Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 21 | Issue 3

MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry 

VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 3 

Grandmaster 

Jin Kwon 

How I Created Success from 

Scratch 6 Times 

The Rebirth of Kukkiwon 

New Leadership and a Bold, New Direction 

Announcing The Martial 

Arts Business Institute 

FREE Courses, Raising the 

Standards in Our Industry 

Master Karen Eden 

Powerful Philosophy 

Your Students Will Love 

An-shu Stephen Hayes 

The Power of 

Mental Curriculum

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CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

26 4 Great Reasons to 

Learn Online With 

Martial Arts Business Institute 

32 I Almost Gave Up Teaching 

3–6 Year Olds! 

34 The Rebirth of Kukkiwon 

42 How I Created Success from 

Scratch 6 Times 

101 FREE Tool of the Month 

DEPARTMENTS 

14 Industry Insights 

15 Birthdays 

18 Industry Innovations 

22 Social 411 

60 School Profile 

71 Classified Ads 

109 Advertiser Index 

YOUR INPUT 

13 Tell Us Your Story 

65 Feature Your School, 

Organization, Accomplishment, 

or Event 

COLUMNS 

6 Editorial 

First COVID, Now the Summer ‘Slowdown’ – Or Is It? 

Master Toby Milroy 

8 Martial Arts World News Faculty 

12 Business Buzz 

Statistics, Part 1 

Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur 

64 Teamwork 

Ways to Deal with Instructor Burnout 

Hanshi Dave Kovar 

66 Next Level Strategy 

Are You Caught Up in the Day to Day? Part 2 

Shihan Allie Alberigo 

68 Growth Hacks 

Analyze Your Web Marketing, Part 1 

Mr. Sean Lee 

70 Ninja Business Tactics 

Mental Curriculum 

An-Shu Stephen Hayes 

74 Pillars of Success 

What Was Wrong with My Lifestyle? (Part 2) 

Supreme Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

78 The Way of the Samurai 

Street Wise Knife Fighting, Part 3 

Shihan Dana Abbott 

80 Extraordinary Marketing 

Does Your School Have the X Factor? (Part 1) 

Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

82 After School Excellence 

Don’t Forget These Summer Camp Promotional 

Knockouts 

Chief Master Mike Bugg 

86 Tactical Self-Defense 

What Do the Masses Think of Our Classes? (Part 2) 

Grandmaster Tom Patire 

4 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 3

STAFF 

88 Complete Martial Arts Concepts 

Branding: From the Ring to the Screen, and All 

Things in Between, Part 3 

Professor Willie “the Bam” Johnson 

90 The Millionaire Smarts Coach 

Creating Prosperity Regardless of the Economy, Part 2 

Ms. Lee Milteer 

92 MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

Mining for Instructors: 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed 

94 Budo Philosophy 

Individuality vs. Adaptation, Part 1 

Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

96 Pro Shop Power 

Maximize Your Pro Shop Sales 

Mr. Sun Kang 

98 Mind Mastery 

Martial Arts Leadership During a Pandemic, Part 2 

Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

100 Master the Basics 

Developing Focus 

Master Tina Bane 

102 Instructional Excellence 

What’s Your CSQ? (Part 2) 

Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

104 Mastering Modern BJJ 

Blue Belts, Part 2 

Master Carlos Machado 

106 Martial Arts Philosophy 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 1 

Sensei Gary Lee 

108 Management Excellence 

“The Leader as a Coach” 

Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

110 The Warrior Way 

Managing Your Outlook for Personal Success 

Grandmaster Bill Clark 

112 Tools & Tactics 

Increase Enrollment with Communication Strategies 

Ms. Chris Lee 

VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 3 

PUBLISHER 


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Mr. Sean Lee 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Ms. Sandra Mirocha 

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR 

Mr. Jeff Reulbach 

ART DIRECTOR 

Mr. Frank Meyer 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

Mr. Amen Blue 

WEB DEVELOPER 

Ms. Erin Pham 

COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS 



Mr. Sean Lee 


Supreme Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 




Chief Master Mike Bugg 

Professor Willie Johnson 


Ms. Chris Lee 



Mr. Sun Kang 









The mission of Martial Arts World 

News Magazine is to be the definitive 

source for information, news, education, 

ethical business practices, 

product reviews and innovative 

developments in the world of martial 

arts business. 

Martial Arts World 

News does not accept 

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com. Paper manuscripts 

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the right to edit and 

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News Magazine, its 

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are not responsible in 

any way for any injury 

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we expressly disclaim 

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This magazine is a 

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MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 3 5

EDITORIAL 

First COVID, Now the Summer 

‘Slowdown’ – Or Is It? 

MASTER 

TOBY MILROY 

is a 5th degree 

black belt. Known 

as “The Master 

Systemizer,” 


has positively 

influenced more 

martial arts schools 

than anyone in our 

industry. He has 

built a successful 

multi-school 

organization, 

lead the national 

trade association 

for the martial 

arts industry, and 

coached some of 

the most successful 

martial arts school 

operators in the 

world. 

For FAR too many school owners in the martial arts 

profession, summer is a “slow” season. 

Many fear the frequent requests to put memberships 

on hold (or to cancel altogether) because the family is 

going on vacation for a couple weeks, or suffer with a 

decline in new enrollments because kids are out of school 

and aren’t on their regular schedules. 

In some cases, school operators feel that students will 

get involved in other activities over the summer months 

and lose interest in the martial arts as a result. Others 

believe that summer is simply “slow” for our industry, 

no matter what you do. It’s always been that way, and it 

always will. 

Add to ALL of this the fact that we’ve just been 

HAMMERED by a global pandemic, and many students, 

parents, adults, and families are not ready to get involved 

in activities yet. 

But all these limiting beliefs are completely wrong. 

What if the summer could be not just good for your school, 

but GREAT for your school? Furthermore, not just the summer 

in general, but THIS summer? 

Based on economic indicators, consumer behavior, 

and results I’m already seeing, this summer (specifically) 

could be the biggest opportunity for the martial arts industry 

since the “Karate Kid.” 

In states that have been more “open,” and in those that 

have opened sooner than others, we’re seeing fantastic 

results for many, many of our clients. Many clients are 

seeing new records for new student enrollment, student 

upgrades, renewals, referrals, and family add-ons. 

Now, these schools have had to execute well in order 

to capture this opportunity, and I’m proud of how our team 

has been able to contribute and help them, but the opportunity 

is there to be sure! 

The “market” is ready. The market NEEDS us now more 

than ever! The market has a ton of stimulus money floating 

around in it. The market is tired of being cooped up, 

locked down, stressed out, and people are ready to live 

their lives again. 

In addition, the summer months bring us tremendous 

opportunities that, this year, will be amplified to a degree 

that we’ve not seen in a few decades. 

In the summer months, the “kids and family” market is 

more accessible than during the school year (if you have 

difficulty penetrating the local public and private schools). 

They are participating in tons of activities, summer camps, 

sports camps, church activities, scouting activities, and 

MANY more. All of these represent huge opportunities 

for you to get in front of dozens, if not hundreds, of new 

prospective students, all in one fell swoop. 

For the adult market, they’ll be going to concerts, 

community events, the movies, and more; again, huge 

opportunities for you to get engaged in your community in 

a more rich and meaningful way, and capture the attention 

of large swaths of your market. 

This is the opportunity of the decade! Take action now! 

If you need help leveraging the summer months to your 

advantage, give my team a call at 1-800-275-1600. I have 

a comprehensive Summer Success Course I’d be happy 

to give you FREE access to. Just ask for it when you call. 

6 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 3 

Illustration by Twomeows_IS

Check out our new 

MARTIAL ARTS BUSINESS 

DISCUSSION GROUP 

No Egos – No Politics – No Trolls 

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

facebook.com/groups/MartialArtsWorldNews

OUR EXPERT FACULTY 

6 


is a 5th degree Black Belt, the CEO and 

Publisher of Martial Arts World News 

Magazine, and the Executive Vice 

President for AMS. In addition to building 

a successful multi-school organization, 

Master Milroy has positively influenced 

more martial arts schools than virtually 

anyone in our industry. 

12 


is a martial artist specializing in Karate, 

Kung Fu, Kenpo, Shoto-kan, and Gojurue, 

with 40 Super Kick Karate locations, 

and founder of AFKA. World champion 

Lawrence also runs the Black Belt Success 

Systems consulting firm, training 

martial arts instructors on proper business 

practices in schools all over the country. 

64 


is an 8th degree black belt and recognized 

as the “Trainer of Trainers.” Hanshi 

Kovar is an internationally acclaimed 

instructor with black belt degrees in ten 

different martial arts styles. His systems 

have been implemented in hundreds of 

schools around the US. 

66 


is a 7th degree black belt, the founder 

of the L.I. Ninjutsu Centers, one of the 

largest Ninjutsu schools on the planet, 

the author of 4 books, and an entrepreneur 

with one of the first online coaching 

companies (TakingItToTheNextLevel.com). 

68 

Mr. Sean Lee 

is the Executive Director of Sales and 

Marketing for hundreds of martial arts 

schools and specializes in online and social 

media marketing using his extensive 

professional experience in sports and 

martial arts marketing, contract negotiation, 

and investment. 

70 


has authored more than 20 books, 

worked as a bodyguard for the Dalai 

Lama, supervised over 30 school locations 

worldwide, and was named, "One of 

the 10 Most Influential Living Martial Artists 

in the World" by Black Belt Magazine. 

74 

Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

is the most successful martial arts business 

leader in the US, having written 

over 30 books on martial arts, business, 

leadership, and success. He has won 

numerous public service awards and is 

the founder of the leading martial arts 

marketing and management company in 

the US. 

78 


is a 7th degree black belt in Kenjutsu, 

starting his 14-year education in Tokyo. 

He has published five books and designed 

a US Patent. Abbott has also 

conducted seminars in over 30 countries 

and obtained his black belt at the Hombu 

dojo in Yokohama. He currently offers 

online classes on LearntheSword.com. 



80 


is a 9th degree black belt and is the 

founder and CEO of Mile High Karate 

schools, and founder of the Martial Arts 

Wealth Mastery Program. 

82 

Master Mike Bugg 

is an 8th degree black belt and the 

owner of a 1.5 million-per-year location, 

with one of the largest after school and 

summer camp programs in the country. 

90 


is an Intuitive Business Coach, awardwinning 

professional speaker, and TV 

personality who has counseled and 

trained over a million people throughout 

her career. Lee is Stephen Oliver’s 

Martial Arts Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire 

Smarts Coach and is also a best-selling 

author of educational resources. 

92 


has amassed acclaim as a world-class 

competitor, martial arts educator, and is 

most notably founder and designer of the 

internationally renowned style, Bushi Ban. 

With over 45 years of martial arts experience 

and over 300 martial arts awards, his 

schools include ten locations across Texas. 

86 


is known as “America’s Leading Personal 

Safety Expert” and has appeared on 

Good Morning America, The CBS Morning 

Show, The Colbert Report, Montel, 

plus in mainstream publications such as 

Family Circle, Redbook, Fortune Magazine, 

and The Wall Street Journal. 

88 

Professor Willie “The BAM” Johnson 

is a 7th degree black belt and seven-time 

sport karate and Kung-Fu world champion. 

He has appeared in four movies, 

16 plays, and 11 television shows. He is 

also the national spokesperson for the 

Stronger than Drugs Foundation and the 

Champions Against Drugs. 

94 


is the CEO and General Manager of the 

Budo International Publishing Company, 

a leading publisher in the martial arts 

with over 35 years in the industry. He 

is also author of several books: The 

Immaterial Dimension, The Way of the 

Warrior, and The Spirit. He currently lives 

in Valencia, Spain. 

96 

Mr. Sun Kang 

is the President of Vision Martial Arts 

Supply, who helps school owners all over 

the US maximize their retail sales and 

drive more revenue into their schools. 



98 


is President of Karate International of Durham, 

Inc., a member of the American Martial 

Arts Association Sport Karate League 

and Hall of Fame, and has been a member 

of the Duke University PE Staff for over 25 

years. He is the author of Zen Mind-Body 

Mindfulness Meditation and Zen Mind-Body 

Mindfulness Meditation for Martial Arts. 

100 


is a 6th degree master instructor and 

owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer 

camp programs. 

106 


the American Samurai, is a 9th Dan black 

belt, a USA Karate Federation gold medalist, 

winner of five Super Grand National 

Titles, a featured actor in the movie Sidekicks, 

and is the founder of the National 

Sport Karate Museum. 

108 


is an 8th degree black belt and is the 

President of a multimillion-dollar, multischool 

organization, has a 30-year track 

record of success, and is currently on the 

leading edge of martial arts curriculum 

and business innovation. 

102 


is a 9th degree black belt and is a martial 

arts educator with a master’s degree in 

education. He has been instrumental 

in developing two industry-changing 

programs, and has directed and been 

featured in hundreds of martial arts videos 

and webinars. 

104 


is a world master’s champion in Brazilian 

Jiu-jitsu. He currently runs BJJ schools 

across the US, Australia, Canada, and 

Mexico. Machado studied under Carlos 

Gracie, Jr. In Brazil, he was the leading 

champion for ten consecutive years in 

BJJ. He choreographed fight scenes for 

“Walker, Texas Ranger.” 

110 


is a 9th degree black belt and a former 

PKA Fighter of the year. He is widely considered 

one of the top experts in martial 

arts business with over 40 years of 

leadership and innovation, having been 

inducted into almost every Hall of Fame 

in the industry. He is one of the largest 

multi-school owners in the world. 

112 

Ms. Chris Lee 

is a martial arts business development 

consultant with a background in online 

and social media marketing. 


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BUSINESS BUZZ 

Statistics, Part 1 

GRANDMASTER 

LAWRENCE 

ARTHUR 

has been a martial 

artist, specializing 

in Karate, Kung Fu, 

Kenpo, Shotokan, 

and Goja Ryu, since 

1968. He owns 

40 Super Kick 

Karate locations 

and is founder 

of the American 

Freestyle Karate 

Association (AFKA). 

A world champion 

and hall of famer, 

Lawrence also 

runs the Black Belt 

Success Systems 

consulting firm, 

which trains martial 

arts instructors on 

proper business 

practices and is 

used by schools all 

over the country. 

There are certain key numbers you should keep 

track of. These numbers will help you maintain control 

and know if you are doing the right kind of work to 

make your school successful. Remember, “What gets 

counted gets done.” 

Parthenon Marketing: VIPs or new inquiries, 20 

per day 

Keep a running total of every contact you make that 

inquires about your school. These contacts should 

come from lots of different sources, such as personal 

contacts (VIP-ing), birthday parties, seminars, buddy 

days, day care centers, school 

talks, fundraisers, home 

schools, snipe signs, the 

internet, lead boxes, referral 

programs, civic organizations, 

nonprofit partnerships, special 

discounts, incoming phone 

calls, sports team award banquets, 

and at least 50 other 

types of lead-generating 

actions. Try to have at least 20 

different activities going on 

every month that will generate 

at least one new member 

each. Stay away from highdollar 

advertising such as TV, 

radio, newspaper, billboards, 

etc. They may satisfy your 

ego, but it’ll be difficult to get 

them to pay for themselves 

in real enrollments. Remember, 

we are in a “relationships” business, and nothing, 

NOTHING will take the place of actually meeting 

people and inviting them to train with you. 

Appointments: 10 per day 

Make sure your appointment book is packed with 

potential sales appointments. Try to have six to ten appointments 

to speak with nonmembers about enrolling 

in your beginner program. Set up appointments with 

members to speak with them about upgrading their 

program to a higher level of training, such as black 

belt or a higher degree of black belt, Master’s Club, 

Leadership Club, the instructor training program, or 

to purchase equipment that they need, register for a 

seminar, prepay for belts, etc. There are nine different 

sources of income for your school. Make sure you ask 

for money in each area, each and every day. Your goal 

should be to ask for a minimum of $5,000 and collect 

20%, or $1,000. 

Enrollments: 1 per day 

That’s all you need to change your life: just one 

new enrollment every day for 20 days per month. This 

will give you a 200-student school. If you want 400 

students, you’ll need to enroll two students per day. To 

enroll one new student, you will have to confirm at 

least four appointments verbally by telephone. About 

50% will actually show up for their first introductory 

lesson. Based on your average closing rate, you’ll 

probably need to present a minimum of two or three 

presentations per day to enroll one. It usually works 

out that 50% of appointments will confirm, 50% will 

show up, and 50% will enroll. You should count family 

enrollments as two enrollments and not the number of 

people that are in the family. Charge full price for the 

first two family members and give the rest of the family 

members a free membership, except for things like 

testing fees, seminars, equipment, etc. 


Photograph by Diegyms

BE RECOGNIZED in future editions of 

Martial Arts World News Magazine. 

Our goal at Martial Arts World News Magazine is to 

support our industry and help you grow your martial 

arts school. It’s incredibly useful for our readers to hear 

about YOUR specific experiences and results. 

You are part of a wonderful industry and community with 

Martial Arts World News Magazine, and now, you’ll be 

able to share and contribute to that community in a more 

rich and meaningful way than ever before! 

Share Stories About: 

• Achieving a New Rank 

• Opening a New Location 

• Winning an Award 

• Discovering a Successful Marketing Strategy 

• Building a Retention System that Works Well 

• Tournament Results 

• Anything else that our readers might find valuable! 

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Ureport 

Or send your story ideas to Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

Karate is Finally An 

Olympic Sport 

Karate is now joining Taekwondo, Judo, Wushu, and other martial arts in the list 

of sports that will be represented at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which begin on 

July 23, 2021. Eighty total athletes will be in attendance at the Games. Sixty will 

compete in the Kumite event and 20 in the Kata event, with an equal split of men 

and women competing. Spain ranks at the very top in Kata for both the men and 

women athletes. Sandra Sánchez and Damián Quintero are favored to win their respective 

competitions. Sánchez is the 2018 World Champion, five-time European champion, and just 

entered record books as the karateka with the most medals in the history of the international circuit. 

Kumite will see six different events: three weights on the men’s side and another three for the women’s. 

Top athletes in Kumite include Steve Dacosta and Vinicius Figueira from France, Rafael Aghayev and 

Irina Zaretska of Azerbaijan, Bahman Asgari Ghoncheh of Iran, Luigi Busa of Italy, Ugur Aktas of Turkey, 

Anzhelika Terliuga of Ukraine, Jovana Prekovic of Serbia, and Xiaoyan Yin of China. 

U.S. Open ISKA World Martial 

Arts Championships to Be Held in 

Orlando July 1, 2021 

New Summer Blockbusters Mean 

Exciting, New Promotions for 

Your School! 

The U.S. Open ISKA World Martial Arts Championships, held 

annually at Disney World in Orlando, FL, is still on for the 2021 

tournament. This year’s event is scheduled for July 1–3 at Disney’s 

Coronado Springs Resort. Registration is now open. The World 

Championships will be broadcast live within North America and U.S. 

