November/December 2020

BACK TO SCHOOL! YOUR GUIDE TO MOVING FORWARD POST-COVID MASUCCESS

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01 21

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YOU DON'T HAVE TO SEE THE WHOLE STAIRCASE, JUST TAKE THE FIRST STEP. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

© MAIA 2020 #18833

, During these unprecedented times, we want you to know we are in this with you - now and always. Let us help you take the first step towards getting your school not just back to normal, but better than normal.

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CONTENTS FEATURES 24 DIGITAL LEARNING CAMPS B Y A D A M PA R M A N A N D C R I S R O D R I G U E Z

Introducing a new way for your school to generate extra income during the pandemic!

Get all your questions answered, then enjoy a quick course on marketing your new program.

30 LET CENTURY DIRECT BE YOUR ONLINE STORE

BY SARAH LOBBAN

Create a virtual store, let your students order their gear and have it shipped directly from Century’s state-of-the-art facility, all without stocking a single item!

38 MAKE 2021 YOUR BEST YEAR EVER!

BY TERRY L. WILSON

Fight back against COVID with better health for yourself, your students and your community.

Mike Storms describes the path he followed.

44 ORGANIZE A RECORD-BREAKING HOLIDAY SALE!

BY MICHAEL A. PERRI JR.

Even if COVID has you locked down, you can hold a successful holiday sale. The first step is to stop thinking of it as just a “sale.”

50 COVID KICKERS

B Y P E R R Y W I L L I A M K E L LY

These MAIA members faced off against the coronavirus and came out on top! There’s no reason you can’t follow in their footsteps.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

COLUMNS 36 BLACK BELT LEADERSHIP

BY NGUYEN “TOM” GRIGGS

3 Crucial Decisions You Need to Make

42 IN THE CLASSROOM

BY DAVE KOVAR

It’s Easy to Give Up Too Soon. Don’t!

56 TURNING POINT

BY HERB BORKLAND

Kelly Cox: Following Keith Yate’s Exampler

58 HEALTH KICK

B Y E R I C P. F L E I S H M A N

Get Your Dojo on the Map

60 YOU MESSED UP! NOW WHAT?

08 FROM THE

DIRECTOR’S DESK 12 IN THE KNOW 16 HEAR FROM

YOUR PEERS 18 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 20 THE MAIA REPORT 22 MARKETING RESOURCE 62 SCHOOL SHOWCASE

BY K AT H Y O L E V S KY

No Single Solution

64 CONSULTANT’S CORNER

BY MIKE METZGER

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Making Money Without Selling Out

66 MASTERFUL RETENTION

BY CHRIS RAPPOLD

3 Levels of Teaching

68 THE KICK YOU NEVER SAW COMING

“My mother always told me to strive to be a leader, not a follower, and that I should want what seems to be impossible.”

BY BETH A. BLOCK

5 Social Media Liabilities to Avoid

70 THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

BY PHILIP E. GOSS JR., ESQ.

Requiring Students to Get the Coming COVID Vaccine

74 INSPIRATION OVATION

BY KAREN EDEN

The Mountain of Clothes

6 MASUCCESS

DEPARTMENTS

— MALIA BERNAL

0

24

30

38

44 50 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 7

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

To Be Successful, Look Forward!

A

BY FRANK SILVERMAN

MAIA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

“Looking to the future means recognizing that the past year was hard — but that we survived.

It means setting goals and recognizing that living in the past will not make the future better.”

8 MASUCCESS

s I write this column, I reflect on the past year: where we started, where we came from and where it's left us. For most, the year began second to none. Business was booming, and the future looked bright. Then the world stopped turning. In March, we witnessed the fragility of the world’s economy, not to mention life itself, as the pandemic took hold and forced a shutdown the likes of which we have never seen.

Today, we’re looking better than we did at the onset of COVID-19 — at least, things are looking that way as I write this column. (Who knows what tomorrow will bring?) However, we are by no means out of the woods. Many schools are still struggling, and business is nowhere close to where it was at the beginning of the year. And then there are the casualties: the schools that closed their doors for a final time.

I don’t want this column to be a message of doom and gloom. I’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating: We are a strong industry. We are resilient. We are warriors. We will survive. For me, this is a time not only to reflect on the past but also to consider the future while focusing on the present.

So what does that look like?

First, looking to the future means recognizing that the past year was hard — but that we survived.

It means having compassion for those whose businesses didn’t survive and offering a helping hand when we can. It means setting goals and recognizing that living in the past will not make the future better, although we can learn from the past. It means getting out of the “funk” and restoring the kind of energy that’s needed to grow our businesses, help our students and serve the communities in which we operate.

Now, what about living in the present, or as I said, focusing on the present? This is so important because it offers respect to the past while paving the road to the future. This is a critical time of year for the martial arts industry. Regardless of how your back-to-school season was — industry reports

range from best-ever to nonexistent — it is now the holiday season. Your ability to capitalize is guaranteed, but how you can do that will differ depending on the state of the pandemic at the time you’re reading this. Be creative. Be bold. Make things happen. And above all, make no excuses!

As I would normally do at this time of year, I’m focusing on retail sales. December is almost upon us, and now more than ever, offering a variety of home-training kits is a great idea. You should offer large, medium and small items, from XXL Wavemasters and Versys bags to simple hand targets and gloves. You should offer home-training kits not only for your students but also for family members who don’t train. You can be creative and bundle a kicking shield with a family Zoom class for $99.

This will appeal to those who are still social distancing, as well as to those who are back in class.

Another potential package is a “school in a box.”

For example, it could include four or eight puzzle mats and a Wavemaster or a stretch rack. This is a high-dollar idea, so selling just two or three will generate significant profit. Also, keep in mind that sometimes people like to order the appetizer before the main course. Have some fun things such as T-shirts, picture frames and logoed gear.

Finally, no matter how, what and where you are teaching, enrolling new members is still the most important thing you can do every day. You need to market and advertise so you can get new members in the door and on the screen. Holiday specials are imperative, and as we approach the new year, fitness is key. Focus on the present, and the future will be bright. On behalf of the Martial Arts Industry Association, have a happy and safe holiday season.

Frank Silverman is the executive director of the Martial Arts Industry Association. To contact him, send an email to teamcfck@aol.com. Find him on Twitter and Facebook at @franksilverman.

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STAFF

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

F R A N K S I LV E R M A N I S T H E E X E C U T I V E

MELISSA TORRES IS THE DIVISION

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 free to email him at tom@ntgriggs.com.

IN THE CLASSROOM

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! 10 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

IN THE KNOW

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.

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.

E R I C T H E T R A I N E R ( E R I C 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. 21, NO. 6 // NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 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 M A I A I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O N S U LTA N T S 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. © 2020 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.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 11

IN THE KNOW

BY SARAH LOBBAN

WORDS OF WISDOM DO NOT LET CIRCUMSTANCES CONTROL YOU. YOU CHANGE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. — JACKIE CHAN

MARTIAL ARTS TRIVIA 1

True or false: Multiple studies have proved that martial arts training can improve the social and emotional function of children on the autism spectrum

2

On the day it debuted in 2018, how many viewers watched the first episode of YouTube Red’s Cobra Kai series, a sequel to The Karate Kid movies?

A) 780,000 B) 7.4 million C) 2.3 million D) 5.4 million

3

In muay Thai, the _________ and _________ are the traditional armband and headband worn by fighters.

A) mongkon, prajiad B) prajiad, mongkon C) ram muay, mongkon D) prajiad, rambutan

4

Which martial art originated in Cambodia?

A) butthan B) bokator C) bokh D) bagua zhang

ANSWERS: 1) True. 2) 5.4 million. 3) Prajiad; mongkon. 4) Bokator.

12 MASUCCESS

HAS COVID HURT YOUR SCHOOL FINANCIALLY? Let us help you not only get back on your feet, but DOMINATE! Not sure if MAIA Foundations is right for you?

Set up a call at MAIAFoundations.com with one of our coaches.

© 2020 MAIA, LLC. #19115

YOU ASKED HOW DO YOU DIVIDE UP YOUR SCHOOL’S EXPENSES

BY PERCENTAGE? STATS SPEAK

Rent is approximately 20 percent of our budget. Inventory and maintenance are less than 5 percent each. Employee pay is 25 percent. Work vehicles and advertising account for a large portion of the remainder.”

— T O M M Y L I G H T F O O T, L E A D B Y E X A M P L E TA E K W O N D O , FA I R FA X , V A

Employee pay is our largest percentage, at between 40 and 60 percent of our gross, but this includes owner pay.

Twenty percent goes to rent and utilities, and inventory varies by demand.”

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

Rent is 15 percent; inventory 5 percent; payroll 20 percent.

Taxes are the other big category. We own our own building, so we have to put away money for property taxes as well as income taxes, and payroll taxes for our staff.”

— K E V I N N E V E L S , C O P P E L L TA E K W O N D O A C A D E M Y A N D C H A M P I O N S H I P M A RT I A L A RT S ; LAS COLINAS, COPPELL AND IRVING, TX

About 50 percent of our gross revenue goes to pay for inventory, maintenance, rent and employees. Taxes are easily the biggest other expense we have.”

— D AV I D C H U R C H , C H U R C H ’ S TA E K W O N D O A M E R I C A , M A RY V I L L E , T N

14 MASUCCESS

THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE EMPLOYED IN THE MARTIAL ARTS STUDIO INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES INCREASED

6%

ON AVERAGE BETWEEN 2014 AND 2019.

SOURCE: IBISWORLD.COM

HOW DOES YOUR SCHOOL STACK UP?

Take the Martial Arts Business Health Quiz Today Once you have a clear picture of how healthy your academy is right now, connect with a coach to see how MAIA can help you get where you want to be.

MAIAHub.com/Business-Health-Quiz

© 2019 MAIA, LLC. #17799

HEAR FROM YOUR

PEERS 16 MASUCCESS

1 2 3

HOW OFTEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR DO YOU HOLD BELT TESTS?

15 % 1-2 times 44% 3-4 times 25 % 5-6 times 15 % More than 6 times

DO YOU HAVE SET TIMES DURING THE YEAR FOR BELT TESTS, OR DOES THE TIMING VARY ACCORDING TO THE CLASS OR THE STUDENT?

68 % Set times 32 % Variable

AT YOUR SCHOOL, HOW LONG DOES A TYPICAL BELT TEST LAST?

21% Less than 1 hour 49 % 1-2 hours 21% 2-3 hours 9 % More than 3 hours

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 17

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

WAVEMASTER LINE Century®

1

www.CenturyMartialArts.com

Innovators lead, and the rest fall in line. Century has set the pace for martial arts equipment for decades, and with freestanding bags, it has been no different. It will never be any different. That’s not cocky. It’s true. Century invented them!

Starting in 1995, the original freestanding bag, called the Wavemaster, became the standard. It’s no exaggeration to say that the freestanding bag opened up a whole new world of training. Long gone are the days of struggling to find a support beam in your garage (if you even had one!) to hold up your 100-pound heavy bag by its chain.

Try explaining that concept to budding martial artists, and they’ll look just as confused as when you tell them you used to have to “hang up” the phone — literally, on the wall.

For years, Century’s creation has allowed a session of hitting the bag to take place anywhere and everywhere.

Living-room workout? Easy. Just slide that sucker into the center of the space and get to work. Century has kept going ever since, from inventing the legendary BOB to launching the modern Torrent and Versys training lines.

The company even made a series of freestanding bags you can toss around and choke out like a fresh white belt rolling with a guy who has too much cauliflower ear.

Needless to say, Century’s forward focus has kept its gear one step ahead with combat equipment crafted to fit your needs. And when it comes to Century’s innovative technology, the martial arts industry knows one thing with absolute certainty: Keep up or get left behind.

WALL-MOUNT HEAVY BAG HANGER Century®

www.CenturyMartialArts.com

2

You’ll forget about this wall mount.

That’s a good thing, trust me. When support is done right, you’ll barely notice it’s there — like a great offensive line giving the quarterback his moment of glory. You need something solid, reliable … forgettable. An unsung hero. The Wall-Mount Heavy Bag Hanger installs on any standard wall (as long as the studs are there), and it holds a 100-pound training bag like you hold a grocery sack filled with paper towels. Eventually, you’ll forget it’s even there.

UPPERCUT WAVEMASTER Century®

www.CenturyMartialArts.com

3

There are a number of freestanding bags in Century’s arsenal, and each has its purpose. The Uppercut’s specialty is betrayed by its name. Any heavy bag can take a hit, but the Uppercut will keep you from delivering those glancing upward blows during training. Uppercuts and knee strikes should land solidly — and hit hard. The Uppercut Wavemaster takes care of that … as long as you’re willing to do the work.

And with its new paint job, complete with scoring zones, that work has never been more effective.

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

THE MAIA REPORT

New Program Will Help You Fight COVID

BY MELISSA TORRES

MAIA DIVISION MANAGER

“We are excited about this group-coaching program because we know it will help schools get back on their feet.

Our coaches are fully committed to assisting you every step of the way.”

20 MASUCCESS

I

t was difficult to sit down to write this column because I knew that no matter what topic I chose to cover, I would have to mention COVID-19 in some capacity. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still part of our daily lives, and it continues to affect martial arts schools in countless ways. Our curriculums, instructor training, marketing and best retention practices all hinge on what happens with regard to the pandemic.

