Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 2

MartialArtsWorldNews.com VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2 

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry 

MASTER CARLOS 

MACHADO 

Reveals His Path to Success 

The First Ever 

Shihan 

Allie Albergio 

Featured 

Columnist: Secrets 

of the LI Ninja 

Chief Instructor 

Juan Villamizar 

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CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

24 Meet the Martial Arts World 

News Team at the First Ever 

U.S. Kukkiwon Expo 

28 “I Had to Move Schools Because 

of ATLAS” 

34 BJJ Trailblazer Master Carlos 

Machado Reveals His Path to 

Success 

103 FREE Tool of the Month 

DEPARTMENTS 

14 Industry Insights 

15 Birthdays 

17 Industry Innovations 

20 Social 411 

52 School Profiles 

63 Classified Ads 

99 Advertiser Index 

YOUR INPUT 

48 Tell Us Your Story 

76 Feature Your School, 

Organization, Accomplishment, 

or Event 

COLUMNS 

6 Editorial 

Setting New Records or School Closure, 

Which Will Be Your Story? 

Master Toby Milroy 

8 Martial Arts World News Faculty 

12 Next Level Strategy 

Contract or No Contract? That is the Question, Part 1 

Shihan Allie Alberigo 

56 Teamwork 

Resisting School Owner Burnout 

Hanshi Dave Kovar 

58 Mind Mastery 

Gain Mental Clarity 

Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

60 Growth Hacks 

Using Road Signs and Brochures 

to Promote Your School 

Mr. Sean Lee 

62 Ninja Business Tactics 

Ah-shu Defined 

An-Shu Stephen Hayes 

66 Pillars of Success 

Fight Daily Until You Win and Enjoy a Healthier Life 

Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

70 The Way of the Samurai 

Children and the Art of the Sword, Part 2 

Shihan Dana Abbott 

72 Extraordinary Marketing 

Is Everyone in Your Boat Rowing in the Same 

Direction? (Part 2) 

Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

74 After School Excellence 

Get Dozens of New Students with the AMSkids 

Bully-Proofing Program! 

Chief Master Mike Bugg 

78 Tactical Self-Defense 

Press the Points, Part 1 

Grandmaster Tom Patire 

4 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2

STAFF 

80 Complete Martial Arts Concepts 

Teaching the Complex Art of Kung Fu, Part 1 

Professor Willie “the Bam” Johnson 

82 The Millionaire Smarts Coach 

Outstanding or Average? 

Ms. Lee Milteer 

86 Budo Philosophy 

A Particular Vision, Part 1 

Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

88 Pro Shop Power 

Get Paid to Advertise Your School 

Mr. Sun Kang 

90 Master the Basics 

Looking for ‘Teachable Moments’ 

Master Tina Bane 

92 Instructional Excellence 

The Value of Forms 

Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

94 Business Buzz 

The Top Ten Negative Habits That Keep You From 

Achieving Your Goals, Part 1 

Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur 

96 Martial Arts Philosophy 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 4 

Sensei Gary Lee 

98 Management Excellence 

Do You Spend or Invest Your Time? 

Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

100 The Warrior Way 

Twenty Ways To Keep Your Attitude Positive, Part 2 

Grandmaster Bill Clark 

102 Staff Development 

How to Have a Five-Star Curriculum in a Multi-School 

Organization 

Master Zulfi Ahmed 

104 Tools & Tactics 

Make Enrollments Fun 

Ms. Chris Lee 

VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2 

PUBLISHER 


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Mr. Sean Lee 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Mr. Jeff Reulbach 

ART DIRECTOR 

Mr. Frank Meyer 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

Mr. Amen Blue 

WEB DEVELOPER 

Ms. Erin Pham 

COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS 



Mr. Sean Lee 






Chief Master Mike Bugg 

Professor Willie Johnson 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed 

Ms. Chris Lee 



Mr. Sun Kang 

Master Carlos Machado 








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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we expressly disclaim 

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MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2 5

EDITORIAL 

The Record-Breaking Year, 

Behind AND Ahead! 

Why have we seen record results in so many schools over the last 12 months?? 

Well, in part, adults, children and families all over the US, and 

across the world have realized how ‘toxic’ lockdowns, and other 

COVID responses have been on their physical, mental, emotional 

and spiritual health. The negative effects of social isolation, lack of 

physical activity, and all the stress that comes with these extreme 

circumstances have inspired millions of people all across the world 

to take action and get involved in the martial arts. 

