt Hall of Fame induction as 2019 Man of the Year. The award touched him because he read the publication when he was a student in the States, he said. “In my wildest dreams, [I never imagined] that I would one day be on the cover of the world’s largest martial arts magazine and be inducted into the Hall of Fame.”

BLACK BELT LEADERSHIP

Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good

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BY NGUYEN “TOM” GRIGGS

“As an industry, we rarely talk about perfect teaching.

Rather, we focus on teaching the best classes.

That same mindset should be applied to everything you do as a leader.”

ave you ever found yourself stuck in the negative feedback loop of seeking perfection? It’s an odd mind trap in which no matter what you do, your efforts never seem perfect. You look back and think, I could’ve done X, Y or Z just a little better.

Most of us have been there — unfortunately.

While it’s true there are times when you have to push yourself to do better, there are also times when good is good enough.

Yes, hard work matters. However, it’s useful to consider something my late father used to say: “Work hard but work smart, too.” Sometimes your efforts and the results you achieve are simply good enough. Period.

A popular saying, often attributed to architect William McDonough, is “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.” If you know anything about architects, you know that the pursuit of perfection is often a struggle for them. My wife Kimberly Phipps-Nichol frequently uses McDonough’s words in her interior-design business.

She tells me that clients and junior designers often become focused on the “perfect solution,” but what seems like the perfect answer can be fraught with budget issues and structural constraints, which end up causing additional problems.

Whenever people fixate on the perfect solution, Kimberly likes to remind them that perfect shouldn’t become the enemy of good. A good solution that encompasses elements of the perfect answer but doesn’t create more problems is usually best.

Let’s take a moment to look at perfect vs. good in the business of martial arts.

Example No. 1: Testing No doubt you’ve been in belt-testing situations — sometimes as the student and other times as the instructor — when a decision had to be made. For example, a student has completed his or her testing requirements, but was everything good enough?

The student’s forms could have been cleaner, the combinations could have been sharper, and the sparring could have been more precise. But are your expectations realistic based on the person’s ability?

Or are you expecting the student to perform better simply because it’s a test?

If a person performs at the best of his or her ability at the time of the test, isn’t that good enough?

Example No. 2: Teaching Have you ever taught a class while seemingly on autopilot? Everything went well, no one got hurt and it was solid lesson — but was it your best work?

As an industry, we rarely talk about perfect teaching. Rather, we focus on teaching the best classes. That same mindset should be applied to everything you do as a leader.

When you seek the best from your team members and yourself, you must be willing to accept that some days, good is as good as it gets. I’m not saying you should settle for mediocrity when it comes to effort, but in seeking the best from your team members, you must not come across as a person who demands perfection.

Perfection can be seen from three perspectives: attainability, sustainability and teachability. It’s hard to attain because it is truly subjective. For instance, two people who perform the same kata will never look the same; therefore, perfection is unattainable.

Perfection is hard to sustain. A person may execute a perfect movement once, but it’s unlikely he or she will be able to achieve the same result every time. In the manufacturing industry, managers know this. That’s why defects are an expected component of production.

Perfection is hard to teach. Even someone who’s close to perfect in his or her performance may not be able to teach others to achieve the same level.

Great martial arts teachers sometimes confess that they struggle in comparison to their masters or other seniors they know.

It’s important to remember that focused, steady practice is what creates progress and improvement.

Keep your students working smart and hard, and they’ll get better. Keep earning your stripes.

Nguyen “Tom” Griggs is a professional consultant/speaker on subjects that include teams, leadership and conflict. To contact him, send an email to tom@ntgriggs.com.

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IN THE CLASSROOM

4 Quadrants of Business

BY DAVE KOVAR

“Company culture is … more than having a slick mission statement on the wall and giving lip service to loyalty and teamwork. It is something that’s developed over time. Every company has a culture. The question is, Is your current culture the one you want?”

n my 40-plus years of running a martial arts school, I have seen many people come and go. I’ve also seen a handful of organizations that have continued to grow and thrive, decade after decade.

In my effort to find out what has kept those schools in the game for so long, I’ve stumbled across what I refer to as the “four quadrants.”

Although they might not use this terminology, the schools that excel have these in common.

The four quadrants consist of the individual and the team when viewed from an internal and an external perspective. They’re loosely based on my studies of Ken Wilber’s program on Integral Business.

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2. Team Internal 1. Individual Internal Company culture Meaning and purpose

4. Team External 3. Individual External Business systems, Compensation and strategies and tactics incentives 1. Individual Internal For a company to thrive, the intrinsic needs of the individual must be met. When a team member feels that his or her job has meaning and purpose, the person is more committed to what’s being done and will go the extra mile for teammates and students.

Also, in general, one of the strongest indicators of a happy life is a job that has meaning and purpose. This is why we always begin our staff meetings with success stories from the schools.

The more we celebrate our students’ victories, the more each member of our team is reminded of the importance of his or her job.

2. Team Internal A person can find great meaning in a job, but if he or she doesn’t get along with teammates, the person might decide to do that job somewhere else. That’s why company culture is so important. It’s much

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more than having a slick mission statement on the wall and giving lip service to loyalty and teamwork.

As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” You can’t fake a good culture. It is something that’s developed over time. Every company has a culture. The question is, Is your current culture the one you want? Your culture improves every time you go to battle for one of your teammates. It improves every time you show loyalty and every time you reward it when you see it.

3. Individual External A person can find meaning and purpose in a job and love his or her co-workers and employer, but if the person’s income is insufficient or time off is inadequate, the employee won’t be around for the long haul. A well-run school should allow the owner to pay his or her key full-timers wages that are comparable to other working professionals such as firefighters and schoolteachers, as well as provide medical insurance, PTO and a 401(k).

4. Team External This refers to business systems, strategies and tactics. It’s the area that most people immediately focus on when they think their business is not doing as well as it should. Early in my career, there were very few people who could guide me in these areas, so many of us just made everything up as we went along. Now, however, there’s a plethora of information available.

In any business, the keys to success are identifying and acknowledging weak areas. I encourage you to analyze your business using the four quadrants as your guide. In the areas where you are strong, keep doing what you’re doing. In the areas where you may be weak, finds ways to strengthen the relevant portions of your business.

To contact Dave Kovar, send an email to dave.kovar@kovars.com.

LIFE DURING WARTIME How 7 Martial Arts Schools Overcame the Odds and Triumphed While COVID Attacked!

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hen COVID-19 started to affect businesses in March 2020, our first plan was to have separate class times throughout the day with brothers and sisters training together — and maybe a few other kids for a maximum of four per class. We would make sure they were more socially distanced than was suggested. Furthermore, we would require everyone to wear a mask.

When local businesses were shut down altogether, we switched to Zoom for virtual instruction. Part of that was giving young students weekly challenges — we called them “The Superman Challenge,” “The Hulk Challenge” and so on. Of course, we explained how each one worked so students could do them at home. At the end of every week, the winner of the challenge was awarded a trophy that could be picked up at our school. The challenges kept the kids engaged and gave them something to work on (and film for social media) in addition to our daily classes.

We did all this along with Facebook Live sessions, but still we 40 MASUCCESS

lost many students. It was a struggle to retain enough students to keep the doors open. That’s why we took advantage of a Small Business Administration loan to help with expenses.

As if 2020 hadn’t started badly enough, in July, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. At that time, I had been looking at opening a school in York, South Carolina, a small community with no dedicated martial arts program nearby. Because the location was so appealing, in the middle of COVID — and despite surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other forms of treatment — I kept working on the dream of the new school. It finally opened, and on May 24, 2021, we held our first class.

Following the five tenets of taekwondo has kept our lives and our businesses moving forward: courtesy, or being kind no matter what; integrity, or doing the right thing by our kids and innovating ways to keep them active, fit and engaged; perseverance, or not giving up on a dream in the face of adversity; self-control, or limiting negative thoughts while maintaining a positive outlook; and indomitable spirit, or cultivating an inner strength that cannot be broken.

Indomitable spirit is the tenet I really learned to identify with because of the combination of COVID and cancer. A cancer diagnosis alone is enough to break a person. However, I didn’t let cancer or COVID break me. Now, my team is looking at a bright future. It’s been a struggle and a lot of hard work, but we couldn’t be happier.

Photos Courtesy of Michael Brewster

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Schools: Black Tiger Martial Arts Style: Taekwondo Headquarters: Houston, Texas; York, South Carolina Co-Owner: Robin McLeod Ingram (with husband Bill Ingram)

Photos Courtesy of Robin McLeod Ingram

The struggle against COVID-19 has rightly been described as a war. Some martial arts school owners did nothing as the coronavirus attacked, and their businesses perished. Most school owners took defensive action, and they survived. A few, however, went on the offensive. Even as they defended themselves against the hit brought on by the lockdowns, they explored new territory where they saw good chances for growth. These are the success stories of seven of them.

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Schools: OKS Martial Arts and Fitness Style: Matsubayashi-ryu shorin-ryu Headquarters: Forsyth, Georgia; Macon, Georgia Owner: Michael Brewster

Photos Courtesy of Michael Brewster

Photos Courtesy of Robin McLeod Ingram

t was January 2020, and the world was grand. Our martial arts schools were up in every way: student count, gross, retention and so on. Then COVID hit.