Since no one can predict when we finally will be out of the COVID woods, it’s essential to continue to adjust and “roll with the punches.” Recall Bruce Lee’s well-known quote: “Be like water, my friend.”

We must be adaptable in these uncertain times in order to get to the other side. We’ve got to keep pressing forward!

No doubt you all have had time to take a step back to reevaluate your businesses and plan your next move. Well, MAIA has done the same. After the SuperShow Virtual Summit, we realized that there’s a huge need in the industry for information that will help schools generate extra income during the back-to-school season, specifically related to the changing times.

As you know, this back-to-school season looks a little different. Many parents still fear that the risk of their children contracting or spreading COVID is too high for them to return to traditional schooling.

As I write this, school has not yet started back in my state, but already many districts are offering exclusively virtual learning or a virtual/in-person mix. Even during in-person classes, the number of students will be reduced so they can practice social distancing.

If schools in your area are taking similar precautions, you would do well to follow in their footsteps. However, you don’t have to pull the plug on all your afterschool programs — you just have to adapt them! And who better to teach you how to do that than Adam Parman, MAIA’s Afterschool and Summer Camp Specialist.

For more than 25 years, Parman has run his own school and coached other schools on how to succeed with afterschool programs and summer camps. Using that knowledge base, he developed a course model

designed specifically to deal with the changes school districts across the country have implemented. Before he released it to MAIA, he tested it in his own school.

When we launched his course, which revolves around digital learning camps, we were blown away by the results. Not only did Parman deliver a comprehensive three-day live seminar, but he also provided an extensive library of done-for-you marketing that includes photos, posters, fliers, emails, videos and even social media posts created with help from Cris Rodriguez, MAIA’s Digital Marketing Specialist. We’ve had amazing feedback on this course and continue to hear about the results schools are experiencing as they generate extra income with Parman’s methods.

For many years, Parman has helped schools add between $50,000 and $350,000 to their bottom lines.

He wants to share those systems so more schools can benefit — not just with digital learning camps but also with other ideas for afterschool classes, summer camps and special events.

Now, we are ready to develop the next phase and launch a monthly group-coaching program. It will focus on summer camps and similar events, as well as ways to generate income, improve marketing and so on.

Not only will members get coaching from Parman, but they also will be able to tap into the vast knowledge of Rodriguez. This will enable them to obtain the digitalmarketing knowhow they need to gain more students and prospects at these events.

We are excited about this group-coaching program because we know it will help schools get back on their feet. Our coaches are fully committed to assisting you every step of the way.

Read more about this coaching option in the cover story. Stay up-to-date by checking out maiahub.com or visiting our Facebook group, MAIA Hub. And, as always, if you need help during these difficult times, reach out to our coaches. You can schedule a free call to ask any questions you may have at maiahub.com/connect. We are here for you.

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

I NNOVATORS LEAD A N D T H E R EST FA L L I N L I N E.

TORRENT

|

WAVEMASTER

|

BOB

|

VERSYS

SHOP TRAINING BAGS AT CENTURYMARTIALARTS.COM

“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2020 Century, LLC. #18363

MARKETING RESOURCE

True Value

WEEK ONE

November 2011

THE TIMELESS MESSAGE FOR PARENTS AND STUDENTS: MARTIAL

Gratefulness: Gratefulness is being thankful or showing appreciation.

“

ARTS TRAINING IS ABOUT MUCH MORE THAN JUST KICKING AND PUNCHING.

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. ~Brother David Steindl-Rast

GratEfulNEss When we are grateful, we are thankful for what we have. This can be the people in our lives, our health, our martial arts skills, and the positive things that we feel.

We should be thankful for what we have and work towards what we want by planning and setting goals.

”

Ask your students: 1. What are you grateful for?

2. Do you think about being grateful?

3. What can you do on a daily basis to show your gratefulness?

WEEK TWO

November 2011

“

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. ~ William Arthur Ward

ThanKing OThErs When we are grateful for someone or something, we must tell the person how we feel. This will make us feel good and it will also make the other person feel good.

”

Ask your students: 1. How do you feel when you are given a gift?

2. Do you tell the person who gave you the present how you feel?

3. Do you send a thank you note, an e-mail or call someone to tell them how grateful you are?

To get your free customizable monthly Marketing Resource, visit MAIAHUB.com or get the download link from our Facebook page: fb.com/masuccess.

22 MASUCCESS

WEEK THREE

November 2011

“

He who receives a good turn should never forget it; he who does one should never remember it.

”

~Charron

AppREciATE WHAT You HAvE Gratefulness is about being thankful for what we receive or what we have. Thanking people who gave us things is showing our gratitude.

Ask your students: 1. Do you like to give other people presents?

2. Do you expect something back when you When you give something to others, do it give someone something? because you want to and not because you have 3. Do you think it is better to give than to to. This way others will be grateful for what you receive? Why or why not? did for them.

WEEK FOUR

November 2011

“

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

WORK FOR What YOU Want How do you feel when you want something but don’t have it? Sad, angry, frustrated? Learn to not be upset by what you don’t have. Instead, make an action plan to get what you want. Work hard, practice, save money, and learn until you have what you want. Be grateful that you can set a goal and make it happen.

”

~Epictetus

Ask your students: 1. What can you do when you want something?

2. Can you be patience until you get what you want?

3. Can you make a plan as to how to get what you want?

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 23

Questions and Answers About This Exciting Method for Boosting Your Revenue During These Challenging Times! By Adam Parman

A

s many of you reopen your martial arts schools, some for the second time, you probably are looking closely at your business model and contemplating what you might do differently to battle the ongoing economic struggles that stem from the global pandemic and the shutdowns that ensued. No doubt you’ve noticed that some of your peers seem overwhelmed by the challenges they’re forced to face, and you’ve vowed to take action before you find yourself in the same boat. Rather than reacting out of desperation, you prefer to be proactive so you can succeed no matter how tough an opponent the coronavirus is.

In this article, I will focus on one action you can take to thrive during COVID: the creation of digital learning camps. Presented below are 10 common questions school owners are asking, along with the answers you’ll need before you decide whether this solution is for you.

Question No. 1: What are digital learning camps?

They are small daily camps for kids between the ages of 8 and 14.

They’re designed to facilitate the online education of students who are returning to school on a digital platform. The camps allow parents to return to work while providing a safe environment in which their children can complete the demands of online schooling in a manner that limits their exposure to the virus.

Martial arts school owners are in a unique position to provide such a learning environment because of the close relationships and trust their instructors have fostered with their families and because of their ability to see to the physical fitness needs of the children.

Question No. 2: Why is the demand for these camps growing?

Parents need to get back to work, and they’re frantically searching for a safe and healthy solution for their children’s schooling while addressing the demands of their own jobs. Additionally, school districts across the nation are implementing a variety of back-to-school solutions in an effort to reduce the surge of new COVID cases, but none of them is convenient for every parent.

This has caused many martial arts school owners to adjust to meet these demands, and they’re reaping the financial rewards.

Imagine running a small camp every day in the morning and in the afternoon and generating the profits that come from having 65 evening martial art students. Many school owners will find that this is just what they need to get back on their feet.

Question No. 3: How does the method my school district is using affect what I do with my digital learning camps?

School districts have three basic models to choose from: an online model that has all instruction taking place digitally, a hybrid model that includes in-person instruction on certain days and digital instruction on other days, and an in-person model that has instruction taking place in school but that still offers parents who don’t feel comfortable sending their children back to a physical school the option of digital learning.

Which option your district choses will affect how you run your camps and what you charge. Why? Because you can charge more for five days of service than you can for a hybrid model that brings the children to you just three days a week.

Question No. 4: What is the going rate for camps?

To answer this, it helps to call facilities that offer similar services in your area and ask what they charge. In most areas, you’ll notice that the rate for digital learning camps is about 25-percent higher than summer-camp pricing because of the greater demand.

Using the data you collect for guidance, price your camps competitively — without underestimating the cost of staffing.

Facilitating digital learning camps is time-consuming for your staff and will require lots of attention to ensure that children are participating in daily meetings with their online teachers while completing and uploading their assignments.

The rate for digital learning camps is about 25-percent higher than summer-camp pricing.

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Question No. 5: How many staff members will I need to facilitate the camps?

You’ll want to provide the best environment for the students while maximizing your revenue. To that end, I suggest a ratio of one staff member per six to seven children. If you prefer, you can go with one facilitator and one assistant per 12 to 14 kids.

Remember that digital learning camps are unlike day camps or summer camps. Because ensuring that each child completes daily assignments and submits schoolwork is so time-consuming, digital learning camps require much more individual attention.

Question No. 6: What would be my revenue goal for hosting camps?

Here, the notion of beginning with the end in mind will prove valuable. If you know the revenue you’ve lost, you’ll know how much money you need to make to get back where you were. Of course, generating more than that will help your business thrive.

Thinking this way enables you to easily adjust your camp pricing to meet your goal. Keep in mind, however, that camps need to be limited to small numbers of students to meet local health and social distancing requirements, as well as to ensure your ability to service the children.

Question No. 7: So what is my potential revenue?

It varies according to the size of your facility, the staff that’s available and the restrictions your state and local governments have placed on group size. That said, most martial arts schools that hold camps are getting between 12 to 28 campers a week with weekly pricing that ranges from $180 to $280 per camper.

Crunching those numbers reveals that a camp with 12 participants paying $200 a week would gross $9,600 a month.

Question No. 8: What would a daily schedule look like?

This depends on the expectations and workload of your local school districts. Some martial arts school owners are seeing minimal workloads for students, while others report that some teachers are holding daily chat meetings for hours at a time and have monstrous homework expectations. It’s best to be prepared to accommodate both ends of the spectrum with additional supplemental materials and early drop-off hours for those teachers who begin their online classes at 7:30 a.m.

Most digital learning camps open between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. for those students who must start early and offer morning activities for students whose schools elect to begin later. The camps facilitate online learning into the early afternoon, say 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., and then end their services with a fun martial arts class.

Question No. 9: How do I staff my camps?

Most school owners have little to no problem finding qualified people to administer their camps because of higher-than-normal unemployment rates. You’ll need one main facilitator to run things and oversee the learning experience. This person will need to be at least 21 years old and have experience working with children. If you can find someone with a background in early childhood education or someone who used to work as a public school teacher, that can be a huge selling point.

You’ll also need an assistant for camps that host more than 10 students to manage their schedules and help with assignments.

The ideal candidate for this position is someone who’s 16 to 20 years old and has a flexible schedule that permits him or her to work four hours a day.

I suggest budgeting $3,000 to $4,000 a month in payroll expenses for both positions.

Question No. 10: What is the best way to market digital learning camps?

To answer this question, I will pass the mic to Cris Rodriguez …

Adam Parman is a Martial Arts Industry Association consultant who owns schools in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s worked for some of the biggest names in the industry, including Keith Scott, Joe Corley, Bill Clark, Mike Metzger and Frank Silverman. To contact him, send an email to aparman@masuccess.com.

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YOU’VE DECIDED TO HOST DIGITAL LEARNING CAMPS. GREAT! HOW DO YOU MARKET THEM?

By Cris Rodriguez

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ow that you understand what digital learning camps are, whom they’re crafted for and how they’re run, it’s time to fill the openings in yours. More than likely, you will have less than 15 spots to fill because of social distancing guidelines, capacity limits and the number of staff members you have or will hire (with an eye on keeping payroll costs down).

Depending on the size of your evening martial arts program active count and your afterschool program count, you may need to leverage only a few levels of marketing, as many schools will be able to fill their digital learning camps from their own student base. Before we dive into the seven levels of marketing, however, it’s imperative that you understand what an avatar is.

A customer avatar is a representation of your ideal customer — the type of person you want to purchase your services. The perfect customer is someone who will spend big, make repeat purchases and promote your academy to others. This is the type of person you want to attract.

Without nailing down your customer avatar, you’re left hoping that people will see your message and then sign up for your camps — which can be costly and ineffective. However, when you know who your ideal customers are, where they spend their time, what they want and how your camps can meet their particular needs, you will have the key ingredients for marketing and sales success.

Level 1 Once you identify your customer avatar, you should address the seven levels of marketing. The first is leveraging organic social media. This refers to any social media activity that is not a paid promotion and that utilizes free social media tools to build and engage an online following.

Your Facebook Business Page and your Facebook Group are two examples of organic social media. Posting on both is a great way to spread word of your digital learning camps. One of the most powerful features of organic social media is sharing — speNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 27

cifically, when your followers/students share your posts. More shares means more prospects will see your offer. And the best part? It’s absolutely free.

keting strategies — if you know how to leverage them. Blasting out one-off emails or text messages is unlikely to get you the response you’re hoping for. In part, that’s because writing emails is an art in itself called copywriting. Copywriting is one of the most important elements of marketing and advertising. It consists of using words, either written or spoken, to get people to take action. It’s basically writing to persuade, and it’s one of the most sought-after skill sets in marketing.

You should send a minimum of three emails in your marketing campaign. Make sure those emails address social proof, scarcity, reciprocity and authority with respect to your digital learning camps.