School owners who’ve been pro-active and aggressively promoting 

their programs have been the beneficiary of this increase in 

demand while a simultaneous decrease in supply, and many other 

youth programs and other ‘competitors’ of ours have gone 

out of business. 

So, the ‘market’ wants us. They realize more and 

more that they ‘need’ us. There is far less competition 

for their attention, and even in the face of inflation 

concerns the economy is roaring along. Does 

this sound like a perfect storm to you?? It sure does 

to me, and I’m seeing the ‘proof’ every day here at 

Martial Arts World News headquarters! 

Every day I speak with school operators who are 

setting all time records for new students, 

revenue, and profits. NOW is the 

time to take action, and catapult 

your school to the next level! 

Why will 2022 be a Record 

Breaking Year for Many School 

Owners? 

Not only do we have the 

‘macro’ economic forces that 

I described above, working 

in our favor, but we have 

some significant local opportunities 

over the next few 

months that will springboard 

smart, aggressive school owners 

past their previous records, and on to new levels. 

For example, for family focused schools, Summer Camps this 

year will be bigger than ever before. Parents WANT to do something 

productive with their children and get them AWAY from the 

screens for as long as possible. (I know, I sure do.) 

I spent a few days speaking with and coaching a number of 

clients who are focused on ‘breaking through’ to the next level. 

I found that these operators have ALREADY nearly FILLED their 

Summer Camps, and in several cases, are looking for MORE 

SPACE to expand their camp! 

Chief Master Michael Bugg who operates a beautiful school 

in suburban Virginia has already sold ¾ of his available spaces, 

and expects to fill the rest of the camp before March. If he fills the 

camp, which is a near certainty, this year, his summer camp will 

contribute more than $378,000.00 to his revenue. 

Chief Master Kirk Pelt in Orlando, Florida, has only 21 spaces 

left in his camp, and he’s currently negotiating with 3 alternate 

venues nearby where he might be able to expand his camp. This is 

some creative thinking, and given his current space limitation, his 

summer camp will add more than $240,000.00 to his revenue. I’ll 

give you an update if he can get even more space to fill! 

In addition to the Summer Camp opportunity, don’t overlook 

the fact that our programs are likely one of THE most effective 

ways to ‘combat’ COVID. Whether you’re vaccinated or not, 

building a stronger cardiovascular system will make people LESS 

susceptible to serious disease. Building respiratory capacity and 

strength will make people LESS susceptible to serious disease. 

Losing fat, gaining lean muscle, balancing your blood chemistry, 

lifting your mood….all these benefits of the martial arts are what 

our society NEEDS right now…more than EVER! 

This is our time to shine folks! Let’s go save the world together. 

I’ve had my team assemble a HUGE toolkit of COVID related 

marketing and strategy tools for our Martial Arts World News readers 

– ABSOLUTLEY FREE - Download Here: 

www.TryAtlasSoftware.com/covid 

MASTER TOBY MILROY is a 5th degree black belt. Known as “The Master Systemizer,” Master Toby Milroy 

has positively influenced more martial arts schools than anyone in our industry. He has built a successful multi-school 

organization, lead the national trade association for the martial arts industry, and coached some of the most successful 

martial arts school operators in the world. 


CHECK OUT OUR 

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. 

58 


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. 

56 


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. 

12 


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). 

60 

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. 

62 


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. 

66 


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. 

70 


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. 



72 


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. 

74 

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. 

78 


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. 

82 


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. 

86 


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. 

88 

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. 

80 

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. 

90 


is a 6th degree master instructor and 

owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer 

camp programs. 



92 


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. 

94 


is a martial artist specializing in Karate, 

Kung Fu, Kenpo, Shoto-kan, and Goju-rue, 

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. 

96 


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. 

100 


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. 

102 

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. 

104 

Ms. Chris Lee 

is a martial arts business development 

consultant with a background in online 

and social media marketing. 

98 


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. 

We’re Seeking Contributors! 

Do you have something to share? 

We’d love to hear about it! 

CONTACT US: 

407-895-1996 Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Ureport 


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NEXT LEVEL STRATEGY 

Contract or No Contract? That is 

the Question, Part 1 

By Shihan Allie Alberigo 

How top school owners set their school up for success… or failure. 

To others, the word “contract” is feared like the Plague. When 

I began teaching martial arts in the early ’80s, the very thought 

of having yearly contracts was taboo. The talk amongst owners 

was much different back then. If you had binding agreements like 

health spas and clubs, you were “selling out” as a commercial 

school. This mentality amazes me to this day! 

The truth of the matter is that if you charge a 

single penny for your services, you are, in fact, 

commercial. So why not be 

professional about it? 