We were not super-concerned at first, thinking it would just be two weeks of “Watch out!” and “Be careful!” So we began holding classes outside and immediately implemented Zoom instruction to give anyone who chose to stay home an opportunity to continue training and thus see the continuing value of our programs. It worked! We lost no students during that first month.

As the situation got more serious, we opted to have only one or two instructors per day at each of our locations, and they taught only via Zoom. The outdoor classes were stopped because we were on lockdown. That’s when things really started to go downhill. We lost five students at each location. Then 10 students.

But we kept teaching. We also organized free parents-nightout evenings online, posted videos of our staff reading children’s books, etc., all while trying not to let it get to us. Then we dropped to 50 percent of our normal numbers.

Luckily, we have a great team of instructors who refused to give up. They taught even more exciting online classes, which we promoted in a way that attracted out-of-state students. We had parents volunteer to help their kids by holding pads and pillows for them to punch and kick during virtual classes. Instead of cutting back, we spent more on advertising. Instead of cutting out mentoring, we upgraded and joined the Championship Martial Arts family.

As the local community got “sick” of COVID and tired of being locked down with nothing to do, we started going back up. The lockdowns eventually were lifted, and folks started feeling more comfortable with physical classes again.

We enrolled more and more people. Our records show that in the first four months of 2021 at one of our schools, we signed up as many new students as we did in all of 2020. One school is eight students away from hitting its pre-COVID numbers, and the other is three students away. This first quarter, we are up 29.4 percent and 17.5 percent versus last year. We’re on target to hit our highest-grossing year ever.

We stayed open the whole time, didn’t lose our schools and didn’t have any employees leave. Now we’re looking to capitalize on our success and open more schools, which will give our team members more awesome careers to choose from and even brighter futures.

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Photos Courtesy of Cassie Bullock

y husband and I own a martial arts school in a small rural town with a population of 3,000.

Surviving COVID was definitely not easy for us, but we managed to do so — and we’re about to celebrate our school’s 10th anniversary. Here is the secret of our success.

Our school transitioned to virtual instruction in March 2020, and since then, I’ve made more than 60 videos that I’ve posted on our YouTube channel, which is called RSD Online. I got the idea from something I saw in a Facebook group, after which I created a game called Fire Dodge Challenge. Then I posted it on YouTube for our kids to play at home as a form of martial arts practice. I also shared it on a Facebook group composed of martial arts instructors and told them they could use if they wished.

I received a lot of great feedback. Students loved it, and instructors shared it in their virtual classes.

That gave me an idea: Why not make a new game every week?

My YouTube subscriber count gradually grew to 500. Things were slow in the early days of the pandemic, so I began making custom versions of the games with school logos and other

requested changes, and that was well-received. I watched our numbers approach 1,000 subscribers, the point at which you can monetize your YouTube channel. I figured that would make game creation more worth my time — it takes about six to eight hours for most of them.

I continued using the games in class, but when we returned to in-person instruction, I figured I might give videomaking a break. Then I created a game called Pumpkin Punch. It went viral thanks to a few groups populated by physical-education teachers, and within a month, we were at 5,000 subscribers. Around the world, PE teachers started incorporating these martial arts games into their virtual classes, as well as in socially distanced classes using projectors.

People sent me videos of gyms full of students who were playing along and having fun while exercising with my games, and that inspired me to keep creating. Sometime during the winter, our YouTube channel hit 10,000 subscribers, which meant we were making additional revenue — and that helped us survive the second wave of COVID lockdowns in November.

The games also helped us maintain a good base of online students, people who were uncomfortable with in-person classes but are now starting to return after a year at home.

It’s been a crazy year with many rough patches, but overall it’s been a great success that will change the way I look at teaching martial arts.

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Photos Courtesy of Amanda Saludares

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School: Rockcastle Shaolin Do Style: Shaolin do Headquarters: Mount Vernon, Kentucky Owner: Cassie Bullock

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School: Sensei’s School of Martial Arts Style: Taekwondo Headquarters: Houston, Texas Owner: Amanda Saludares

Photos Courtesy of Amanda Saludares

Photos Courtesy of Cassie Bullock

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hroughout the pandemic, our school was fortunate to have parents who continued to support us and who were patient enough to allow us to find solutions so their children could continue to train. We stayed open for the majority of the time. However, the programs we had in elementary schools were lost for the entire year. We are in the process of discussing what we can offer schools for 2021-2022.

During the lockdown, we held online classes as well as in-person classes. To reassure the students and the parents, we placed marks on the floor to indicate the amount of space needed to abide by social distancing requirements, and we continued with our routine cleaning.

Some families came in for classes, while others trained online.

We limited the in-person classes to 10 people each, took the temperature of our students daily and emphasized the importance of hand washing.

While social distancing, we allowed kids to stay in the dojo and do homework, which meant we could be a space where parents could drop their children off and the kids could use the dojo’s internet connection for schoolwork. The students were told they could get help by asking our staff. We even interacted with the kids’ teachers to make sure they were staying on track while their parents were working. (Most of our parents are essential workers.) This took extra effort on our part, but it gave the parents one less thing to worry about.

We also obtained food from nearby food pantries to help families that needed it. Some were not able to go to those facilities because they lacked transportation or had to work during the distribution times.

Our efforts to serve the community while delivering excellent instruction paid off. At the beginning of the restrictions, our training floor consisted of 60 mats, but we had to expand to 96 mats because our student count had doubled. We plan to hold a training camp in July, and we’re confident it will be a success.

God has shown us favor in many different ways. We were very fortunate with the families we interact with, and we’ve been able to keep our doors open and continue to expand.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 43

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Photo Courtesy of Jim Ginter

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hen COVID hit, we, like everyone else, were drastically impacted. Many calls came in with people asking to cancel their memberships — the phone wouldn’t stop ringing.

Then, in April, right in the middle of our freefall, my enrollment director decided that this wasn’t for her. That meant one of my two full-time employees was about to quit. Everything was crashing down.

My school went from bringing in $40,000 a month to $19,000 a month. That caused us to scramble with Zoom classes in an effort makes things work.

The Zoom classes weren’t great in the beginning, but what saved us was that we were quick to get them started. The week of the shutdown, we had Zoom classes running from Monday through Saturday to meet the needs of our members.

With our backs against the wall, we knew we had to make additional adjustments, and that’s when I started focusing my efforts online. I decided to go all in with online instruction and began marketing my karate classes around the country.

I quickly went from working a 30-hour week to working 70 hours. I found myself giving lessons at 10:30 p.m. eastern time (where I live) for students in California. It was a wild ride.

At first, I continued to lose money, but eventually I started to figure it out. I fine-tuned my sales skills because I found that signing up virtual students was much harder than signing up in-person students.

Since the summer of 2020, we’ve had $247,000 in online revenue, not including local members who elected to switch to online classes. The phenomenal growth came from new students who will never train in-person because they live too far away.

In one recent month, our gross went from $19,000 to $84,000 for our in-person studio and online program. While most people were making their online programs cheaper, I made ours more expensive because it delivers a higher level of service, which is how we became the biggest online program in the country (as far as I can tell).

We now have a full-time online instructor who lives in Florida and two part-time instructors who run our online program from California and Pennsylvania. We’re bigger and better now than we have ever been. All the marketing and sales tactics that I learned for online purposes have enabled our in-person dojo to grow, as well.

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Brenner

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School: Action Karate Style: Kenpo Headquarters: Cinnaminson, New Jersey Owner: Matthew Brenner

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School: Maximum Martial Arts Styles: Superfoot System, krav maga Headquarters: Flagstaff, Arizona Owner: Jim Ginter

Photo Courtesy of Jim Ginter

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Brenner

n mid-March 2020, businesses in my community were asked to shut down to help limit the spread of COVID19. We were able to pivot immediately to Zoom classes because I had been following what was happening in other parts of the country. Seeing the closure coming, I ordered two sets of cameras, lights, green screens, headsets, etc. for my instructors one week prior to our shutdown.

In addition, we offered free private mini-lessons (15 minutes each), “drive thru” belt graduations, and constant connection to our members via Facebook, email and push notifications from our studio app.

From March 2020 to July 2020, we went from 176 members to 138, a 22-percent decline. From what I understand, many schools lost more students and had to close their doors. I believe we survived because of the community we’d worked so hard to create.

Most of our members stayed with us and supported the studio.

From July 2020 to the present, we saw steady growth. We stayed active with social media postings about our cleaning

protocols and safety measures (we were allowed to reopen slowly starting in May 2020). We constantly reaffirmed our commitment to our members’ physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Currently, we’re at 209 members, which is more than we had pre-COVID. This success has enabled us to raise our rates.

Then and now, I’ve been able to pay my bills, keep all four of my employees and maintain my family’s household as the sole provider.

Essential to my success has been the quality of my team. I say that before revealing that in September 2020, I suffered an accident that broke my fibula and tibia. After the surgery, I was not allowed to place any weight on the leg (no standing, no walking) for six weeks. That was followed by six weeks of rehab. My team went above and beyond. They took over the school and made sure it continued to thrive.

I took advantage of the downtime to rework our operations manual — from class planning and instructor training to frontdesk management and marketing. My team took it and essentially ran the studio from September 2020 until January 2021, when I was able to return. If it wasn’t for them, I’m not sure our studio would have survived.