Level 2 The second level of marketing is search engine optimization, or SEO. Search is one of the main ways people discover content online. If you can rank higher on Google when parents search for “digital learning camps,” this can lead to an increase in traffic to your website.

The top website in our industry, Market Level 4 Muscles, recently The next level of marketing is my personal began creating favorite: paid advertising. Four of the most “Check us out if you’re looking to outsource your mardigital-learningpopular platforms where you can leverage keting,” Cris Rodriguez says.

“We offer a complimentary camp landing pages the power of paid advertising are FaceLead Acceleration Zoom call where we do a full marketfor its clients. These book, Instagram, Google and YouTube. ing audit on your business’ Facebook Page, ads, webpages are built with To be honest, though, running paid ads is site, Google My Business listing and Google search. keywords, metatags, difficult. The platforms are always changing We uncover what you’re doing well, what needs backlinks and lead their rules and procedures, it’s time conwork and how we can help you gain more magnets to help school suming and it can be frustrating when the ad traffic and sign up more students.” owners capture lead informanager is “bugging out.” Unless you have done mation so they can follow up extensive deliberate learning and training on these easily. What exactly does all that platforms, it’s probably best to hire a professional. mean? It means that when someone If you’re going to use paid advertising, it’s essential to in your community searches on Google for use video marketing. This refers to using video to promote your “digital learning camps,” there’s a higher probability that your brand or offer on digital channels. Over the years, video has website will show up near the top of the results. become the most consumed content online. It’s easily accesAnother level-two option is to write a blog on your website sible, it’s engaging, it can be entertaining, it’s easy to digest and that explains exactly what digital learning camps are, addresses it has the potential to offer a huge return on investment on the frequently asked questions and outlines what your USP is. In many channels on which it can be used. marketing, USP stands for unique selling proposition. The conBe sure to call out your customer avatar in your videos, highcept helps you inform customers about how your service is supelight the COVID-related precautions your academy is taking, dive rior to that of your competitors. It highlights the benefits that into your USP and give a call to action. are most meaningful to your customers.

With all the training options out there, you must make sure Level 5 that you highlight your USP so you can out-cool the competition The fifth level of marketing is what I consider the lifeline of our and stand above them. business: the telephone. Not too many school owners enjoy Anytime SEO is discussed, it must be mentioned that improvmaking outbound phone calls, but it’s still one of the most ing it takes time and that the best strategy is pairing it with paid important tools in our business. advertising. Utilizing paid traffic to the landing page you have creThings you don’t necessarily enjoy are often easier if you ated for your digital learning camps will give you far greater results. have a game plan. As a former MAIA client and now a MAIA consultant, I’ve found that one of my favorite MAIA systems is Level 3 the Four Steps of Selling. What I love about it is its simplicity The third level of marketing is using your email and SMS when it’s used to make outbound marketing calls for your digital lists. One of the most popular phrases in digital marketing learning camps. is, “Always grow your list.” To that, I would add “with quality First, state the reason you are calling. Second, sell it. Third, engaged contacts.” create urgency and scarcity. Fourth, close it. Follow these steps To that end, your e-mail and SMS, which stands for short every time you make an outbound marketing call and watch as message service, lists can be among your most powerful marthe system gets results.

OUTSOURCING YOUR ONLINE MARKETING

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Your current students can influence and encourage discussions with others in your community to help you fill your digital learning camps.

Level 6 The sixth level of marketing is direct mail. This involves sending a physical piece of promotional material through the U.S. Postal Service or another courier. Because of the massive amounts of content that consumers digest every day online, using snail mail to send a promotional offer to a targeted group is a great way to “cut through the noise.”

My recommendation to keep marketing costs low is to compile a list of the hot and warm leads that you’ve collected since the beginning of the year. If they fit your customer avatar, mail them a promotional offer for your digital learning camps with a call to action.

If you want to take it a step further and have the time, send them a handwritten message. It’s guaranteed to stand out from the junk they receive in their mailbox and therefore will have a greater chance of being read.

Nevertheless, you need to encourage them to be proactive about it.

This is when the power of referral programs and referral contests can come into play. With so many schools going above and beyond for their students during the shutdowns, many of your students and their families will be more than happy to spread the word about your academy. You just have to ask.

Take Action Now that you know the seven levels of marketing, it’s time to implement them. One of my favorite quotes about this subject comes from Peter Drucker, who has been hailed as the father of modern management: “The two most important functions of a business are innovation and marketing.”

Level 7 Clearly, you have been The seventh level of marketing is face to innovative in deciding To help school owners like you launch digiface/word of mouth. While this is the most to offer digital learning tal learning camps, the Martial Arts Industry powerful method, it also requires the most camps, a service that Association has created an online course that sweat equity and, with the current state of parents need. Now, all provides support materials, prerecorded videos, the world, can seem nearly impossible to use you have to do is market coordinating notes, a complete arsenal of right now. them. social media ads, fliers, a supply list and Face-to-face marketing — setting up booths more! Go to maiahub.com/courses at festivals, open houses and community events to get started.

— is one of the most effective (and time-consuming) Cris Rodriguez has a black ways to gain qualified leads. However, because of belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a third COVID-19, most states and counties are not allowing fesdegree in taekwondo. The co-owner of tivals, open houses or community events. Although that can Gracie PAC MMA, she has 25 years of experimake it difficult to leverage this strategy, there are ways to ence in the martial arts and 18 years of experience as a teacher. facilitate word-of-mouth marketing.

Based in Tampa, Florida, Rodriguez has studied internet marYour current students can influence and encourage discusketing for eight years and is the founder of Grow Pro Agency, a sions with others in your community to help you fill your digidigital-marketing firm that runs Facebook and Instagram ads tal learning camps. They just might not be doing it in person. for martial arts school owners.

MAIA TO THE RESCUE!

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 29

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE! Let Century Direct Be Your Online Store and You Can Facilitate Your Students’ Gear Purchases Without Ordering Product or Stocking Inventory!

BY SARAH LOBBAN

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s you well know, 2020 has been a tough year for the martial arts world — especially for school owners. The COVID-19 pandemic has, perhaps irrevocably, changed how our industry does business.

By their very nature, the martial arts have always been up close and personal. A dojo is not, historically speaking, a place that’s intended for social distancing. It’s meant to effectively and efficiently let as many people as possible learn within a given space. Sparring, grappling and other daily training activities all bring people much closer than the recommended 6 feet. Because of the threat posed by COVID, many martial arts school owners have had to put a temporary stop to in-person training and make a drastic pivot to virtual lessons.

Despite the unfamiliarity of teaching through a computer screen, martial arts school owners and instructors have done a fantastic job of keeping the arts alive and their classes strong.

As states reopen, students have begun trickling back in; however, the threat of a new outbreak still hangs overhead. School owners must now work to retain students who may or may not be able (or willing) to show up to class.

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One of the challenges in keeping students’ attention is the lack of gear. Although most students own some personal equipment (sparring pads, helmets, gloves), many relied on their school’s ability to provide larger, shared items like body shields, heavy bags and so on. Without them, training becomes limited.

Limited training breeds less interest, and a loss of interest spells the death of student retention.

On the other hand, students who own larger pieces of gear — especially bags — are more likely to continue their training and maintain their memberships even while at home. In part, it’s because they have more ways to train. They can work through drills by themselves on a bag, or have an older sibling or parent hold mitts. And speaking of parents: Those who have invested in gear are less likely to let their children drop out.

So getting gear into your students’ hands is clearly a win-win.

But then the dilemma: How do you get it there most efficiently?

If your school is closed, so is your pro shop. Even worse, now is not the time many school owners want to spend a lot of money stocking up on inventory. Sure, you can let your students go through Amazon or retail stores — or even scour garage sales in search of used gear — but none of that helps your bottom line.

That’s where Century Direct comes in. This redesigned and relaunched program from the United States’ premier martial

arts equipment supplier comes just in time for schools that are struggling to turn a profit in the age of COVID. Without spending a dollar, stocking a single shinguard or even coming within 6 feet of another person, you now can set up a system that allows your students to access thousands of Century products — and you’ll get paid for it.

The main brain behind Century Direct is Tu Le, creator of the MyStudio platform. Le is also a martial arts instructor and, along with his wife, the co-owner of InCourage Martial Arts, which boasts five locations in Virginia. He created MyStudio initially for his own team as a way to simplify administrative tasks and allow staff members to focus on what they love most: teaching. Century Direct follows the same premise, taking care of mundane, time-consuming and bureaucratic work. Ideally for these times, it also removes the need for human-to-human contact in many scenarios.

Not only did Le help design Century Direct, but he also uses it at his schools. That’s why I thought, Who better to give you an inside look at the program?

MASuccess: When did you start developing Century Direct, and what inspired it?

Tu Le: We started developing the technology to power the Century Direct platform two years ago. After a great discussion with Mark Hammond at the SuperShow in 2018, our team felt that this was a great opportunity to help propel the industry forward.

MAS: What problems does Century Direct solve?

Le: It takes a [martial arts school] operator an estimated 15 minutes to fulfill one retail order — purchasing inventory, storing the equipment, and servicing and fulfilling the order. That means taking four orders a day would come out to be one hour, or 13 percent of an eight-hour workday.

Century Direct allows [school owners] to pick items that we want to sell from our custom online retail store, and when a customer buys a product, Century ships it straight to their door.

We get money in our account the next day. This frees up five hours per week for every studio operator to focus on creating and keeping their students — and this is quite significant to the industry as a whole.

MAS: What has it been like collaborating with Century Martial Arts?

Le: Safety and security is the top priority for us, and that aligns perfectly with the mindset of the leaders at Century.

MAS: Besides Century, what companies have you partnered with to make Century Direct?

Le: Amazon Web Services and Chase Bank. This allows us to have the best-in-class customer data protection and securepayment system in the industry. And that’s what is powering the Century Direct platform.

MAS: Your schools use Century Direct. What benefits have you seen?

Le: There’s simply no other product in the marketplace that offers what Century Direct does. It totally changed the way we approached our business at InCourage Martial Arts.

We no longer need storage rooms/space for student equipment. We only carry uniforms and T-shirts now at our studios.

Students buy sparring equipment from our app, and it’s delivered to their door.

Wrong size? Century will handle the return and customer service.

No more customer complaints about an item that they ordered two months ago.

Century Direct Step-by-Step 1 Go to CenturyDirect.com.

2 Click “Get started.” This will direct you to MyStudio. Don’t worry! This is right where you’re supposed to be.

3 If you don’t already have one, create a MyStudio account. It’s free, and you don’t have to purchase any additional MyStudio services (although you might want to check them out). This account is what will enable you to get money from your sales, so make sure you set it up correctly.

4 Enter your account number.

5 Start adding products. You can choose from Century’s thousands of SKUs to create a shopping site that’s perfectly tailored to your students and your art.

6 Post the link to your store on your website, Facebook page or wherever your students will have easy access — and make sure you let them know they should buy from you to support their school.

7 If you have questions about any part of the process, contact the Century or MyStudio teams.

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We can now sell Wavemasters, KicKing shields, targets and so many other things without worrying about how we would store them, finding the money to buy them or wondering if students will want them if we do buy them.

All the time and energy that was spent on this before is now poured into projects and tasks that are creating [new members] and keeping our current members during this pandemic.

MAS: What feature do you think school owners will like most?

Le: The next-day deposits of the difference [between] retail and wholesale — while doing none of the fulfillment and administrative work of selling retail.

MAS: How can Century Direct help school owners through the COVID pandemic?

Le: We are seeing high demand for gym and martial arts equipment for home practice. A studio with Century Direct will have the capability to ship products to their customers who are choosing to practice at home. This is a big differentiator and a competitive advantage for studios that are powered by the Century Direct platform.

MAS: What do your staff and students think of Century Direct?

Le: Century Direct has created a totally new and more effective business model for running a martial arts or fitness studio. Our team members at InCourage Martial Arts will never have to look for sparring equipment in our storage room again. That storage room is now a staff break room for us. We only store limited uniforms and T-shirts at our front desk.

Our customers are blown away when we tell them that their equipment will be shipped directly to their homes. This adds a professional “wow” factor that we could have never had before. Meanwhile, we’re making the most money we have ever from retail sales. How? [We’re] selling a lot of Wavemasters and larger items that we did not want to spend the money to buy or [have] the room to store.

Sarah Lobban is the associate publications editor for the Martial Arts Industry Association.

6 Reasons to Choose Century Direct ❱ It’s Totally Free There is no fee to sign up. All you need is a valid Century Martial Arts wholesale account (which is also free, in case you’re wondering). There are no maintenance fees, membership fees, one-time charges or recurring costs of any kind — no matter how much your students buy from you.

Century does take a 10-percent processing fee from every order; however, that is calculated and deducted before you are paid your share of the profits. In other words, no money will ever be taken out of your account — except by you.

❱ It Takes the Guesswork Out of Inventory Management As Tu Le said, it makes sense to have some items in stock in your in-school pro shop: T-shirts, popular uniform sizes, and any novelty apparel or common gear that fits your school’s needs. However, stocking too far outside that range is gambling. For example, you shouldn’t have to stock a full range of sparring gear in every color for the one student who is much smaller (or larger) than the rest on the off chance that the family dog might chew up a glove on a weekend. Create a Century Direct page, and let the student do the ordering the minute Fido gets ahold of the gear bag.