However, the question 

still arises in a 

school’s business 

planning: 

Contract or no 

contract? 

Early on in opening my 

schools I instituted 

yearly agreements. We use 

the word “agreement” because 

that is exactly what it 

is…an agreement between 

two people: 

owner and buyer. 

Since the 

word “contract” 

has a negative 

connotation that 

people fear, we 

eliminate the word 

entirely. Of course, 

people aren’t stupid; we aren’t 

fooling them! We’re just finding 

a more kindly way to explain the arrangement between the school 

and student. 

I have many competitors in my area that scream proudly in the 

streets each time a new student comes through their doors that 

they don’t use contracts. Like hundreds of others that have joined 

my school, one mother had just come from another school 

and was looking into taking classes at Long Island 

Ninjutsu Centers. 

“I have to ask if you are using contracts,” she 

said. 

I immediately corrected her: “Agreements.” 

“Aren’t agreements a bad thing? Because the 

guy down the road talked about them as though 

they were. Shouldn’t I be afraid of them?” she 

asked. 

I explained to her that a membership agreement 

defines not only her responsibility as a 

member of my school or parent of a member, but it also 

defines the school’s responsibility to her and her child. This 

not only protects the school, but the investment of her and her 

child’s time, training, and even health! 

I also explain during the sales process that many schools that 

don’t have agreements also don’t have stability. Think about this: 

your child joins that school, and along the summer months with 

20 other kids, that school doesn’t get paid. Kids eventually quit 

due to lack of motivation and attendance. I’ve found this doesn’t 

happen in my school. People are more likely to keep their kid coming 

if they are paying. So, the end result is a happy child, because 

they’re progressing, and a happy parent because the parents sees 

their child reaping the rewards. 

People in this economy are slightly afraid of commitment. The 

media fearmongers are making people think of the future as scary. 

We let people know that this helps us stay in business and keep 

helping them with their children. 

SHIHAN ALLIE ALBERIGO 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. 

12 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2 

Photograph by tumsasedgars

You Don’t Need a Degree in 

Education to Teach Children 

all you need is one book! 

Raising 4 Dimensional Children in a 2 

Dimensional World is an informationpacked 

resource for teachers of all levels 

of experience. It takes the latest research 

in developmental child psychology and 

makes it easy to understand, explaining 

how a child’s brain develops, year by 

year. Even the youngest members of your 

staff will understand which activities are 

appropriate for which age groups, which 

activities are not, and why. 

Take advantage of Grandmaster Tim McCarthy’s research and experience, organized for you 

with over 400 age-appropriate activities. It will be the best $5.00 you ever spent. 

Order a copy today at 4d-2d.com and share it with your entire staff!

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

263 Instructors Gather for the 

Warrior Masters Gathering 

The Masters Gathering took place in Jacksonville, Florida 

on January 14th thru the 16th, 2022; hosted by Grand Master 

Clark and the Warrior Martial Arts Staff. With 263 instructors 

from around the world, the seminar offered networking opportunities, 

along with great training seminars to renew participants 

passion for martial arts. With classes 

taught by Master Eric Alfaro, Master Daniel 

Gimenez, Master Jeremy Moore, and 

Master Apolo Ladra in Krav Maga and 

practical self-defense, participants 

were overwhelmed with the amount of 

knowledge that was shared. In addition, 

Grand Master Clark introduced the 

Journey to Warrior Mastership 

and the first class of 

Warrior Masters started 

their journey’s. 

What some of our attendees are saying: 

”This past weekend I went to Jacksonville Florida to attend 

the Warrior Martial Arts Training weekend. I found myself surrounded 

by the most professional and knowledgeable martial 

artists in the world. I have trained in martial arts for 49 years 

with people from all over the world. I will be bringing my students 

back as much as I possibly can. Thank you, Grand Master 

Clark, for all you do for everyone.” 

–Master D. Overstreet, Plant City Krav Maga 

“I just got back from another terrific Masters Gathering 

weekend where over 200 instructors trained this year. The 

staff was fantastic about covering all the material in a very 

professional format. We had plenty of room to spread out at 

the training facility. Thank you Grandmaster Clark for hosting 

another great event !!!” 