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Schools: PMA Harlingen, PMA McAllen, PMA Mission Styles: Karate, taekwondo, kickboxing, krav maga Headquarters: Harlingen, Texas; McAllen, Texas; Mission, Texas Owner: Eric Arriaga

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Photos Courtesy of Eric Arriaga

ithout a doubt, the past year has been one of the most challenging in my career as a martial arts school owner. I don’t want to minimize the difficulties that families have dealt with, but I do want to share my story.

I’ve been a martial arts school owner for 14 years, and it’s been a dream of mine to own multiple locations. I was ecstatic when I finally signed a lease on my second location in February 2020.

I hit the ground running, preparing the location and the staff.

Three weeks later, the world stopped turning.

I’ll spare you the details of exactly what happened next. Suffice it to say I was devastated. In the months that followed, I was certain that there was no bouncing back and that my dreams of having a second location were gone forever. After the initial shock, I did what any good entrepreneur in my situation would do: change gears.

We quickly set up a studio in my neighbor’s living room, and from there, we ran our virtual martial arts classes. The key word

here is “quickly.” We were the first PMA school to transition to virtual classes and the first to hold a virtual graduation.

For the next two and half months, we taught every one of our 250 students from that virtual studio. We did our best to continue to deliver the same customer service and attention to detail we had in person. We hosted a virtual parents-night-out that was a hit with families, in part because it included karaoke and other fun activities. I hope I never again have to promote a student to the next belt level via Zoom, but I’ve never seen as much spirit as I did during that first graduation under lockdown.

My students and staff have been amazing examples of perseverance.

We decided to move ahead with our plans for the new school.

We adjusted our timeline and opened more slowly than we would have under normal circumstances. We had only four weeks of presales instead of the recommended six weeks.

Despite this and the fact that we’re located in a poor part of the country, we have signed nearly 200 students in the 10 months we’ve been open.

Throughout all this, the community of PMA school owners, including Barry Van Over (president) and Myles Baker (vice president), were encouraging and supportive. They provided feedback and suggestions regarding how we could best serve our students and their families. They helped my team pull together and keep the business going strong. We look forward to opening four to six more schools in the next two years.

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Photos Courtesy of Eric Arriaga

48 MASUCCESS

Much of the Martial Arts Community Has Transitioned to Online Instruction — Here’s What You Need to Do to KEEP YOUR LOCAL STUDENTS FROM GOING VIRTUAL

by Cris Rodriguez

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent; it is the one most adaptable to change.”

— Charles Darwin Change. Adapt. Pivot. Adjust. Modify. Revise. Develop. INNOVATE. These are words often used to describe what we martial arts school owners were forced to do last year as a result of COVID-19 and the lockdowns that ensued.

While many of our peers now regard 2020 as their worst year ever, I prefer to view it as a great opportunity for growth. For me, it was the year I realized how tough I truly

am. It was the year I watched my team step up. It was the year I discovered how strong the martial arts community really is.

It was also the year I learned that teaching punches and kicks and armbars and chokes isn’t enough. It’s about building relationships that we’ve developed within the community. It’s about finding ways to move forward no matter the circumstances. In short, it’s about focusing on community over classes.

For most of us, it wound up being a year in which we were able to grow. This is the silver lining to the pandemic, and I, for one, am grateful for it.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 49

New Kids on the Block History has shown us time and time again that after every recession, we can expect a rebound. As I write this, the martial arts community is in the middle of such a rebound. We’re seeing schools that are having record-breaking enrollments and seeing revenue levels that were unheard of during COVID. Don’t take my word for it — just ask our Grow Pro and MAIA clients. Most will happily tell you about their success. Most of that success stems from leveraging the power of digital marketing to make their schools truly thrive in this new business environment.

Here’s some proof of how the environment has changed: Hop on Facebook right now. Not only will you see an ad from one of your competitors, but you’ll probably be targeted by a company that’s offering virtual martial arts classes, as well.

Haven’t seen them yet? It’s likely because you don’t spend enough time on Facebook. Try this tactic instead: Go to Google and search for “online martial arts classes.” I guarantee you’ll be inundated by a plethora of people offering instruction via Zoom and other video-conferencing platforms.

Twenty years ago, if you told someone that the combat arts one day would become popular as an at-home solution to the self-defense problem, they would have called you crazy. But when COVID hit, those instructors who were the first to meet the demand from the locked-down public were the ones who prospered.

instruction for people who are still not comfortable with the notion of in-person training or who are looking for the convenience provided by digital delivery of lessons — and that’s fine.

Regardless of your thoughts on the results these programs can generate, they exist and people are paying for them. That means they are your competition. (From what I’m hearing, however, the majority of the schools that have stopped offering classes online are seeing their in-person classes filling up.)

Now, the question becomes, What can you do to combat the glut of online martial arts classes that your local students are being exposed to every time they go online? Before I point you toward some answers, let’s unpack this.

Digging Deep First, it’s essential that you understand your customer avatar. As a business owner, you have to make sure you aren’t focusing on just what you’re selling. You also have to focus on whom you’re selling it to.

Why? Because you can have the greatest product on earth, but if you’re trying to sell it to the wrong person, you’re never going to succeed and you’re never going to grow your business over the long haul.

I know what some of you are thinking: Online classes worked well while we were on lockdown and students had no choice, but things are getting better now, and everyone knows that the best martial arts instruction takes place in person because you can’t really become proficient if all you do is practice online.

Most of us would agree. Learning martial arts and then practicing in online-only mode just isn’t the same as getting on the mat with a group of peers who will offer resistance, all under the supervision of a qualified instructor. Nevertheless, plenty of research has shown that there is a market for online classes even though the pandemic is coming to an end.

Exhibit A: I found one online resource that offers martial arts lessons that cost from $5 to $15 per class.

Exhibit B: I found another that touts its online classes at less than $20.

Exhibit C: Yet another boasts that thousands of users are taking advantage of its catalog of virtual courses.

Exhibit D: There’s even one website that promises to make you a black belt at home.

Such programs exploded during the pandemic, and they continue to see growth even as local martial arts schools like yours are reopening.

It’s also important to note that some school owners who used to serve up only in-person classes are continuing to offer online 50 MASUCCESS

If you’re not sure who your ideal customer is as you forge ahead in the realm of digital marketing post-COVID, I recommend you check out the article posted here: digitalmarketer.com/ blog/customer-avatar-worksheet/.

In the meantime, here’s some general guidance. What kind of people choose online ma rtial arts classes for themselves or their children over in-person training? The most common reasons are the convenience of not having to travel, the ease of fitting class times into their schedule and the overall cost effectiveness of the training.

However, if I had to reduce the answer to the question “How do you compete with online martial arts classes and keep your local students from going virtual?” to just one word, it would be “community.”

At the end of the day, you aren’t in the business of teaching martial arts. You are in the business of building and maintaining relationships. Your school is more than a place for people to learn self-defense; it’s a community.

Lee Iacocca, who served as an executive at Ford Motor

Photo Courtesy of Cris Rodriguez

Virtual World

Photo Courtesy of Cris Rodriguez

At the end of the day, there will people who are attracted to the idea of taking martial arts classes online because of their budget, their schedule or their level of commitment. With all due respect, those aren’t the people you want to try to bring into your martial arts school.

In the past, I’ve joked that my ideal client is a stay-at-home mother of two who aimlessly walks the aisles of Target, sipping her Starbucks coffee with a fresh manicure while wearing Lululemon yoga pants. You might scoff at this, but I know the type of person I want to draw into my academy, and you should know yours. That makes it easier when it’s time to market because you need to craft the exact message that will inspire qualified, prepositioned buyers to walk through your door.

Back to your customer avatar: To better understand the concept, think in terms of the persona of the average person who has purchased your services in the past. This is crucial. There are five major components that make up your customer avatar: • Goals and values • Sources of information • Demographic details • Challenges and pain points • Objections and roles

Company and then as the CEO of Chrysler Corporation and was the author of the best-selling Iacocca: An Autobiography, once said, “Business, after all, is nothing more than a bunch of human relationships.” And he was absolutely right.

As a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, I’ve spent the past two decades on the mat getting to experience the after-class “mat chat magic” that occurs between peers and instructors. In those huddles, unbreakable friendships were forged — and some of my best BJJ memories were formed.

There’s something magical that happens when you train with another human being, whether you’re sparring on your feet, grappling on the ground, or engaging in drills and exercises. As long as you’re on the mat sweating with another martial artist, a special bond is being formed.

It’s that bond that will make people choose your live classes over online classes every day of the week. You need to capitalize on that.

Another part of building community is the camaraderie that comes with attending in-person events that you host. Organizing a parents-night-out, a board-breaking seminar, a training camp or an in-house tournament not only strengthens the bond between members of your community but also generates additional revenue for your school.

Finally, if you really want to emphasize what sets your inperson classes apart from online programs, be sure to showcase the culture of your school. Use Facebook Live to broadcast one of

What exactly is each one? I can’t tell you because the answers depend on what you teach, where you teach, how you teach and whom you teach. It’s definitely time for some analysis and introspection!