Territories on the ESPN Networks, and to 57 countries in Europe, 

Asia, South and Latin America, Australia, and Africa by the Fight 

Sports Worldwide Satellite Broadcast Network. If you’d like to 

register for the competition or purchase spectator seats, please visit 

USOpen-Karate.com. 

Now that much of the U.S. is beginning to open back up after 

the devastation of the pandemic, it’s time for your school to hit the 

ground running with summertime promotions. Going to the movies 

with your students is a classic martial arts school promotion, as is 

setting up a booth in a theater lobby. Fortunately, this summer, a ton 

of action-filled adult and family films are slated for the big screen. 

Some of the movies that are perfect for a promo include “Shang-Chi 

and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Cruella,” “Black Widow,” “Hotel 

Transylvania 4,” “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins,” “Jungle Cruise,” and 

“PAW Patrol: The Movie.” The recent popularity of the new TV show, 

“Kung Fu,” also lends itself to easy promotions. Don’t let the summer 

season pass you and your school by – especially if you’re not holding 

a summer camp this year. Make 2021 the year of the comeback! 


Martial Arts 

Celebrity Birthdays 


June 

June 17 .........................Scott Adkins 

June 17 .......................... Sho-Kosugi 

June 20 ......................Benny Urquidez 

July 

July 3 ............................Bolo Yeung 

July 24 ......................... Dan Inosanto 

July 26 ........................Jason Statham 

July 27 ...........................Donnie Yen 

July 31 .........................Wesley Snipes 

*Deceased 



Don’t Miss Your Chance to Learn from the 

Greats: Karate College 2021 Coming June 24! 

In 1988, legendary world 

champions Joe Lewis, Bill 

Wallace, and Jeff Smith 

teamed up with Radford 

University professor of Asian 

Martial Arts, Dr. Jerry Beasley, 

to create the first super 

camp of the ’80s, aptly 

named the “Karate College.” 

Campers came from all 

over the country to learn 

firsthand from the champs. In 1991, Beasley changed the curriculum 

to include a mix of martial arts systems and styles. Masters of many 

different styles each celebrated the achievements of other masters 

and styles, which was unique to the Karate College at the time. 

Students can take classes with: Bill Wallace (Superfoot System), 

Renzo Gracie (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), Michael DePasquale (Yoshitsune 

Jujutsu), Dr. Christian Harfouche (Tai Jutsu), Mike Lee Kanarek 

(HaganaH), Karen Eden Herdman (Tang Soo Do), GM Willie 

Johnson (Kung Fu), GM Danny Chapman (Karate), GM John Mayer 

(Arnis), GM Greg Ferry (Taekwondo), Mark Hatmaker (Old School 

Striking & Wrasslin), John Miller (Combat Sambo), Jon Phipps 

(Krav Maga), Brooks Miller (Muay Thai), James Houston (Kung Fu), 

Rich Manley (Kung Fu), GM Robb Buckland (Karate), GM Dean 

Pyles (Kickboxing), GM 

Bill D’Urso (Yoshitsune Jujutsu), 

Jason McNeil (Kung- 

Fu), and special guest 

John Graden (Empower 

Kickboxing). 

Professors at Karate College 

have included the celebrated 

Lewis, Wallace, and 

Smith, plus Jhoon Rhee, 

Fumio Demura, Renzo 

Gracie, Wally Jay, Michael DePasquale, Benny Urquidez, Kathy Long, 

Steve Anderson, Willie Johnson, Mike Lee Kanarek, Stephen Hayes, 

Ted Wong, and others. 

From 1995 to 1997, the Karate College had grown so large that 

the camp was divided into two sessions servicing over 700 campers 

per summer. 

The must-see 2021 presentation will mark the 35th Karate College, 

traditionally held the last weekend in June in Radford, VA. 

This year’s camp will feature a special Karate College Hall of 

Fame induction for Renzo Gracie, Dr. Christian Harfouche, Mike Lee 

Kanarek, Karen Eden Herdman, and the late Joe Lewis. 

For information or to register, please visit 

TheKarateCollege.com. 

This is your once in a lifetime opportunity to train with 

world champion martial artists and world class instructors! 


TOOL 

OF THE MONTH 

This ‘Social Isolation Recovery System’ 

Will BOOST Your School’s Growth 

Add MASSIVE value to your community, and help families overcome the 

impact of social isolation due to the Pandemic! 

To download this TOTALLY FREE (really!) 

Social Isolation Recovery Pack, please visit 

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/SocialIsolation

INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

Announcing: The MA Business Institute! 

For martial arts school owners that want to unlock the full potential 

of your school’s income, enrollment, or retention, or would like 

to brush up on your business know-how, The MA Business Institute 

may be exactly what you’re looking for. The online learning platform 

consists of lessons providing expert guidance and assessments on 

various aspects of martial arts school ownership, like “Growing Your 

Martial Arts School From 1 to 40 Locations” and “Improving the Standards 

of Martial Arts Schools,” from some of the industry’s leading 

experts: An-Shu Stephen Hayes, Grandmaster Bill Clark, and more! 

The courses are easy to learn, specially designed for new or beginning 

school owners, and can be completed at your own pace. 

The MA Business Institute adds new lessons on a regular basis, 

so check back and check often. 

Enroll now and start breaking new enrollment, income, and retention 

records for your school. 

FREE 

COURSES 

AVAILABLE! 


Visit MABusinessInstitute.com

Finally, Get Rid of Your 

BIGGEST Headache 

You didn’t open a martial 

arts school so you could 

waste your time being a 

bill collector…right? 

Put Our 30 Years of Tuition Management Experience to Work for You! 

Call one of our friendly Tuition 

Management experts to discuss 

your specific situation. 

(800) 275-1600 

OurAMS.com/headache


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Martial Arts World News Magazine’s brand-new app is ready to 

download from the Google Play Store and the App Store! Our app 

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other features exclusive only to members of the app. The app is totally 

free and includes the latest martial arts business news, webinars, and 

resources on the go. 

NEW Self-Defense Guide from 

MAWN Columnist: ‘The Mental 

Commandments of Personal Safety 

with Willie “the Bam” Johnson’ 

“The Mental Commandments of Personal Safety with Willie ‘The 

Bam’ Johnson: A Guide of Solutions to Violence in the Real World” 

is now available from Elite Publications! The book is a collection of 

guiding principles for living a safe, healthy life for anyone traveling 

the road towards destruction. 

This well-traveled 

road often leads to death, 

while Johnson is offering 

life. Johnson committed 

himself, while incarcerated, 

to share his experiences 

with others. He was able 

to flip the script and live his 

life on purpose. The book 

lists “commandments” for 

readers to apply to living 

life, and he guarantees that 

readers will live a prosperous, 

joyful, and peaceful 

life even during a global 

pandemic. 

The book is available for 

purchase on the Elite Publications, 

Barnes & Noble, 

and Amazon sites. 

‘They Call Me Master’ Offers 

Powerful Philosophy Your 

Students Will Love 

“They Call Me Master” is Master Karen Eden’s second heartfelt, 

inspirational book. This motivational work was created specifically 

for martial art masters and those in training. Master Eden shares 

real-life stories that many of us are facing today and the successes of 

each life lesson. Your teen and adult students will enjoy supplementing 

what they learn in your classes with lessons they can take home 

and read over and over again. You can purchase copies of “They 

Call Me Master” from CenturyMartialArts.com for just $4.99. 


The Latest Guide 

All Martial Arts School Owners 

NEED TO READ 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed’s 

newest book, “The Science & Secrets 

of Becoming a Master Martial Arts 

Instructor,” is the latest must-have 

industry guide for martial arts school 

owners and instructors. 

The world of martial arts is a very 

complicated one, where you can soar 

to the heights of the profession or 

quickly hit rock bottom, all depending 

on your mindset, discipline, and skills. 

“The Science & Secrets of Becoming 

a Master Martial Arts Instructor” is 

designed to teach you everything 

you’ll need to know to avoid the pitfalls 

and succeed as an instructor in the 

modern era. 

Featuring contributions from 

some of the best martial arts minds, 

including Grandmaster Ernie Reyes, 

Grandmaster Stephen Hayes, and 

Hanshi Dave Kovar, “The Science & 

Secrets of Becoming a Master Martial 

Arts Instructor” will no doubt help you 

take your career to the next level! 

To get your copy today for $29.95, 

simply go to Lulu.com and search by author.

SOCIAL 411 

New ‘Instagram Engagement Report’ 

Reveals the Latest Trends in User 

Engagement 

Internet marketing company Mention teamed 

up with Hubspot this year to identify key trends 

and shifts in Instagram user engagement, based 

on 100 million Instagram posts. Some helpful 

findings revealed that carousel posts have 

overtaken single image and video update posts 

as the most engaging, and the caption length 

with the most engagement is between 1,000 and 

2,000 characters. 

If you feel like your martial arts school’s Instagram account is 

seeing lower engagement than in the past, you’re not alone: the 

average engagement rate of any kind of post decreased by 0.84% 

in 2021, down to 1.42%. But there’s good news 

too: smaller Instagram accounts are growing and 

finding new ways to reach audiences, as the majority 

of accounts with fewer than 1,000 followers 

(53.6%), increased from last year’s 52.4%. 

If you’d like to grow your Instagram following 

and reach, make sure your profile is filled out 

thoroughly with relevant keywords, IG Stories 

highlights, and curated posts. Also be sure to respond 

to all comments, DMs, and follows. Finally, maintain a balance 

of different types of content and include a mix of image posts, video 

posts, Stories, IGTV, and reels. 

New Auto-Captioning Feature 

Makes Instagram Stories More 

Accessible 

Instagram Stories now 

have new caption stickers, 

providing auto-captions for 

videos. On their official Twitter 

account, Instagram stated, 

“Sound off…with sound off. 

Now you can add a captions 

sticker in Stories (coming 

soon to Reels) that automatically 

turns what you say into 

text.” 

Auto-captions are not 

100% accurate, but users can 

still edit the text, color, position, 

and font. Instagram also 

plans to make the no “soundoff 

feature” available in Reels 

in the near future. 

Be sure to use this feature 

often, as deaf and hard of 

hearing parents and potential 

students will be able to interact 

with you on Instagram 

before coming through your school’s doors because they know 

they’ll be in a friendly, accommodating environment. 

Facebook Warns Apple Users 

That Tracking Data Keeps It ‘Free 

of Charge,’ May Affect Small 

Businesses 

You may have already seen the warning message on Facebook 

and Instagram. The company has begun warning users on Apple 

devices that their data, shared to target ads on the platforms help 

keep them “free of charge,” according to Facebook’s blog. Apple 

users may see popups notifying them that new privacy requirements 

on Apple’s iOS 14 force apps to ask permission to collect data 

from users, including search histories, that are used to target ads on 

personal feeds. 

“We will show an educational screen before presenting Apple’s 

prompt to help people make an informed decision about how their 

information is used. It provides more details about how we use 

data for personalized ads, as well as the ways we limit the use of 

activity other apps and websites send us if people don’t turn on 

this device setting,” says Facebook. 

The company is fighting the Apple iOS 14 privacy requirement 

hard, which it said in December would “have a harmful impact on 

many small businesses” by cutting their ad revenue by as much as 

60% on Apple devices. 

“We disagree with Apple’s approach,” reads their statement. 

“Yet we have no choice but to show their prompt. If 

we don’t, we’ll face retaliation from Apple, which could only 

further harm the businesses we want to support. We can’t take 

that risk.” 


Illustration by bsd555 (bottom left)



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EDUCATION 

4 Great Reasons to 

Learn Online With 


Ever feel like you’re in need of some higher-level business strategy to put your martial 

arts school into a better position to succeed? Listen: there is no shame in admitting 

that you need help in something – from time to time, we all do. If you had the choice, 

would you prefer to continue with an inefficient business model or make some 

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Of course, any school owner looking to sharpen the proverbial 

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covers some of the top questions you might have, and gives 

4 great reasons to enroll in the Martial Arts Business Institute. 

Reason # 1 - Great Benefits 

What is the real purpose behind the Martial Arts Business 

Institute? The institute is designed to provide martial arts 

business courses to help school owners and instructors Grow 

Your Schools. 

In general, who are the instructors and are they actually 

qualified to give practical martial arts business tactics that 

actually work in the real world? As a student of the Martial Arts 

Business Institute you would learn and gain skills from some of 

the Most Highly Successful Business Leaders, who are experts 

at what they do with proven experience. 

Why would a school owner or instructor find value in the content 

of the courses in the institute? You will discover the industry’s 

best practices that have proven effectiveness and are currently 

being used by some of the most profitable schools in the world. 

How does someone who’s interested enroll? Enrolling in 

these online courses is quick and easy, and, since the Martial 

Arts Business Institute is open 24/7, you can get started at 2:00 

in the morning if you like. 

What is the cost for applying and tuition for courses? The 

great news is that currently, ALL the courses available in the 

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News readers for FREE! But you need to get registered now, 

because some courses will require tuition soon. 

Is the instruction a challenge to benefit from since everything 

is online? Actually, it is very easy to learn through the 

video course instruction, and you can also get immediate evaluation 

of what you’ve learned with basic quizzes over the content. 

When are the classes offered and is there a set progression 

of study? Since the Martial Arts Business Institute operates 

entirely online you can advance at your own pace to fit your busy 

schedule. You can learn whenever and where you want: laptop, 

tablet, phone, home, school, on vacation, etc. – anywhere there’s 

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How will the courses better prepare a school owner or an 

instructor for business rather than by enrolling in a traditional 

business program? Simply put, every student enrolled in 

the Institute gets access to knowledge and tactics specific to 

the martial arts industry so the content gets right to the meat of 

what you’re looking for without all the unnecessary fluff. 

Any other general benefits for attendees? You will always 

have access to numerous, FREE business-enhancing gifts. 


EDUCATION 

Reason # 2 - Great Instructors 

You’re probably asking who the faculty instructors are and what 

their credentials are that make taking the courses worthwhile. You 

can rest assured that the Martial Arts Business Institute has assembled 

the Best of the Best from the industry to ensure students 

get valuable lessons from experts who have actually put the instructional 

content to exceptional use. 

Grandmaster Bill Clark is a 9th degree black belt and a former 

PKA Fighter of the Year. He is widely considered one of the top experts 

in martial arts business with over 30 years of leadership and innovation, 

having been inducted into almost every Hall of Fame in the 

industry. He is one of the largest multi-school owners in the world. 

Grandmaster Y.K. Kim is a modern educator and a contemporary 

philosopher. He is the chairman and founder of Martial Arts World: the 

home of life champions. There is no one quite like Y.K. Kim. People call 

him crazy or A genius. He is proud that people call him these things 

because he works like crazy to transform our society one life at a time. 

An-Shu Stephen Hayes has authored 20 books, worked as a 

body guard for the Dalai Lama, supervised over 30 school locations 

worldwide, and was named “a legend; one of the 10 most influential 

living martial artists in the world” by “Black Belt Magazine.” 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed is a successful multi-school owner, 

the designer and developer of the Bushi Ban System, and the 

founder of Zulfi Ahmed Martial Arts Executive Network. 

Dr. Stephen Jackowicz took East Asian Studies at Harvard University. 

In Korea, he studied East Asian medicine and is the first foreign 

student to graduate from the Korea Modern School of Acupuncture. 

He has also had many articles published on subjects for East 

Asian medicine, history, and martial arts. Dr. Jackowicz possesses an 

MAc, LAc., and a PhD and currently is the Assistant Clinical Professor 

of Acupuncture, Program Chair, DTCM, Acupuncture Institute at the 

University of Bridgeport. 

Master Kirk Pelt is an 8th degree black belt and is the president 

of a multimillion-dollar, multi-school organization, has a 30-year track 

record of success, and is currently on the leading edge of martial 

arts curriculum and business innovation. 

Master Toby Milroy is a 5th degree black belt. Known as “The 

Master Systemizer,” Master Toby Milroy has positively influenced 

more martial arts schools than anyone in our industry. He has built a 

successful multi-school organization, led the national trade association 

for the martial arts industry, and coached some of the most 

successful martial arts school operators in the world. 

Master Tommy Lee is a successful multi-school owner, creator of 

“Step-By-Step Business Systems,” and writer and consultant for the 

martial arts industry for over three decades. 


EDUCATION 

Reason # 3 - Great Courses 

Finally, you may be wondering what specifically you’ll actually 

be learning from the courses that will be useful for your martial 

arts school. Everything the instructors have put into their 

curricula has already been tried and proven to get great results 

tested in the real world. 

If your school has been experiencing stagnancy and you’re 

looking for some strategies and need a boost, you will learn 

Secrets For School Growth in Any Economy. 

Maybe you have had some struggles in keeping your students 

engaged and their commitment level high; if so, then you’ll find 

courses related to Ways to Generate Long-term Student Retention. 

Schools that are searching for a philosophical identity to pass 

on to students will find learning about Traditional vs. Modern 

Martial Arts Philosophy helpful. 

Truly effective schools need productive working systems and 

few schools have them, but you can gain the life-changing knowledge 

of Automated School Business Systems That Turn a Profit. 

Teachers must be held to high standards. Even martial arts 

instructors can use new methods to Create and Elevate Impactful 

Instruction Standards that will inspire and motivate students. 

Becoming an expert in school promotion can be achieved 

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instructors. 

Super-healthy schools experience the kind of growth that 

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to Building and Running Branch Locations in order to have 

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Before you start running a martial arts school and struggle to 

reach your goals, there is a specific course designed to help with 

Steps to Realize Your Dream School. 

This is just a sample of what the Martial Arts Business 

Institute is offering, but there is much, much more for students 

develop and maintain highly profitable schools. 


EDUCATION 

Reason # 4 - Great Feedback From Alumni 

Your final question is probably something along the lines of: “What have others said about the instructors and the content of what they 

teach and its impact on them and their schools?” This is a natural question, because the proof is always in the pudding, so here are just a 

handful of student words of appreciation. 

“I learned to think outside of the 

box in my marketing.” 

–Instructor Robin Robertson 

“I got fired up...then increased my 

income by 400%.” 

–Master Gary Williams 

“My teaching has become more 

energetic, so my students are 

more excited also.” 

–Grandmaster J Y Moon 

“…It is beneficial to everyone 

because successful leaders make 

other successful leaders.” 

–Grandmaster Kwang Seek Hyun 

“...Provides an awesome energy 

that always reenergizes my staff 

and me.” 

–Master Terrence Evins 

So, now you have great reasons to take advantage of the opportunity to enroll in the Martial Arts Business Institute to elevate your business 

savvy and grow your school exponentially. If you have additional questions, feel free to call 1-800-275-1600 to speak with one of our 

friendly customer service representatives. In addition, you can visit mabusinessinstitute.com to get started and see for yourself right now! 

MaBusinessInstitute.com 


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CURRICULUM 

I Almost Gave Up Teaching 

3–6 Year Olds! 

I nearly gave up on teaching 3–6 year olds…until I accidentally discovered the secret 

to explosive growth in my kids martial arts programs. 