❱ It’s Easy to Set Up and Use Creating your own online shop can take months and require thousands of dollars in programmer fees. And after that, you still have to maintain it, update it, keep tabs on inventory, and manage shipping and delivery.

The smart alternative is to set up your own unique shop through Century Direct, stock it with hundreds of items and not worry about a thing.

❱ It Generates Extra Retail Revenue You’ll save money up front by not having to buy inventory, but you’ll also get paid whenever students buy from your Century Direct site. You earn the difference between the retail and wholesale prices (minus the 10-percent shipping and processing fee).

Here’s an example: Two popular items are the Original Wavemaster bag and Brave Boxing Gloves. Their wholesale costs are $140 and $25, respectively. They retail for $180 and $37. That’s a difference of $52. Subtract the processing fee (10 percent of $52 is $5.20), and you’ve just made $46 and change — without lifting a finger.

The money will be deposited in the bank account that’s associated with your account on the next business day.

❱ It Uses Exactly Zero Dojo Space Some school owners keep their pro-shop inventory behind the counter, in the mop closet, squashed into boxes in the corner or even at home. Not only is this a hassle, but even the simple fact of keeping inventory is limiting — realistically, how much variety can you expect to stock if you have to physically store every single item?

And that’s not taking into account how much it costs to stock up in the first place. Speaking of which …

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❱ It’s Contactless Enough said.

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BACK

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED s e e t h e f u l l l i n e o f p ro f e s s i o n a l g ra d e f re e s t a n d i n g b a g s a t

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“Century” is a registered trademark of Century, LLC. All rights reserved. © 2020 Century, LLC. #18990

BLACK BELT LEADERSHIP

3 Crucial Decisions You Need to Make

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BY NGUYEN “TOM” GRIGGS

“Use virtual platforms and social media private rooms to their fullest extent. Think about how you can present aspects of your curriculum in a different manner.”

ello, my friends. I hope you all are doing well and finding ways to successfully navigate these difficult times. In this column, I want to talk about three crucial decisions that leaders need to make to survive our current chaos.

I ask that you bear with me. The stories I will use involve airline crashes, and the details are not pleasant. However, all are relevant to the situation that now faces the martial arts community.

• In 2015, Maria Murillo, 18, and her 1-year-old survived the crash of a small Cessna airplane in the Colombian jungles. They spent five days on the banks of a river, surviving on coconuts and collected rainwater. When they were found, rescuers were astounded to learn that despite having sustained burns and broken bones, the woman had been able to run from the burning plane while carrying her child.

• Bahia Bakari, 14, was the sole survivor of a 2009 crash of an airliner that claimed the lives of 151 people. She spent 13 hours adrift in the Indian Ocean, holding onto wreckage to keep from drowning.

• Annette Herfkens, 31, survived a 1992 plane crash in Vietnam that took the lives of everyone aboard, including her fiancé. After dragging herself from the site, she subsisted on whatever sources of water she could find. Despite having a collapsed lung, a displaced jaw and a fractured hip, she remained calm and meditated to stay centered.

In each case, the survivors made crucial decisions that helped them avoid what seemed like inevitable death. Specifically, they made the decision to live, the decision to use whatever resources they could and the decision that their futures mattered.

Let’s explore each of these.

No. 1: Decide to Live In each case study, the survivors decided to remove themselves from danger so they could find a path to safety. Murillo’s situation was more complicated because she also had to care for her child.

Takeaway: The pandemic presents health risks and economic turmoil. Many businesses have been hurt, and some have closed. Even though you are struggling, you must decide to remove yourself from

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any mindset or attitude that could cause further harm.

If you are fortunate to still have an open business, you must separate yourself from the things that could hurt you and your school. I doubt Murillo and her child would have survived if she had chosen to stay in the wreckage.

Similarly, you have to remove yourself from practices that aren’t working and rid yourself of attitudes and beliefs that are keeping you in a bad place mentally and emotionally. If you don’t have hope and work from faith, you’ll stay in the proverbial wreckage and suffer.

No. 2: Decide to Use Every Possible Resource It’s difficult to imagine clinging to airplane wreckage in the ocean for 13 hours, not knowing if you will receive help. But just as Bakari did, you need to look around and use every resource you can find to keep going.

Takeaway: Use virtual platforms and social media private rooms to their fullest extent. Think about how you can present aspects of your curriculum in a different manner. For example, my dojo, a traditional Japanese jujitsu school, has adopted simple but fun kata that work for us. Students are improving their memories, focus and basics. The parents are happy, and the kids are learning.

Another resource is your former students and parents of current students. Ask them to help promote your school and spread the word. Sometimes simply asking people to introduce you to others can open all kinds of doors. Remember that if you don’t ask, you won’t get.

Unless you ended on bad terms, most former students and parents probably won’t mind helping you, especially during these times.

No. 3: Decide That Your Future Matters Herfkens lost her fiancé and sustained terrible injuries, but she knew her time here was not yet done. She decided that her future mattered. You have to make that same decision. Then you must ask yourself, What activities am I engaged in that will help build my future?

Takeaway: Don’t get drawn into social media battles over politics, face masks, vaccines, etc. This, too, is looking out for your future. Is the comment or article you’re about to post or share one that will add to or detract from your image as a leader?

This pandemic will subside, and people will remember — as Maya Angelou once noted — how you made them feel.

Don’t put out something that you cannot take back.

BY TERRY L. WILSON For two decades, Mike Storms has owned a 6,000-square-foot school. For the past 15 years, he’s grossed more than half a million dollars a year — in a town with a population of less than 10,000. In part, that’s been possible because of Habits of Health, a program he designed to improve his quality of life, as well as that of his students and their families. Now, school owners across the country are using it to battle the impact COVID-19 is having on their businesses.

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he pandemic and the lockdowns that ensued forced martial arts schools to engage in a fight for their lives.

After months of little to no income, some schools closed forever.

Others were treading water. To do more than just survive, a school owner had to think outside the box, which is exactly what Mike Storms did.

Realizing that martial arts were all about self-defense, he began teaching his students how to fight lifestyle illnesses with healthier habits and improved nutrition. Along the way, he developed a program that anyone can use to generate additional income while helping people lose weight, boost sleep quality and energy levels, and transition to a healthier lifestyle.

“We added a nutrition program to our school 21 months ago called Habits of Health, and that is why we are not only surviving the pandemic but are thriving,” Storms said.

What to Watch “Because of the pandemic, “Just like a kata is a people are more concerned sequence of techniques about their health than ever that must be practiced before. They realize that daily, we have specific must-do’s to maintain ideal being overweight and out health,” Mike Storms said. of shape isn’t about how They include: you look in a bathing suit; ◗ getting sufficient sleep it’s about how those extra ◗ maintaining energy levels inches affect your overall ◗ ensuring proper hydration ◗ managing bodyweight health. If you are obese or ◗ eating nutritious food have diabetes, COVID can ◗ exercising frequently kill you.” ◗ managing stress By coaching his martial

arts students and their families in the fields of nutrition, fitness and well-being, Storms sought to help them understand the importance of health in the battle against the coronavirus and the treatment of other chronic medical issues. An integral part of the subject matter is learning how and why certain foods are like medicine — while other foods are poisons.

The genesis of the concept was Storms’ desire to shed a few pounds. “About two years ago, I was coming up on my 55th birthday, and as an eighth-degree black belt, I decided to challenge myself to get in really good shape again to fit into my Marine dress-blue uniform,” he said. “After losing the weight, everyone at the school noticed the change in my energy and appearance. My students began asking me how I did it, so I talked to them about proper nutrition and how it affects your health and the way you look and act. After that, the program just fell into place.”

When people approached Storms with questions, he would do a quick health assessment so he could guide them toward their goal. “We’d discuss their current eating regimen and daily habits, then I’d offer healthy options based on documented scientific results,” he said. “I now offer this program at my school and to my students’ parents, their older brothers and sisters, and individuals who have zero interest in martial arts.

“I’ve implemented this at the dojo with before-and-after photos on the wall. People come in and see the changes in all of us and are blown away by the transformation.

“We also do a Habits of Health seminar once a quarter and invite people [to come] for free to learn about what we’re doing and how they can not only lose weight and become nutritionally sound but also, if they desire, become a coach and mentor with their own clients. Our program caught fire within the community because we were addressing the No. 1 problem in our country today, which is the obesity epidemic.”

DANGER OF DIETS In our modern society, it seems as though each month, a new exercise guru pops up to pitch some gizmo to shape flabby frames into works of art. Others tout new diets that promise to have you swimsuit ready in time for summer. These fads seldom yield lasting results, Storms said.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 39

“Diets don’t work,” he said. “The key to long-term life transformation is breaking bad habits. The psychology in that is diets are temporary. When a person reaches a certain goal, they go off the diet because they’ve accomplished their goal of losing 5, 20 or whatever [number of] pounds they wanted to drop. From a psychology perspective, that is absolutely the wrong way to go about achieving a lifelong transformation.”

Contrary to popular belief, Storms said, success is not just a matter of self-discipline or willpower; it’s about developing beneficial routines. “It’s vital that we drink 64 ounces or more of water a day, and you can up your metabolism by 20 to 40 percent by getting eight hours of sleep and tapping into the power of your circadian rhythm. This is accomplished by going to bed and getting up within 20 minutes of the same time every day and night seven days a week — it changes your immune system, your brain function and your metabolism.”

Storms bases his statements on studies done at Johns Hopkins University and other research institutions. “All have proved that turning off insulin resistance is the key to health, wellbeing and brain function,” he noted. “For example, if you crave a jelly donut, a giant bowl of pasta or a chocolate candy bar, you are in insulin resistance, dealing with the rising and crashing of insulin. The body, at a cellular and psychological level, wants what you’re giving it. So if you’re giving it sugar and fast, dirty carbs, your body will continue to demand those types of foods.

“Conversely, when you feed your body vegetables and proteins and non-glycemic fruits, your body will want more of them.

Just by switching your metabolic system, you can get your body to desire what’s good for you. And the great thing about the body is that change for the better can happen in just a couple of weeks. In two weeks, your sleep and energy are restored, and the longer you’re on the habit train, the less you even think about sugar cravings.”

BLACK BELT IN NUTRITION Storms’ program offers clients a way to pass along a healthier lifestyle that’s affordable for all. “It’s a zero-ongoing-expense program,” he said. “We don’t pay for advertising; advertisSugar Is Not Your Friend ing is done on your school’s “Nearly 80 percent of the Facebook page and your people who are suffering personal Facebook page. My from anxiety and depreshealth program is an add-on sion are because of what revenue, an additional prothey eat,” Mike Storms said.

“Your food dictates your gut gram that is all net — which is health and brain function. the reason school owners are So people are sad.” coming to me. I have clients Once they reduce their in 42 states. This is a comsugar intake, however, things begin to change. plete virtual business for the “Sugar should come in a school owner.” package with a skull and He noted that whether we crossbones on it,” he said. like it or not, recent events 40 MASUCCESS

have taught us that virtual is A Father’s the way of the future. “EveryInspiration thing we do is individual coachMike Storms’ passion ing done on the internet,” he for nutrition stemmed said. “For 10 minutes a week, from his love for his dad.

Although his father was I speak with my clients about a man of great accomtheir goals and the actions they plishments, he develare taking. We do Zoom calls oped unhealthy eating each week to help our clients habits. They continued and coaches learn and celebrate despite his son’s admonishments to embrace a their accomplishments. healthier lifestyle based “There are no long-term on sound nutrition. licensing agreements involved,” “My father, who was a Storms said. “For a school college baseball player at Cornell University and owner to become a health a Marine Corps sniper, coach is only $199. I have died of Type 2 diabetes people that aren’t remotely that he gave himself,” interested in martial arts that Storms said. “I talked to him about exercise are using this and making and nutrition most of his money. Of course, I have blacklife. A month before his belt instructors, school owners death, he said, ‘I guess and fitness trainers, too. These I really should have listened to you.’” individuals are already workThat was when Storms ing as professional mentors to noted that his martial arts their students.” school was serving only Storms said his represen1 percent of his community but that 80 pertatives use a script when cent of the community interacting with potential was interested in better clients. Because martial arts health. “A light bulb went instructors often use scripts off inside my head, tellwhen meeting potential stuing me I had an opportunity to make up for some dents, most of them already stuff that my dad didn’t have the skills they need to get to do in his lifetime succeed. and save other people’s “Now they can become a lives in the process.” black belt in nutrition and make a lot of money while helping people lose weight and have a better quality of life,” he said. “Just this month, our net grew over 10 percent, earning us around $14,000 from our Habits of Health coaching service.

“We are only at phase two of the COVID reopening. I’m only allowed to have 17 students in my building at a time. The income from my health coaching is allowing me to keep my doors open.

This program has been a lifesaver for us and for school owners in other states.”

For more information about Mike Storms and Habits of Health, visit stormshealth.com.

About the author: Terry L. Wilson is a freelance writer and martial artist based in San Diego.

Nutrition Is a Form of Self-Defense Mike Storms decided that he needed to address health-related issues in his school and in the community at large, specifically with respect to obesity, so he connected it with the concept of self-defense. “Lifestyle illnesses are the top 10 killers of men and women in the United States,” he said.