Once you’re able to define your customer avatar and identify the details of these five components, you will be better equipped to determine who your ideal customer is. And once you can do this, the glut of online martial arts classes that threaten to lure your in-person students away from your business won’t be of concern to you. You will know that most of the people who choose that route to learn martial arts probably wouldn’t fit your customer avatar anyway.

Cris Rodriguez has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a third degree in taekwondo. The co-owner of Gracie PAC MMA, she has 25 years of experience in the martial arts and 18 years of experience as a teacher. Based in Tampa, Florida, Rodriguez has studied internet marketing for eight years and is the founder of Grow Pro Agency, a digital-marketing firm that runs Facebook and Instagram ads for martial arts school owners.

your classes or to interview one of your star team members.

Post a testimonial from a parent. Spotlight one of your best instructors. I’m sure you can come up with other ideas.

Of course, you shouldn’t overlook the pluses of online training. Virtual classes can serve as feeders for in-person instruction because they offer an easy way for prospects who are marginally interested in the martial arts to get started with a minimal cost and with a relatively simple enrollment process. Then, if the online students want to continue training and actually earn rank (Hint! This is another advertising point for your in-person classes.), they can seek out a school like yours.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 51

GENESIS

Boy Is Kidnapped — Learns Martial Arts for Self-Defense — Becomes Tournament Powerhouse — Founds Century Martial Arts — Vows to Pay It Forward

by Creating Martial Arts Industry Association!

by Robert W. Young

ABDUCTION INSPIRES TRAINING

“When I was 3 years old, I was kidnapped,” Dillard says, fingering a newspaper clipping from August 26, 1953. “At the time, my dad 54 MASUCCESS

was running a grocery store. A kidnapper came into my house, tied up and beat my mother, and took me so he could rob the store. It was a big deal in Oklahoma City, which was a relatively small town at the time.

“That kind of thing traumatizes a family so much. You grow up with a protective instinct.”

The natural question is, Was that the inspiration for him to take up the martial arts as a boy? “Yes. I think it had a lot to do with it,” Dillard says. “It definitely changed me — that and the fact that I later went to a rough high school in a bad part of town. On my way to enroll in the seventh grade, my friend and I were jumped by a gang. In school, it didn’t take me long to figure out that nobody messed with the wrestlers. So I started wrestling and continued into my first two years of college.”

Those workouts served a dual purpose: They taught the youth how to grapple, and they exposed him to something totally foreign, something the small-town 13-year-old might not otherwise have encountered. “One of the kids I wrestled with was a practitioner of the Korean martial arts,” Dillard says. “I was intrigued by this guy I could beat at wrestling but who could kick me in the head, so I started working out with him.”

His appetite whetted, he beat a path to every dojo he could find to learn everything he could. “I was amazed by the fact that

Photos Courtesy of Mike Dillard

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can’t say for sure how an incident in which my home was invaded, my mother was tied up and I was abducted would affect me, but I like to think it wouldn’t reduce my childhood to a kittenhood. I hope I’d be able to recover from the emotional trauma and at least live out my life with a semblance of normalcy.

Spend any time with Mike Dillard, and you’ll begin to see how, for some people, such adversity can breed success.

Instead of being ruined for life, he channeled his anxiety into a drive to learn self-defense, then into a string of victories on the karate circuit and finally into a startup that exploded into a business empire, all using the principles and concepts he acquired from the martial arts.

After the crafting of that empire came bouts with one adrenaline-pumping sport after another and, more important for posterity, the launch of an association devoted to helping others enjoy the very same benefits of training that took him to the top — by both practicing the arts and adopting them as a vocation.

the martial arts worked so well but were so unknown to so many people,” says Dillard, now a ninth-degree black belt under Roger Greene and an eighth degree in the United Fighting Arts Federation. “There was so much potential.”

Throughout junior and senior high school, he remained smitten.

“In college, my adviser told me, ‘You can do most anything you want, but your interests don’t match up with anything we teach.’ In my junior year, I still didn’t have a major. My dad wanted me to major in accounting, which is where I landed, but I never wanted to be an accountant. I wanted to be a fighter and continue my martial arts studies.”

The youth had already had a taste of the fighter’s life. “I fought for the first time in 1969,” he says. “Altogether, I competed in over 300 tournaments. I didn’t win them all, of course, but I won a lot as a brown belt and most of them as a black belt.”

His final fight came in 1991, when he was almost 41. “Someone asked me the other day why I retired,” Dillard says. “I told him, ‘I didn’t retire; I just got too old to keep winning.’”

ENTER THE WORK FORCE

Dillard worked his way through college, teaching martial arts at Oklahoma State University. “When I got out, I drove to California and stopped at all the martial arts schools up and down the coast,” he recalls. “That’s how I met Chuck Norris. I wanted to train with him because I’d read about him in Black Belt. I’d read all about how good the fighters out there were. If you wanted to be a fighter, you had to go to the West Coast, so I did.”

His relocation to California wasn’t to last, however, because of the nagging need to start a career in a “respectable” field. “I got a job as an accountant with a company that ran several offshore drilling rigs,” Dillard says. “They sent me to help a rig manager in Bombay, India. He had to deal with the most unruly bunch of people — they were cooped up on a rig for two weeks, then they got a week off.

“On my first day, a big rig hand was yelling at me, standing 3 inches from my nose. He had some expense reports that hadn’t been paid, and he was telling me how he wouldn’t stand for it. It was an obvious attempt at intimidation. I ended up knocking him over the chair — I was a senior brown belt at the time and had fought in more than 100 tournaments. I told him that he wasn’t to talk to me that way and that once he stopped, I’d treat him with respect, too.”

The rig manager seemed pleased, telling Dillard he’d been waiting for someone to do that for years. “He then said he had an offer to work in Dubai,” Dillard recalls. “I was in charge less than 24 hours after I arrived. I got along with the rig hands fine after that, even though they would occasionally push me a little. Martial arts gave me the self-confidence to deal with them.”

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Dillard spent a year in Bombay, squirreling away every penny he earned. “Then I went to Korea in the mid-’70s and stayed a while to train,” he says. After a quick lesson in international relations — “I found out quickly that if you spent your time hus-

Photos Courtesy of Mike Dillard

AMERICAN IDOLS

When you’re a big dog, you get to hang with other big dogs — in Mike Dillard’s case, that means palling around with the legends of the martial arts. The following are some of his faves: “Bill Wallace is always entertaining and taught all of us how to kick better. Mike Swain is as sincere a person as you could ever meet. Ernie Reyes Sr. is a master of motivation and a great guy. If I could have anybody’s fighting skills, it would be Joe Lewis’. If I have a mentor, it’s Chuck Norris.

“When I was an instructor in Mr. Norris’ organization, he’d bring in so many great people — Pat Johnson was one of the best. And Richard Norton would put on the most incredible weapons demonstrations. I was good friends with Howard Jackson, who was a great competitor. Roger Greene taught me a lot, and I won many championships captaining teams from his school. I learned a lot from Jeff Smith. Jhoon Rhee was an idol of mine. Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell are great. Dave Kovar is an instructor I’d model myself after.”

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 55

tling local girls, the local guys would resent you” — he hit it off with an instructor and made his way to Kukkiwon, the nation’s taekwondo headquarters.

Dillard’s workouts proved to be yet another adventure. “My idea of sparring was to reach out, grab the guy’s sleeve and punch him in the head — or sweep him to the ground and stomp him because of the training I’d had in Okinawan and Japanese karate, as well as judo,” he says. “In Korea, you didn’t do that in taekwondo. I got lambasted right off the bat. It was a new set of rules.

“It was a very good time for me, though. I learned a lot, and I decided that perhaps a way to make a living was to import uniforms designed to fit American martial artists that were a little taller. I still loved to fight, but a match in those days might earn you $500, and you couldn’t survive on that. So I came back to Oklahoma and moved in with my parents and started importing uniforms from Korea. I would do the importing during the day, and I would teach in the afternoon and work in the bars at night.

Back then, most black belts worked in bars at night.”

So began Century Martial Arts.

FRESH CHALLENGES

His business plan was simple and suited his workaholic personality: He’d hit the tournament circuit and hawk his wares at each stop. “In 1979 I fought in 49 tournaments — sometimes one on Saturday and one on Sunday of the same weekend,” Dillard recalls. “I’d meet the black belts, shake their hands and give them my catalog. I’d stand at the table, then go judge, then stand at the table, then go fight. If I won, I’d have enough money for a hotel room. If not, I’d sleep in the van.”

In the beginning, his ads in Black Belt — the first one ran in the July 1977 issue — featured his own mug. “Being a businessperson, I quickly figured out having pictures of Chuck Norris and Bill Wallace sold a lot more uniforms,” he says, smiling.

“Norris and Wallace were willing to help, as were Keith Vitali, Jeff Smith, Pat Burleson and others.”

Nurturing Century occupied most of his time, but once the company could stand on its own, Dillard found he could sneak off now 56 MASUCCESS

and then to engage in adventure sports that produced the same adrenaline rush as fighting, including motorcycle racing, car racing, whitewater rafting, scuba diving and downhill skiing — not to mention some insane stunt work for Norris.