–Chief Master Shane Sanders, Sanders ATA Martial Arts 

Grandmaster 

Bill Clark 


Martial Arts 

Celebrity Birthdays 


March 

March 4 ........................... Jeff Smith 

March 7 ...........................Joe Lewis* 

March 8 .....................Cynthia Rothrock 

March 10 ........................Chuck Norris 

March 20 ......................Kurata Yasuaki 

April 

April 7 .......................... Jackie Chan 

April 14 .......................Stephen Oliver 

April 15 .......................Chip Townsend 

April 23 ...................Dr. Robert Goldman 

April 26 ................................Jet Li 

*Deceased 

They Call Me Master 

They Call Me Master is martial 

arts writer Karen Eden’s latest 

book release. 

Known for her long-standing 

inspirational writings, Master 

Eden does not disappoint with 

her 4th book release. 

Available through 

Century Martial Arts, 

centurymartialarts.com 



Against All Odds: The Action Mega 

Weekend – A Success 21 Years in a Row 

Against All odds, Coming out of a 2 year Covid pandemic and Facing one of the largest 

snowstorms on the east coast in 10 years, the Action Martial Arts Mega weekend once 

again proved itself to be one of the few 5 star events in the world of martial arts. 

A 4 day event held in the Tropicana Casino Resort in Atlantic City NJ. With over 18 

Major events going on during the weekend, consisting of parties, an Expo and trade 

show, Celebrity signings, 50 Free seminars by the worlds best, 6 Tournaments, and 

to finish the festivities The Action M A hall of Honors , known as the academy awards 

of Martial Arts. Over 2,000 of the brave made the trip from all over the world for this 

great weekend, with over 31 countries represented. 

The Banquet was at full capacity once again. Plans for next year are under way for 

January 2023. As it stands now, it looks like another sell out crowd. Feel free to contact 

us at: (718) 856-8070 or email ActionMA4@gmail.com 

Sifu Goldberg Knighted by Italian Duke Fabio Bevilacqua 

The 2022 Action Mega Weekend was a Who’s Who of 

Martial Arts Celebrities and Enthusiasts 


INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

How to Create an ULTRA Productive 

Martial Arts Website 

In today’s world, virtually no business can survive without some 

kind of online presence. Social media profiles and websites are a 

must, but you have to make sure you create them for success. 

Today, we are focusing on productive websites and if you want 

to make sure your martial arts school has one, you need to understand 

what factors need to be present. 

If your website is to succeed, it needs to be dynamic, fast, mobile 

responsive, and be designed to generate leads because that’s 

the lifeline of your martial arts school. 

Your martial arts school website needs to be designed to attract 

and convert leads so your business can grow and scale like 

you want it to. 

Websites are more than online brochures; they’re not only 

meant to provide information, they are also meant to convert. A 

carefully crafted website that leverages engaging videos, persuasive 

copy, and SEO-optimized, valuable content, all of which turns 

visitors into prospective martial arts students. 

Amazing Martial Arts Websites provides websites with all the 

tools, resources, and tips you need. Such as: 

Mobile Responsive Design 

According to research, almost 74% of searches are made using 

a mobile device. This is why your website needs a mobile responsive 

design. Your website has to be able to run smoothly on mobile 

devices, so you have to follow Google’s and Bing’s guidelines to 

make sure they are responsive. Otherwise, you’re losing 74% of 

potential new students. 

Easy to Edit 

Our websites are very easy for you to edit, so you can make 

changes to posts and offers whenever you need without too much 

effort. Our Page Editor is user-friendly and it allows you to make 

changes to pages, make updates to your content, and change offers 

or promotions, which gives you more control of your marketing 

and the website’s aesthetic. 

Social Media Syndication 

It is very important that you’re able to connect your social media 

profiles to your website. That’s why social media syndication is so 

important, as it allows you to automatically share your social media 

pages and groups. Additionally, it allows visitors to share your 

content as well. 

Engaging Video Landing and Sales Pages 

Your landing pages can become much more powerful if you 

include engaging video content. It will allow you to increase 

conversions by as much as 80%, if not more. We offer a rich 

library of whiteboard, live-action, animation, and cartoon videos 

you can use to make your landing and sales pages more interactive 

and effective. 

Customizable Website Designs 

Last but not least, we have a library of customizable website 

designs that will allow you to create a martial arts school website 

that’s appealing and engaging, according to your taste and the 

unique story of your school. This will allow you to attract more and 

more students! 

Don’t hesitate to check out AmazingMartialArtsWebsites.com 

to learn more about school websites that work and help your business 

grow.. 


INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

The Adventures of Harry & Friends: 

Character Building Stories 

Sometimes it takes extra effort and attention 

to get kids to learn something. 