By Chief Instructor Stan Lee 

To my fellow school owners , 

My name is Stan Lee, cocreator 

of Harry & Friends, 

and I have a confession: I 

used to HATE teaching 

3–6 year olds! 

They squirm. They 

don’t pay attention. 

Mat chats? Forget it. 

You’re better off 

talking to hyper, little 

dogs! 

In fact, I was so fed up 

I almost gave up on them 

altogether. 

Especially because they just 

Chief Instructor Stan Lee 

didn’t stick around. I’d work so 

hard to get them to join my school...and shortly after, they’d quit. 

And then it happened: about 20 years ago, my wife created 

these great cartoons to show the kids–just for fun. Basically, she 

took my mat chats and turned them into fun stories, drawings, and 

cartoons. 

The result was...insane. I literally couldn’t believe it. The kids sat 

silently through the entire mat chat–and couldn’t get enough! I was 

shocked. I didn’t know 3–6 year olds were CAPABLE of sitting still 

for that long. 

Not only that, the next day, their parents could not stop RAVING 

about how happy they were. Their kids were quoting lines from the 

characters, and learning powerful lessons about values, morals, and 

more. 

I realized I was onto something. Something big. So we got to 

work. We put tremendous effort into the cartoons, the characters, 

the stories—and then: 

Referrals started pouring in like crazy. 

Retention grew higher than ever. 

My school finally became a success. 

In fact, to this day, I hardly ever advertise. Referrals give me all I 

need, and more. And because I retain kids from the time they’re 3–6 

to the time they’re in high school, it’s not like I constantly have to go 

hunting for more. 

See, here’s the secret: what we discovered, and what child psychology 

and neurology also says, is that 3–6 year olds simply CAN’T 

“sit and listen” to mat chats. Their brains just aren’t that far along yet. 

But mat chats are CRUCIAL for your success. 

Why? 

Because strong characters are what parents REALLY want, and 

that’s where you teach kids how to build them. So, what do you do? 

You don’t “TELL” them a lesson, you SHOW them. You paint them 

a clear, fun picture. You turn it into an exciting STORY. Suddenly, their 

eyes light up, and they get it. That’s the secret to it all. 

And that’s what Harry & Friends is all about. And that’s why it 

causes parents to fall in love with your classes and refer like crazy. 

It makes sense, right? I mean, imagine a kid goes home and actually 

CLEANS up on his own and tells his mom, “I’m cleaning because 

Harry taught me it’s good!” 

Or he does his homework without even being asked to because, 

“Harry says it’s important to make good grades.” 

Wouldn’t those parents love you for life? 

That’s what happened to my school, and dozens more around 

the world using Harry & Friends. 

Interested in trying it out firsthand? Then I’d like to make you a 

special offer. 

Now that we’ve got the “story” down, let’s talk about the nuts and 

bolts of Harry & Friends: 

It’s backed by the same psychology that makes kids stare at the 

TV for hours. 

It makes character development for 3–6 year olds not only possible, 

but also FUN. 

There are new lessons every single week that cover a unique 

theme. 

The homework keeps kids engaged, even when they’re not in 

your studio. 

If you’d like more information on the Harry & Friends program, 

visit BlackBeltPrinciples.com. There you’ll see real testimonials from 

other martial arts school owners like you, pricing, information about 

my PNO kits, and much more. You’ll also see my special offer just for 

visiting BlackBeltPrinciples.com. 

If you’d like a program that’s PROVEN to give your school higher 

retention rates and more referrals, as well as let you and your students 

have more FUN, Harry & Friends is for you. 


OUR GOAL is to Help Young Minds 

GROW STRONGER and EMPOWER 

them through Stories that will: 

• Inspire Their Imagination 

• Develop Their Moral Compass 

• Set Positive Examples Both Visually and Verbally 

• Prepare Them for Life’s Challenges 

Sarah B. Tucker, Author of 

The Adventures of Harry & Friends 

Book Series 

AdventuresOfHarryAndFriends.com

INTERNATIONAL 

The Rebirth of Kukkiwon 

What Kukkiwon’s new leadership and bold, new direction means for Taekwondo 

schools all over the world. 

MAWN: Kukkiwon now has a brand-new president: Grandmaster 

Dong Sup Lee. Tell us about the new vision for Kukkiwon. 

JL: I have a position with Kukkiwon as Spokesperson for International 

Affairs. I was appointed by the new president. The Kukkiwon 

was actually undergoing a lot of difficulty for the last couple of 

decades and were looking for new leadership, and Dong Sup Lee 

was a former politician – a senator for South Korea – and is a very 

active Taekwondo grandmaster. And he contributed so much to the 

Taekwondo community while he was serving as a member of the 

National Assembly in Korea. But he decided to serve the Taekwondo 

community and run for the leadership position at Kukkiwon. So, 

he was elected by the special election on the 28th of January. 

We have new momentum going at Kukkiwon; quite a few things 

are changing. We had a virtual conference with the international 

Taekwondo communities, and close to 200 leaders from 75 different 

countries attended. Grandmaster Dong Sup Lee was willing to sit 

with us and listen to us for more than two and a half hours, which 

never happened with the Kukkiwon leadership in the past. So again, 

we have a lot of dynamics and momentum going on at Kukkiwon. 

And it looks like we’re going to have a very promising future. 

MAWN: Dong Sup Lee is one of us; he’s a martial artist. He’s 

a grandmaster in martial arts and not just a politician, so he has 


INTERNATIONAL 

both skill sets. He has a ‘100-day plan’ to ‘restructure and revive’ 

Kukkiwon. Could you give us a sense of what the big vision for 

Kukkiwon is now and what that 100-day plan looks like? 

JL: No other president in Kukkiwon history was able to just jump 

into this kind of reorganization in the past. So, it’s more of providing 

vision and creating dynamics within the Kukkiwon organization, areas 

like repositioning the leadership within the organization and appointing 

quality individuals to help run the Kukkiwon. He’s also changing 

the Kukkiwon infrastructure, such as improving the facility and renovating, 

and also gaining more funding opportunities from the South 

Korean government. 

And he’s also directly involved with the international 

Taekwondo communities. In the last two and a half 

months, he’s already accomplished quite a few things 

compared to what any other former president was able 

to accomplish. I’m confident the future we were given is 

very bright with this leadership. 

MAWN: How is Kukkiwon re-branding and engaging 

the international community? 

JL: Efforts including changing the equipment 

infrastructure and working on the image of Kukkiwon, 

remodeling, installing more than 200 different 

international flags at the Kukkiwon UN compound, 

and rebranding the image including the logo 

change. Kukkiwon is really determined to get into 

the international society. Therefore, he has a plan 

to oversee Kukkiwon branches from different 

continents and get into different nations. Right 

now, there are 202 countries getting and applying 

for a Kukkiwon dan certificate, with masters 

receiving certifications from Kukkiwon directly. 

And the number is almost equal to our UN 

nations. This organization is huge, but in the past, 

the Kukkiwon was not a truly global organization. 

So, our new president is looking to establish branch 

offices in every different country that he opened a communication 

line with the leaders. We formed a task force 

in Korea, mostly composed of university professors and 

dedicated Taekwondo grandmasters. 

MAWN: I’ve heard from many Taekwondo instructors and masters 

that the concept of having regional or country representatives 

with field offices is very popular. Something that Grandmaster Lee 

also focused on during the call was ‘reviving’ Taekwondo schools 

where COVID-19 has been a huge disruption. How do you think 

that is going to help shape the culture? 

JL: I think a lot of Taekwondo stylists, masters, and school owners 

have always felt disconnected, like they didn’t have a direct 

connection to Kukkiwon. The president, soon after he came into his 

office, and something that no person ever did, started the visiting the 

individual Taekwondo dojangs in Korea and sat with the students 

and instructors on the floor, listening to them, and seeing how CO- 

VID was affecting their management and also student retention 

and teaching. And he promised, in becoming the President of 

the Kukkiwon, he was going to pay attention to the revival of 

dojangs in terms of productivity, retaining, and also providing 

training programs. 

He got into the individual dojangs and listened to 

them, and traveled to many, many different places 

in Korea. Now he’s opened a communication line 

with the international Taekwondo community 

and had the opportunity to listen to them, see 

how COVID is affecting them. Also, he actually 

formed an artificial intelligence committee in 

Korea within the Kukkiwon to help it be more 

Grandmaster Jun Lee 

Spokesperson for International Affairs 

for Kukkiwon 

prosperous; not only for the program infrastructure, 

including enhancing the training 

curriculum, but also software management to 

really take that into the management at the 

Kukkiwon. So, he’s really focused on contributing 

to the dojo, not only in Korea, but on a 

global level. 

MAWN: How will WT and Kukkiwon operate? 

JL: Right now, the WT is the main Taekwondo 

organization, and is actually coordinated by the 

International Olympic Committee. WT is doing 

very well in terms of promoting Taekwondo as a 

sport, not only in the Olympics, but the competition 

aspect of Taekwondo has been improving 


INTERNATIONAL 

and growing rapidly in every country. But on the other hand, when 

you take a look at teaching, sports Taekwondo is for a small percentage 

of the population with the talent. And also, the age group is very 

specific with teens and those in their twenties actively competing. 

The majority of the Taekwondo population is people coming into our 

dojang for enriching their life skills, and the value-driven programs, 

and then also they’re looking for a more practical martial art, including 

more spiritual aspects such as meditation. 

Therefore, our new curriculum is filling the need to refocus the direction 

of Kukkiwon. Frankly speaking, traditional martial arts is basically 

overshadowed by sports Taekwondo. So many think Taekwondo 

is only for the Olympics and competitions. We who are in the field 

know that the majority of students are coming into our doors with 

diverse, different expectations, so we are trying to fill Taekwondo 

with a strong leadership that focuses on developing management, 

and is also coming out with stronger training programs; not only for 

the physical, but also the mental and spiritual aspects of Taekwondo 

training, so that we can really benefit diverse Taekwondo populations 

all over. 

The one thing that we have to emphasize is making sure we are 

not only practicing and teaching Taekwondo, but we are practicing 

and teaching the way and the combination of the mind and body, 

and also preserving the value Taekwondo has. 

Taekwondo in South Korea has been called a national activity, 

or national discipline, or even the national sport of South Korea. It’s 

been known that way for a long time, but it was not legalized and 

nothing was really officially proclaimed that there’s one national 

discipline. This is where Dong Sup Lee, who was a member of the 

Senate in Korea, proposed establishing the law making Taekwondo 

officially recognized as the national activity of South Korea by law. I 

mean, Taekwondo was admitted into the Olympics in 1984, but on 

March 30th of 2018, Taekwondo was recognized as the official national 

activity. To me, it is a huge accomplishment for those practicing 

Taekwondo. 

And that means that the Korean government will be able to locate 

extra funding for research and development. And they should. That 

alone is really big, and they’ll all be able to take advantage of the 

Korean government’s support with the rebranding, and programming, 

and developing. We can do many huge things for the future 

with Taekwondo. 

MAWN: Dong Sup Lee mentioned supporting individual 

schools all over the country and in the whole world. What does 

Kukkiwon plan to do to support schools? 

JL: Basically, we’re talking about two items here. Number one, 

we’re talking about reviving and focusing on the do aspect of our 

training. Number two, what Kukkiwon can do for the international 

communities. For Q1, Kukkiwon cannot give financial resources to 

the schools all over. Sure. But Kukkiwon is trying to create the opportunity 

for them to network, for them to communicate, for them to 

learn by providing virtual conferences and seminars, especially in 

this pandemic. And they’re forming a special task force, developing 

programs – not only training programs, but also total management 

programs with modern technologies in Korea. 

So, that’s our plan. Now, let me get to the “Do” part. It is 

unfortunate. They know it’s a “Do” aspect of training that is 

really fading away from schools all over, and we must retain it. 

When you look at evaluation forms for enrolling students into 

our school, most of them are circling the section with discipline, 

respect, self-control, leadership, even academic development 

in meditation, combining one’s mind and body. They are joining 

The Kukkiwon Demonstration Team will take an expanded 

role in promoting Taekwondo all over the world. 


INTERNATIONAL 

Under new leadership, Kukkiwon is reaching out to the international community 

our program mostly for those reasons, but once they’re coming 

into our school, they forget that because of the instructors and 

masters; either they do not have the program or they’re 

emphasizing something else. 

We talk to the parent and always emphasize if their 

child does something good, we recognize them and their 

temperament. If they’re angry and upset, we let them 

know how important it is to control their temper. And 

this is one of the reasons why they are learning. They 

came to our school, and in a way, we are in a business 

to make a difference for the students that we teach and 

touch every day. So many people come into our doors 

because they see those things lacking in our 

society. Society is getting uncivilized and 

those advantages are really fading away. 

We must keep those values; 

they’re crucial to our life, but 

they’re invisible. We must be 

able to maintain that “Do”. 

Then, I think we’re going to 

have another strong century. 

So, it’s very important for 

us to incorporate aspects 

of character training into our 

curriculum, and that we also 

practice and demonstrate that 

aspect on the floor every day. 

But again, organizations like AMS 

and Kukkiwon, we all have to be 

a part of this, just like raising one child. It 

takes a whole village. 

MAWN: That’s incredibly important; we 

need to be building these long-standing 

relationships now, and that doesn’t just come 

from being a boxing gym or workout studio; it comes from being a 

school. What do you think the future holds, and what do you think 

the new leadership brings to that? 

Grandmaster Dong Sup Lee 

President of Kukkiwon 

JL: Martial arts Taekwondo and sports Taekwondo 

will need to grow together. But, so far, sports Taekwondo 

has been successfully operating and the martial 

arts aspect was neglected without any intention. So we 

need to make a double effort to embrace our martial 

arts portion more to benefit the majority of our Taekwondo 

population. That’s also what we realized, and 

that’s what a lot of people were avoiding – basically 

repeating things from international Taekwondo 

communities, so Kukkiwon realized 

that. Now we are going to refocus on 

what’s essential to the Taekwondo 

martial arts populations; they are 

coming in for different reasons. 

I do believe that Taekwondo, 

with this new leadership at 

Kukkiwon, will be able to 

make a different impact. 

MAWN: Well, thank you 

again so much for your time 

today. It was an honor to be on 

the call with you and the President 

of Kukkiwon. Thank you so 

much for inviting me. I really left the 

engagement with a lot of hope and 

encouragement for where Kukkiwon is going 

and where they’re going to take Taekwondo 

into the future. 

JL: Thank you. 


INTERNATIONAL 

Shortly after our interview with Grandmaster Jun Lee, he published the following letter 

to Kukkiwon members: 

Dear Taekwondo leaders, 

I am writing this to share what he’s gotten done...today marks the 100th day since Kukkiwon President Grandmaster Dr. Lee Dong Sup was elected 

as the new leader of Kukkiwon. 

Lee Dong-sup’s first 100 days: What he’s gotten done 

President Grandmaster Lee Dong-sup has improved Taekwondo greatly since his January 28 swearing in; what he has done in the last three months 

is unmatched. As soon as he became the President of Kukkiwon, Grandmaster Dr. Dong Sup Lee demonstrated his eagerness to improve Kukkiwon in 

all of its aspects. President Grandmaster DongSup Lee worked diligently for Kukkiwon and will continue to do so in the future. His workload was beyond 

anyone’s imagination, yet he managed to accomplish many important tasks within his short period of time as the President of Kukkiwon. 

As soon as President Grandmaster DongSup Lee took his position, he willingly traveled around the country to find dojangs that suffered greatly due 

to the Covid-19 situation to listen to their hardships in preparation for creating a solution. For restructuring the Kukkiwon organization, President Lee 

Dong-sup formed task force teams to assist with dojang development, administrative reforms, and global expansion of taekwondo. To coordinate with 

the board of directors, especially those dealing with human resources, President Grandmaster DongSup Lee searched and identified many people he 

knew had the right mindset for this job and placed them in different positions immediately. With everything now being more situated with the COVID-19 

issue, Kukkiwon decided to focus on solving other major problems that have been pointed out. 

The integration of the Kukkiwon CI (logo) was another big step towards improving Taekwondo. To illustrate, Kukkiwon had three CIs (logos), World 

Taekwondo Academy had its own logo, and the Demo Team had its own as well. All of these logos are part of Kukkiwon bodies, but the logos being 

separate miscommunicated that they were independent from one another. With President Lee’s will power, the three different logos within the Kukkiwon 

were unified with easily identifiable meanings and philosophies. 

To commemorate the legalization of Taekwondo as a national activity, President Grandmaster DongSup Lee recently constructed a special monument 

and engraved more than 240 peoples’ names in appreciation of their selfless service in Taekwondo development. On May 1, 2021, he held a 

special ceremony for the completion of the 202 flagpoles honoring the Kukkiwon Dan nations. Kukkiwon never had a symbol to recognize the various 

countries it includes, so the recent installation of the flagpoles indicated a symbolic meaning for the Taekwondo communities all over the world. This 

flagpole project could not have been done without Taekwondo leaders from all over the world assisting with the expenses. Overall, these events demonstrate 

the dedication President Grandmaster DongSup Lee shows in his work for a better and more inclusive version of Kukkiwon. 

At the ceremony, President Grandmaster DongSup Lee revealed the strategies and plans his task force teams took on rigorously 

for the past several weeks. The vision for Kukkiwon, announced by President Grandmaster DongSup Lee, was enough to excite the 

hearts of Taekwondo communities globally. Among these plans included globalizing by forming a special committee and establishing 

oversea branches. Kukkiwon will transition from its previous way by becoming one of Korea’s major attractions and reforming 

its problems that have been addressed. Kukkiwon will continue to promote its inclusivity and allow taekwondo nations to grow 

together by developing a dojang centered curriculum and by developing the most up-to-date technologies for overseas dojangs. 

The year 2021 will be marked as the rebirth and revitalization of Kukkiwon. Soon, next year will mark 50 years after the 

establishment of Kukkiwon in 1972. The past should be used as a starting point for a new leap forward. The direction is clear: 

Kukkiwon, with the leadership of Grandmaster Dr DongSup Lee, will continue to support the sports aspect of Taekwondo, 

but it will also emphasize preserving traditional Taekwondo and its teaching values by expanding the program to every 

corner of the globe. 

Jun Lee 

9th degree 

Kukkiwon Spokesperson for International Affairs 

WhatsApp & KakaoTalk:+919-819-2845 

Grandmaster Jun Lee 

Spokesperson for International Affairs 

for Kukkiwon 


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June 8th 

July 13th

COVER STORY 

JIN 

GRANDMASTER 


COVER STORY 

MAWN: Grandmaster Kwon, your life has exemplified a great I was excelling in competition and was 

degree of resiliency and indomitable spirit, like a phoenix that honored by being selected to be a member 

repeatedly rises from the ashes to great glory. Can you describe of the Korean National Team, which only 

how you got started? 

had ten competitors on it. 