Unfortunately, the high risks resulted in a high number of injuries. “I broke this arm doing a stunt for Mr. Norris: A 55-gallon drum hit me,” Dillard says, pointing. “I broke three ribs when he threw me down a flight of stairs for another stunt. I broke some ribs while riding a horse — we think we’re cowboys in Oklahoma, but we’re not all good ones. I broke my back in 1989 in a motocross accident. In 1999 I hit the wall at Daytona at 170 miles an hour and broke my neck.”

During the many months he spent in plaster, his devotion to high-octane pursuits — and to the martial arts — never wavered.

“I kept fighting and competing,” he says. “I broke fingers in a bare-knuckle match, some of which I still can’t straighten out. I broke my left leg and both ankles. Once a guy threw a spinning heel kick at me and I loosely blocked it with my hand, and it separated my shoulder. I’ve broken most of my toes. I broke my eye orbit, which crushed my sinus.” He says they were typical injuries for contact fighters.

The downtime that followed each injury was mostly a matter of Dillard chomping at the bit to get back in action. “When I broke my back in late 1989, I was put in a body brace on November 1,” he recalls. “On January 2, 1990, it was taken off, and that’s when I started training again in martial arts. On Valentine’s Day, I went to Russia as captain of the four teams Chuck Norris sent over.

“We landed in Leningrad, and Russian television was waiting.

They wanted to see how hard we all could hit. We used to sell a machine that used piezoelectric film to measure impact. In short, it measured how hard you could punch or kick. I could hit it at 96 or 97, and a good punch might reach 100.

“Now, this was a goodwill tour; it wasn’t Rocky V. They wanted us to train with the Russians. The crowd parted in the gym, and in walked a giant of a man. His first punch scored 156 on the machine. Nobody had ever hit it that hard! He came over to me and said, ‘You, me, tonight.’ I had the bad draw, I guess. The matches allowed contact, but it wasn’t supposed to be excessive. The first thing he did was tear my nose half off. The doctor wanted to stop the fight. I told him, ‘The fight’s been going on for 14 seconds; I’m not going to stop the fight!’

“He said, ‘You need to go to the hospital.’

“I said: ‘I’m not going to the hospital after 14 seconds. Give me a few more clashes with him.’

“To make a long story short, I got lucky and won. That was the toughest fight I had.”

Dillard ended up winning every one of his matches in Russia, and his team won every team fight. “It was fun — I was young and motivated,” he says.

Since retiring, he’s migrated to a new hobby that entails just as much risk as fighting but a lot less skeletal damage. “I love to go spear fishing,” he says. “I like being in an environment where

you’re not at the top of the food chain. There’s no doubt you get addicted to the adrenaline — you need that rush and you need goals to achieve. I’m not a very sedentary person, and I don’t think most martial artists are. We need excitement in life.”

His unspoken message: Good things come to those who are able to channel that drive, that need for an adrenaline dump, into productive pursuits.

FRINGE BENEFITS

After two decades of martial arts, Dillard knew his hand-eye coordination was above average, as was his concentration and ability to repeat the same muscle movements over and over. “You can’t not pay attention when someone’s hitting you,” he says. “That turned out to be the perfect qualification for driving race cars. You can’t have lapses in concentration while racing. I went through several driving courses and schools and raced for the next 10 years, winning three national road-racing championships.”

His martial arts training also helped in less-hazardous sports like racquetball. “It involves long periods of concentration and split-second decisions, both of which martial artists are great at,” he says. “The cardio benefit is also important.”

Another plus of a life spent in the dojo is perseverance. “Martial arts teaches you to ignore pain and discomfort,” Dillard says.

“It can make you too stubborn to give up. That’s what got me to the top of Kilimanjaro and a lot of 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado and other mountains around the world.”

He describes a final fringe benefit with tongue in cheek, but there’s an element of truth in his message: “Nothing humbles you more than the first time you get your behind kicked in front of 3,000 people, and nothing gives you more self-confidence than the first time you win the big trophy in front of a similar crowd.”

MOLDING THE FUTURE

“About 30 years ago, a group of us would talk about how martial arts needed a facelift,” Dillard says. “Guys running around in white pajamas, screaming at each other — it wasn’t the best image for the arts if they were to grow in this country.”

Loads of other movers and shakers must have shared that vision, for around that time, things started to change. “Great leaders and movie stars helped give the arts a new face,” he says. “The Olympics helped. The UFC helped. XMA and Mike Chat helped an incredible amount. For example, a long time ago, we went to tournaments to fight; forms weren’t the main event.

But now, forms are leading the way. Those young athletes have a skill set we never had.

“One of the things that helped Century succeed was the strong belief that martial arts is the greatest sport in the world. That it wasn’t a fad. That it would grow in the western hemisphere and worldwide.”

Dillard vowed to do whatever he could to help the arts expand.

First up: Make sure his company did the right thing. Always.

“You can’t do people wrong and think that nobody’s going to know,” he says. “You’ve got only one reputation. You’ve got to treat people right. It’s your one nonrenewable asset.”

His next mission: Step on as few toes as possible. “We used to promote tournaments, but we figured out that’s how some of our instructor customers make a living, and if we do that, we’re competing with them,” he says.

Finally, preach the gospel of the martial arts as a career path.

“We found that a school should clear $10,000 to $20,000 a month — that’s $120,000 to almost a quarter of a million dollars a year,” he In case you’ve ever wonsays. “That’s why we started dered how a company the Martial Arts Industry like Century Martial Arts Association. We knew people develops new products, who were incredibly successhere’s the scoop: “We ful, some with 10 or 15 schools, have a staff that gathers and we wanted to provide a ideas from all over — from forum for them to exchange customers, vendors and ideas with guys who don’t so on,” Mike Dillard says. have access to the same inforGoing from concept mation. And that’s why we to completion is not as hold the Martial Arts Superstraightforward as you Show every year and why we might think. “We draw publish [this] magazine.” up specifications, then MAIA’s goal is to help engineer and test and the martial arts attract the re-engineer and test,” he brightest minds in the nation, says. “Every product has says Dillard, who is also a to be child-safe, and we business professor at the don’t make anything with University of Oklahoma. “I lead or other harmful teach graduate students, and chemicals. Needless to when they get out, they’re say, not every good idea looking at jobs that pay works out as a product. $60,000 a year. In the time “Every time someone you spend in grad school, you is injured in this sport could become a black belt and and we find out about open a school and make twice it, we look at how they that your first year. got hurt and how we “Most people don’t realize might make things what a great career martial safer. Safety products arts can be. It’s even betare probably No. 1 for us. ter when you start seeing Training products are No. the rewards that come from 2. And for both, qualhelping kids. Martial arts ity matters. We never training changes people’s substitute anything for lives. The letters and thankquality. It’s more fun yous from parents remind selling a Mercedes than you of that — which is the a Kia.” best part of this job.”

NEW TOYS

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 57

TURNING POINT

Charles Bouton: 70 Years Old and Still Going Strong

“In this column, we examine the pivotal point in a prominent black belt’s career, the event that launched him or her toward success in martial arts business, sports or films.”

T

MASuccess: Where did you grow up, and what did your dad do?

Charles Bouton: I grew up in the Dallas area. Dad was a regional manager for the Transportation Security Administration.

MAS: How did you first become aware of martial arts?

Bouton: I didn’t even know what it was, but Dad started taking classes from a walk-up sensei near the old Sears Building in Dallas. Students were older adults, at the youngest 25 or so, and mostly police and feds. Now, in those days, [there were] no babysitters, so you took the kids with you, and little kids get fidgety. I started imitating, so sensei put me in the back of the line, certain I’d get bored soon. I was probably 9 before I realized that what we were doing was martial arts. We didn’t go to tournaments because we didn’t spar except for three-step freestyle without contact. Only green, brown and black belts were worn, and we didn’t test. Rank was awarded. At 11, sensei gave me a half-grade black belt because I was too young.

I joined Allen Steen’s Texas karate club at 13 years 58 MASUCCESS

old. Most of what they did I recognized, so I did OK with class. But then came sparring. My first impression was, They’re trying to kill each other! Allen pointed to me and a 17-year-old brown belt who was short, not much bigger. I had no idea what I was supposed to do [and I] couldn’t kick much. I was scared to death.

I stood there, and he rushed me and threw a leading hand. I did a 45-degree outside step, grabbed the lower arm and did a tight right spin kick. And the guy went down. Allen wouldn’t let him give up, but the guy couldn’t go on.

When class was over, Allen asked, “What do you think?” I said, “I really liked it, but I’m a guest.”

[He said,] “OK, so come to the Hillcrest school.” I talked Dad into it, but he wanted to know why.

[I said,] “They actually fight!”

MAS: What was your turning point?

Bouton: When I was a youngster, I didn’t look at it as a life. I didn’t fight anybody — only used in danger but nobody was hurting me. So at age 30, I thought, Another five years, and I’m out of it. I still taught students, but my tournament career was over. Allen was cutting back on schools, but when we met in Dallas, he said, “You need to be with us but ought to separate to your own region.” I paid my fee and became a “region” for the American [Karate] Black Belt Association.

MAS: How does religion play into your martial arts training?

Bouton: My ministry began in my 20s. I was ordained at 25 years old. The main deal with martial arts is discipline. Martial arts discipline helps with spiritual discipline. Once you can do the one, you can do the other.