When you can use creative and interesting 

methods it can make the task of learning 

something a lot easier. With this in mind, The 

Adventures of Harry & Friends provides an 

interesting and fun book for kids to learn life 

skills. This is might be an ideal book for Martial 

Arts school owners and instructors who 

are teaching young kids. From the book, children 

can develop their moral compass and 

get prepared for the life challenges ahead. 

The Adventures of Harry & Friends can 

help children learn the martial arts tenets like 

respect, patience, discipline, courtesy, and 

perseverance. The book revolves around the adventures 

of Harry that will take kids on a delightful journey 

and give them important life lessons along 

the way. Martial arts school owners and 

instructors can also give this book to their 

young students who seem less interested 

in martial arts to inspire and motivate them. 

Although children will relate to Harry’s 

good nature, delightful character, and inner 

superhero, instructor’s will benefit from the 

simplicity of the tools for teaching. Not only 

are there books in the package, but there 

are also teacher’s guides to help bring the 

lessons to life and help kids move towards 

positivity and becoming good humans. 

Check it out “Harry and Friends” at 

adventuresofharryandfriends.com. 

A Touch Of Zen: 

Martial Arts Training Supplies 

Looking for an online store with a wide variety of martial arts 

training supplies? Every Martial arts school owner and instructor 

often needs to find a reliable source for equipment, clothing, 

and gear they need to aid instruction and students. A Touch of Zen 

provides an online supply resource from one of the industry’s leading 

experts, Allie Alberigo. 

At A Touch of Zen you will find the finest quality products 

needed for martial arts training. Any thing you need from martial 

arts uniforms, training equipment, sparring gear, books, DVD’s, 

CD’s, and all kinds of weapons. Here you will find complementary 

supplies at a great value for your money. Whether you are a beginner 

or an expert; follow traditional or modern styles, A Touch of 

Zen has something for everyone. 

A Touch of Zen is committed to providing its customer with their 

best with hundreds of exciting products - Visit “A Touch of Zen” to 

learn more at atouchofzen.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? 

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SOCIAL 411 

What Is SEO and How Do Websites Rank? 

Where do you turn to when you need to know something? 

My best bet is that you turn to Google. And that’s what 

everyone else does, including the audience you’re trying to reach. 

When people have an issue, a challenge, or a choice to make, they 

do a Google search. 

That’s why your martial arts marketing efforts need to focus on 

building an online presence. Without it, your business will miss out 

on huge opportunities to grow your school, attract new students, 

and create a better reputation in your community. Today, we will 

introduce you to SEO and show you how websites rank so your 

martial arts school can thrive. 

A Simple Introduction to SEO 

In simple terms, SEO is a marketing strategy that increases the 

chances that when someone searches for your service or product 

category, they “find” your website. Now, SEO is a bit more complicated 

than that and there are many factors to consider, but that’s 

the essence of it. 

SEO has one main objective and that’s to make your business 

visible in the organic search results by ranking higher so your website 

comes up on the first page. Ranking is the process by which a 

search engine determines where to place a website on the Search 

Engine Result Pages. 

Visibility and rankings are responsible for leading traffic to 

your website, which in turn increases conversions. This is why 

SEO is vital for your business. According to a HubSpot Research 

survey, 77% of people research brands before engaging with 

them. If you don’t have an online presence, that’s the kind of 

exposure you’re missing. 

How Do Websites Rank on Google? 

Search engines are focused on providing users with the most 

relevant information at all times. Every time we do a search, the 

algorithm chooses the pages that are relevant to the search, it will 

rank them, and display them in order of the most authoritative or 

popular ones. 

So, what do algorithms look for to rank websites on Google’s 

search results page? Well, they look for relevancy between the 

search and the content of the webpage, which is determined, in part, 

by keywords. Google also looks for authority, which is determined 

by the popularity of the page, the age of the site, and other factors. 

Though search engines make sure their algorithms are secret, 

SEO experts have been able to identify the factors that they take 

into consideration. These are known as ranking factors, and they 

are the foundation of any good SEO strategy. 

If you want to improve your martial arts marketing, your website 

is a critically important tool. When you create valuable content, 

optimize the content with targeted keywords and phrases, ‘structure’ 

your pages correctly (ie, manage heading tags well, optimize 

page load speeds, manage the code well), optimize the file names 

of the images you use, use appropriate internal links, and other 

important strategies, your visibility will increase. 

Conclusion 

If you are a martial arts school owner and you want to bring 

more people to the door, focusing on your SEO efforts is critically 

important. We hope this introduction is helpful and that you 

continue to back for more insight into the world of SEO for martial 

arts schools. 