“These people aren’t victims of carjackings, rapes, muggings or home invasions;

they die from a lifestyle of bad habits.

“As a martial artist, you train to defend yourself and your loved ones against someone who means to harm them. To be relevant today, self-defense [must include] self-care because it is that poor lifestyle that will attack

you. Good nutrition habits are your defense.

“Most of the lifestyle diseases people get are preventable through nutrition. Some people complain about their back hurting, their knees aching, being too tired to go here or to do this — a lot of that can be remedied, even

repaired, by a change of lifestyle. It’s easy to blame a bad back on an injury when the real culprits are the carbs and sugars you’ve stuffed into your face over the years. From my own experience, I can tell you that it is possible for a person to regain the level of fitness they had in their late teens and early 20s. But you’ve got to want to, and you must be willing to put forth the effort!”

“Most of the lifestyle diseases people get are preventable through nutrition.”

TOP 10 FOODS TO AVOID, ACCORDING TO MIKE STORMS 1. soda, both regular and diet 2. fried food 3. candy, cookies, ice cream, bakery sweets 4. sugary coffee drinks 5. potatoes, French fries, potato chips 6. corn and things made from corn 7. fast food 8. most juices 9. sugary breakfast cereals 10. high-glycemic fruits

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 41

IN THE CLASSROOM

It’s Easy to Give Up Too Soon. Don’t!

BY DAVE KOVAR

“We owe it to our communities and students to improvise, improve and adapt. We need to find a way to adjust to this new environment.”

I

am an outdoor enthusiast. Hiking, biking, climbing, training — it doesn’t matter. If it takes place outside, I love it. Some time ago, I went on an intense mountain-bike ride with two friends. We picked a challenging course near Forest Hill, California. I do a decent bit of cycling on the road, but it had been years since I pushed myself on a mountain bike on a hard trail.

Both my friends had better bikes and a lot more trail experience than I, but I did my best to keep up, and we had a great time. The ride illustrated to me one of the wonderful things about martial arts training: The attributes of balance, timing, strength, flexibility and focus carry over to other activities.

(Another bonus became evident that day: I had only one crash but managed to avoid injury.)

The highlight of the trip was swimming in the American River after the ride. We picked the perfect spot for it. The water was deep, calm and cool.

One of my friends mentioned that when he was in college, he used to pick up a large rock and try to walk across the river in this very spot. Of course, I had to try it.

I found a suitable rock, probably around 30 pounds, and began to make my way to the opposite side. As the river got deeper, I did my Wim Hof breathing so I could absorb as much oxygen into my system as possible before my face went under. Once I was fully submerged, I stayed calm.

I knew I could do it. All I had to focus on was taking one step after another until I reached the other side.

I was doing great and was certain I was almost there — and then a voice in my head started saying, “You better quit now. You are not going to make it.

It’s too far.”

I tried to block out the voice and stay calm because I knew I still had plenty of oxygen in my system. Sometimes, however, once fear grabs you, it’s all over. This was one of those times. I dropped the rock and made a dash for the surface, only to

find that I was literally two steps from completing the journey. Ugh! This experience got me thinking about how often we give up without knowing that a major victory is just two steps ahead of us. Many martial arts businesses are experiencing the hardest times they’ve ever seen right now. We hear about schools closing every week, and it’s not hard to understand why.

It’s difficult to run a school under the best of circumstances; it’s even harder with COVID-19 rearing its ugly head.

In these challenging times, I encourage all of you to double down on your commitments and work harder and smarter than ever. Remember that the world needs what we have to offer. We owe it to our communities and students to improvise, improve and adapt. We need to find a way to adjust to this new environment.

Adversity doesn’t make a person; it reveals the person. This is our chance to step up. I encourage everyone to join me in striving to be a little extra compassionate, a little extra calm and a little extra confident in the face of adversity. Often, the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that “little extra.”

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

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A.

By Michael

Perri Jr.

T

his year has been one for the ages, with the wildfires, hurricanes, riots, a polarized country and, of course, the global pandemic. Many businesses have been so severely impacted that they’ve been forced to shut their doors for good. This includes some of our fellow martial arts professionals, people who were making a career out of sharing their passion. Although we’ve suffered setbacks, our industry still boasts people who are not only surviving but also thriving.

Schools that had the systems in place have managed to pull out record months financially regardless of the trials and tribulations they faced.

I’m talking about schools like Caleb and Heidi Collier’s Championship Martial Arts in Kaysville, Utah, where they took the systems and strategies of CMA’s Holiday Event and applied it to their “Christmas in July Sale.” It transformed what was regarded as a slow time of the year into one of their most profitable months ever —in the middle of a pandemic!

You may be asking yourself, “How could they have had that kind of success with all the obstacles we’re facing?” The answer boils down to what Dave Kovar said on an episode of The Metzger/Tassoul Show: “Find a freakin’ way!”

That’s what the Colliers and many other school owners did with a little help from the tried-and-true system created by Championship Martial Arts. This article will highlight the finer points of hosting a successful Holiday Event and offer some tips on how to approach it in a socially distanced environment.

Regardless of what’s going on in your world, you have the ability to take a four-hour period and turn it into a profit-generating, retention-increasing, feel-good event that will make an impact on your life and your students’ lives for years to come. The great thing is that whether your event is live and in-person, or virtual and socially distanced, the concepts and strategies stay the same (minus a tweak here and there). Let’s look at some of the steps to success I wrote about last year.

Out With the Old, In With the New The old standard used to be that there were two times of the year you knew your school would have to brace itself for a struggle. One was the middle of summer, and the other was the holidays in December. How could a martial arts school compete with the winter’s cold, holiday parties and the excitement of presents? Through trial and error and by learning from the successes and failures of others, the CMA team homed in on a system that followed an old adage: If you can’t beat them, join them.

Mike Metzger and Frank Silverman, the founders and coowners of Championship Martial Arts Limited, not only own eight martial arts schools but also have 70 licensees throughout the United States and Canada. These schools decided to be a part of the CMA family so they could partake in a group of like-minded martial artists looking to make a positive impact

46 MASUCCESS

in their communities through their lifelong dedication to the arts. In addition, they had a goal to refine the practices that allowed them to turn their passion into profit. Through the interaction of their licensees and the hundreds of martial arts schools for which they’ve consulted during the past 18 years, Metzger and Silverman created the ultimate system to make your holiday season a success.

The concept of the holiday sale was one of those systems that they knew needed to be tweaked. Instead of trying to compete with every other retailer out there, though, they turned the concept on its heels. They stopped referring to it as a sale in the first place. With this change in thinking, gone were the days of a holiday sale, and in came the idea of a Holiday Event. The notion of a “holiday event” gives every student and family member a reason to come to your school — to celebrate the season! This simple mental shift turned decently attended holiday sales into can’t-miss events. More bodies equaled more sales.

Retail Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg Although retail is an important component of a Holiday Event, it’s only one element. To maximize your success, you must incorporate all five profit centers: new-member sales, upgradeprogram sales, special events, retention and retail.

New-member and upgrade sales include tuition, down payments and paid-in-fulls. Special-event sales include single events such as parent’s night outs, testing and private lessons, ideally packaging them so students can pay for multiple events at once. You should also package your retail to create a win-win for you and your members. You win because you get greater sales, and they win because they get to save big on things they want and need.

“You can’t stop there, though,” Metzger says. “There are three components to generating more revenue: more customers in attendance, more transactions per customer and more money per transaction.”

Once you realize that your Holiday Event’s success relies on multiple streams of revenue, you can begin focusing on attracting as many people as possible.

Make It a Can’t-Miss Event This sale needs to be more than just that. It has to be the can’tmiss event of the year. Food, fun activities, prizes and giveaways will help generate the excitement you need to make yours wellattended. Don’t forget that great attendance is integral to your Holiday Event success. Below is a list of features you can include to get more people to attend: • Set up a festive picture station in your school and have someone dress up like Santa. Take pictures of your students with Santa and post them on social media. You can even go as far as having both Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Another big hit is to have holiday photo ops with the instructors and students.

• Have food and drinks for everyone. Bagels, donuts, pastries, coffee, orange juice, hot apple cider and hot cocoa are fan favorites. You can get creative here and make it a pot-luck event. Providing your attendees with a nice spread tends to keep them around longer because — let’s face it — who doesn’t love free food?

• Create a sense of urgency by giving every student a Holiday Event envelope containing a special coupon that’s redeemable only at the event when an instructor opens it. Hand out these envelopes to your students at the end of class in the weeks leading up to the event. Your students and families will be itching to see what they get in their envelope. (If you’re a member, you can find this tool maiaedge.com.)

• Make sure your school is festive. When students walk in, they should feel like they’re entering a world that’s different from the one they’re used to seeing. Lights, garlands and tinsel are a great start, but even tables with equipment can be decorated in a festive manner. Play holiday music throughout the day. You want people to feel good about being there.

• To ensure that more people are engaged, hold a table-decorating contest. Have students form teams of two and assign them to a themed table for the event — for example, a table for sparring gear, a table for uniforms, a table for weapons, a table for upgrade programs and so on. You can provide them with materials for decorating, or they can bring their own. Order pizza for everyone to show your appreciation. The day of the event, your attendees can vote on which table is the best looking. The team that gains the most votes wins a $50 prize. That can be a gift card to the store of their choice or $25 cash for each person on the winning team.

• An out-of-the-box idea that one of our schools used entailed making its event an ugly-sweater party, as well. The instructors dressed up in their ugliest holiday sweaters and invited their students and families to join them. It’s an easy way for people to feel like they’re part of the team, to partake in the holiday fun and, most important, to have a reason to attend.

goal of hosting a financially successful event. You will need to have available times every 15 minutes throughout the duration of the festivities.

Let students know that this will be the best savings opportunity of the year and that you would love to set a time to let them know how much they can save on their program. Don’t tell them the exact deal. Let each appointment know that you will decide the night before the event how much savings you’ll offer for the holidays. Plan for each appointment to last 10 to 15 minutes. This should not be a high-pressure sale at all. You’re simply giving them an opportunity. If they decide not to take advantage of it, that’s OK. This is why it’s imperative to schedule a minimum of 16 appointments. That amounts to one appointment every 15 minutes for the duration of the four hours. If you have multiple people on hand, you can potentially double or even triple that number of appointments.

The schools that have the most appointments end up with the greatest results.

Let students know that this will be the best savings opportunity of the year and that you would love to set a time to let them know how much they can save on their program.

Appointments You Set Will Equal Revenue You Get Now that you’ve fostered the excitement needed to make people eager to come to your Holiday Event, it’s time to set revenue-generating appointments. These meetings represent your opportunity to have students save big on their tuition.

Each appointment is important in your efforts to reach your

Win/Win Solution: They Save and You Earn

The reason Holiday Events have proved so successful for CMA schools is everyone wins at the end of the day. The students, the families and the school all come out on top.

Because the biggest monetary investment students can make in a studio is their tuition, they appreciate the opportunity to save significantly. At our Holiday Event, we offer an additional 5 percent off their prepaid tuition plus a credit for them to use on non-tuitionrelated items.

This works particularly well when upgrading students into higher-level programs such as a Black Belt Club or a Masters Club. At most of the CMA-licensed facilities, those programs are three years long.

They can provide a large boost in cash flow at your event. Just think what you could do if you were to get 10 families to take advantage of the deal. For demonstration’s sake, let’s say each family paid $2,500. That would equate to $25,000 just in paidin-full tuition, and that doesn’t include anything else you bring in at the event. Also, keep in mind that the average paid-in-full price is likely to be much more than that.

This same approach can be taken for members you want to renew in their current program. The only stipulation is that they will need to pay for 18, 24 or 36 months up front to take advantage of the savings. When thinking renewals, it doesn’t need to be only members who are expiring in December, January or February. Anyone who wants to accept the offer can do so regardless of their expiration date.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 47

If you don’t have an upgrade program, you still can use this system. Give your customers the opportunity to save money on their program, as well. To do this, present the option to pay in full for 18, 24 or 36 months. By doing this, you will save them money and lock in their current program without any tuition increases. So whether you have only one training program or multiple programs, you can use this strategy to generate revenue.

Packaging Your Other Profit Centers A large portion of your Holiday Event revenue will come from new students, upgrades and renewals, but you don’t want to rely solely on them for your success. Recognize that other profit centers such as retail and special events are just as important.

Even though I’ve hammered home the idea that a Holiday Event is more than just a retail blowout, you still need to maximize your retail sales. Aside from providing a set discount on merchandise, the best way to generate higher retail sales is by giving a greater markdown if customers purchase a package. This can take the form of sparringgear packages, program-based training packages, weapons-training packages, hometraining kits and so on. Your students and their families will be looking for things to put under the tree for themselves or loved ones.

Have these items on display so they can see and touch them.

You also want to package those things that fall into the special-event category of the five

A large portion of your Holiday Event revenue will come from new students, upgrades and renewals, but you don’t want to rely solely on them for your success.

Recognize that other profit centers such as retail and special events are just as important.

48 MASUCCESS

profit centers. Testing fees, camps, parent’s night outs, private lessons and birthday parties all belong in this category. Give a 10-percent discount if they prepay testing fees through black belt. Sell a special-event punch card that allows students to get 12 parent’s-night-out evenings or seminars for the price of nine.