MAS: What’s your plan for the future?

Bouton: Lord knows! I’m 70. I do what I can.

To contact Herb Borkland, send an email to herbork@comcast.net.

Photo Courtesy of Charles Bouton

BY HERB BORKLAND

enth-dan Charles Bouton, one of the most credentialed martial artists in the world, is also known as Father Photius Bouton because he’s an ordained Greek Orthodox priest. He began his martial arts journey in dai ni goju-ryu at age 5. Now the president of the style’s international association, Bouton also has trained in judo, aikido, jujitsu, battojutsu, iaido, aikijujutsu and taekwondo. In the 1960s, he became an instructor under Allen Steen while scoring major wins at national tournaments.

He held a world lightheavyweight full-contact karate/kickboxing title for three years. Today, after more than six decades as a martial artist, Bouton still teaches judo and aikido and trains in karate and weaponry to stay fit.

Photo Courtesy of Charles Bouton

HEALTH KICK

Overcoming Hip Problems

BY TOM CALLOS

“Billy Blanks began experiencing pain in his hip but discovered he could pop it back into place and cause the pain to fade.

He let this go on for years.”

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artial artists ask a lot from their bodies. Chances are, you know someone who’s asked a little too much from his or her hips and, consequently, is suffering hip pain. Perhaps you are, as well. It’s for all martial artists that I wrote this article — to reassure everyone that it doesn’t have to be the end of a career.

Bill Wallace, Billy Blanks and Christine BannonRodrigues are three of the best kickers in the world.

Each has had one or both hips replaced.

Wallace began with wrestling in high school, then judo when he was stationed in Okinawa during the 1960s. He blames his need for his first hip replacement on an incident that took place in 1991 while he served as fight coordinator for The Power of One. “I’m bouncing around in this ring, which was really springy, and I bounce down and the ring bounces up and jams my femur head, the left one, up into my acetabulum,” Wallace said. The next morning, he couldn’t get out of bed.

It took eight years for the hip to wear out, after which he had it replaced. A month after the surgery, he asked his doctor for a thumbs up to resume training. The doc gave him a list of things he’d never be able to do again, like a split. As he was talking, Wallace slowly dropped into a full split.

And he’s still kicking.

Billy Blanks, world-champion karate competitor and point fighter, was born with a bad hip. “I was told I’d never be able to stretch very far or do the splits because my tendons were too tight,” he recalled.

It was, ironically, a visit from Wallace that inspired Blanks to overcome his limitation. “He showed me some flexibility exercises, and I started working on them,” Blanks said. “A year later, I was doing the splits.”

About this same time, Blanks began experiencing pain in his hip but discovered he could pop it back into place and cause the pain to fade. He let this go on for years. “My flexibility came, but at the same time, I didn’t know I was tearing my hip up,” he said.

Blanks made it all the way to his sixth decade before going under the knife. Post-surgery, he was able to walk eight laps around the nurses’ station.

Soon after that, he commenced a daily walking program. “In a month and a half, I was up to 5 miles, and in six months, I was back to kicking and light lifting,” he said. “Today, I’m kicking to the head, and I’m pain-free.”

Christine Bannon-Rodrigues is a nine-time WAKO world champion. Her hip problems stemmed from being a woman training in a man’s world, she said.

That forced her to develop her kicks to keep her opponents at bay and avoid taking undue punishment. Her hip disintegration stemmed from using a side kick to “stuff” opponents before they could close the gap.

Like many athletes who develop hip problems, she initially didn’t realize what was causing her discomfort. “I stayed up many nights, unable to sleep because of the pain,” she said.

Finally, an X-ray revealed that the cartilage in her hips was all but gone, resulting in bone-on-bone contact. Her surgeon opted for a mini-hip replacement on both sides that entailed installing artificial femur heads and hip sockets. The surgeries would be done together. It wasn’t the traditional approach, but medical science had seen sufficient advancement to make it possible.

When I spoke with Bannon-Rodrigues seven months after her surgery, she was still working on regaining her flexibility, but she was confident she would get there. “I’m very happy to have had this procedure done,” she said. “I’m pain-free.”

Dr. Tom Seabourne holds a Ph.D. in exercise science, is a two-time U.S. Taekwondo Union champion and fought in the PKA. He had his hip replaced after being in denial for decades.

Seabourne likens the human hip, femoral head and acetabulum to a mortar and pestle. If you don’t treat yours with some tender loving care, your activities can grind down the cartilage that’s supposed to keep bone away from bone. Once that starts, inflammation can lead to more problems.

As we have seen, however, the condition doesn’t mean your martial arts career is over — far from it.

The most important take-away is this: If you experience hip pain, don’t put off seeing your doctor.

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YOU MESSED UP! NOW WHAT?

How Do You Let Your Students Go?

BY KATHY OLEVSKY

“I’ve written this column for 10 years now, telling the world how I’ve survived 45 years in the martial arts business despite having made many mistakes.

In fact, I have not even begun to cover them all.

I share my stories to help you learn from them — and because it’s important to know that you, too, may blunder along the way but that your school can survive.”

62 MASUCCESS

D

uring the pandemic and the period that followed its darkest days, most martial arts schools had to contend with students who wanted to terminate their programs. Because of the unique circumstances, martial arts academies around the world had to relax their cancellation policies. I’ve talked with many school owners who struggled with the new normal of letting students leave because of COVID-related issues.

This is the one time in our history when most of us have had to make concessions. I know that our schools drastically modified their cancellation policies. In speaking with other school owners, I found that we were not alone. Here’s a short list of what some of them are doing: • Requiring 90 days’ notice, 30 days’ notice or two weeks’ notice • Requiring 30 days’ notice and imposing a cancellation fee • Imposing a cancellation fee based on the outstanding balance of the program • Requiring 30 days’ notice on a one-year program and 90 days’ notice on a three-year program • Imposing a cancellation fee of 25 percent of unused services or $500, whichever is less • Allowing cancellation because of a move that’s more than 30 miles or because of a disability What should you do? I can’t say, but I’ve learned that whatever you do, you had better make the students happy when they leave. This is the era of social media, and good and bad reviews will follow you across multiple platforms.

After some conversations with people who are smarter than I am, we came up with a strategy that has worked well for our schools. For the past six years, we’ve allowed students to leave as long as they give us 60 days’ notice. We ask them to continue to train during those 60 days, and we do everything we can to kill them with kindness and

keep them training. But in the end, if they leave, we send them a handwritten note thanking them for their business and assuring them that they’ll be missed. We’ve found that it’s much better to have them leave with memories of how good we were to them. They know they can come back or refer their friends to us.

Of course, it’s always a disappointment to lose a student, but we must look at it as a learning experience. It’s possible that we failed that particular student. If you suspect that’s the case in your school, check your records to see if there’s a trend.

If you find that a significant number of students at their third belt level between ages 6 and 10, for example, are leaving, you should evaluate what’s happening in those classes and in that age bracket.

Perhaps you have an instructor who’s dropping the ball. Or maybe your testing requirements are too stringent. It’s a great time to take a look at your practices and do some brainstorming.

In our case, during COVID when we were losing students, we made plans to improve our customer service as soon as we returned to in-person classes.

We ramped up our free activities and special services. At least once a month, we scheduled an event that could be described as a “feel good” activity. In the past few months, we hosted a Mother’s Day class, a Father’s Day class, a parentcoach class, a “super fitness workout” for adults, a “teens night out,” an annual picnic in the park, an end-of-summer pizza party and more.

Our theory is that we’re making students feel more welcome as we build a culture of appreciation in our schools. We still charge a fair fee for most activities.

We just make sure that we balance these activities with our customer-appreciation events.

To contact Kathy Olevsky, send an email to kathy.olevsky@raleighkarate.com.

School Showcase September/October 2021

School Owner

Andrew Torok School Name

Location

Dover, Tennessee Style/Discipline

Kajukenbo

64 MASUCCESS

Photos Courtesy of Andrew Torok

Kajukenbo Concepts LLC

Why did you begin teaching martial arts?

Learning and teaching go hand in hand. Teaching martial arts also gave me a tremendous physical outlet to complement my other, rather staid profession — namely, being a teacher at first in middle schools and then as a professor in colleges and universities.

What is your school name, and how did you choose it?

The home school name is Kajukenbo Concepts. Kajukenbo is the style we teach, and “concepts” embodies our goal to find the right path suitable for each student’s energy. My second school is called Cedar Ridge Karate and Kung Fu. The building I purchased already was known as Cedar Ridge, so we decided to keep the name.

What is your personal teaching philosophy?

I believe that each student is a unique individual with different energies. Their martial arts training needs to embody this energy in order to create a synergistic outcome. The instructor and the curriculum have to be flexible enough to accommodate not only physical ability but also inherent traits such as shyness.

How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching as a certified black-belt instructor for 52 years.

Photos Courtesy of Andrew Torok

How long have you owned your school?

I ran a regular store-front school in Illinois for over 35 years, and upon retiring to Tennessee, I opened other schools, so I have owned regular school buildings and facilities for about 45 years.

Who or what inspires you?

I have had many excellent teachers in my journey through the martial arts. The ones who had the most personal effect on me shared two common traits: their unselfish devotion to the martial arts and their willingness to share their knowledge without reservation. Their inspiration has helped me to keep teaching and training.