JK: Thank you for the honor and privilege to tell my story, which I MAWN: So how did you end up coming 

to the United States? 

hope can motivate and inspire other school owners to keep fighting 

and finding ways to have success so they can spread the martial arts JK: I found ways to put myself in the 

to people around the world. 

places that would improve my life. The 

Immediately after the Korean War ended, Korea’s 

United States was always a big dream, from 

emergence from communism was like waking from a 

the ’70s, due to the popularity of celebrities 

very deep sleep. 

like Elvis Presley and Bruce Lee, and freedom of 

In Korea, during communist control, the depth of 

the hippie culture. Like many other people 

poverty, lack of food, and general sense of despair was 

around the world, I was attracted 

thick in the air. People had a general sense of hopelessness 

to the idea 

and the ingrained belief that you could never change your 

circumstances. If your parents were poor, you were going to be 

poor, and there was no path to success for you. 

But, during the war, America showed Koreans that it didn’t have 

to be this way. With democracy, a free market, and international cooperation, 

Koreans could change their future. If you were born poor, 

it didn’t matter! If you worked hard and found ways to help other 

people, you could make yourself successful. You could come from 

nothing and still become wealthy, successful, and live in abundance. 

KWON 

How I Created Success from Scratch 6 Times 

My family didn’t have a lot of money, so we lived in a mud and straw 

house with one main room and a dirt floor, which made life a challenge 

from the beginning. We had to fight for everything just to survive. 

MAWN: So, right from the start, you were forced to either fight 

to succeed or literally starve. Fortunately, you found the strength 

to rise above a difficult situation. When did the martial arts begin 

to influence your life? 

JK: At nine years old, my family moved to Seoul, which is when 

I began to learn Taekwondo. Through the school system I was 

introduced to the martial arts, but this was also a challenge at first 

because school was expensive. The only way I would be able to 

afford to continue in a good school was by making the varsity sports 

team so I didn’t have to pay. 

I worked hard by pushing myself to make the team, and in the 

process, became a top competitor. In high school, I won Best Athlete 

of the Year on the Taekwondo team. 

of being successful, 

and the best place 

for realizing my 

dream was the U.S. 

First Stop: 

California 

JK: In 1980, I 

came to San Diego 

and was starting 

from the bottom 

again. I was 23 with 

a high level of skill 

in Taekwondo, but 

only had $240 in 

my pocket, couldn’t 


COVER STORY 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon dedicated himself to becoming a champion competitor. 

speak English, and was not in a place to set the world on fire with 

my dreams of success. This was a great learning experience for my 

future. 

I started working for $3.25 an hour. I had five different jobs and 

only slept about an hour and a half to two hours a night. In the morning, 

I would wake up early and go to my first job as a school bus 

driver’s assistant for the morning route. After the morning route, I 

would go to my ESL class to learn English and then teach a few Taekwondo 

lessons at a local recreation center. Then back to the school 

bus for the route to take children home, after which I would go to 

a local restaurant to help clean up and bus tables. Then, from the 

restaurant in the evening, I would go to a nightclub where I worked 

as a bouncer. 

Then, when the club closed at 2 a.m., 

I would take my role as a nighttime construction 

site watchman. At the time, this 

was pretty grueling, but as I look back on 

it, it was one of the most precious times of 

hard work for me and I couldn’t be where 

I am now without it. Success didn’t come 

overnight and it was a struggle, but because 

of my background in Taekwondo, I could 

tolerate the hard times for my American 

Dream. Let’s just say I don’t want to go back 

to that kind of lifestyle, but it was a great 

experience. 

MAWN: Of course, experience is a great 

teacher to learn from. How did you get into 

operating your first school and how did it 

go for you? 

JK: Absolutely! I have had a number 

of experiences that have taught me that 

persistence and flexibility 

will pay off in the end. So, 

I decided that I wanted to 

open a school and pursue my 

dream of teaching Taekwondo 

to the next generation. I 

had a little bit of money, but 

nowhere near enough for a 

‘real’ lease, and I was also still 

learning English, so communication 

wasn’t going to 

be easy. Somehow, surprisingly, 

I negotiated a monthto-month 

deal in La Jolla for a 

900-square-foot location. 

Now, like I said, I didn’t 

have a lot of money, so I did 

all the interior improvements 

myself. I remember having 

to fix the walls and carpet, 

but I only had a single razor 

blade and duct tape, so I did 

the best I could! I would take a 

shower by jumping into the ocean and then using the showers on 

the beach. This seems cool in California, but it was wintertime, so it 

was not quite so appealing. I spent all my time in the school, including 

sleeping on the floor in the building. 

MAWN: So you successfully negotiated a deal without experience 

and poor English, did renovation without a lot of resources, 

and started your first school. How did things go at this location? 

JK: Yes. I had a strong desire to run a great Taekwondo school 

and wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of accomplishing that 

goal. The funny thing is, I thought all I had to do was open the school 

and students would show up. I had no idea that I needed to promote 

the school or how to do it, so I struggled in the beginning. Fortunate- 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon qualifying for the International Good Will Games 


COVER STORY 

ly, I began to get a few people in the school, 

and primarily by word of mouth advertising, 

the enrollment grew to over 200 active students 

and the school was overflowing. 

MAWN: You did a really great job at 

growing your school despite the lack of 

business savvy. What lessons did you gain 

from your time with this location? 

JK: Yes, I felt like things were going well 

and I was doing a good job, but I was about 

to learn some more hard lessons. First, the 

landlord told me out of the blue that I had 

to vacate the location after five years. Since 

our lease was month to month, I had no 

recourse and no way to keep operating in 

that location. This was a hard-learned lesson 

about leases and the power of a landlord! 

But I figured it didn’t matter because I 

would just get another location and continue 

my success. I was able to find another 

location around 15 miles away, but California 

traffic made it very difficult for my current students to get to the new 

location during rush hour. I saw a steady stream of students begin to 

drop out, and within 18 months, I was back to nothing. 

I realized that although I was a great Taekwondo competitor, I 

was not a great Taekwondo teacher. I had problems with language, 

in dealing with children, and sometimes pushed students who were 

not going to be or even trying to be top-notch competitors. If I was 

going to run a successful school, I needed to improve in those areas. 

In addition, I was very homesick and felt disconnected from 

friends, family, and essentially everything that I knew. 

I was then selected for the U.S. National Taekwondo Team, 

which gave me the opportunity to connect with top competitors, 

coaches, and celebrities that shared my passion for Taekwondo 

and who became great friends. Philip Rhee, his brother, Simon, and 

many others in the sport at the time really helped me feel more connected 

and gave me the opportunity to travel back home to Korea, 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon as a representative of the Korean National Taekwondo team, 

with noteable members like Phillip Rhee 

which helped to alleviate my sense of alienation. 

The competition also led to the next chapter in my life because, 

in my last competition in 1982 or 1983, while I was on the medal 

stand, I noticed some extreme pain coming from a few places in my 

body from competing. It occurred to me that if I were seriously injured, 

my career as a Taekwondo teacher would be over. I wouldn’t 

be able to teach anymore, and since that was my source of income 

and the direction I wanted to take my career, I realized that medals 

did not have the value they once did. This led to me retiring from 

competition, and then I really began to desire to be a better teacher 

and businessperson. 

Next Stop: New York 

This was just the beginning of people who would influence me in 

my journey. In 1985, I was invited to work as a bodyguard for a multibillionaire 

in New York for about six months. I wanted to go back into 

teaching, and one of my seniors encouraged 

me to learn from Grandmaster Byung 

Min Kim because he was a great teacher 

with a successful school in New York. So, I 

did go to learn from Grandmaster Kim. 

For the first three months, I kind of just 

sat around and observed, but then Grandmaster 

Byung Min Kim helped me to learn 

many of the basics for martial arts business 

procedures, like answering the phone, conducting 

intros, and promoting a school. For 

the next several months, I asked thousands 

of questions and learned how to operate 

a school properly. My approach was that 

this was like competition and I was getting 

into shape, but for running a business. This 

gave me lots of confidence. 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon with the US National Taekwondo team, heading for the Goodwill Games 

MAWN: That’s a great lesson. So, 


COVER STORY 

For Grandmaster Kwon his martial arts school is a family business as he poses with 

his son, Alex, and daughter, Susan, 20 years ago. 

while you were learning the business side of things, were you also 

teaching classes? 

JK: Yes, but this time, I was going to use my competitive spirit to 

improve my instruction skills by learning to see each student’s level 

and considering it while teaching them. That was a huge shift in my 

thinking and instruction, and a critically important skill for martial arts 

instructors to learn. 

Next Stop: Virginia 

MAWN: So, with the experience and foundation you got in New 

York, you must have felt you were really ready for big things. How 

did things play out in Virginia? 

JK: Well, I had saved a little bit of money, bought a Volkswagen 

for $1,200, and drove from New York to Virginia Beach. With basically 

no money left, I took over a school of a retiring master that was 

about 2,000 to 2,400 square feet with four students, so I felt I had 

nothing to lose. I taught my heart out, and, with the help of one assistant, 

grew the school from four to over 450 students. 

At this time, I had good technical martial arts skills, had learned 

some business skills and teaching skills, and combined them well. 

And by now, my promotional skills were much better as well. I did 

public demos to market myself much better. It was fun and I started 

to see money flowing in a lot more. At first, I slept in the school or 

the car, kept the tuition money under the carpet in the school, but 

after nine months, I saved enough and was able to buy and own my 

first house. 

Once I built up the school and saved some money, I purchased a 

home, brought my parents to America, then my brothers. I also got 

married. Next, I expanded the school to about 7,000 square feet 

and opened a second school with my first black belt from California 

coming in to teach. This was the start of learning how to be a multischool 

operator. 

I was there for about five years, but the realities of operating 

more than one school were FAR different than running just one location. 

My focus was split, and I didn’t have the systems in place that I 

needed to be able to run both locations well, so the results began to 

go down. I still wanted to be a great teacher and to have great students, 

but the area was very transient. I did my best to train students 

and then they would leave, so it was very discouraging. I began to 

not like the area, so I began to wonder where a place was where 

students would stay. I was looking for a place where the students 

would be more stable. 

I gave the two schools to students, one with 400 students and 

7,000 square feet, and the other a 1,500-square-foot location with 

fewer students. The one with 400 eventually closed down, but that 

student ended up opening nine other schools in the area. 

MAWN: Is there anything else that you gained from your time in 

Virginia that shaped your martial arts business approach? 

JK: Absolutely. While maintaining a hunger to be a great teacher, 

I developed relationships with some great masters. I had many latenight 

conversations with Grandmaster H. K. Lee about business and 

teaching. I also met Grandmaster Y.K. Kim, who had already been 

extremely successful in the martial arts industry. He inspired me by 

how he taught the black belts, so I began to build a relationship with 

him too. 

Next Stop: New Jersey 

MAWN: So, with Virginia as another stepping-stone, where did 

you end up next and how did things turn out there? 

JK: From my time in New York, I discovered Bergen County, New 

Jersey, where the people in the community were second- and thirdgeneration 

residents. So, my wife and I moved to New Jersey to start 

a new school with very little money. I had to scrape and work hard. 

My wife and I lived in our van for a few weeks. For many months we 

lived in the basement of the school and then, after a few months, we 

got an apartment. 

I focused 100% of my energy on growing the school and it exploded. 

I gave my whole heart to teaching the students. This time, I 

took a more ‘professional’ approach. Meaning that I built good relationships 

with my students and their families, but I no longer allowed 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon and his wife at President George Bush’s birthday 

celebration at the White House 


COVER STORY 

Grandmaster Kwon (R) worked to improve school 

owners’ lives with Grandmaster Y.K. Kim. 

those relationships 

to get too familiar 

and cross the 

professional line. I 

learned this lesson 

the hard way, and in 

the past, took things 

too personally. 

Then, I bought 

a house, moved 

my family from 

Virginia, and we 

had 16 people living 

there. At this time, 

I really wanted to 

have a multi-school 

operation, and I thought I knew how to do it, but in reality, I didn’t 

have any systems; I only had manpower to operate. I had three 

schools opened in New Jersey with brothers and friends operating 

them, but I began to see conflicts. I didn’t want to see business get in 

the way of the family, and I didn’t want any conflicts to damage their 

relationships, so ultimately, I gave them the schools and decided to 

start over again somewhere else. 

At this time, Grandmaster Y. K. Kim called me and had an opportunity 

for me to learn from him and help other martial arts school 

owners. I knew this would be a great opportunity, so my wife, threeyear-old 

son, and I went to Florida. 

Next Stop: Florida 

MAWN: Very interesting. So, what role did your time in Florida 

serve in the big picture of your path to finding your place? 

JK: My role during this time initially was supporting other school 

owners. My wife worked in administration while I spent time speaking 

with school owners and marketing. With Grandmaster Kim in the 

lead, we developed programs to support school operators, like the 

‘Talking Newsletter,’ and externally we toured the U.S. holding martial 

arts business seminars. We met and taught many masters and 

instructors in an effort to help them with martial arts business. 

I had a great time learning from him because he continued to 

grow, have deep passion, and determination in doing the best for 

the industry. Upon reflection, up to this point, I had a narrow vision, 

because great opportunity was available in all the previous places I 

had been, but I was not ready for it. For example, Virginia presented 

opportunity to build an empire, but I was looking to be a great 

teacher. There was also tremendous opportunity in New Jersey from 

a real estate standpoint, but I couldn’t see it. My narrow vision came 

from competing and only wanting to teach students and not seeing 

the business side of things and future investments. I could only see 

the current situation and not plan for the future. These were great 

lessons for me. 

Next Stop: California (The Second Time) 

MAWN: With all of your wealth of experience and learning, 

what was next for you? 

JK: I was still looking for my best hometown and for my gold 

mine. My biggest concern was when I was no longer teaching, how 

I could survive and have income coming in until I die. Eventually, I 

settled upon a school that Grandmaster Byung Won Kong offered to 

me for free, so I took the opportunity because my funds were low. 

I stayed at this location for about 15 to 16 years and built this 

school up like crazy. I was grossing $50,000 to $70,000 a month 

around the year 2000. After an unexpected legal dispute, I lost the 

lease of the location and had to move out in three days. I was forced 

to move into a 1,500-square-foot building with my 400 students. Of 

course, this did not work out very well. 

I started researching and looking for fast-growing cities with the 

right type of people who could train, afford classes, areas with stable 

and growing populations, and new towns rather than old places. 

Last Stop: Utah 

MAWN: In every place you lived, you proved time and time 

again that you could establish a growing school, so where do you 

finally settle down and why? 

JK: I spent months researching, and ultimately, I decided to come 

to Salt Lake City. I still had some income coming in from the school in 

California, but that would end in a short few months. 

I went to many seminars and learned many things, from speech 

to real estate, to enrich myself. I learned a lot of leadership, sales, 

finance skills, and more from audiocassettes in my car. 

I came to a realization that moving around the country, and doing 

so somewhat abruptly at times, was hurting my family. I realized 

that uprooting them from the connections they built, the friends 

they made, and the community they were a part of was damaging 

to them, and now, in retrospect, I’m very regretful that I put them 

through those experiences, because I remember what it felt like 

when I arrived in the U.S. 

I didn’t want to make the same mistake again, so I now believe 

my family and work is where my home is. Every place I went, I made 

a good school. I learned that any place where you do this is your 

gold mine. So, for the last 11 years, we’ve been living in Utah and I 

have never regretted it. 

MAWN: How did your plans turn into the reality of the successful 

multi-school locations that you have currently? 

JK: This time, I had everything preplanned on how to make it 

happen. With the masters from California living at the school, we 

eventually developed three multi-school locations. It took six months 

to develop the first location, which is a 2,400-square-foot building 

that grew to more than 200 students. 

For the second location, I made a deal with the owner of an 

empty property to seller finance the building, but I needed more 

money to put down. At this point, I asked Grandmaster Y. K. Kim for 

help. He graciously helped to finance the purchase, and we got the 

contract in order and closed on the building. I’m eternally grateful 

for him; he gave me this gift from his heart with no strings attached 

because he appreciated my previous support and always wanted to 

return a favor. 

This location is 10,000 square feet with two buildings, and has 

been built up to over 350 students. 

For the third location, I offered a group of parents in the school an 

opportunity to help finance the building to get a deal done through 


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COVER STORY 

seller financing again. This was a great opportunity for them, and 

for me. Since then, all of these locations are now secured with bank 

financing, and have huge equity. 

The Future Legacy 

MAWN: You’ve shared an exciting history with ups and downs, 

but have also demonstrated tremendous resiliency. You’ve shown 

time and time again that you have the ability to build martial arts 

schools that thrive and grow. Now, let’s transition and talk about 

your current schools. What kinds of programs do you presently 

offer? 

JK: For kids, I have two basic kinds of operations. One is a full 

childcare operation and one is a martial arts program with an after 

school program. We open up at 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. I have a professional 

after-school childcare license. We have children in the program 

from two to 12 years old. We have three different classrooms to 

support a family working full time, and then also people who use our 

after school program. So, we pick up the children from school, do 

Taekwondo and homework, and then crafts and reading. 

MAWN: What about your more traditional or evening programs? 

JK: For evening classes, we are basically a fully authentic Taekwondo 

program, where we offer Taekwondo lessons full time from 

opening to closing. We have all ages, from children to 

adults, and we have classes for children, teens, 

and adults. In addition, we also offer a kind of 

soft yoga martial art that’s lower impact. 

MAWN: You’ve been very successful with 

after-school martial arts, so why did you start 

doing that kind of program and what have 

your results been like? 

JK: I had many students 

whose parents have to work 

into the early evening but 

loved our program, so 

they needed a safe and 

productive place for 

their children after 

school. Secondly, 

it is a very revenuestable 

program. For 

martial arts tuition, 

many schools charge 

between $100 and $200 

a month, but after school or 

childcare is $300 to $500 or more. 

And the students stay in the program 

for many years, so if you operate properly, 

it just keeps growing. 

So, we can provide great discipline 

with martial arts ethics and the children 

will do well. And the parents appreciate 

it. The students and parents both 

get tremendous benefits, which is our 

long-term goal. 

MAWN: You said you do a child- 

Grandmaster Kwon with his daughter, Susan 

care program as well. How does that work for you and what goes 

into it? 

JK: As a director, we frequently attend childcare director conferences. 

A main pain that other program directors always have is 

discipline. Parents and directors say, ‘Our children don’t listen,’ but 

in our program, with the martial arts culture, our structure, and the 

quality of our instructors, we don’t have those types of problems 

with discipline. 

Parents see the improvement in their children in our program, 

in school, and at home. So, the benefits for the children and the 

entire family are substantial. Most childcare or after school program 

students who come, the family really needs it because some families 

are not willing or able to instill the level of discipline and confidence 

that we are. 

Many of our students have a single-parent, broken family that 

requires full-time effort. Some children don’t have enough of the 

attention they need to grow up, so we, as martial artists, can provide 

the right method of teaching while they’re there. 

MAWN: You’ve been running an after school program for a 

while. Why do you believe people stick with it besides needing a 

place after school for their children? 