If you already sell private-lesson packages, sell them for a slight discount the day of your Holiday Event. The goal is to not only show and sell the benefit of these packages but also the value of buying the package.

Michael A. Perri Jr. is the COO of Championship Martial Arts Ltd. and MAIA Edge. A martial artist since 1987, he has a fifthdegree black belt in the CMA system, as well as a black belt in American kenpo and chito-ryu. To contact him, send an email to mperri@championshipmartialarts.com.

W

e’ve all had to pivot hard because of COVID-19, and we’ve learned some new skills along the way. One of those skills is the ability to host online meetings via Zoom, Microsoft Teams and GoToMeeting, to name a few. These platforms were not part of the daily operations at most martial arts schools before March 2020, but they have given us the ability to keep business flowing even when people can’t meet face to face.

If the pandemic is preventing you from having people come to your school, remember what I said in the main article: It’s all about the appointments you set. Even though you may not have the pomp of an in-person Holiday Event, you can absolutely thrive by going digital. Here are some tips to reach your full potential when things have to be done online.

• Post announcements on your social media pages. Having a 12-day countdown creates excitement.

Overcommunicate

• Meet with your team about each student and decide what equipment would be beneficial for the person.

• Explain why this equipment will benefit the student and how it will help his or her training.

• Create a file that shows the equipment, the regular price and the sale price of each item.

• Share that file onscreen when talking about the equipment.

• Let everyone know about the changes that are happening this year with your Holiday Event.

• Send out postcards with all the important information.

• Send a series of three emails to all families. The first one should announce the date. The second should highlight some of the savings. The third should be a last-chance email letting them know that there are limited spots available for appointments.

Set Your Appointments Online • On the day of your Holiday Event, set up appointments as you normally would.

• Creatae a separate virtual meeting for each appointment.

• Because you’re going virtual, schedule them 20 minutes apart to accommodate attendees who may need to figure out the sign-in process.

• Conduct the meeting in the same manner you would if it was in person.

• Have documents to share onscreen to show the savings they can enjoy.

Be an Assistant Buyer

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 49

These MAIA Members Faced Off Against the Coronavirus and Came Out on Top!

BY PERRY WILLIAM KELLY

The has hit the world’s economy like a side kick that pandemic

knocks the wind out of a white belt in his first tournament. It would have been simple enough if our industry had could have followed the example of other small businesses that shifted gears to stay afloat — for example, distilleries that started making hand sanitizer and clothing companies that began fabricating facemasks. This option, however, was not available to us. Our end product — martial arts instruction — simply cannot morph into something else.

To help school owners cope with the fallout of the pandemic and the shutdowns, MASuccess organized a virtual roundtable with professionals from across the country who agreed to speak about how they weathered the crisis. All are small-business owners like you, and they were able to not only navigate the COVID chaos but also beat the odds that the pandemic had stacked against them.

Our Experts: the COVID Kickers • Denisse Ramos is a fourth-degree black belt, as well as the coowner of and an instructor at Ramos Taekwondo in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. She started training at age 6 in her native Mexico.

Upon moving to Tahlequah, she enrolled at Vann’s Taekwondo, where she later volunteered for 10 years. After the school’s master retired, Paula Thompson, a third dan and now the co-owner/ program coordinator at Ramos TKD, proposed opening their own facility. Which they did.

• Bret and Katie Hamlin have owned and operated Sturgis Academy of Martial Arts in Sturgis, Michigan, since 2015. They are black belts in chung do kwan taekwondo and chun moo kwan hapkido, as well as instructors in kali under Black Belt Hall of Famer Apolo Ladra.

• Caleb and Heidi Collier are the owners of Championship Martial Arts Kaysville in Kaysville, Utah. Caleb holds a third dan

in taekwondo and shotokan. He launched his karate school in his parent’s basement and, after starting college, moved to a commercial location, where he built it into, in his words, “a real business.” He and Heidi recently celebrated their 15th year of dojo operation.

• Nathan Halama moved to Wausau, Wisconsin, in 2005 and opened Halama’s Martial Arts. Nathan started taekwondo at age 8. He used the training he received to steer clear of the alcohol abuse that was rampant in his family and his town. He has a sixth-degree black belt in the jidokwan style of the Korean art.

Topic: Communication Strategies

Question: How do you keep in touch with your students and their families to ensure that you don’t lose anyone?

Halama said Facebook is among his primary communication strategies. He also calls and texts his students to stay up to date on their health status and make sure they know about upcoming Zoom classes. “It is important to have a connection and give them a level of reassurance that we’re taking actions to stay safe,” he said.

For the Colliers, the job of keeping in touch with students is at the forefront of their daily duties: “We call, email, text [and] send personal videos to the students, [as well as use] Facebook messages and posts. And we drop off belts and uniforms at their doors.”

When they decided to transition to virtual classes, the Colliers phoned every student before the move. “We also helped them navigate the Zoom classes,” they said. “We had a weekly Facebook live video, which we texted out to each parent.”

The Hamlins used the methods listed above, and they found a student app that facilitated face-to-face communication.

“Two-way discussion helped us make sure we stayed very connected to the students and parents and helped them see how we would continue to offer the same level of benefits and experience regardless of the medium used to provide the training,” Bret said.

Ramos stayed connected in a myriad of imaginative ways: “Every Tuesday, we had lunch with our students via Zoom with a different theme. [We] also had a painting competition. We had a virtual belt promotion, and students were able to pick up their belts drive-through style. When a new student enrolled, we personally delivered their uniform to their front door.”

Topic: Online Training

Question: What lessons did you learn as you transitioned to distance learning?

“We used Zoom as our platform for our regular classes and have offered supplemental material in our app using Spark software,” Katie Hamlin said. “We did have a few parents express concern about the ‘Zoom bombing’ incidents they had heard about, but we had already taken the necessary precautions to prevent those so our parents felt confident about the platform.

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we’ve been doing things. We are MAIA Elite members, and the systems we’ve learned from them have changed our lives both pre-COVID and presently.”

But, as Katie Hamlin explained, they also pivoted toward the new: “In May, we joined the Skillz and Hyper teams, and that was a huge step for us. The resources available through the programs were so helpful and lifted a huge weight off class planning and, quite honestly, helped relieve a lot of stress for us.

Skillz and Hyper helped us plan upbeat, fun and exciting classes that had our students making awesome progress, and our programs are better for it.”

The Colliers said they focused on making things easier for students: “We set up easier ways to buy equipment and sign up for trials, programs and private lessons digitally. After our March belt testing, completed in the school but with no ceremony because we shut down immediately after testing, we held a drive-through belt ceremony. We delivered Black Belt Club nominations to kids’ doors with balloons and giant congratulation signs! We went above and beyond to make sure our students knew we were thinking about them.”

Topic: Marketing and Sales “We were concerned about online learning causing a decline in the quality of our students’ technique, but we were impressed with them once they returned to in-person classes. We practice a lot of striking and joint locks, and these students had gone months without making contact with a person, target or heavy bag, [but] they still showed power, application and accuracy.”

That’s not to say that computer learning is easy for everyone.

“We did have a few very young students struggle with online learning,” Bret Hamlin said. “Several adult students struggled with it, as well, just for different reasons. One of the big reasons adults train in martial arts is for a healthy social activity, and Zoom classes simply do not provide the same level of social interaction as a regular live class [does]. But we are extremely grateful to have access to technology like Zoom; it kept us going during a really challenging time, and we learned a lot.”

Question: Have you used any marketing tools or sales opportunities specifically to address the pandemic?

Ramos said she participated in such programs: “We offered at-home-training kits, which included a set of gloves, square targets and a clapper pad. This helped collect revenue for the school, while also helping parents train with their kids. Some of our students already had at-home-training equipment, but those who didn’t, we took care of them. We made calls to those students who had stopped training because of spring sports, [and] we offered them virtual training. Some came back since they had no other sports to do.

“We also gave parents incentives such as a 10-percent discount on programs once reopening took place, free parent’snight-out vouchers [and] retail discounts that can be used any time.”

Topic: Business Shifts and Pivots

Question: How did you navigate the uncertainty, and were there any particular strategies that helped?

“One of the biggest shifts we did was in our mentality: How were we going to make it work?” Ramos said. “If it works in person, it has to work virtually. We did Black Belt Club nominations virtually the same way we do them at our school — except through the computer. We sold retail virtually. We did enrollment appointments virtually. Everything was done this way.”

For the Hamlins, adapting started with a return to the triedand-true. “We were understandably worried because we are experiencing the most significant health and financial crises in a century,” Bret said. “We realized we needed to go back to working our systems, and this was not the time to change how NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 53

“We decided that the crisis brought us a unique opportunity because all our competitors — soccer, football, baseball, etc. — were not being practiced or played.”

The Colliers mentioned a partnership program their school ran: “We talked to each of our Partner in Education schools and worked to offer an eight-week martial arts summer intro course.

Many of the schools agreed, and we got 103 summer trials for a combination of virtual and in-person classes.”

Topic: Safety Precautions

Question: What preventive measures did you use to keep students safe? (Many noted the same measures, so we’re listing just a few of their ideas.)

“We did and still do temperatures checks and hand sanitizing,” Ramos said. “We adjusted our schedule to 30-minute classes with a block of time in between each class to clean and disinfect.

Each class held 10 students to keep numbers down. Parents were very understanding about staying in their cars. If we had siblings, cousins or a group of friends, we adjusted their class time so they could do it [together]. This made it possible for us to fit all our student base back into onsite training.”

Bret Hamlin said, “We have installed air purifiers that will run nonstop throughout classes. Additionally, we will run an ozone machine at night and have installed a UV light in our HVAC system for sanitizing the circulating air.”

Halama said his team installed a new sidewalk to adjust traffic flow into and out of the school. “We also renovated the gym to eliminate changing rooms and create a whole new training room to split up [students] into smaller groups,” he said. “Students now come dressed in their uniform or they use the single-occupancy changing room.”

The Colliers have their students line up outside on markers spaced 6 feet apart. “They are admitted one at a time after being temperature-checked and symptom-checked,” they said.

“They wear masks in line when entering and exiting the building.

Then they sanitize their hands and walk to their training square 54 MASUCCESS

where they train for the rest of their class. Masks are optional while in the squares.”

Topic: Locations and Demographics

Question: Was your success during the pandemic tied to the location of your school or the demographics of your student body?

The Hamlins said their small town’s population benefited their business. “When many of the local sports and activities [were] still being canceled because they [were] generally following the rest of the state, people [were] searching for some kind of activity, and many [were] finding us and our martial arts programs,” they said.

The Colliers answered similarly: “We decided that the crisis brought us a unique opportunity because all our competitors — soccer, football, baseball, etc. — were not being practiced or played. We had thousands of parents in our county going insane with kids trapped at home with nothing to do and nowhere to go.”

The fact that Ramos is located in a town of 16,000 meant that for her, attitude and business savvy were more important than location. “I personally don’t believe demographics had anything to do with the success or the failure of any school,” she noted. “I believe the mentality of the instructors and staff has 100 percent to do with the success. I know schools in California and New York that were closed for five months and still managed to succeed.

“But also being part of MAIA set us up for success. One of the first things I remember hearing from Mr. [Mike] Metzger and Mr. [Shane] Tassoul was having money set aside for rainy days.

Running a business as a business [rather] than a hobby really made it possible for us to survive. Mindset is everything. Set your goals and reach them. If you can’t, don’t change the goal.

Change the approach.”

Topic: Reliance on Martial Arts Principles

Question: Were there any principles that you relied on to keep your business from being defeated?

Like the others, Ramos said that grit and determination were key. “We wouldn’t be great instructors if we give up when things get difficult,” she said.

The Hamlins added: “Excuses don’t get things done; hard work does. Keep putting in the work, day in and day out. Don’t back off, especially if it’s difficult.”

It was the Colliers who offered the reply that’s most likely to resonate with their fellow martial artists: “When someone is beating the tar out of you, you don’t hide in the corner and let him kick the stuffing out of you. It isn’t time to back down; it’s time to step it up. Hit harder and faster.”

From the Colliers: “Be ready and be proactive. Have a plan for marketing with and without COVID. Hope for the best but plan for the worst. Plan how you’ll find and how you’ll teach new students, even if you’re locked at home. This will not last forever.

Support your staff in every way possible — they will support you and work harder.”

From Ramos: “One main thing everyone should do is have a coach. I don’t mean a karate coach; [I mean] a business coach, someone who will tell you what you are doing wrong without babying you. Always have a plan B and a plan C. Be ready to pivot at any time to make your business successful. If we get a second wave of the virus, we already have plans on how to make [our virtual program] even better. We have been working in the background [to be] ready for anything that hits us.”

Topic: Advice and Encouragement

Conclusion

Question: Are there any parting thoughts you would like to pass on to readers to help them succeed during these tough times?

From the Hamlins: “Don’t give up. Persevere and stay disciplined. Whatever you have been doing, all the work you’ve been putting in — keep at it. It will pay off, and things will get better.

More specifically, have your plans and systems in place and stick to them. Don’t be afraid to adapt as needed, but stay disciplined and true to your systems and procedures to both earn and keep the trust of your students and to be successful in business.”