Image by Sompong Lekhawattana

The Latest Guide 

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newest book, “The Science & Secrets 

of Becoming a Master Martial Arts 

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The world of martial arts is a very 

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quickly hit rock bottom, all depending 

on your mindset, discipline, and skills. 

“The Science & Secrets of Becoming 

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Featuring contributions from 

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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 

To Get More Emails Opened Use Human 

Instinct Subject Lines (Part 1) 

Martial arts school owners have to be smart to attract new 

students through email marketing, so you need to understand 

human instinct to get recipients to open your marketing 

emails. Our instincts are powerful and make us react in conscious 

and even subconscious ways because of how we are 

wired as humans. If you can wisely trigger instinct with your email 

subject lines, you can bring out the desired behavior of opening 

your email and have prospects responding to offers for martial 

arts training. 

Here are 2 instinctive ideas for subject lines that are proven to 

increase email open rates: 

1. People Fear Missing Out 

It’s hard to resist the fear of missing out from subject lines that 

include scarcity or urgency that use words like “urgent”, “breaking”, 

“important” ,“alert”, etc. 

Ex. For A Limited Time Get 4 Weeks of Martial Arts Classes 

FREE – Take Advantage Now 

2. Everybody Is Curious 

Our natural desire for closure can be peaked through subject 

lines that are open-ended, ask questions, promise interesting 

things, or sound strange or unusual. 

Ex. Could Martial Arts Training Be The Answer To Your Child’s 

Lack Of Confidence? 

Look for more attention grabbing headlines that prospects must 

open in our next issue for your martial arts school marketing success! 

Facebook ‘Campaign Ideas Generator’ 

Will Assist with Promotions 

Feeling short on ideas for new Instagram and Facebook campaigns? 

Here’s something that can help, the Facebook Campaign 

Ideas Generator mini-site. It aims to boost inspiration for your 

promotional strategies through different insights, suggestions, and 

templates specific to business types and seasonal events. This can 

be tremendously useful for your martial arts school’s marketing 

and save you precious time. 

Here’s how Facebook explained it: “The Campaign Ideas Generator 

provides campaign ideas, pre-made assets, and resources 

that are specific to your small business needs.” This might be just 

what you need as a martial arts school owner – especially if you 

are not well versed in social media marketing. 

You can test it out by going to the Campaign Ideas Generator 

website and choose your business type and the time of year you 

want to run your promotion. Once you have the correct details and 

click ‘Get Campaign Ideas’, then Facebook gives you a plethora 

of notes and pointers to direct you into making the best decision 

for your campaign. Then you’ll see the recommendations’ listing 

consists of three parts - ‘Campaign Ideas’, ‘Data and Insights’ and 

‘Resources’. 

Campaign Ideas touch on numerous cues to make you think. 

In the Insight and Data tab, you’ll find different data points based 

on your selected specifications. You can find more specific and 

relevant insights for your campaigns by using the filters to specify 

your search. When you click the Resource tab, you’ll find reports 

and case studies to help you cultivate your best approach. 

Apart from this, Facebook also included its ‘Organic Post Pack’ 

in every single result. This ‘Organic Post Pack’ consists of several 

post templates which you can utilize on your Facebook page. This 

approach may feel generic at first and we all know that the best 

approach is to create your content. Some martial arts school owners 

do not have the resources to do so, that’s when these tools and 

templates can be a great alternative to help propel their Facebook 

presence and improve your relationship with your audience. 

Check out Facebook’s Campaign Ideas Generator at 

www.facebook.com/business/m/campaign-ideas-generator. 

22 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2 

Photograph by Inside grinvalds

THE #1 SOURCE FOR DAILY 

MARTIAL ARTS 

BUSINESS NEWS 

• Instructor Tips and Tricks 

• Class Management Skills 

• Martial Arts Events 

• Classified Marketplace 

• Social Media Marketing Tactics 

• Marketing Breakthroughs 

• Industry News 

• Martial Arts School Profiles 

And MUCH More! 

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! 

MartialArtsWorldNews.com

EVENTS 

Meet the Martial Arts World 

News Team at the First Ever 

U.S. Kukkiwon Expo 

Under the progressive leadership of its new president Grandmaster 

Lee, Dong Sup, Kukkiwon is truly advancing its reach 

throughout the world as evidenced by the upcoming historical 

event. There is much anticipation in the martial arts industry in 

relation to the 2022 Kukkiwon Taekwondo EXPO, which will be the 

first of its kind to take place in the U.S. This unprecedented event 

will take place during the week of June 27 through July 4, 2022 at 

the Hyatt Regency Dulles in Virginia and Martial Arts World News 

Magazine will be there covering all of the exciting components of 

the EXPO. 