JK: We’ve spent about ten years doing the after school program 

already. It’s very healthy, very clean, and very beneficial to the 

students. The students learn about discipline, how to listen, and 

how to work together. The public needs martial arts – need us – in 

a way. People will keep coming in if we continue 

to provide great value and the students learn 

lots of things. When they grow up, I want my 

students to say, ‘Master Kwon, thank you. I 

grew up with the after school program and 

you helped me get to where I am right now. 

You changed me.’ 

When I hear those kinds of 

things, I feel like I want to provide 

even more beneficial 

programs and offer 

more things. There is 

no doubt that if you 

put the child in the 

right place and they 

do what they are supposed 

to do, the child 

will benefit. 

MAWN: What are some 

of the bigger challenges you’ve 

had in operating your after school 

program over the years? 

JK: The biggest challenge 

that I’ve faced in operating the 

after school program is people, 

because the martial arts or 

an after school program are a 

people business. We deal with 

people day to day, so dealing 

with people is the most difficult, 


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Grandmaster Jin Kwon serves as Secretary General of the US Taekwondo Grandmasters Society. 

which also means staff is the most difficult. So, you have to continue 

to develop the staff, because if you have a good staff, the answer 

lies there. The job description has to be clear and their responsibilities 

well understood. I couldn’t do it all myself, so you need welltrained 

people and good systems to keep it all running smoothly. 

In the childcare industry, they have required teacher-student 

ratios based on the ages and number of students the teacher ratio 

must match. The license is set by the student ratio, and you have 

to divide the classes you want to provide. You have to have a main 

teacher, an assistant teacher, and one assistant that teach two or 

three classes depending on the sizes. So, to continue to overcome 

that challenge and having a good staff is a big one. 

We try to have continuity in our programs. Many of the students 

in the childcare program become after school students. Although 

there are challenges, everything can work. I see the after school and 

childcare as a great industries. 

MAWN: Yes, people are a challenge, but in the martial arts business, 

we have an opportunity to develop our future staff members 

as our students through their color belt ranks right through their 

black belt ranks training. What do you think of this? 

JK: As I mentioned, I never really formally learned how to be a 

businessperson. I learned by trial and error, so I have a lot of experience. 

It seems to me, the best thing is to just copy somebody who 

has succeeded and do the same thing they did. Be detailed in planning 

the program relative to time, tasks, and days, and be structured 

in following a daily routine. Doing those kinds of things is very important 

because children get bored easily if you do the same thing over 

and over. Things need to be diverse with new skills and new areas in 

the after school program. 

MAWN: What kinds of things do you do to build up your staff? 

JK: First, I have different curriculums to rotate so that the children 

can learn new things all the time. In a way, it’s kind of the same things 

and new things all the time. I find it’s pivotal to have staff meetings to 

develop and build up the staff, and to also have feedback reports for 

operations and for marketing, all those kinds of important elements 

of a business. In meetings, we discuss the business areas – management, 

promotions, and marketing – and then the curriculum. 

These things have to be really in place otherwise you have to do 

it all on your own. A one-school operation is much easier because, 

once you change your mind or plan, it can change quickly. In a 

multi-school operation, it has to go through everybody and people 

have different opinions, which is the most difficult thing about a 

multi-school operation. I’m trying to continue working on this chainof-command 

role, so it takes a little longer, and really, I don’t like it, 

but I’m kind of waiting for them to move because I’m usually direct, 

upfront, and respond right away. 

In my position, I have a lot of layers in front of my students 

because they interact with the teacher, manager, and head director. 

I have to speak with executive people to change things, but that 

is a difficult thing because I’m not used to it. I’m getting more used 

to it because I’ve been doing some time and learning through my 

mistakes. I also continue to use new ways of recruiting. 

MAWN: From your experience and current circumstances, what 

are you trying to do for your school and staff’s future? 

JK: Well, most of the things that I did earlier in my career gave 

me the ability to own my own buildings, so my breakthrough was 

accomplishing that through the martial arts or the after school 

program. I have built an asset base that I can rely on. Now, I’ve been 

teaching for over 40 years, but lately I ask myself why I keep teaching 

and what is my exit strategy. Then, I think of my plans for future 

operations and if someone is able to take over, so I’m trying to make 

my schools more lucrative, more manageable, more structured to 

deliver them to the next generation, which are my children, my staff, 

and my coworkers. I would like to position them for the next stage to 

breakthrough. 

MAWN: You slept in a dirt room; you’ve slept in the basement. 

You slept at the school, slept in your car; where do you find your 

greatest source of motivation, inspiration, and that drive to continue 

succeeding? 

JK: Thank you for asking me to share about my path. The thing 

that has been very valuable to me is the concept of ‘mine.’ I take 

responsibility. It’s my Taekwondo, my children, my family, my school; 

everything is mine. Not in a selfish way, but I am responsible for 

the outcome. I’m responsible for my family; I’m responsible for my 

school. I take PRIDE in them, and I always try to do my absolute best 

for them. 

When something belongs to us, we put more effort into it; more 

heart goes into it, it’s more sincere. So, I cannot just play around be- 


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COVER STORY 

cause it’s mine. When my dojo, my school, my country, my neighbor, 

and my students are having a problem, they become my problems. 

Possessiveness is important, but not obsessiveness. Care sincerely 

and genuinely. 

Being a teacher or a parent, being a father or a leader, it is my 

company, my school, my land, my things. So, because of that, I put in 

the extra mile because this is mine. I like my school to be clean. I like 

it to be nice. I like to be a good teacher. I want to be good to them, 

these are my students, my life, my journey, my way. I’m in my mid 

60s. It is very critical that I stand firm and prepare the future generations, 

to come and give to them my experience. 

MAWN: Certainly, ownership brings greater sense of responsibility 

– what is the next level of that for you? 

JK: Hopefully, when they arrive at my age, they won’t have gone 

through what I had to go through. That is what I’d like to give to my 

children, my staff, my 

people: my experience. 

I’m going to continue 

to be stronger and 

keep working toward 

what I need to work on 

because I still see a lot 

of my mistakes. I see a 

lot of things that I’m not 

good at. I would like 

to continue to develop 

with my people, with 

my juniors or seniors, 

to make my martial 

art operations better 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon (R) with Master Toby Milroy because this is my life 

that I’ve been through, 

that I will continue moving forward till I die. This is kind of the next 

exit strategy. 

MAWN: Can you share what you appreciate most from your experience 

over the last 40 years, and what you consider the future 

of your legacy? 

JK: The greatest thing that I appreciate from the last 40 years 

was that I really got returns from my martial art. They were my 

proudest and most lucrative years where I lived well and raised my 

children well. I really thank martial arts for what they have done for 

me. I’d also like to see my children, staff, and others really see the 

benefit of what we do. It’s our responsibility to offer the best so that 

we can give it the next generation to make this martial art successful, 

so even smarter and better people come in. 

Seeing that my children are committed to being full-time master 

instructors, full-time teachers, I’m very happy, and my shoulders are 

very, very heavy because they’re going to live the next for 40 or 50 

years with the martial arts. So, I hope that they don’t live to regret 

that, but instead feel like, ‘I took over Daddy’s martial arts business 

and I’m proud of it.’ I’m setting my goals and leaving my first legacy 

here to younger generations, and then they’ll want to take it to the 

second generation, to move forward, and a third generation, fourth 

generation, because I know what martial arts has done for me. I’m 

very happy and appreciate that kind of responsibility I have. 

Grandmaster Jin Kwon knocked down, but not out, 

with COVID-19 diagnosis 

MAWN: What 

are some of the 

things that you are 

proud that you’ve 

achieved in your 

martial arts career? 

JK: I’m proud that 

I accomplished a 

lot as a competitor 

and an organizer. I’m 

proud of myself for 

being a teacher and 

a master on my own. 

I’m proud of what I 

have right now. Everything 

is, I think, a 

history, or just a perspective. 

It is within you to believe in yourself and work with yourself, 

to be able to challenge yourself, to have peace within yourself, to be 

able to communicate with yourself. I’m really doing greater than ever. 

Now I have to have a waiting list of people to come in and my school 

is overflowing, but we can handle it. The journey of the byproduct 

evolves: being a good parent, good student, good teacher, good 

husband. Because of that I exist, that I have all these other people 

believing in me, and those people I appreciate, including all the 

masters who influenced me throughout the years. 

MAWN: Last year was a rough year for many people due to the 

pandemic, but you had especially tough time. What was first thing 

you did when you found out that you were positive for COVID? 

JK: I did not know that I was infected; I thought I was just having 

body aches. I had severe symptoms for two weeks. I did not even 

have physical contact with my students, but I wanted to be transparent, 

so I informed all the parents and students. I also closed the facility 

for two weeks, and all of my family and staff took a COVID test. 

Only my family members and I got positive results. 

MAWN: What was this like for you and what else did it make 

you consider? 

JK: It was very tough. I had no appetite. I was throwing up and 

had shallow breathing. All food just tasted like sand in my mouth. I 

had no strength and felt such helplessness and vulnerability. So, I 

had to force myself to move more, walk more, and eat well consistently. 

I was able to look back at my past, my family, and the people 

who had been with me helping. Also, I realized that I needed to 

prepare my business and family and school staff more. 

MAWN: What tools helped you get your businesses through the 

shutdowns? 

JK: AMS manages our billing well for the students. My staff uses 

the new ATLAS Martial Arts Software platform to run day-to-day 

operations, marketing and more. It’s been really fantastic! 

ATLAS helped a lot with communicating. We had some urgent 

announcements, and we were able to send mass text messages 

and emails via ATLAS. We’ve also been getting lots of inquiries since 

June with iENROLL: 15–20 trials per month. 

MAWN: Thank you, Grandmaster Kwon, for sharing your history, 

insights, and vision for the industry. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Which Easy Promotion Could 

Help You Open 12 Locations? 

25-year industry vet Master Do Hyun Chang reveals the one simple promotion that 

has skyrocketed his schools’ profits. 

MAWN: What market do you teach? 

DC: I’m located in Cary, North Carolina, and I teach primarily 

families. 

MAWN: What year did you open your school? 

DC: 1995. 

MAWN: Which martial arts styles do you 

teach? 

DC: Taekwondo only. 

MAWN: How many active students do you 

teach? 

DC: I have 12 locations, 2,500 students total, and 

200 per school on average. 

MAWN: What do you consider your schools’ 

strengths? 

DC: We have eight kinds of rotations. We have 

a warming-up system where we rotate every 

two weeks for 15 minutes (a four-month 

circuit). We also rotate action (targets, etc., 

with music). Instructors and kids love it 

because they never get bored. 

MAWN: Do you have a Black Belt 

Club/Master Club/Leadership Program? 

If so, could you describe how 

that works? 

DC: We have a tuition-based 

Leadership Team for teenagers for 

$270 per month. We teach them 

how to understand and motivate 

others and students. We take our 

future staff through this program 

to invest time in our own staff. I 

teach most of the classes myself 

among the 12 locations so I also 

teach them how to run a school, 

focusing on finding good leaders 

and developing them more widely 

and deeply. My program is detail 

oriented to try to prevent students 

from burning out due to their lack of time 

management. It also develops and identifies 

their strengths like personality and 

intelligence. We spend a couple months on 

finding strengths. 

MAWN: Can you mention a few benefits that having a 

management system brings to your business? 

DC: It’s improved our relationship with our students, 

and our financial management, by not having to take 

a one-time payment. Our number one school uses 

nearly all of the tools. 

MAWN: What have been your most successful 

marketing systems, promotions, or strategies over 

the last year? 

DC: Birthday parties gain us two new enrollments 

on average. We had nine parties last week. If a 

student brings five or ten friends, four or five 

will sign up for a trial. We also sign kids 

up for a birthday party when they 

sign up for their trial. They book on 

their first time coming through 

our door. We’re fully booked 

with parties every single weekend. 

We have a disco ball, DJ 

booth, and great sound system. 

The kids love it. It’s our 

biggest marketing strategy. 

MAWN: Why are you 

running multiple schools and 

expanding? 

DC: I want to be a good 

influence and help others 

develop life skills. I wanted to 

give back. Many of my staff and 

instructors were my students 

and they needed a secure job and 

money, but I had more staff than 

locations. It also makes good revenue; 

some of my staff is making more than 

$100,000 per year. We have no contract 

except for a non-compete. 

We also have a bonus program 

where they earn extra money for 

having over 200 students or $1 

million in income a year in addition 

to a cut of our Master Do Hyun Chang 

profits. 


SCHOOL PROFILE 

90+ Prospects in One Month? 

It’s possible! Master Regina Im shares her secrets for FAST GROWTH! 

MAWN: What market do you teach? 

RI: Korea Taekwondo is based in New York City and teaches 

families. 

MAWN: What do you consider your schools’ strengths? 

RI: We were able to generate over 90 prospects for the month 

of October 2020 alone. In that month, we enrolled more than ten 

students and had many more to enroll. 

MAWN: Could you describe how the school management system 

you use has benefited you and your school? 

RI: The system we are currently using captures leads and prospects. 

It’s email/text automation plays a big role, where the system 

not only sends out emails and text messages to incoming prospects, 

but also sends reminders to the school’s staff to make sure those 

prospects are reached out to. We also sent mass text messages to 

our existing prospects in the system. We’ve had more than 5,000 

prospects in the system throughout the years. This brought in many 

students for our online classes when they originally began back in 

May 2020. 

MAWN: What have been your most successful marketing systems, 

promotions, or strategies over the last year? 

RI: Korea Taekwondo set up a ‘free outdoor martial arts classes 

for kids’ promotion page on our website. We also had the contact 

information of local schools and decided to send them emails with 

the promotion page’s link attached, so that schools could forward 

that information to their students’ parents. Many schools approved 

Master Regina Im 

the email and sent them out to parents. Parents check their emails 

now more than ever because of their children’s schoolwork. This 

increased the probability of parents checking the email from the 

martial art school, and also trusted its legitimacy because it was sent 

from their child’s school. 

This was possible because we have a good relationship with local 

schools already. It was also important to persist and not give up, 

even when our requests were rejected. We had to send numerous 

messages and emails to school before they decided to send out 

emails to the parents. Emails, texts, and calls to prospects are also 

very important in getting them into the school. 


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TEAMWORK 

Ways to Deal with Instructor 

Burnout 

HANSHI 

DAVE KOVAR 

is an 8th degree 

black belt and 

recognized as the 

“Trainer of Trainers.” 


is an internationally 

acclaimed instructor 

with black belt 

degrees in ten 

different martial 

arts styles. His 

systems have been 

implemented in 

hundreds of schools 

around the US. 

Have you ever woken up and said to 

yourself, “I’d rather not go to the school 

today”? If you have, you are certainly 

not alone. Very few people are motivated 

24/7, myself included. Without a 

plan this can certainly lead to instructor 

burnout. 

A person might experience burnout 

for many different reasons. Here are a 

few suggestions on how to deal with 

instructor burnout. 

First and foremost, avoid thinking 

that others have it better than you. It’s 

a waste of time and usually not true. 

Remember, when we don’t take the 

time to appreciate our own good fortune, 

we’re essentially focusing on the 

negative (i.e. the idea that others are somehow better than 

us). I think we should never forget the fact that we martial 

artists have it pretty good. We get to teach martial arts for 

a living, how cool is that? After all, martial arts have a real 

impact on students, and martial arts teachers’ livelihoods 

help others on a daily basis. In other words, feeling grateful 

as a martial arts teacher comes with the territory, which 

in turn can make your life fulfilling. If in doubt, just take 

a moment to read through some of the thank-you notes 

you’ve received over the years! If that doesn’t feed your 

motivation, not much will. 

Another thing that keeps burnout in check is continuing 

on your martial arts path as a student. I’m not sure 

about you, but I find that when my training is going well, 

I’m a better teacher and I appreciate the process of teaching 

even more. 

The next thing to consider is, are you doing too much? 

While it’s admirable trying to be on top of all aspects of 

running your school, trying to do everything can also be 

exhausting. You should be able to distribute work between 

your team members and yourself in such a way that 

you don’t have to do all the heavy lifting yourself. This also 

means that you have to constantly train instructors who’ll 

be ready to teach later. Once you’ve ensured that your day 

job isn’t crushing you, think about your night job, i.e. sleep! 

We often shove sleep aside and ignore its importance. 

According to a survey, almost half of all Americans say 

they don’t get enough sleep at night. Yet sleep is largely 

within our control. In order to stay healthy and positive 

through the day, resting well at night is often underrated 

but absolutely necessary. So do your best to get to bed at 

a decent hour tonight! 

Also, to minimize burnout, it helps to have a clear sense 

of purpose regarding what you’re trying to do with your 

school and where you want it to be in the future. Think 

about everything you do at school. Are you doing most 

work either in a burst of inspiration or out of desperation? 

If so, sit back and figure out your goals, and then work out 

a plan regarding how you’re going to achieve them. Don’t 

be driven by external factors alone. When your purpose is 

clear, it’s much easier to maintain your momentum, which 

helps create a great deal of stability. Finally, remember 

that life is a pattern of highs and lows. Be mindful of this. 

When you’re going through a low phase, don’t sabotage 

yourself. Remember, you won’t feel like teaching every 

day, and that’s normal. But, even when that happens, go 

out there with a smile and fake it. Before you know it, you’ll 

probably be “in the zone” and having a great time. 

I’m confident that if you follow these steps on a regular 

basis, you’ll be able to prevent burnout. Happy teaching! 


Photograph by JackF

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NEXT LEVEL STRATEGY 

Are You Caught Up in the Day to 

Day? (Part 2) 

SHIHAN 

ALLIE ALBERIGO 


black belt, the 

founder of the L.I. 

Ninjutsu Centers, 

one of the largest 

Ninjutsu schools 

on the planet, the 

author of 4 books, 

and an entrepreneur 

with one of the 

first online coaching 

companies. 

I ask people who run schools how much time they 

dedicate toward marketing every week. The normal reaction, 

which is usually an overestimation, is five hours. I will 

normally say to double that. 

If you double that for 50 weeks a year, you will have 

marketed your school 250 more hours per year. See, the 

here and now is all about action. Sitting around thinking 

about what to do does nothing to your bottom line. Quite 

often, if we don’t prepare ahead of time for the here and 

now, it never manifests. 

Is living in the moment about being washed in and 

out with the tides, hoping eventually you’ll get on firm 

ground, or is it about finding the things you can do ahead 

of time to ensure and set in motion actions that’ll help 

you achieve what you want? I know some may be saying 

this is semantics, but the reality is, most silly, little things I 

teach my clients are what make monumental changes in 

their business. 

Why wait around for the perfect marketing campaign 

when you can get out each day and put into action a 

poor one? 

Jay Conrad Levinson, author of “Guerilla Marketing,” 

is quoted as saying, “Even a poor marketing campaign is 

better than none at all.” 

Quite frankly, most people don’t market. They spend 

fewer than five hours per week on growing their schools. 

If you’re the one that’s out there saying, “Well, that’s not 

me,” actually track how much time and effort goes into the 

growth of your school and simply double it. 