From Halama: “Always keep pushing forward even when it doesn’t seem like [there will be] an immediate return. During the two months of shutdown, things seemed pretty bleak. But all the little things we did helped get us ready for reopening.

You need to get your ducks in a row when it’s slow so you can use them when the opportunity strikes. Reach out and get help.

Keep strengthening your processes and systems, and keep working to make them better so you can make big changes in short amounts of time.”

In some ways, the COVID-19 pandemic can be compared to the scene in The Karate Kid in which Daniel-san is practicing his blocking while standing in the boat and Mr. Miyagi is rowing.

Unfortunately, most of us are doing a similar balancing act with our businesses while storm clouds swirl overhead. None of us knows when those clouds will disperse.

As we huddle to await the passing of the storm, we must stick together, supporting each other with actions and knowledge if we want our industry, our communities and our country to win.

As Bruce Lee said, “Under the sky, under the heavens, there is but one family.”

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.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 55

TURNING POINT

Kelly Cox: Following Keith Yate’s Example

“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.”

A

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

Kelly Cox: I grew up on a farm in East Texas. Dad was a farmer. We toiled in the dirt. I grew up picking vegetables, riding horses and herding cattle.

MAS: How did you first hear about karate?

Cox: I was 9 years old, and I heard about it on Steve McQueen’s Wanted: Dead or Alive TV show. [In the March 19, 1960, episode,] the toughest guy on television got beat up, and when they asked what happened, he said, “I ran into some karate.” My first thought was, What is karate?

MAS: What was your turning point?

Cox: Grandmaster Keith Yates has always inspired me to live up to the standards Ken and Christine Carson — Rendokan’s founders — stood for.

As a soldier during World War II, Ken Carson studied karate in Okinawa and the Philippines. After the war, he continued to practice and opened Rendokan as a backyard dojo in 1946. The Carsons were not teachers, only first dan. They possessed a library of 19th-century scrolls and told students, “Here are the masters. They are teaching you and us, too.” Their feeling was a master or grandmaster isn’t one if he makes his students call him that.

Carson taught until he was 92 and died six months after he stopped. He had been a stunt man, a political-dignitary bodyguard and a U.S. marshal. He founded the first organization of black

56 MASUCCESS

belts in the world. As a teenager, “Judo” Gene LeBell studied with him and Mrs. Carson. She was so good at judo, people were brought in from Japan to see if they could throw her. They couldn’t.

After Mr. Carson died, Mrs. Carson felt forced to close the school. A group of students came to ask her to be promoted to sixth dan. [They said,] “You’re too old to teach, but the school must go on. Promote us, and we’ll do it without you.” Her answer was to bring in a truck and empty the school. Mrs. Carson would not sell Rendokan — but passed it along. I was seventh dan when she met me. We had conversations I did not know were a job interview.

One day, she came into the room with an Okinawan scroll and said, “It’s yours.” I found myself kneeling on the floor: “I am not worthy!”

“Your saying that proves you’re the one,” she told me.

She is now 93, and we still talk. She opens my head up with knowledge so vast, it’s incredible.

MAS: What does the future hold?

Cox: No one has a crystal ball. We can only hope.

You are the sum total of your experience. Always honor the people who came before [you]. Never think you are better than your teacher. You got here because of someone else. Don’t be so much about yourself. What we do in this world touches other people. What gifts we give and receive and pass along — that’s what is important.

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

Photos Courtesy of Kelly Cox

BY HERB BORKLAND

lthough he’s acknowledged by his peers to be a ninth-degree grandmaster, Kelly Cox prefers not to use the title. Even more rare among notable American martial artists is that online searches for either Cox or his Rendokan Dojo return nothing. This lifelong student of karate and sword fighting inherited one of the first martial arts schools in the United States and has formed his life around its tradition of severe humility and a ceaseless work ethic. He is currently writing a book that explores the boundless wisdom of original scrolls from the 1800s that he inherited from Christine and Ken Carson, who founded Rendokan in 1946.

Photos Courtesy of Kelly Cox

NEW PEARL GI

JIU JITSU

HEALTH KICK

Get Your Dojo on the Map

BY ERIC P. FLEISHMAN

“Even if you operate a traditional martial arts school, you are not limited to traditional advertising. Here are some easy steps to bring your school into the media spotlight.”

R

unning a martial arts school can be challenging. Before you can teach the most basic of techniques, you must lease a school, obtain proper signage, build a website and enroll your first students.

The fight doesn’t end there. Now you have to expand your enrollment, keep those signs maintained, promote your business online and see to the upkeep of the property. This constant “battle of the business” can leave you so weary that the joys of teaching in general and shaping young minds in particular are lost.

That’s why it’s imperative to create a plan to grow your school. One of the most important components of that plan is promoting your dojo in every way possible, including on local television, in local newspapers and on websites that feature local news.

Even if you operate a traditional martial arts school, you’re not limited to traditional advertising.

So how do you go about orchestrating this positive PR blitz? Here are some easy steps to bring your school into the media spotlight.

Research Look up data that reflect the reach and impact of local media outlets. You may find that some blogs, websites and radio shows have better penetration in your community than do TV stations, especially if you’re in a small town on the outskirts of a large city.

Be sure to select an option that has a friendly, happy tone. This ultimately will reflect on your business. You wouldn’t want to contact an investigative news show, nor would you want to invite an obnoxious, condescending radio personality to your school knowing that no matter what happens, he’ll make fun of you and your students.

Instead, choose options that have good reach and reflect the right attitude so it’s a win/win for both parties.

Analysis Once you’ve selected a few outlets, determine how challenging it will be to contact the TV host, radio personality or blogger. Often, the more popular a show is, the harder it is to get in touch.

58 MASUCCESS

Rather than cold-calling, reach out to your immediate circle of friends, clients and students to see if anyone has a connection with the talent you seek.

You’d be surprised at how often a mutual friend, neighbor or coworker can bring people together.

Here’s an example: Years ago, I needed some formal on-camera training for a TV gig. Someone advised me to watch television and look for somebody I wished to emulate. I chose Mark Steines, host of Entertainment Tonight. He was charming and athletic, and he had a personable delivery that connected with the audience. The next day at work, I asked my clients if they knew or had a link to Steines. Almost immediately, one shouted, “My sister is a PA on his show!” I had my connection.

The Pitch Prepare a concise statement that details exactly what you have in mind for the promotion of your business.

In Hollywood, we call this an “elevator pitch” because it can be delivered in roughly the amount of time it takes to go up a few floors on a lift.

The pitch should be simple, direct, doable and fun. It should be presented in an enthusiastic way that highlights the benefits for both parties involved. It should mention a specific timeline, ideally one to three weeks.

Practice your delivery until it flows like the best idea anyone’s ever heard. The better the pitch, the more likely you’ll be successful.

Document Once the talent commits to your pitch, start documenting the journey. These days, there’s no reason to hire a camera crew. Instead, rotate your smartphone to landscape mode and press record. Capturing the transformation of a student who journeys from normal to extraordinary — especially using my SLEEK NINJA workout — or watching a student correctly execute a martial arts move for the first time is exciting. The footage can be used for promotional purposes online, where it may be seen by hundreds of potential students.

Let the enthusiasm of the talent sing your praises on the platform he or she controls. Let your current students become part of the success story you promote online. And let your community reap the benefits of the training you offer.

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YOU MESSED UP! NOW WHAT?

No Single Solution

BY KATHY OLEVSKY

“I’ve operated a martial arts school full time for 45 years. I may have made every mistake that can be made in this business. The reason I’m still in business, I believe, is I asked for help. I learned quickly that others before me had already found solutions. In this column, I’ll point out key mistakes I made in my career, which are common errors among school owners, both large and small, throughout our industry. And I’ll share the solutions I used to overcome them.”

60 MASUCCESS

F

irst, the good news: Many of us are back to teaching in our schools.

Now, the bad news: Some of us are dealing with a resurgence of COVID-19 cases, and our states are taking action to address it. I know a few martial arts school owners who could not sustain their businesses. As a result, they had to close their doors.

Basically, we all are operating on the same premise: We will open our schools if we can, and if not, we will operate virtually until in-person training is possible again. It is interesting to see how many of us invested time to learn new skills so we could continue in our chosen field. That should not come as a surprise. As martial artists, we are constantly reinventing our methods to keep our students happy and enthusiastic about training. COVID was just one more obstacle that required us to adapt and move forward.

An interesting thing happened at our school in August: We began seeing new faces before old faces. In July, I made the decision to restart our marketing. Shortly afterward, we noticed new students were showing up daily. However, our old students, who I thought would trust us the most, were happy just continuing their virtual lessons. Of course, some of our old students did come back to our physical classes, but in the end, that number only reached 15 percent. The rest are content with virtual lessons — at least until they can feel safe engaging in an indoor activity again.

It was at that moment in August when I realized we might see a turnover in most of our clients.

It was like going back to where we were 10 years ago, starting from a small student body and trying to build.

Fortunately, I realized that we are good at this.

We did it before, and we can do it again. We immediately conducted surveys to find out what people wanted, then allocated resources to the areas that would bring us the best results. We started offering beginner classes five days a week for preschoolers, kids, teens and adults. Those classes were well-attended. We also discovered that we needed

to increase the number of virtual classes and virtual private lessons to maintain the interest and satisfaction of our colored-belt students.

We had students who needed classes in which everyone would be in a mask, as well as students who wanted to not wear a mask. To meet the needs of both groups, we created “mandatory mask” and “recommended mask” class options.

We are still providing all the necessary temperature checks, waivers and hand sanitizer. We are still teaching classes in which students have no partners most of the time. We have started offering classes in which individuals can pair up with family members or close friends. We tell them that we want each student to have only one training partner, and they must agree to stick with that person for the duration of the class.

There is no way to make everyone happy with one solution. Instead, we found that the only way to make everyone happy is to offer multiple solutions. We are now learning how to meet our students’ needs in as many ways as possible. After all, this is a waiting game. We all are just trying to stay in business until we can return to the martial arts programs that we have taught for years. Most likely, we all will keep portions of the things we learned. It will make our programs better in the long run.

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

School Showcase November/December 2020

School Owner

John Olshlager Nokado School of Self-Defense Location

Kings Park, New York Styles/Disciplines

Jiu-jitsu

62 MASUCCESS

Photos Courtesy of Nokado School of Self-Defense

School Name

Photos Courtesy of Nokado School of Self-Defense

Why did you begin studying martial arts?

Originally, to learn self-defense.

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

I named it nokado because it translates to “tranquility,” and when I left training, I always felt completely relaxed.

What is your school’s motto or student creed?

“We have come to share a message. We have come to learn patience. We have come to learn discipline. We have come to understand jiu-jitsu do. We have come for each other. If we lose this, we have lost our way.”

How long have you been teaching?

Forty-three years.

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

They are family. They help one another and push each other to perform better.

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

Changing lives, building confidence and seeing students grow.

What is your favorite inspirational quote?

“Training is endless.”

If you could give one bit of advice to fellow martial arts school owners, what would it be?

Don’t be easy on your students. Make them earn their belt and earn the respect that comes with it.

Who or what inspires you?

Great teachers who motivate you to be better. My teachers Robert Hansen, Soke DePasquale, Prof. Wally Jay, Prof. Willy Cahill and Grandmaster Tanemura have all inspired me.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 63

CONSULTANT'S CORNER

Making Money Without Selling Out

BY MIKE METZGER

MAIA CONSULTANT

“The quality of martial arts taught on the floor has no correlation to the amount of money a school does or doesn’t make.”

T

here is no shortage of opinions on martial arts schools that make money.

The owners of schools that make a lot of money have the opinion that they are running a very successful business. The owners of schools that don’t make a lot claim that the schools that do only run a business.

What does this mean exactly? It means there’s a stigma that says school owners who make big profits must have low technical quality and teach substandard skills. Or that they “nickel-and-dime” their students and care only about money.

I’d like to present some facts that will allow readers to form their own opinions about how a school that makes money should be classified.

Quality The quality of martial arts taught on the floor has no correlation to the amount of money a school does or doesn’t make. A lot of schools that struggle financially have produced world champions within their student body. But they also have produced poorquality martial arts students.

The same can be said about high-profit schools. Some teach phenomenal martial arts, and some don’t.

Nickel-and-Diming First, I should clarify what this refers to in a martial arts context. School owners who struggle financially are sometimes so nervous about the stigma of “nickel-anddiming” that they often give everything away for free.

The last thing they want is to enroll students on a contract or term basis and then add unexpected but necessary costs the students were never made aware of.

Some financially successful schools do nickel-anddime their customers. Other financially successful schools, whether or not they use term agreements or contracts, are very upfront about extra costs that may be involved when a prospect becomes a student.

There are no surprises.

In my opinion, if you’re upfront with people about costs before they enroll and if you provide some sort of value with each cost, it isn’t nickel-and-diming.

Selling Out This is a term I often hear from people in the industry

64 MASUCCESS

when talking about someone who makes big money in the school business. I assume it’s said when there’s a belief that people sacrifice the quality of their art to make a lot of money.

If this is the case, my question would be, “Can’t you make a lot of money without sacrificing your art?” The answer is 100-percent yes. Does everyone do that? The answer is no. But that doesn’t mean everybody who makes money sacrifices his or her art.