What is something unique that your school or your student body does well?

A unique activity we have recently begun is to integrate martial arts into developing a culture of fitness in rural Tennessee as a member of a county committee of the Tennessee Governor’s Foundation for Health and Wellness. The goal is to raise awareness of health issues and to promote programs to increase fitness.

What do you find most rewarding about working in the martial arts?

Helping others and watching them grow stronger physically and mentality is extremely satisfying. Social interaction and recognition of my efforts does wonders for my ego and pride, but I think the most rewarding personal benefit is that continuing training in the martial arts gives me the motivation to maintain the cognitive and physical skills sorely needed at my age of 75.

What is your favorite inspirational quote?

It is difficult to judge the human potential until one has exerted all possible physical and mental effort in an attempt to reach it. — anonymous If you could give one bit of advice to fellow martial arts school owners, what would it be?

No matter how esoteric your style might be or the level of your knowledge and physical ability, martial arts demands continuous learning and training, as well as constant reflection and assessment of what is known.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 65

CONSULTANT'S CORNER

4 Keys to a Successful Referral Program

BY SHANE TASSOUL

“The first step in having a great referral-reward program is making sure people know about it. Put up banners and posters to inform your students and parents.”

W

hen speaking with school owners from around the country, I often hear that the No. 1 way they get new students is through word-of-mouth marketing (aka referrals). So I’m constantly amazed at how many schools don’t have a solid referralreward system in place.

As you know, there is no higher compliment you can receive as a school owner than when someone refers a person to your business. Having a referralreward system will help keep those referrals coming and make it fun for your students.

If you don’t have such a program or if it’s been a while since you’ve promoted it, here’s what you should do: Tell the parents that you really appreciate how many of them have been referring students to your school. Thank them for having confidence in you and your instructors, then elaborate to let them know just how much it helps. Inform them that you want to make it fun for the kids and that’s why you have a referral-reward program. Here are four tips for making this work in your school.

Let People Know That You Have a Program I know that sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t know that you even have a referral program. Thus, the first step in having a great program is making sure people know about it. Put up banners and posters to inform your students and parents.

When new students enroll, make sure you explain the details of your reward program. Also, give them some passes for a free week or two so they can give them to their friends.

Consider These Rewards When students refer someone who enrolls in your program, give them a reward as your way of saying thank you. One option is to present them with a $50 gift card to the restaurant or retailer of their choice or a $75 gift card to your pro shop. Having

66 MASUCCESS

choices makes earning rewards more appealing.

Another option is to create a prize wheel. This is a lot of fun, especially for kids. Make sure the prize wheel with different dollar amounts is on display for all to see. I recommend having a couple of $25 spots, a few $50 spots and $75 spots, and one $100 spot.

Present Rewards in Front of the Class Whenever a student referral results in an enrollment, reward the student publicly. Others will see this and get excited about recruiting their friends.

In the case of the $50 gift card or the $75 proshop credit, announce it in front of the class. Let everyone know what option was chosen, then present the prize. This will keep your program exciting and provide top-of-mind awareness for your students.

Let’s assume a child picks a $50 gift card to a local toy store. Congratulate her and ask what she plans on buying. By painting this mental picture, you will get other students thinking about what they might buy if they refer someone.

In the case of the prize wheel, you can get the class to participate by chanting “One hundred, one hundred!” while the student spins the wheel. When it lands on a dollar amount, give him the cash. Then paint the picture again by asking him what he plans to spend the money on.

Double the Rewards Occasionally By having your rewards be of a relatively small dollar value, it’s easy to increase the amounts a few times a year to make it more fun. Pick periods when recruitment is slow and offer double rewards as an incentive to boost sagging enrollments.

To contact MAIA consultant Shane Tassoul, call (920) 450-5425 or send an email to stassoul@masuccess.com.

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MASTERFUL RETENTION

Simple Steps to Sparring Success

BY CHRISTOPHER RAPPOLD

“When I was introduced to martial arts, the start of the journey was a rite of passage to see if I was tough enough to stick out the training. I learned how to spar by sparring.

While there’s no denying that this can work, the percentage of people who are able to learn this way is small.”

I

have often said that I could learn the most advanced form of math provided I had access to a teacher who possessed the ability to meet me where my clear understanding of math comes to an end and build my knowledge from that point.

In fact, I’m quite sure that most people, given a strong desire and a great teacher, would experience similar success.

If you follow this line of thinking, you know that your success as a martial arts instructor lies in your ability to break down concepts into small incremental-learning modules that build on each other.

When I was introduced to martial arts, the start of the journey was a rite of passage to see if I was tough enough to stick out the training. I learned how to spar by sparring. I remember my instructor telling us to find some boxing gloves in the closet, then grab a partner and start sparring. Simple as that. While there’s no denying that this can work, the percentage of people who are able to learn this way is small. It needlessly eliminates students who, with a more strategic approach, could grow to become great martial artists.

What is the solution? Like the previous example about learning advanced math, learning a martial art requires a teacher who can isolate one technique and one concept at a time. The teacher then must provide a sensible level of “progressive resistance” that fits the skills and abilities of the student.

Let’s use the example of learning how to defend against a side kick. If you don’t have a system in place for teaching it, this is a painful lesson for a beginner because failure to perform the defense correctly inevitably results in a kick to the ribs. To properly convey the technique to a beginner, you should start by teaching correct distance for the person executing the kick and the person defending

against it. Ensure control by having the kicker execute the move with 30-percent speed and power.

In step No. 2, the student measures the distance the kicker covers when performing the technique. This demonstrates to the defender exactly how far he or she needs to move backward or to the side to stay safe. The knowledge boosts the defender’s confidence because the person now knows that as long as the correct distance is traversed, contact will be avoided. This is precisely why I always teach students that their primary defense is mastery of distance.

Step No. 3: After the distance has been gauged, the student learns to add a secondary level of defense by effecting a parry or block. This increases the likelihood that the student can execute an effective counterattack.

Once these steps can be performed comfortably, all that’s left is to add the progressive resistance.

Gradually increase the resistance to the completion of the technique until the skill being practiced is world-class. There’s no magic and no mystery, just a well-defined approach to learning. Follow that approach, and step by step your students will improve their skills as your school builds a reputation for quality instruction.

L E

TA

Ce ma of of

Fe ing Ku

To contact Christopher Rappold, send an email to founder@personalbestkarate.com.

sa

Lea 68 MASUCCESS

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THE KICK YOU NEVER SAW COMING

Gratitude

BY BETH A. BLOCK

“Every martial arts instructor, enrollment director and studio owner impacts hundreds of lives. Over the years, you have so many people cycle through your doors that often you don’t know how you’ve impacted them as individuals."

I

t has been a challenging year for most martial artists. Especially when times are tough, I try to stay filled with a sense of gratitude. Here are four martial arts-related examples of gratitude I frequently find myself thinking about.

Gratitude No. 4: Teachers I have had the honor of training in the martial arts for two decades. During that time, I have been at the same studio, but I’ve had the privilege of learning under no fewer than eight instructors. Each instructor provided different knowledge and insight.

I believe I’ve become a better martial artist and human being as a result of their terrific teaching.

Gratitude No. 3: Family The martial arts community is a family. My studio is my family. So many of my fellow students are encouraging and supportive, both in and out of class.

My best friend came from the studio. So have my mentors. Yes, as with all families, we occasionally squabble, but we always have each other’s back.

My time writing this column for MASuccess, going to the Martial Arts SuperShow and interacting with the Martial Arts Industry Association has taught me that my sense of family is not limited to my studio. I’ve made many terrific friends, for which I am grateful.

Gratitude No. 2: Skills The physical skills I’ve learned from the martial arts help me in so many ways other than defending myself. The reaction and balance drills I’ve done in class have been invaluable. And I’m confident that if one day I do not keep my feet under me, the training time I’ve devoted to proper falling will keep me from hurting myself.

Gratitude No. 1: You I’m grateful for each and every one of you, too.

Every martial arts instructor, enrollment director

70 MASUCCESS

and studio owner impacts hundreds of lives. Over the years, you have so many people cycle through your doors that often you don’t know how you’ve impacted them as individuals.

I’ve personally spoken with many people who attest to the difference martial arts training has made in their lives. My mother, who had watched our classes for years, is one example. She was in her late 70s when she tripped over our dog and executed a correct forward fall, avoiding serious injury.

A middle-aged woman I spoke with had been in an abusive marriage for decades. She finally gathered enough self-esteem to leave the marriage after achieving her black belt.

A middle-school boy had been bullied for years.

His training in the martial arts taught him that he’s a valuable individual, and he found the confidence to verbally repel the bullies without feeling the need to fight.

A young adult had never finished anything — not in school, not on the job, not even as part of a hobby. He was so excited and committed to the martial arts that he got his black belt and stayed for many years. A decade later when I spoke with him, he said that he’d kept the same job and advanced beyond entry level. He said that earning his black belt taught him he can commit to anything and accomplish positive results in life.

Your Turn I encourage you to spend five minutes thinking about gratitude. Staying in touch with it helps us remember that life is worthwhile and allows us to shake off the minor annoyances we all face.