The last reason I may hear from a client as to why they 

don’t do what they’re supposed to is, “I don’t have the 

time.” This catch-22 is fixed quite easily. Find others that 

are willing to help you double your time and effort into 

marketing. Most of the time it’s simply a matter of asking. 

So, living in the moment is not about getting caught 

up in the day to day and letting the day dictate your activities: 

the newest email, 

the surprise visit from a 

friend or old student, the 

unsolicited sales person, 

or the employee that just 

wants to shoot the breeze. 

Living in the here and now 

is about preparing ahead 

of time the tasks needed 

to allow you to focus and 

achieve greatness. 

This is my bridge to 

age-old philosophy and 

modern business concepts. 

I hope you double 

your efforts, and I can 

almost guarantee if you 

do, you will receive results. 

In closing, I want to remind you that no one cares more 

about your business and your financial wellbeing than 

you. If you choose to let the tides determine how much 

success you experience, you’ll continually be wishing for 

better times. If you choose to make your life what you believe 

it can be, you’ll eventually see your dreams manifest 

into reality. 

The here and now is about good decisions, strategically 

thought-out plans, and taking action in the moment 

toward achieving them. 

For more information, just email Allie at Shihan@ 

lininja.com, or simply call 631-374-6518. 


Photograph by EtiAmmos

GROWTH HACKS 

Analyze Your Web Marketing, 

Part 1 

so you may want to know which 

sites are the most popular and 

would create the most impact. 

In this article, I’ll discuss 

Google Analytics and its additional 

features you may find 

useful. 

SEAN LEE is 

the Executive 

Director of Sales 

and Marketing 

for hundreds of 

martial arts schools 

and specializes in 

online and social 

media marketing 

using his extensive 

professional 

experience 

in sports and 

martial arts 

marketing, contract 

negotiation, and 

investment. 

If you’re marketing your school online, and driving traffic 

to your website from social media sites, local community 

sites, even social couponing sites, what would be the 

best way for you to analyze all of this crucial data? 

If you’re a user of ATLAS Martial Arts Software, ATLAS 

has several ways to analyze your marketing data. ATLAS 

generates reports from your email marketing and incoming 

phone calls and what made them call you. 

But what about when you place ads on the internet or 

post a link to your site on your Facebook or Instagram profiles? 

How do you track where students ultimately come 

from? Or how long did that person stay on your site? 

Maybe they clicked the ad you placed with the payper-click 

option you purchased that brought them to your 

website. In that case, you may be asking yourself, “If I 

purchased an ad, which sites should I put my ad on for the 

most visible exposure?” 

Well, there are over a hundred social networking apps 

on the internet right now, and the numbers keep growing, 

What is Google Analytics? 

Google Analytics shows you 

how people found your site, 

how they explored it, and even 

how you may want to enhance 

your visitors’ experience. This 

is great for improving your 

website’s return on investment 

(ROI) and is absolutely free! Just 

go to Analytics.Google.com and 

sign up. 

There are some things 

you need to do so that data 

can be collected from all of 

the sites you may have. You 

must place the automatically created HTML code from 

Google Analytics on the backend of your websites 

when opening the profiles for each site on your 

Google Analytics account. 

Google Analytics works great with AdWords, which is 

an advertisement app by Google. You can log on and purchase 

ads for your business to be placed on various websites 

or Google search results. It has an option of local, 

national, and international ad spots. You just enter your zip 

code and select a mileage radius, and the computer will 

keep your ads localized. 

You can also decide to pay per click or number of 

impressions. The Google Analytics site has the details of 

payment options. 

There is a sign-up fee for this site. The AdSense 

website also works with AdWords and Google Analytics 

as well, but this site is designed to make you money with 

your school’s site. All three of these sites are run on a webserver, 

so there’s data to lose once they have it. 


Photograph by anyaberkut

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Mental Curriculum 

AN-SHU 

STEPHEN HAYES 

has authored 

more than 20 

books, worked 

as a body guard 

for the Dali Lama, 

supervised over 30 

school locations 

worldwide, and 

was named “A 

legend; one of the 

10 most influential 

living martial artists 

in the world” 

by Black Belt 

Magazine 

When people come into my school as white belts, 

they have a three-part student code, or creed, by which 

they must abide. We tell them up front these are the three 

things you must reinforce whenever you’re doing anything 

dangerous, whether it’s a ski jump, bungee jump, martial 

arts lessons, or anything else: 

1. I believe in myself. I’m confident and I can accomplish 

my goals. 

People ask, “Have you ever had a day when 

you didn’t believe in yourself?” Yeah, and we’ll say 

it twice on that day. You have a right to believe in 

yourself and your potential. 

2. I believe in what I study. I’m disciplined. I’m 

ready to learn and advance. 

We ask people, “Have you ever done anything, 

like a job or relationship, and you just didn’t believe 

in it?” Some hands go up. “Why did you do it?” 

“Well, I needed the money,” or “I was scared 

that I couldn’t find another way”—fear. 

3. I believe in my teachers. I show respect for all 

who help me progress. 

That includes negative teachers too. We ask, 

“Were you able to learn anything positive from a 

negative relationship?” Everybody says yes! 

We say if you don’t believe in yourself, 

you haven’t studied, and you don’t have 

a good coach, you’re crazy to just go in 

there. The only time you’d ever do that 

would be at a sporting event: you’re not 

going to die if you come in second place. 

Then we have a 14-point code of 

Mindful Action, which is our ethics code. 

For each belt, they learn one of these 

14-point codes of how to behave. I jokingly 

say, “Well, at worst, this is just how to 

stay out of jail.” We’re not predators. We 

don’t steal. We don’t lie. We don’t sexually 

abuse people. We have a lot of kids in our 

schools, so we don’t refer to sexuality, but 

we say, “I cultivate positive relationships, 

I avoid harming others for selfish gain,” 

and little kids say, “What does that mean?” 

Well, you don’t use other people. Did you ever notice 

anybody who used somebody? They’d pretend to be their 

friend and they’d get something from them? We don’t 

do that. When they get their black belt and are going for 

second degree, we have eight points of personal development. 

Now, this is where we look at ourselves and the way 

we think. There’s a mechanical way that every one of us 

thinks, and there’s a better, more effective, efficient way. 

You learned to think when you were two, three, and four . . . 

and now you’re 26. You think you could upgrade that a little 

bit? Then, going for third degree, there’s a six-point Hero 

Code: six specific things that people look at that makes for 

heroic living, and if one of those is missing, it’s not heroic. 

When I talk with our successful adults that are involved in 

the program, I ask, “What’s something you used this past 

week? Can you really relate to this?” They always bring up 

the Code and the creed, because these are the conflicts 

that successful people are having. They’re not in dangerous 

parts of town and robbed at knifepoint. They run into 

the office bully, the superior who doesn’t know how to lead, 

and they use these tactics that they learned at the martial 

arts school to bend things around to work for them. People 

are learning things at the martial arts school, using them in 

their real lives, generating the results that they want to get, 

and they come back and thank us for it. Let’s keep that in 

the curriculum. 


Photograph by JNemchinova

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Selling Your School? 

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For A Career In The Martial Arts? 

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Looking To Hire Instructors? 



Are You Overwhelmed and Confused 

About How Social Media Can Help Grow Your School? 

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MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Social

PILLARS OF SUCCESS 

What Was Wrong with My 

Lifestyle? (Part 2) 

GRANDMASTER 

Y. K. KIM is the 

most successful 

martial arts 

business leader 

in the US, having 

written over 30 

books on martial 

arts, business, 

leadership, and 

success. He has 

won numerous 

public service 

awards and is the 

founder of the 

leading martial 

arts marketing 

and management 

company in the US. 

Third, I turned to medicine to relieve pain, instead of 

taking the time to discover the causes of these aches and 

pains and prevent them. 

One day, all my small aches and pains ganged up on 

my body, paralyzing it. The next thing I knew, I was being 

rushed to the emergency room in an ambulance. I was 

ignorant and stupid. 

I changed my stupid habits: I try my best to prevent 

headaches, an upset stomach, and stiff muscles by practicing 

Power Exercises 24 hours a day. However, when I 

feel uncomfortable, I examine why and discover how to 

handle it, which helps me be healthier than ever in my life. 

While all of these bad things were happening, the only 

good thing I did was continue practicing the martial arts. If 

it weren’t for the martial arts, my unhealthy lifestyle would 

have paralyzed me permanently. The martial arts gave my 

body the strength to fight against my bad habits. 

Fortunately, I realized that nothing works without harmony 

and balance. Maybe this shameful and painful story 

from my life can help you avoid a similar fate. 

If anybody asks me, “What is the most important thing 

in your life?” My answer is physical success. 

I had to pay an almost fatal price to find the right 

answer to this question. Without physical success, nothing 

matters in my life. Physical success means you have physical 

fitness for action. 

Action means you are alive. 

Being alive means you have physical freedom and 

energy so you can move, work, and play. 

Physical fitness actualizes your thoughts, desires, 

ideas, and goals. Actualizing your ideas requires action. 

Action requires energy and energy requires a quality body. 

To have a quality body, you need physical fitness. 

If you are sick, weak, or tired all the time, success is far 

away from you. In order to create a truly successful future, 

you need to build physical fitness. It will give you physical 

energy, which makes you healthier and stronger, and 

physical confidence, which makes you unstoppable. 

Prevention is much better than cure. When you take care 

of your body, your body will take care of you. If you don’t 

take care of your body, your body will take revenge on you. 

Take care of your body while you can. Successful people 

build physical fitness as the top priority in their lives. 

Physical fitness will create physical success. 


Photograph by natasaadzic

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THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI 

Streetwise Knife Fighting, 

Part 3 

SHIHAN DANNA 

ABBOTT is a 

7th degree black 

belt in Kenjutsu, 

starting his 14-year 

education in Tokyo. 

He has published 

five books and 

designed a US 

Patent. Abbott has 

also conducted 

seminars in over 

30 countries and 

obtained his black 

belt at the Hombu 

dojo in Yokohama. 

He currently offers 

online classes on 

LearntheSword. 

com, his unique 

swordsmanship 

academy. 

The best defense is not to get cut, and speed helps 

eliminate that possibility. Linear attacks, blocks, and deflections 

also promote momentum, and it is known to be 

more powerful and expedient to move in a straight line. 

Why beat around the bush when you can go directly in 

for the point or kill in a fraction of the time and energy? 

Visuals and good peripheral vision allow you to 

watch the assailant’s every move and be prepared 

for any instance. 

This would also 

eliminate any blind 

spots that could put 

you into difficulty. 

The better you 

can assess your surroundings, 

the quicker 

you’d be able to “nip it in 

the bud” and act accordingly 

before when the situation 

goes to the next level. 

Knife fighting and self-defense 

are challenging for many 

students, since they practice 

with hard objects such as metal, 

plastic, and wooden knives, 

which can hurt on contact. 

Many traditionalists and martial 

artists who have practiced knife 

techniques for years can take full-on thrusts, 

slashes, and stabs without wincing in pain due to 

conditioned bodies. We understand contact can 

cause discomfort, but one can never become 

proficient without long hours of conditioning. 

With this being too Spartan of an approach, 

many had to instruct at slow-motion 

speeds to maintain student retention 

without injury lawsuits. 

Fortunately, that’s becoming a thing 

of the past. Thirty-five years ago, the 

Japanese developed a special padded 

full-contact knife for the National Police 

Department in Tokyo. This allowed law 

enforcement trainees to practice dangerous techniques 

and situations at full speed and power, creating realistic 

close-quarter combat scenarios. 

Moreover, these trainees’ skills were honed at an incredibly 

faster rate without complaints of injury. 

“Full-contact weapon technology allows 

me to safely instruct knife fighting the way it 

should be taught…it’s the real deal!” says 

Gary Hanna, Navy Seal Ret. and Navy 

Cross recipient. 


Photograph by IJdema

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EXTRAORDINARY MARKETING 

Does Your School Have the 

X Factor? (Part 1) 

GRANDMASTER 

STEPHEN OLIVER, 


black belt and is 

the founder and 

CEO of Mile High 

Karate schools, 

and founder of the 

Martial Arts Wealth 

Mastery Program. 

I’ve been pondering…what’s the X factor that makes 

some school owners wildly successful and others failures? 

It’s a difficult question. 

For some of the answer, I’ve looked back to my many 

years running schools. For my own organization, truth 

be told, more branch managers failed than succeeded. It 

wasn’t for lack of “prescreening” the new hires. It certainly 

wasn’t a lack of training and training opportunities. It 

wasn’t for a lack of effective systems. 

Most in our industry fail by default. They never really 

look for education. Never get an opportunity to learn 

about all of the many details that are involved with really 

running a business. 

They think that their martial arts skills and knowledge 

will be enough. Really, it’s only a meager beginning. 

Some of the most skilled and knowledgeable martial 

artists of our generation have died broke or were forced to 

make their living doing something else. Forever doomed 

to be an amateur at their first love and to be a professional 

at something else. 

But that basic ignorance that most people unfortunately 

never get beyond isn’t what I’m trying to figure out. 

The tougher issue is what makes otherwise intelligent 

people with access to all of the necessary systems and 

training fail anyway? 

In my own company, I was the “turnaround” guy. Like 

Jeff Smith did for most of his years with the Jhoon Rhee 

Institute, the number one location was always the one that 

he was directly running or supervising. I would periodically 

put myself in my worst location and get it going. 

When I had it run up to number one by a pretty good 

distance, I’d turn it back over to a staff member with the 

admonition that there would be hell to pay if it fell more 

than 10–15%. It was the “lead dog” theory of management: 

everyone will pace the leader and prove that all of the 

excuses used by the previous manager were only that— 

excuses. 

It wasn’t the location. It wasn’t the community. It was 

the staff. 

What was startling was how quickly most of the turnarounds 

happened. Often it was clean house of the bad 

attitudes and all of the unnecessary stuff (well-organized 

files, collections of marketing materials never distributed, 

etc.) and then almost a vertical rise to huge numbers. 

But back to the “X factor.” 

What is it that most are missing than only a few have? 


Photograph by uladzimir_likman

AFTER SCHOOL EXCELLENCE 

Don’t Forget These Summer 

Camp Promotional Knockouts 

CHIEF MASTER 

MIKE BUGG is an 


belt and the owner 

of a $1.52 millionper-year 

location, 

with one of the 

largest after school 

and summer camp 

programs in the 

country. 

It’s that time of year again to start getting ready for 

summer camp. If you heed the advice that an ounce of 

prevention is worth a pound of cure, you’ll definitely want 

to take some time to plan out your summer camp needs 

well in advance of executing your summer program. Getting 

a head start on new students means you can enroll 

tons of students in your summer camp and bring in four 

times the new students, and eight times the revenue over 

a single summer! You may have been working hard all 

year to get the word out about your summer camp, but 

you must still finish strong by promoting through the start 

of camp. Let’s look at some last-minute things you can do 

to promote your camp and get every possible student you 

can this summer. 

Summer Camp Brochures 

Stock your school with summer camp brochures 

that you can put in your brochure racks and hand out to 

your students and staff to distribute. If you don’t have a 

summer brochure you like, ATLAS has expertly designed 

brochures to grab the attention of both parents and kids 

immediately. 

Flyers 

This is one of the few times a year that we recommend 

direct mail, because this is an excellent time to get new 

students into your program. Print out the flyers for your 

camp and spread the word about your school through local 

businesses and referrals from your students. 

Snipe Signs 

Snipe signs are like mini billboards around town to 

grab the attention of potential new students and parents. 

If you don’t already, be sure to get your snipe signs out 

there to promote your school for you. A last-minute snipe 

sign sighting can get parents into your school and enrolling 

their children in your summer camp. 

Website 

Your website should have the most up-to-date information 

about your school. When you go into summer mode, 

you’ve got to make the changes on your website so 

students are informed and register early. 

With these last-minute summer camp promotional 

strategies, you’re almost guaranteed to have new students 

enrolling before the start of camp! 


Photograph by kislev

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Have Your School, Organization, 

Accomplishment, or Event Featured in 

Martial Arts World News Magazine! 

As professional martial arts school owners and instructors, 

it’s important that we stay up to date with the latest tools, 

tactics, and strategies for operating a successful martial arts 

school or organization. 

We here at Martial Arts World News Magazine are on an 

unstoppable mission to help our industry grow, and one of 

the best ways to do that is by sharing “what’s working” and 

what’s not. 

So, we want to feature schools, school owners, instructors, 

organizations, students, and industry contributors that might 

have a story our readers would find valuable! 

No story is too small or too big for consideration so long as 

there is value to our readers. 

• One of your students overcame 

great obstacles to achieve 

their black belt? Awesome! 

• You’ve opened a new location? 

We’d love to hear about it! 

• Your martial arts association 

just set a new record? Great! 

Send us some information! 


Send your Story Idea to us Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

Or Contact us at: 407-895-1996

the 

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C H I P T O W N S E N D 

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BLAC has made such a huge difference in our school! In a few 

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TACTICAL SELF-DEFENSE 

What Do the Masses Think of 

Our Classes? (Part 2) 

GRANDMASTER 

TOM PATIRE, 

is known as 

“America’s Leading 

Personal Safety 

Expert” and has 

appeared on Good 

Morning America, 

The CBS Morning 

Show, The Colbert 

Report, Montel, 

plus in mainstream 

publications such 

as Family Circle, 

Redbook, Fortune 

Magazine, and The 

Wall Street Journal. 

He has written 

several books 

and has personal 

safety programs 

that can be 

incorporated into 

your martial arts 

school, available at 

TomPatire.com. 

The rumor is that martial arts don’t work on the street 

or in a real-world environment. Backed by statistical 

studies and people who trash the martial arts, this has 

become one of the biggest negatives we have to face as 

school owners. 

We in our own profession don’t help the cause by 

trashing each other’s styles or by going on the internet 

and making fun of other systems like immature children. 

The public looks for a reason to sway them either way, and 

when they read this jealous junk, they decide not to train 

at all, thus shrinking our market. 

Another reason adults don’t take martial arts classes 

is that it’s too expensive, and like in any business, you get 

what you pay for. 

Contracts roping people in with no escape clause or 

professional courtesies gives us negative press when 

disgruntled customers leave our schools. 

Now, I don’t agree that we should give all of the money 

back or let them out of their contract if we did what was 

expected of us, but I do agree that if there’s a compromise, 

that will give you better press than sending a collection 

agency after them. 

The next comment was expected: “I hate the whole 

environment.” 

In different sports, uniforms are worn. In places of 

business, uniforms are worn, and in the martial arts, uniforms 

are worn. Whether they are traditional, sporting, or 

combative, they’re still school dress wear, and that in itself 

gives the school a more professional look. 

As far as the bowing, the regiment, and the discipline, 

that is what the arts are based on. People in many 

instances are linear and have no clue how many different 

systems are out there, and how many different versions of 

teachers there are. So, it’s our job as teachers to educate 

these people by using quality brochures that show all of 

the different aspects of what we teach. 

Otherwise, we will just fall into the category of guys that 

people say teach in pajamas and walk around barefoot. 

Those are some of the comments, and there are many 

more, but at least we know what many are thinking. 