The event is billed as an International Symposium of the Kukkiwon 

Taekwondo program and will be hosted by the current 

Kukkiwon president Grandmaster Dong Sup Lee. 

This first of its kind U.S. EXPO will feature 5 important events: 

The Presidents Cup Championship, the International Taekwondo 

Master Certification Course, Taekwondo Poom/Dan Examiner 

Course, an Open Forum and Banquet with the Kukkiwon President, 

an exciting performance of the world famous Kukkiwon 

Demo Team and a powerful dojang business 

growth seminar - Leading Through a Crisis (open 

to school owners of any style or art!). It’s easy 

to see why there is so much anticipation and 

excitement in the martial arts industry! 

Martial Arts World News Magazine is 

proud to be part of this event where our 

publisher Master Toby Milroy, and our editor 

in chief Mr. Sean Lee will be facilitating school 

business growth sessions during the business 

seminar, and throughout the event! 

Contact Martial Arts World News 

headquarters at: 407-895-1996 if 

you’d like to meet with our team, 

or attend the business session. 

We’re proud to support the 

Kukkiwon’s efforts to professionalize 

their schools, 

update their curriculum, 

help each school operator 

become more successful, 

and spread the benefits 

of high quality martial 

arts training throughout 

the world. 

Mr. Sean Lee 

Here are a few more details: 

The Presidents Cup Championship is an open competition for 

all ages and levels of Tae Kwon Do practitioners. The competition 

categories will be in Forms, Sparring, Breaking, and Demo Team 

presentation. Each category will be for the coveted Kukkiwon 

International Championship Title. 

The Kukkiwon Academy will feature two certification courses. 

It will consist of a 7 day Certification Course that will be for International 

Taekwondo Master and Taekwondo Poom/Dan Examiner. 

Also, the recently published Kukkiwon practical self-defense 

course will be showcased as well. 

Don’t miss the school (Dojang) management seminar, designed 

to help school operators recover from the COVID crisis, 

and drive their business to new levels of performance and profitability 

even in these challenging times. The Leading Through a 

Crisis Seminar will get your school back on its feet, and ready to 

set new records in 2022. 

The Open Forum / Banquet will be led by Kukkiwon 

president Grandmaster Lee, Dong Sup. The forum 

will be an open discussion covering the development 

of Taekwondo in which Grandmaster Lee 

wishes to hear what he can do to help support 

and further improve relations with Taekwondo 

leaders in the west. 

The World famous Kukkiwon Demo Team will 

put on a performance to be remembered. They 

will be presenting the new developed practical 

self-defense from the approved curriculum. 

So begin preparing now to be a 

part of this historical event so you 

can be a part of the crowd that 

will one day be able to say, “I 

remember being present for 

the first ever Kukkiwon EXPO 

in the U.S.” The EXPO will be 

at the Hyatt Regency Dulles 

in Virginia during the week 

of June 27 through July 4, 

2022 so register early at 

www.kukkiwonexpo.com. 

Martial Arts World Magazine 

looks forward to being 

there with you! 



EVENTS 

Eagle Bank Arena 

4500 Patriot Circle | Fairfax, VA 22030 

PRESIDENTS CUP 

Competition In Sparring, Form, 

Team Demo, Breaking 

July 1 & 2 

LEADING THROUGH A CRISIS 

It’s time for dojang owners to rebuild 

their school that COVID-19 has shaken 

July 3–July 4 

KUKKIWON DEMO TEAM 

Witness a full scale performance by the world 

famous Kukkiwon Demo Team 

July 1–Pending 

Hyatt Regency Dulles (Hotel) 

2300 Dulles Corner Blvd | Herndon, VA 20171 

CERTIFICATION COURSES 

International Master and/or 

Poom/Dan Examiner by WTA 

June 27–July 4 

OPEN FORUM/BANQUET 

Discussion platform for Kukkiwon Taekwondo & 

Dinner Banquet with 

President Grandmaster Dr. Lee Dong Sup 

July 1 

“I look forward to meeting all 

Taekwondo families at the 2022 

USA Kukkiwon Taekwondo Expo” 

President of Kukkiwon, 

Grandmaster Dr. Lee Dong Sup 

• HONORARY CHAIRMAN Gregory Murphy - US Congressman 

• KUKKIWON PRESIDENT Grandmaster Dr. Lee Dong Sup 

• CHAIRMAN OF THE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Grandmaster H. K. Lee 

• CONTACT Grandmaster Jun Lee, Kukkiwon Spokesperson for International Affairs 

info@kukkiwonexpo.com 

www.kukkiwonexpo.com 


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MARTIAL ARTS SOFTWARE 

‘I had to Move to a Bigger 

School Because of ATLAS’ 

Chief Instructor Juan Villamizar of Martial Arts World Lake Mary describes how the 

Atlas Martial Arts Software system helped him move into a new location and helped 

him retain his adult students. 