To contact Beth A. Block, send an email to beth@blockins.net.

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THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

When It Comes to Computer Access, Trust But Monitor

BY PHILIP E. GOSS JR., ESQ.

“It’s best to consider your employment agreement a living document, one that’s always subject to change and amendment as the law evolves.”

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T

here exist both federal statutes (laws passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by the president) and state-specific laws (passed by a state legislature and signed by the governor). As we learned in high-school civics class, the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in when it needs to pass judgment on the constitutionality of a particular federal statute or state law.

Over the past 19 years, I’ve touched on the importance of being sure that your employees know that unauthorized use of your computer system violates your written employment contract — You do have one with all your employees, correct? — and that if trade secrets are stolen, they well may have violated a criminal statute.

Recently, the Supreme Court weighed in on a federal law that was passed to preclude unauthorized use of an employer’s computer when the employee “exceeded authorized access” as permitted by the employer. In the case, a law-enforcement officer was convicted of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accepting a bribe to access his employer’s computer and providing unauthorized information to a third party.

Surprisingly, a majority of the Supreme Court held that since the law-enforcement officer had some, albeit limited, access to the computer as permitted by the employer, the statute was not violated even though such action clearly exceeded that person’s authority.

In short, the court determined that in this case, any access to the employer’s computer given to the employee, even if improper, did not rise to the level of criminal culpability. Clearly, the takeaway is that it was up to the employer to protect his interests or information by limiting access to all of the computer’s contents to trusted people who had a business need for such information.

This may not affect your daily operations (at least not immediately) because rarely would you turn to a federal court to solve an employment dispute. However, it should cause you to rethink your operations, policies and procedures.

Consider what type of information is accessible by your employees. Do you allow them to have a password that grants access to your system? Are they allowed to view social media, check email and browse the internet on a company computer? If the answer to any portion of the second question is yes and they access your computer system — in any way that does not involve what your state may deem “trade secrets,” which are protectable via a separate statute — you inadvertently may be taking the teeth out of any enforcement efforts you might wish to take advantage of in such an event.

Are you able to protect such interests? Certainly.

But to secure this protection, you must be sure that your employees specifically execute a written agreement wherein they acknowledge that access over and above the specific uses you have granted them is limited.

Violation of such access creates a breach of contract wherein injunctive relief likely is available to you for the purpose of limiting employee shenanigans. Various levels of access can, and probably will, apply to different employees.

While it entails more work on your part, I strongly suggest that you grant only temporary full access to all but your most trusted employees for specific purposes. Furthermore, do this only on an asneeded basis. Know that who needs such access may change from day to day.

Doing this will require you to stay vigilant regarding your computer system. Failing this, the rationale used in the above-referenced case from the highest court in the land most certainly will be used by the employee and may persuasively cut against your trade-secret and proprietary interests.

It’s best to consider your employment agreement a living document, one that’s always subject to change and amendment as the law evolves. As I frequently preach, play defense!

To contact attorney Philip E. Goss Jr., send an email PhilGosslaw@gmail.com.

HAVE YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO WRITE FOR MASUCCESS? DO YOU HAVE A STORY IDEA TO PITCH? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! We are searching for writers who are subject matter experts and can provide valuable content for our martial arts school owners and instructors. Not a writer, but just have ideas on what our audience wants to read about? We want those ideas too!

Please submit 2-3 paragraphs for your story pitch to Patrick Sternkopf at psternkopf@blackbeltmag.com.

We are passionate about helping the martial arts industry and look forward to hearing from you, our readers and fellow martial artists.

-The MASuccess Team

© 2021 #19786

INSPIRATION OVATION

Just Fall Down

BY KAREN EDEN

“Martial arts training forces us, as students, to take it one day at a time, to be committed to coming to class for as long as necessary and to see what happens next.

Not too many things in life are still like that.”

74 MASUCCESS

A

s a high-school wrestler, my son was asked to help referee at a junior wrestling league tournament. At those events, kids as young as 3 get in the ring to show their ability to control and conquer. (My son was also a junior wrestler in elementary school, though not at that young age.)

Funny things can happen when you’re dealing with 3-year-olds who have to do something they don’t particularly want to do. It was here that I was reminded of an important life lesson given by a toddler just barely out of diapers.

When the whistle blew, the little guy immediately fell to the ground and spread his arms open, just waiting for his opponent to pin him. It was as if he was saying, “Let’s get this over with.” It was very obvious that even at the age of 3, this boy had decided that he did not like conflict and was not going to engage in it. The crowd laughed, the parents gave him a talking to, and the toddler simply got up and went over to get his sippy cup.

The truth is not everybody can be a wrestler.

It takes a lot of dedication and fortitude, and it requires a type of athleticism that will eventually separate the men from the boys.

Occasionally, I talk about my own “fall down” moment. I was in my early 20s when I decided I would hop into the get-rich-quick real-estate scene. I went to real-estate school and aced the state exam, then sat at a desk for three months without making a single dime.

I walked neighborhood streets in my ugly gold polyester jacket and knocked on doors. Some people wouldn’t answer. Some would ask for my business card. Some would ask me out on a date.

But despite the hours I expended trying to make big money through real estate, it was not going to happen for me.

Today, I easily could have told my past self that it wouldn’t work because I know how much I hate

sales. But for young people, finding out what they hate is all part of self-discovery. Not everybody can be a real-estate agent. It takes a certain kind of willingness and openness to people that some of us — the ones wired like I am — will never be able to genuinely pull off.

Do you remember when you became a martial arts instructor? I recall that I would take it personally whenever a student quit. Honestly, it seemed like the students I poured my soul into the most were the ones who always left. It was very discouraging at times.

But I eventually came to understand something: Not everyone can be a black belt. It takes a level of commitment that most people will not be able to handle. Especially to the younger generation, the thought that it will take a good four years or more to reach the rank of black belt is not appealing.

Martial arts training forces us, as students, to take it one day at a time, to be committed to coming to class for as long as necessary and to see what happens next. Not too many things in life are still like that. Maybe we should explain more clearly what it will take to become a black belt when new students sign up. Maybe we should make the development of that one-day-at-a-time attitude their immediate goal.

What we need to tell new students is that the day their instructor bows to them and calls them “black belt” will be one of the greatest days of their life. But that’s going to take a lot of heart and soul.

It’s going to take a commitment to choose not to “just fall down.” But it’s also a path that will forever change the way they face their opponent when they stand in a ring.

To contact Karen Eden, send an email to renedenherdman@gmail.com or visit the Facebook group “The Eden Assignment.”

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 75

EMILIEN DE FALCO

“EMILIEN ”

REASONS TO TRAIN

HOW DO YOU LEARN TO PLAY A HIGH-LEVEL MARTIAL ARTIST IN THE MOVIES?

BY BECOMING ONE IN REAL LIFE. Like most people, Emilien De Falco’s childhood introduction to martial arts came in the form of movies.

And like many, it inspired him to begin training.

But, like very few, Emilien is now in the same kind of films that inspired him. How many people can say they’ve acted alongside the likes of Jean Claude Van Damme, Scott Atkins, and John Malkovich, after all?

Then there was the next problem: “I wanted to find a way to do martial arts for a living,” Emilien recalls.

“There’s competition, but you cannot make a living doing taekwondo competitions. And that only lasts for a while, anyway. But I also loved movies. I was like, ‘Okay, let’s try to work in the movie or stunt industry!’”

Emilien’s first job as a stuntman was in Paris, but he had his sights set on a higher target: Hollywood.

In 2010, Emilien set off for the next stage of his journey.

The craziest thing is, Emilien makes it all look easy.

Follow him on Instagram and you’ll see him breezing through workouts, doing backflips with ease and “It was tough, because I didn’t have money and I executing spinning kicks that can send a Versys didn’t have a plan,” he admits. “I was barely speaking BOB flying. Watch him face English – I could not understand off against Scott Atkins in anybody on the phone.”

Boyka: Undisputed – the fight “BE STEADY. BE is brutal, but there’s a lethal His one American contact told grace in the movements. They him that if he wanted to work CONSISTENT IN both look like naturals. in Hollywood, his best bet was WHAT YOU’RE DOING, an “Extraordinary Ability” Emilien, who holds a visa. Customs agents are AND GENUINE, AND third-degree black belt in notoriously hard to impress taekwondo, has certainly THAT’S IT.” – a black belt wasn’t going to spent enough time training to do the trick. So Emilien spend have earned that impressive the next two years bouncing talent. But what doesn’t show between France and America, up on-screen is the other side of the struggle that working, studying, and building a resume no one went in to making it where he is. And that journey is could turn down. equally impressive.

It wasn’t easy – but with perseverance he Emilien was born and grew up in a small town in the accomplished his goal. south of France. So small, in fact, that there were no schools offering wing chun or jeet kune do, the Today, Emilien lives in California. He’s still working in art Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon had inspired him movies, performing stunts, and doing social media to seek. There was, however, a taekwondo gym. on the side. The only thing higher than his goals is Instead of a setback, Emilien saw an opportunity. his drive to reach them. The advice he gives, when He jumped in, and soon realized he had found asked, is the same he lives by: his calling.

“Just go for it!” he says. “Be steady. Be consistent in what you’re doing, and genuine, and that’s it.”

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