Remember, I’m only the messenger, but I am a soldier in 

the martial arts no different than you, trying to get the people 

into the school to open their eyes and learn something 

that one day may save their lives or that of a loved one. 


Photograph by Liderina

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COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS 

Branding: From the Ring to 

the Screen, and All Things in 

Between, Part 3 

PROFESSOR 

WILLIE “THE 

BAM” JOHNSON 



seven-time 

sport karate and 

Kung-Fu world 

champion. He has 

appeared in four 

movies, 16 plays, 

and 11 television 

shows. He is 

also the national 

spokesperson for 

the Stronger than 

Drugs Foundation 

and the Champions 

Against Drugs. 

A testament that my decision was correct occurred, 

of all places, while watching a movie about one of the 

greatest rappers of all time, and one of the biggest 

influences in my life, Biggie Smalls. In “Notorious,” 

there’s a scene that shows Biggie’s transformation 

in jail as he begins to make positive changes in his 

life. The scene features a 360-degree tour of his jail 

cell as we see his inspirations for change. Hanging 

right on the wall is my first magazine cover shot that 

featured an article about me making it through jail and 

the streets. Because of all I was doing, I was now truly 

being recognized for my true identity. I was connecting 

and triumphing with my real life story. Because I was 

always a good people person, I was able to connect to 

all types of people, from CEOs to those on the tough 

streets of Baltimore. I was a celebrity in neighborhoods 

that I should’ve gotten killed in. My past life experience 

provided solutions for so many people today, and 

that’s why I began starting my days at 3 AM: to remind 

myself that God allowed me to live and bring change to 

others. I will never allow anyone to control my legacy 

except me—from the underground to the mainstream, I 

represent the integrity of both. 

The loyalty for life and money was a byproduct of all 

my family and I gave. There’s truly no price tag you can put 

on human development. Everything we developed got 

customer approval first, developing a fan base organically. 

Everyone goes through adversity, everyone wants 

opportunities, and wants peace, harmony, and happiness. 

People want to fight back, be assertive, and overcome. 

As long as we serve these needs, I can do no wrong as a 

brand. As the holistic fusion of healthy living and practical, 

realistic martial arts was now at the forefront, I had a great 

opportunity. The American culture of freedom of expression, 

creativity, and can-do attitude were alive and well. 

Everything was one click or action and committed behavior 

away. At the same time, mixed martial arts became the 

fastest growing sport and took martial arts’ popularity to 

new heights. Once again I was able to connect with the 

times with a program called Point MMA. 

So, now you see the power of branding yourself in 

everything you do. I stumbled across this late in the game, 

but you don’t have to. By using the principles laid out in 

my column, you can always be aware of life’s possibilities. 

Remember, you must never stop moving away from 

your instincts. When you learn to stay true to yourself, you 

also know when your instinct is wrong. This is our unique 

nature and we must master its development. As I get 

older, I’ve learned to be one with my instincts in combat or 

competition, but outside of these areas of physical execution, 

I have to let it flow through me and practice—through 

prayer, meditation, and even writing about it. Then I can 

make a choice that is right for others and me and true to 

my brand. That’s what it all comes down to: being true to 

your core, because it’s the greatest feeling in the world; 

greater than a million dollars for not being true to yourself. 

Through trial and error, I found my way to achieving my 

goals of being a martial arts action star. Through the Warrior 

Mindset approach, I realized that I was able to push 

past so many barriers, setbacks, false promises, disloyal 

friendships, back stabbing, and a total lack of concern for 

my family’s future and me. I decided to work beyond the 

screen and help others get a better chance than I had by 

adding value to them. 


Photograph by natasaadzic

THE MILLIONAIRE SMARTS COACH 

Creating Prosperity Regardless of 

the Economy, Part 2 

MS. LEE MILTEER 

is an Intuitive 

Business Coach, 

award-winning 

professional 

speaker, and TV 

personality who 

has counseled 

and trained over 

a million people 

throughout her 

career. Lee is 

Stephen Oliver’s 


Wealth Mastery’s 

Millionaire Smarts 

Coach and is also a 

best-selling author 

of educational 

resources. 

Everyone in our world thinks about money. If you aren’t 

doing well financially today, it is definitely NOT caused by 

a lack of opportunity. No matter what the media is saying, 

there are massive opportunities to reinvent yourself and 

your business to be profitable today. Yes, this means you 

might have to change directions, but so what? That’s a 

habit of the wealthy! Life changes, businesses change, 

and trends change, but there are always new opportunities 

to capitalize on if you’re in the right state of mind and 

can overcome poverty thinking. There are four fundamental 

positions you can take to immediately improve and 

attract prosperity, rather than chasing it: 

1. The quality of your personal philosophy 

2. The quality of your thinking 

3. The quality of your behavior 

4. The quality of the value you create to exchange 

for prosperity in the world 

Focus on what you want to create, not what you don’t 

want to create. You receive exactly what you focus on. 

Poverty thinking brings poverty. Wealth thinking brings 

wealth. Grudges bring deathly poison to any business. 

Ask yourself: what am I focusing on right now? Is it 

positive or negative? The more positive you are in your 

attitude and your actions, the more abundance you’ll have 

in your life. 

Avoid Negativity 

Be proactive and expose yourself to information that’s 

inspiring and uplifting. Doing so will edify the flow of your 

natural creative juices. Eliminate people from your life who 

negatively influence you or challenge your positive mood. 

You have to be in the right state of mind to see and create 

opportunities. Ask yourself: who and what is dragging me 

down and how can I remove it from my reality? Expose 

yourself to information that empowers you daily. Do this 

for 21 days and I promise you’ll have an entirely new outlook 

to life and better money results. 

Have Integrity with Yourself 

To create wealth, you must have integrity with yourself. 

Be on guard against being manipulated emotionally by 

the fear and drama of those around you and recognize the 

potential stress of allowing others to influence you. Ask 

yourself: where have I been out of integrity with my own 

beliefs and actions? 

Be Creative 

Acknowledge that people are spending lots of money 

on things they want and need. To grow in your current environment, 

be creative. Give your customers what they’re 

asking for and keep a positive mindset. Ask yourself: what 

can I do to capitalize on new, exciting products and services 

that will get attention? 

If you haven’t asked the people in your world what 

they want, it’s time to do so! You might want to send out a 

survey to your current students and ASK them what they 

like, don’t like, and what they’d like more of. Then decide 

where you want to focus your energy and resources. Set 

up a brainstorming session with your staff, associates, 

or mentors and put all your challenges on the table. Get 

outside of your comfort zone and think about what you 

can be proactive about to manifest what you want. Ask 

yourself WHO in your life can give you suggestions to 

improve your bottom line. Enlist the knowledge, skills, 

intuition, and experience of others in your world and stop 

trying to do it all alone. 


Photograph by Gajus

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

Mining for Instructors: 

Planting the Seed, Part 1 

GRANDMASTER 

ZULFI AHMED 

has amassed 

acclaim as a 

world-class 

competitor, martial 

arts educator, and 

is most notably 

founder and 

designer of the 

internationally 

renowned style, 

Bushi Ban. With over 

45 years of martial 

arts experience and 

over 300 martial arts 

awards, his schools 

include ten locations 

across Texas. 

I believe everyone reading this column can agree that 

one of the most frustrating and challenging aspects of 

running a successful martial arts school is locating, acquiring, 

and retaining extraordinary staff at all levels of your 

business. But the one staff member who can ultimately 

make or break a martial arts school is its instructor. 

It is a fact that most, if not all, success depends on how 

well your floor is operating and the quality of students you 

are producing. The development of new and future instructors 

and the retention of high-quality instructors has 

always been a challenge throughout our industry. I’ll help 

you gain a better understanding of the process of obtaining 

the top 1% of instructors in your martial arts school. 

Start with the mindset that everyone who walks 

through your doors is a potential future instructor. One of 

the biggest mistakes most school owners make is waiting 

too long to begin looking for someone to fill an instructor 

role. The higher the position, the harder it becomes, 

and the longer it takes to fill the position. Only when they 

are faced with losing or the loss of an instructor, or if and 

when they are motivated to grow their business, do they 

begin their search. The instructor development training 

and retention process should always be in effect in your 

school. Future instructor and leadership classes and curriculum 

should be yet another ongoing program or feature 

that is available to every student as a normal and required 

part of their training. 

At Bushi Ban, the seeds of becoming a future instructor 

are planted even as early as their first trial lesson. This 

mindset is intrinsically woven into our training culture. 

Our students routinely talk about teaching and one day 

becoming a master instructor. Beginning with our friendly 

receptionist staff and continuing all the way up to our 

Grand Master, our students and staff are always talking 

about teaching and its many rewarding aspects. The 

students and parents are constantly being exposed to the 

thought that one day they or their child might become an 

instructor, allowing that goal to guide their training and 

reinvigorate their motivation to set and accomplish their 

goals while helping to generate a renewed commitment 

to their training, your school, and their personal journey in 

the martial arts. The culture of higher aspiration and future 

instructorship positions is created and displayed throughout 

the school in the form of posters, pictures, and other 

visual elements as well. This helps further promote and 

propagate the culture within our schools. 


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BUDO PHILOSOPHY 

Individuality vs. Adaptation, 

Part 1 

SHIDOSHI 

ALFREDO TUCCI 

is the CEO and 

General Manager 

of the Budo 

International 

Publishing 

Company, a 

leading publisher 

in the martial arts 

with over 35 years 

in the industry. 

He is also author 

of several books: 

The Immaterial 

Dimension, The 

Way of the Warrior, 

and The Spirit. He 

currently lives in 

Valencia, Spain. 

“Individuality implies separateness, and separateness 

involves pain.” –Arthur Schopenhauer 

“In life, man is elastic and evolving. At the moment of 

death, he becomes rigid and immutable. Plants in the sun 

are supple and yielding, but they perish dry and cracked. 

That is why the elastic and flexible is associated with 

life and the rigid and immutable goes hand in hand with 

death. So, the hard and rigid is as ready for the ax as a 

dry tree, while the malleable and soft finds its place in life.” 

–Lao Tsu 

For millions of years, the human species has concentrated 

on a single goal: to adapt. Until the Renaissance, 

the concept of the individual did not obtain a formal 

expression in the collective consciousness. It was then 

that the idea wielded in the ideology of the great Greek 

philosophers acquired a projection, which transcended 

the limits, and that only a small elite of Athenian citizens 

managed to develop in their lives. 

Actually, during the Middle Ages, the son of a shoemaker 

was also the grandson and the great-great-grandson 

of a shoemaker. Little had changed; the person simply 

had to adapt. 

As a matter of fact, the accent kept being placed on 

the custom and environment instead of the individual. 

The idea of the individual is based on a single objective, 

because after having developed the consciousness of 

being differentiated, the next unavoidable step is to exert 

the ability to choose. 

This way, from the Age of Enlightenment, freedom as a 

concept appears to be the powerful driving force behind 

social change, and extends quite literally like gunpowder. 

It’s in the constitution of the USA when it first acquires a 

nature charter. Freedom is a means, happiness an end. 

Two World Wars in between and then the fall of the 

failed counterweight of capitalism behind the Iron Curtain, 

mankind is living now in the information society with all 

the fronts and backs of such a dream. Although the transgression 

that supposes the idea of the individual as an 

operative and driving force of society has found an echo 

in our days, it’s still a transgression that in a certain way 

is contrary to everything that made us human. Contradictions 

are time bombs that sooner or later explode, and the 

deaf price of these consequences exists. 

The problem of choosing is that it’s a path with no 

turning back. From the moment you can do it, a lot of 

energy that you previously used to adapt is now directed 

to the tiring act of deciding. You decide and each decision 

will place you before a new bifurcation in your fate. What 

used to be automatic now must be manual. The tools to 

exert this trade are based on information and the training 

of character, but above all, on personal energy. It takes 

tons of energy to hold that effort, and the truth is that most 

people lack such personal power. 

You may choose and decide, but you didn’t necessarily 

obtain what you wanted. 


Photograph by m_blum

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PRO SHOP POWER 

Maximize Your Pro Shop Sales 

MR. SUN KANG 

is the President 

of Vision Martial 

Arts Supply, Los 

Angeles Branch, 

who helps school 

owners all over the 

US maximize their 

retail sales and 

drive more revenue 

into their schools. 

Enrolling in your 

martial arts school and 

staying up to date with 

tuition installments can 

be such a struggle for 

students and parents that 

even the thought of buying 

anything from your 

pro shop can seem farfetched. 

Despite the sales 

you do make, there are a 

plethora of options and 

methods you can use to 

maximize pro shop sales 

of the items you have at 

your school. Each one of 

these methods can give 

you the skills needed to 

make an easy sale whenever you want. 

Implement Discounts on Fridays. It seems a bit specific, 

but having big sales on Fridays is a good idea because 

it’s payday. Put yourself in students’ shoes and you’ll know 

that if there’s any time to splurge and make a purchase, it’s 

right after you’re paid. Not only that, but you’re adhering to 

the times they can afford it, rather than having a sale on a 

Monday and forcing them to wait four days while products 

sell out. 

Only Use Giveaways in Combos/Promotions/Seminars. 

Though giveaways aren’t always recommended, 

they can mean the difference between an enrollment and 

no enrollment if used correctly. We recommend considering 

giving an item away for free as long as it’s part of 

another regular purchase or comes as a prize from attending 

a promotion or seminar. This is because you’ll benefit 

anyway from their participation and/or the fee that they 

pay to attend. Lastly, try to make giveaways one of your 

less expensive items that’ll still serve a purpose and give 

them an additional reason to come back to class. 

Raise Prices on In-Demand Items. Items in demand 

are usually required for specific purposes. They’re used in 

your demo program, tag team, competitions, tournaments, 

or students want them for their personal use. With this in 

mind, you can afford to raise the prices here, especially if 

you need to lower prices on others, so your intake is not 

affected. 

Lower Prices on Surplus Items. Sometimes there are 

certain sales that don’t get made, like items that sit on your 

shelf in your school for months at a time. The space they 

take up could be better used by something more worthy 

of a sale, so look into lowering their prices to increase 

traffic. Many times a discount gives the buyer a reason to 

reconsider not making a purchase every time they walk in 

and out of your school. 

Associate Items With Training Programs. Some 

schools display their merchandise on a table, unmarked, 

with no label or price. They may do this to increase 

curiosity, but oftentimes this is why potential buyers avoid 

making a purchase. Including prices on a poster board 

or on the item itself is helpful and informative, but more 

importantly, adding why the item is useful or needed can 

help too. On weapons, you might want to label that your 

demo team uses them or that the sparring gear is required 

for all tag team sparrers. In addition, they should raise 

even more curiosity than leaving them unmarked because 

buyers can associate the item with the purpose their child 

or themselves need it for. 

To see how Vision can help you make the most of 

your pro shop, head over to MyKick.com! 


Photograph by tumsasedgars

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MIND MASTERY 

Martial Arts Leadership During 

a Pandemic, Part 2 

GRANDMASTER 

JESSIE BOWEN 

is president of 

Karate International 

of Durham, Inc., 

a member of the 

American Martial 

Arts Association 

Sport Karate 

League and Hall 

of Fame, and has 

been a member of 

the Duke University 

PE Staff for over 

25 years. He is the 

author of Zen Mind- 

Body Mindfulness 

Meditation and 

Zen Mind-Body 

Mindfulness 

Meditation for 

Martial Arts, as well 

as several other 

books, programs, 

and audio CDs on 

meditation and 

success training. 

In the world of business, the perception of leadership 

has changed from its early days when it largely mirrored 

the military model of leadership from the top down, with 

influential individuals dominating large groups of less 

powerful people. 

Nowadays, business leadership is far more knowledge 

driven. 

The lowliest employee may end up effectively leading 

the direction of a vast corporation through their 

innovative ideas. Anyone with critical knowledge can 

show leadership. 

This is known as “thought leadership.” 

In other situations, leadership can be about taking 

a stand for what you believe in and trying to convince 

people to think and act differently. 

Leadership has been variously described as the 

“process of social influence in which one person can enlist 

the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a 

common task.” 

Leadership is “creating a way for people to contribute 

to making something extraordinary happen” and “the 

ability to successfully integrate and maximize available 

resources within the internal and external environment for 

the attainment of organizational or societal goals.” 

Leadership is “the capacity of leaders to listen and 

observe, to use their expertise as a starting point to 

encourage dialogue between all levels of decision making, 

to establish processes and transparency in decision 

making, to articulate their values and visions clearly, but 

not impose them.” 

Leadership is about “setting and not just reacting to 

agendas, identifying problems, and initiating change that 

makes for substantive improvement rather than managing 

change.” 

There is truth to all of the above definitions, but they all 

apply to leadership ideals. 

This article was written so that you might take a moment 

and think about leadership and all the integral parts 

required to make a great leader. You have been allowed 

to become an emerging leader through the coronavirus 

pandemic. 

This is your testing ground. 


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MASTER THE BASICS 

Developing Focus 

MASTER 

TINA BANE 


master instructor 

and owner of a 

Top Ten martial 

arts school with 

successful after 

school and summer 

camp programs. 

As you’re reading this, if you’re watching your class go 

through drills while listening to the radio and getting an 

update on how classes are going from an instructor, you’re 

experiencing what it’s like for most kids when they try to 

pay attention in class at all times. Children are very easily 

distracted, which is a leading concern in their academic 

careers because their minds often drift when they’re 

learning new material that may be difficult to grasp right 

away. This is also a major concern for parents, who are 

expecting big things from their students in school. Focus 

keeps kids out of trouble and helps them learn new skills, 

so how can you bring more focus into the classroom so 

that you can use that as a selling point for your school? 

Here are some industry-leading tips for getting students 

to dial in and focus on what will benefit them—not only in 

after school martial arts, but in all aspects of their lives. 

Identify Students’ “Focus Fence” 

A “focus fence” is a barrier that a student cannot pass. 

It’s the point where they stop paying attention. This is 

slightly different for everyone. However, to best help your 

students develop their focus and attentiveness, you must 

identify where their focus fence is. You can do this by 

having one of your instructors or student volunteers lead 

the class while you observe. Pay attention to students 

who fidget, start talking, or begin looking around the room 

when instruction is given. Make note of each student’s 

threshold, because you’re going to need that information 

to help them develop better focus. 

Push Students Beyond Their Limits 

The only way to improve your flexibility is to stretch 

your muscles beyond their normal threshold. Each time 

you stretch the muscle a little farther you gain a bit more 

flexibility. The same is true of focus and concentration. If 

you have a student who can only focus for five minutes at 

a time, have them try staying focused for seven minutes. 

Work in small increments to bring your students along. 

The more you push their limits, the greater capacity they’ll 

have for concentration. 

Use Your Emergency Release Valve 

Just like with physical exercise, when you’re helping 

your students develop their focus, you’ve got to take 

breaks at the appropriate time. Pushing too far will have 

the opposite impact of what you’re looking for. Your 

students will feel overwhelmed or their minds will wander 

even more. You want to push just beyond their limits, and 

then give them a break before you push them too far. The 

key to building their focus is to know the right time to stop 

pushing. 