Helping the Community Often, school owners who don’t charge what they’re worth feel they will get more students or have a great reputation in the community because of their actions.

The truth is, when a school makes a healthy profit, it can give back more. It can invest in instructors and offer scholarships to people in need. Most important, it can give some of its black belt students an opportunity to make a career in the martial arts.

Good and Bad Everywhere The martial arts industry, like every industry, has good and bad people. Some martial artists are excellent at their craft. But they have no idea how to run a business and, unfortunately, struggle and often go out of business.

Conversely, some people are adept at business but not highly skilled at their art. Among them are people who sometimes give our industry a black eye.

Then there are others who are good at both business and their martial art. These are the black belts who make the biggest impact on their communities.

Your Decision As a martial arts professional, you must decide who you want to be. Know that it’s OK to make money doing what you love and providing 100 times more value than what you charge. But to achieve this, you do have to know how to run a business and how to maximize revenue. This is not only about getting more students but also about knowing how to charge, what to offer and how to schedule efficiently.

Like your martial art, learning the business takes time and practice. The key to success is to open your mind and learn all you can, then make informed decisions about how you want to run your school.

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MASTERFUL RETENTION

3 Levels of Teaching

BY CHRISTOPHER RAPPOLD

“Remarkable teachers see even more in the students than the students do in themselves, then they use this vision to set a new standard for the students.”

T

he retention of students in your martial arts school is of paramount importance. Retention saves you money by cutting down on monthly advertising costs. It increases your cash flow by creating happier students who stay longer. And it enables your staff to earn more money for the services they provide.

All around, everyone wins when the retention rate is high and the quit rate is low. But if this makes so much sense, why does it seem so hard for some teachers to retain students?

One answer to this that I would like to explore is the quality of teachers. As you know, if you replace a bad teacher with a good one, all of a sudden, a school that was limping along will start to grow. Conversely, if you replace a great teacher with one who is only good, the exact opposite happens. So what makes the difference between one instructor and another?

How can you quantify teaching quality?

To answer those questions, I will discuss the three levels of growth that teachers may or may not go through on their way to realizing their potential. I say “may or may not” because some teachers, even if they have the desire, may not have the intangibles that are needed to excel.

The Good Teacher Being a good teacher is the first level. I started here because it seemed to me that if people couldn’t reach this level at a minimum, they wouldn’t be teaching at all.

Good teachers deliver information. They know the subject matter, have the ability to break down techniques, know what to say, and can create the structure and appearance of an organized class.

This is the baseline qualification.

The Great Teacher Being a great teacher is one step above good.

Teachers who reach this status have all the qualities of a good teacher. The difference is that they look at teaching not just as the transfer of information but as the transfer of energy.

You can have two classes side by side, both learning the same information, but the feel of the

66 MASUCCESS

classes, depending on who is instructing, is totally different. A great teacher infuses energy into the lesson. Since energy comes in many different forms, this teacher matches his or her personality to the correct kind of energy to have the greatest effect.

Even introverted instructors can get students to feel energy. But it will be conveyed very differently from how it would be conveyed from an extroverted, excitable teacher.

Great teachers must remain authentic to the person they are at the core. They must play the personality hand they were dealt — or their career will be short-lived.

The Remarkable Teacher The final level — and one that is just magical to watch — is the remarkable teacher. These people possess all the qualities of the first two types. They know the techniques and can organize a class. They are congruent, matching the style of energy to their personality.

And they have an uncanny ability to combine all this with the skills needed to meet the students where they are and then grow their potential.

Remarkable teachers see even more in the students than the students do in themselves, then they use this vision to set a new standard for the students.

Upward Mobility These three levels, often unrecognizable to the untrained eye, can make all the difference in the world with your students and the success of your school.

Remember that good teachers deliver information, great teachers transfer energy and remarkable teachers meet a student’s potential where it is. Remarkable teachers then share information with the right amount of energy to grow the individual’s access to his or her full potential.

Which level are the teachers at your school? Think carefully about them, then rate each one. Help train all of them so they can rise to the next level. It will make a profound difference at your school.

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

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THE KICK YOU NEVER SAW COMING

5 Social Media Liabilities to Avoid

BY BETH A. BLOCK

“The first thing a typical family will do after hearing about your studio is check you out.

They will look at your social media pages, then search for reviews before deciding whether to enroll.”

H

ave you surrendered to the “dark side,” or are you committed to the “light”?

In other words, do you and your employees wield your social media saber for the light or the dark? Surrendering to the dark can get you sued, just like it did in the cases described below.

Case Study No. 1 Modern martial arts studios depend on social media to market their programs and to maintain relationships with students and families. And those students and families use social media for everything.

The first thing a typical family will do after hearing about your studio is check you out. They will look at your social media pages, then search for reviews before deciding whether to enroll.

Because your instructors are also likely to be on social media, they will be checked out, as well.

What you and they do online can reflect negatively on your school.

In one studio, a 19-year-old instructor sent a naked picture of himself to a 16-year-old student.

To prevent this from happening, the school owner should have prohibited the instructor from using his personal social media accounts to communicate with students. To prevent this from happening in the future, you should prohibit your instructors from doing the same.

Case Study No. 2 Posts on personal social media accounts have the potential to shatter students’ views of their instructors. To many students, martial arts instructors are heroes, and learning that they have character flaws can be devastating.

In one school, a 12-year-old student looked up a potential instructor on social media. The child found a photo of the instructor clutching a red cup apparently containing alcohol. His eyes were glazed over, and he was cozying up to two half-dressed women.

In part because of the influence of that instructor, it was argued that the student decided that drinking and sexual promiscuity were an appealing pathway to follow. By age 15, that student was in drug rehab.

68 MASUCCESS

Case Study No. 3 Social media can cause a school’s team members to be arrested. If an employee has photos of students on his or her personal device and those photos are deemed child pornography, incarceration can result.

In one case, a female instructor had images of young students on her cellphone. One of them showed a little girl doing the “I-have-to-pee” dance while holding herself. The parents saw it online and complained to the police. The instructor was arrested.

Case Study No. 4 Social media messaging is something to which you have to pay special attention. One studio turned over control of its marketing to an older nonstudent. That person didn’t know all the cultural views associated with popular internet memes. She picked out a GIF that looked good and posted it.

It turned out the GIF came from a movie that was highly controversial. As soon as the GIF was posted, the martial arts studio found itself in the middle of a political debate.

Case Study No. 5 Social media can give you a black eye that lives online forever. Parents’ perceptions can change quickly if unhappy instructors say negative things about you. Although the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act prevents you from controlling what your instructors say to each other, you can control what they say to the public. (To obtain a copy of the law, send an email to beth@blockins.net.)

There are simple solutions for preventing such a problem. A studio can maintain its social media pages so instructors don’t have access to them for posting or for direct communication with students.

If your studio must have ongoing communication with students and parents — which most will want — consider using an app. An app will allow your school to push messages to all families or just to a single family. It will allow instructors to establish a personal relationship with each student without requiring the instructors to use their personal accounts and thus without subjecting those accounts to public scrutiny.

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THE LEGAL LANDSCAPE

Requiring Students to Get the Coming COVID Vaccine

BY PHILIP E. GOSS JR., ESQ.

“In the 19 years I have penned this column, this is the first time I cannot tell you what you should do. I can tell you only that at some point, you will be forced to make a series of decisions. Now is the time to understand this.”

70 MASUCCESS

I

f you’re a regular reader of this column, you may be stricken with déjà vu: The theme of this essay is eerily similar to one printed almost five years ago. The difference is that the previous column stemmed from a widely publicized but far less deadly measles outbreak.

In that 2015 essay, I reviewed how measles, a disease most people thought was eradicated, surfaced again because of lax childhood vaccination schedules. At that time — in contrast to the current situation with COVID-19 — there was an effective vaccine available. The premise of the column was this: Under what circumstances do you have the right, or the obligation, to require your employees and students to be immunized?

Today, we face a similar situation, and the aforementioned question is one you will face within the next six months. Several vaccines for COVID are in development, so now is the time to start formulating a game plan.

The world is made up of competing interests.

Many people believe that once a vaccine is ready, all people should be immediately immunized.

Another group is composed of those who will resist doing things “just because they’re told to.” They will refrain from being vaccinated. A third group will ruminate on the options and make their choice later rather than sooner.

This will create problems for you as a school owner. Do you demand as a condition of employment that all your employees get vaccinated?

What happens if there’s an adverse reaction?

Although unlikely, there is always a chance that a vaccine, especially a new one, will have ill effects.

Will you be sued? Can an affected employee expect to receive benefits if workdays are missed or if he or she has to quit?

What about your students? Can you require them to be vaccinated in order to be welcome at your school? If a vaccine is recommended and you

choose not to mandate it at your school, can you be held accountable for failing to protect your students should an outbreak occur?

Based on advice provided to me 19 years ago by Diego Perez, a friend, a MAIA member and my children’s former instructor, I have always attempted to tell school owners what to do as opposed to explaining why I’m telling them what to do.

Perez’ premise was that school owners simply want the facts and a reasonable opinion as to what they should do, no matter the subject. I can honestly state that in the 19 years I have penned this column, this is the first time I cannot tell you what you should do. I can tell you only that at some point you will be forced to make a series of decisions.

Now is the time to understand this.

In the next several months, I suggest that you draw on trusted resources — attorneys, insurance agents, medical professionals and the MAIA team — to educate yourself about the decisions you will be required to make regarding the coming COVID vaccine.

I presume that additional facts will come to light that will help you make those decisions. For example, tort reforms may be passed to protect businesses from litigation instituted by third parties who develop COVID or from employees who are prevented from working unless they are willing to be vaccinated. We may get proof that the vaccine is entirely safe and effective — or we may get evidence to the contrary. And, of course, we will see what precedent is set by academic schools.

Wish as I might to help you more, this is an executive decision that only you can make. However, you now have the time to make the best decision for your situation. Do not waste the next several months.

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

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INSPIRATION OVATION

The Mountain of Clothes

BY KAREN EDEN

“I pushed myself for more than a decade to achieve the strongest and highest kicks my body would allow. Then my teachers taught me one of the most valuable lessons through their own actions: They were falling apart.”

74 MASUCCESS

T

his is a true story about too much of a good thing. When Hurricane Katrina hit with such devastation, the entire nation would have to come to New Orleans’ rescue. I was just coming out of a TV contract and teaching martial arts through The Salvation Army. I was asked if I could help TSA by acting as the division’s Public Information Officer. No problem, since I knew most of the media members on a first-name basis anyway.

When the now-homeless victims of the hurricane were bused into Denver, they literally had no possessions to bring with them. They needed everything — from basics such as shampoo and toothpaste to food and especially clothes. I made the executive decision, along with the Corps Officer of the thrift-store division, to put out a public plea for donated clothing items.

The city of Denver generously responded, like it so often does. Seventy-two hours later, I got a call from the officer: “Karen, you got to stop with the clothes.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Just swing by the back lawn on your way into work,” he responded. I really couldn’t imagine what the problem was. I mean, worst-case scenario, we could always take the donated items to our thrift stores.

Now, if you’ve ever visited Denver, you know that there are vast areas of grasslands, with foothills and mountains in the background. But as I was headed in the next morning, I realized I didn’t recall that we had a mountain this close to the plains.

Then everything turned into slow motion as I began to comprehend what I was seeing: It wasn’t a mountain of any natural substance; it was literally a mountain of clothes!

“Oh, my God! Now what do we do?” I said as I hopped out of my car and shut the door. The Corps Officer looked at me and said, “Well, now we got a problem. Not only do we have enough donated items to clothe Africa, we gotta pay to clean it up and send it there.”

Just then, three more cars drove up to dump more clothes onto the mountain.

My fellow instructors, this was a lifetime lesson for yours truly on how important it is to initiate and maintain balance. Coming from a hard-style martial art, I pushed myself for more than a decade to achieve the strongest and highest kicks my body would allow. Then my teachers taught me one of the most valuable lessons through their own actions: They were falling apart.

From back surgeries all the way down to ankle problems, they ran the gauntlet of physical issues. Evidently, the body can take only so much of the “hard.”

That’s when I began to add a little soft training at the end of my classes, including yoga and tai chi.

The girls were totally into it, and the boys hated it.

My very big son, who was a second-degree black belt, fought me tooth and nail at the end of every class when I made him do a yoga session. Interestingly enough, today he actively seeks out yoga classes to maintain balance and flexibility as a college football player.

Here’s the thing: I can see what’s coming down the pike for all of us hard-style practitioners, and I feel obligated not only to practice soft-style arts but also to teach my students the meaning of balance — literally. Because there really can be “too much of a good thing” in life.

As for the mountain of clothes, I booked the Corps Officer on a TV news segment, and he made an official plea to halt all clothing donations. The mountain of clothing was boxed up and eventually shipped to a country where it was needed more.

Lesson learned. We must always keep in mind the one word that will save us a lot of hardship in the end: balance.

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

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BACK TO SCHOOL! YOUR GUIDE TO MOVING FORWARD POST-COVID MASUCCESS

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School Owners Who Kicked COVID to the Curb Item Number: MAS16520 Description: MASUCCESS NOV/DEC 2020