Follow these three simple tips and you’ll see your students’ 

focus improve. This will have long-term benefits to 

your program since they’ll be able to focus longer on the 

martial arts, therefore increasing your retention! 


Photograph by Twomeows_IS

INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE 

What’s Your CSQ? (Part 2) 

GRANDMASTER 

TIM MCCARTHY 



is a martial arts 

educator with a 

master’s degree in 

education. He has 

been instrumental 

in developing two 

industry-changing 

programs, plus 

has directed and 

been featured in 

hundreds of martial 

arts videos and 

webinars. 

I understand the difference between martial arts and 

aerobic dance class. The techniques we teach have the 

potential to hurt people, but that doesn’t mean we need to 

teach them in a violent atmosphere. 

If anything, I believe the potential danger of the techniques 

should cause us to take a less violent, more cooperative 

stance so that our students learn not only how to 

hurt bad guys, but how NOT to hurt the good guys (their 

partners in class). Knowing how to hurt someone isn’t 

nearly as important as knowing when to hurt someone 

(and when not to). 

That’s why we also need to teach bully prevention 

methods, so our students learn to resolve conflicts without 

having to resort to violence. 

There’s a big difference between a black belt and an 

instructor. 

A black belt (no matter how many degrees) is a symbol 

of learning martial arts techniques. An instructor has the 

added responsibility of learning instructional techniques. 

They have to know when to be tough on students to get 

them to break their own limitations, but also when to be 

kind to students when they need encouragement. Some 

students will naturally rise to a challenge, and the tougher 

you are, the better they become. Other students lack 

confidence today, so if you are too tough on them, they 

will quit. 

Whose fault is that? 

One size does not fit all. 

I believe a good instructor knows the difference and 

can help that (currently) weaker student succeed a little 

each day until they develop the confidence to accept and 

overcome bigger challenges. 

That’s the whole point of the belt system: to present a 

series of increasingly difficult challenges that students can 

overcome in steps until they’re able to accomplish some 

pretty amazing feats. Students don’t come to us as black 

belts. It is our job to care enough to take them from white 

belt to black belt and beyond in a way that serves their 

individual needs, not ours. 

Martial arts knowledge and skills are only the lowest 

level of requirements to be a successful school owner or 

instructor. You need to care about each student. People 

won’t care how much you know until they know how 

much you care. 


Photograph by journey2008

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MASTERING MODERN BJJ 

Blue Belts, Part 2 

MASTER CARLOS 

MACHADO is a 

world master’s 

champion in 

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. 

He currently runs 

BJJ schools across 

the US, Australia, 

Canada, and 

Mexico. Machado 

studied under 

Carlos Gracie, Jr. 

While in Brazil, he 

was the leading 

champion for ten 

consecutive years 

in BJJ. He taught in 

the same building 

where “Walker, 

Texas Ranger” 

was filmed and 

choreographed 

fight scenes for the 

show. 

Once you remember, though, that blue belts are those 

who survived the white belt times, it will be easier to figure 

out why they are more patient and less prone to injuries. 

The rookie months will stay in their memories for the long 

run and be instrumental in their future development. It is 

not about learning new things alone; it is more about making 

fewer and fewer mistakes. 

When they develop their game into breaking things 

down, they will focus predominantly on the set ups, not 

so much on the finishing part of the moves in question. 

They care more about how often they get to the position 

to succeed in the application of a technique, regardless 

whether they finish it or not. It is about learning how to 

hunt without necessarily killing the prey right away. Big 

cats teach their cubs as they grow older to chase and 

paw over the face of dazed gazelles before they venture 

to go all the way to a full hunt. Time will come, and it is a 

bunch of fun to get into the hunt while the prey is trying 

to evade without getting finished. 

Now that the meaning is explained (to survive the 

white belt times, to be strategic instead of impulsive, and 

to have the ability to break things down), let’s see what it 

takes to become one! 

I like number three, and I have three things that are a 

must when it comes down to what it takes: a road map, 

consistency, and resilience! 

The first is easy. Without a blue print, the blind man 

won’t see the light nor which direction to go. The way we 

light up the candle in the dark room (white belt status) is 

by providing a curriculum-based training, with planned 

out lessons and a syllabus in advance. Confidence can 

come only through competence. Competence is acquired 

by structured and time-based practice. When the white 

belt goes through the gate (crosses the first 30 days of 

practice), the degree of commitment will be determined 

by three major aspects of successful training: easy on the 

body (injury prevention), physically demanding to a point 

(pleasantly challenging), and mentally engaging (intriguing 

to the mind via concepts and strategies). 

Consistency will happen based on suspense (the previous 

class is a build up to the next one). Never exhaust a 

topic in a single session. Break it down and spread it out. It 

is like watching a TV series with many seasons. Once one 

season ends, the viewer (in this case, the student) can’t 

wait for the next one! 

Resilience at last, and that one is solely dependent 

upon what is taught on the mat that can be applied off the 

mats! Turning a good student into a fighter is a step; teaching 

that student how to overcome difficulties without the 

need to fight is the key point. At that stage, the blue belt is 

no longer a possibility, but a likely event. And the reason 

is because Jiu-Jitsu is no longer a hobby; it becomes a 

lifestyle. That will build up the resilience to withstand other 

things that will happen outside the mats that may interfere 

with the training. 

A blue belt becomes a seasoned veteran in the affairs 

of the academy and those of life, since at that level the student 

will prioritize the martial arts above the trivial, and certainly 

become a long-term, or more appropriately, a lifelong 

disciple of the art! Welcome to the Jiu-Jitsu brotherhood! 


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MARTIAL ARTS PHILOSOPHY 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 1 

SENSEI 

GARY LEE, 

the American 

Samurai, is a 9th 

Dan black belt, 

a USA Karate 

Federation gold 

medalist, winner 

of five Super 

Grand National 

Titles, a featured 

actor in the movie 

Sidekicks, and 

is the founder of 

the National Sport 

Karate Museum. 

Let us always remember 

where we came from and the 

roots of what we do. Every time 

we award rank, remember the 

origins of earning a real black 

belt, not by buying one. 

A journey of a lifetime, 

not three or four years, not 

ten or 20 years, but a lifetime 

of work, dedication, loyalty, 

tenacity, knowledge, attitude, 

and humbleness, with lots of 

training and people to support 

you. Once you make the decision, 

it is then a journey of a 

lifetime! Groups of black belts 

were in the ocean doing kata 

underneath the moonlight. I 

was overwhelmed and from 

that moment I knew what I 

wanted to be: a black belt, a 

real BLACK BELT. When I left Hawaii in 1969, I had my 

black belt, a white gi, a 1969 Black Belt Yearbook, a 5’8” 

cream Gordon and Smith Twin Fin surfboard and…that 

broken broom. This is a Karate fable, using my journey 

and showing what hard work does, and also showing the 

reader at the end of the story where this ranking of black 

belts has gone! This was written to educate and show 

where we’ve gone on letting anyone have a BLACK BELT. 

We’ve allowed fluky egomaniacs and wannabes to open 

Karate schools, and they are taking over our cities with 

their personal crap. They have no foundation and no understanding 

of what teaching martial arts are about, and 

it’s embarrassing to the real Karate pioneers and hardworking 

teachers that have established true martial arts 

in this country. It’s sad there’s nothing we can do about it 

except to make fun of it. Be careful who you train with and 

always check his credentials and background in martial 

arts. Aloha. 

10th Kyu White Belt 

White belt: beginner. “Eye of the Tiger” potential, but 

very ignorant in the beginning. I am a little nervous, but 

the instructor is cool. He hollers a lot, not at me, but every 

time he throws a punch or kick. Weird, hope he doesn’t 

make me do it! I ain’t crazy about hollering at people. It’s 

bad enough I have to wear those funny-looking pajamas, 

and on top of it all, I hate wearing white. I wonder what 

that’s all about, having to wear white. I get bored real easy 

even though it is cool when they kick! I like how they do 

a bunch of punches and kicks together, and then it looks 

real, kinda like a movie; looks cool in person! I’ll use the 

coupon up and quit after I get those funny-looking PJs! 

3 months later 

9th Yellow Belt 

Karate is like the Ocean: wild, unpredictable, and 

dangerous! Received my first belt, pretty cool! Scared 

to death from the time I walked in the Dojo. Yellow looks 

good on me, wow! Everybody beat me up today. Kata was 

the hardest. Fighting was fun. That Mr. Tanaka hit me hard, 

knocked the wind out of me, STUCK ME PRETTY GOOD! 

But he’s cool, strange, but cool! Hoorah! I’m a yellow belt, 

yeah! I can’t believe I passed. It was the hardest thing I 

have ever done and the most fun! It was like a new horizon! 

I didn’t think Karate was this way. I mean, it is fun, but 

something different. I really can’t put my finger on it yet. 

It’s not just learning respect, but the way everyone works 

together, everyone treats everyone the same, even the 

black belts beating on you, I like that! 


Photograph by robertcicchetti

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

‘The Leader as Coach’ 

Review of Dr. Richard Huseman’s “The Leader as Coach” 

CHIEF MASTER 

KIRK PELT 

is an 8th degree 


is the President 

of a multi-million 

dollar, multi-school 

organization, has 

a 30-year track 

record of success, 

and is currently 

on the leading 

edge of martial 

arts curriculum 

and business 

innovation. 

The “Leader as Coach” is a practical, easy, and effective 

book on modern leadership. It covers some interesting 

statistics. Here are two interrelated ones: 

1. The number one reason why people say they 

quit their job is their immediate manager. 

2. The number one reason why people stay, work 

hard, and like their job is their immediate manager. 

One of the best principles it explains is how a leader 

can get the best out of their employees by being perceived 

as highly competent and genuinely caring about 

the people they lead. By achieving those perceptions, 

you’ll get the most out of them for the organization, and 

they’ll get the most out of the organization, creating a 

win-win cycle for everyone involved. Here are some keys 

from the book that you can apply to operating a martial 

arts school: 

1. Fit each person’s talent to the team’s benefit. If 

someone is a good teacher, have them teach 

more. If someone is a great promoter, have them 

promote more. 

2. Whether it’s promotions or a tournament, tap into 

your team’s desire to win. Encourage your team 

to exceed, whether it’s to contact 100 leads or a 

first place cup. 

3. Share your vision and/or goals with your staff. 

Your staff will perform better if they know where 

they’re going. For example, if you want an A+ 

Program with 100 students they need to know 

that vision or goal. 

4. Be it promoting or teaching give your staff 

specific feedback on their effectiveness. It’s 

an educational axiom that feedback increases 

performance. For example, if you have a staff 

member that’s strong on phone skills, let them 

know what makes them strong, like good timing, 

a pleasant voice, etc. 

5. Celebrate all triumphs with your staff, both great 

and small. Praise in public. Even adding two 

students to your program is well worth praising a 

staff member. 

6. Help your staff recognize their highest potential. 

Encourage them to reach their highest potential. 

If you see a talent in a specific area, like if a staff 

member has a gift for working with children, then 

guide him to reach that potential. 

7. Have reasonable expectations of your team. 

Don’t expect your staff to live up to superhuman 

expectations in an impossible situation. For 

example, they can’t be expected to get 100 leads 

to call for your children’s program at a midnight 

movie showing an R-rated movie, but they may 

be able to get 100 young adult leads. 

8. Practice what you preach. If you preach promotion, 

show your staff your commitment to promotion. 

9. Know what motivates each employee specifically. 

A few ideas could be an afternoon off, thank-you 

notes, gift certificates, or tickets to events. Remember, 

different people have different likes and 

dislikes. For some people, football tickets may be 

great fun, and for others they’re useless at best. 

10. Put your priority on relationships with your staff. 

Know them and their family. 

“The Leader as Coach” is an excellent book worth 

reading. It’s clear, practical, and well worth the investment 

for your professional library. 


67 

A Touch of Zen 

ATouchofZen.com 

ADVERTISER INDEX 

72 Kick Start Kids 

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2, 48, ATLAS Martial Arts Software 

103 AtlasMartialArtsSoftware.com 

39 Kids Point MMA 

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107 

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63 Kovar Systems 

KovarSystems.com/success 

91 Action Mega Weekend 

HOHmega.com 

11, 87 Amazing Martial Arts Websites 

AmazingMartialArtsWebsites.com 

113 Martial Arts Business Institute 


7, 23, Martial Arts World News 

95, 105 MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

19, 76, AMS Billing 

114 OurAMS.com 

69, 83 AMSkids 

OurAMS.com/AfterSchool 

33 Black Belt Principles 

BlackBeltPrinciples.com 

85 Break Like a Champ 

TeamChipTKD.com 

89 Budo International Magazine 

BudoInternational.com 

81 Extraordinary Marketing 

ExtraordinaryMarketing.com 

15 Karen Eden 

CenturyMartialArts.com 

97 Learn the Sword 

LearnTheSword.com 

101 Lee Milteer 

Milteer.com 

61, 111 MA Biz Academy 

MABizAcademy.com 

105 Martial Arts History Museum 

MAMuseum.com 

93 Otomix 

Otomix.com 

107 Sport Karate Museum 

SportKarateMuseumArchives.com 

31, 53 Stephen K. Hayes - To-Shin Do 

NinjaSelfDefense.com 

40 Tom Patire 

TomPatire.com 

3 Vision 

VisionMA.com 

30 Warrior Defence Lab 

TheEvolutionOfKrav.com 

51, 75 Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

YkKim.com 


THE WARRIOR WAY 

Managing Your Outlook for 

Personal Success 

GRANDMASTER 

BILL CLARK is a 


belt and a former 

PKA Fighter of 

the Year. He is 

widely considered 

one of the top 

experts in martial 

arts business with 

over 40 years of 

leadership and 

innovation, having 

been inducted 

into almost every 

Hall of Fame in the 

industry. He is one 

of the largest multischool 

owners in 

the world. 

I love the words of William James, who was an American 

philosopher and psychologist and also a trained as a 

physician. He said, “The greatest discovery of my generation 

is that a human being can alter his life by altering his 

attitude.” 

He was not alone. The number of great leaders who 

pecked attitude as the key factor to success is huge. 

Clement Stone, author of the classic book, “Success 

Through a Positive Mental Attitude,” said, “There is a little 

difference in people that makes a big difference. The little 

difference is attitude. The big difference is whether that 

attitude is positive or negative.” 

Your attitude is like a powerful magnet. A friendly, 

happy, and lighthearted attitude creates an environment 

of good luck. It attracts good people and good things to 

you. But beware, for the reverse is also true. A negative 

attitude will very often produce negative results. Since 

your actions reflect your attitudes, you will not be inclined 

to make strong efforts to accomplish something if your attitude 

is negative and you do not believe it can be done. 

Many people will base their reactions to you based 

on their perceptions of you—the person they’re dealing 

with—rather than your point of view, expertise, or actual 

product or service offered. Attitude is a way of thinking 

about and looking at the people and things around you, 

as well as yourself. It includes your point of view of the 

way things are now, as well as your expectation of the way 

things are going to be. Because a solidly positive attitude 

is the necessary foundation for success, your attitude is 

one of your most valuable personal possessions. Protect 

it from anything that might harm it, just as you would a 

priceless treasure. 

Food for Thought 

Good attitudes are like health food for the mind. To 

be successful, you need to feed your mind with positive, 

healthy thinking. Just as you must continually replenish 

your body’s fuel, so must you continually supply your mind 

with a positive attitude. When you begin to feel negative 

and down, your mind tells you that it is hungry for “nutritious” 

positive thoughts. Positive thoughts will help you 

free up your creative energies. 

If an event occurs that is not very “tasty” or nutritious 

in terms of positive thinking, add a little spice by turning 

the situation around. For instance, if you completely blow 

a presentation and there’s nothing you can do to save it, 

just laugh and tell yourself that the rest of the day has to 

be better by contrast. As my friend and colleague, Brian 

Tracy, says, “Get up early and eat a dead frog for breakfast; 

after that everything will seem better!” 


Photograph by PaulPaladin

Tools & Tactics 

Increase Enrollment with 

Communication Strategies 

MS. CHRIS LEE 

is a martial 

arts business 

development 

consultant with 

a background in 

online and social 

media marketing. 

All martial arts schools follow 

certain techniques, crowds, and 

ages that determine the school’s 

enrollment. For example, if a 

school has 80% children, 15% 

adults, and only 5% teens, chances 

are the majority of the flyers, 

promotions, and ads reflect majority 

of the students who come, 

which would be the children. That 

idea focuses on retention, which 

is great to stabilize a school, but 

if a dojo is going to prosper, it has 

to be a priority to do more. If the 

school wants to improve where 

it’s lacking, sticking to old ideas 

isn’t going to change things for 

the better. The dojo must reach 

out to its minorities as well as keep current students active. 

Here are some tips to get you started: 

Use your strengths. Most martial arts schools are all 

about the children. Without them, most schools would 

lose almost all of their students. Since they make up such 

a vital part of running a successful martial arts school, it’s 

important to use them as your business weapon. Express 

ideas and use your students and their parents to create 

a larger school, and perhaps offer them a deal in return. 

With their aid in promoting programs, it’s hard to believe 

some new students won’t come knocking on your door. 

Every school has a majority, use it to help your business 

and students as well. 

More public promotions: if the same old promoting 

strategies for the public aren’t working, try promoting 

yourself. Activity promotions are great, but they take 

time. However, demonstrations can be very cheap and 

worthwhile. How else can the public be interested in your 

school unless they know what it entails? Three easyto-remember 

promotional ideas that are effective and 

shouldn’t cost you much or anything at all are based on 

demos, holidays, and tournaments. Everyone loves to see 

a demonstration of backflips, flying side kicks, and weapons. 

Arrange a group of instructors, set a date, promote, 

perform, and celebrate a great chance for your school to 

grow. For holidays such as New Years, Spring Break, July 

4th, Halloween, or Christmas, kids love to have parties 

and it’s easy to get them to come. There are many ideas 

reflecting the holidays, and setting up a date outside 

the usual times families take vacations shouldn’t pose a 

problem. Lastly, training your adults and youths to compete 

in tournaments can give you another chance to get 

the name of your school out there. Tournaments are safe 

and offer many ways to compete such as sparring, forms, 

weapons etc. This will help your students improve as well. 

Work with clientele. In these hard times, some schools 

have been losing students. If this issue arises with your 

students, don’t be so quick to say goodbye. Work with the 

parents and see if you can put them on a weekly payment 

plan or offer them a free month to give them a chance to 

keep their child enrolled at your school. We have to be fair 

with all students but also sacrifice for them as well. 

With these communication strategies and proper 

execution, you can upgrade your school and find yourself 

teaching more students in no time. Remember, enrollment 

and retention result in income and profits. Make it happen. 

For help or ideas for promotions to retain and enroll 

new students, please feel free to give my fellow Marketing 

Consultants and myself a call at (800) 275-1600. 


Photograph by ronstik

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Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 21 | Issue 3

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