MAWN: You’ve had some 

tremendous growth in the past few 

years, but let’s start off with your history. 

You opened a school in a prime 

location but it was fairly expensive, 

wasn’t it? 

JV: Absolutely. We were at a 

prime location next to a Target and 

Publix, and the rent and the energy 

was high. It was a great time to open 

up a school. 

MAWN: Publix is in the South; 

here in Florida it’s the premium 

supermarket, so a Publix plaza is a 

prime location. 

JV: Yes, we were paying 

$8,000.00 a month for a space of 

2,400 square feet. 

MAWN: So, that’s a good point 

of reference for other schools. And 

you did a lot of pre-promotion before 

you opened the school. Can you 

describe that? 

JV: It was totally one thousand 

percent intense. Seven days a week 

about 12 hours a day. Me and my team 

of three were out hitting the pavement, talking to anybody and 

everybody about martial arts, hitting up small businesses, big businesses, 

parking lots, any events that were occurring we were there 

just trying to make a name for ourselves. 

MAWN: I would guess you made a lot of contacts and set up a 

lot of appointments or contacts. 

JV: Absolutely. We actually had about 1,400 leads within the 

first few weeks. 

MAWN: Wow, that’s fantastic. I understand you had a little 

trouble getting those doors opened. 

JV: Yes. We got delayed about a month and a half before our 

grand opening, so the challenge was some of the contacts that 

we first started with were not interested anymore. We had to really 

ramp up the promotion again. 

MAWN: So, when you first opened, you weren’t running an 

The ATLAS System continually brings in new students 

after school program at first, is that correct? 

JV: Correct. We had a strictly traditional martial arts program 

and were teaching about seven classes per day. 

MAWN: How were you doing financially before the after school 

program started? 

JV: It was rough. We were just making bills, not a lot of profit, 

so everything was ‘why’ and ‘how’— how to get the numbers up. 

Things were fluctuating a lot so we were just focusing on how we 

can make a solid profit and keep it stable. 

Then, once we opened up the after school program, that totally 

gave us less stress and covered our bills so that the evening 

program was bringing in the profit money. 

MAWN: So, a struggling school, even in a prime location, 

started an after school program, jumped into profit fairly quickly. 

JV: Yes. 



MAWN: That was one major breakthrough. I understand 

the next major breakthrough was you implemented 

more ‘systems’ in your school, including the ATLAS 

Martial Arts Software system. 

JV: Yes, we were hovering at about 100 total 

students, and only about $14,000 a month gross. We 

kind of ‘stalled’ there. We knew that we needed to ramp up 

more growth, so we began utilizing the ATLAS platform, and had 

them run our Social Media ad campaigns to drive more traffic into 

the school. 

MAWN: So that was your baseline, then you jumped to the 

Atlas system. Now, did the Atlas system work right away or did you 

have to have a little bit of patience? 

JV: Definitely a little bit of patience. It took about one month 

before it really started kicking in. The Atlas program sends a message 

about our promotions, and recipients send a little text to our 

cell phone, which we call the opt-in. We just started getting opt-ins 

daily and nightly as well. While we were finishing up work, I was 

getting opt-ins at one in the morning, 2 a.m., 6 a.m. So it was a 

really exciting time because the next day of business we were just 

focused on getting them in and teaching a quality class. 

MAWN: So, it took a little while for the ATLAS marketing team 

to test and tweak your campaigns to get them optimized. After the 

initial optimization was done, how were the results? 

JV: After the first few weeks, we were getting at least 1 new 

lead a day. Some days were really good where we would have like 

five or six, but a minimum of one a day. 

MAWN: Fantastic. Now, what difference does that make as far 

as your income? 

JV: We quickly added another $6,000.00 to the bottom line, 

then, I maxed out on my after school program, so the after school 

program was packed. The only stress I had now was that I had to 

get another van. 

MAWN: So the Atlas program literally filled your school and you 

had to start looking for another place to move? 

JV: Yes. 

MAWN: What did you find? 

JV: Well, luckily my lease was coming to an end. The landlord 

wanted to up our rent, so I started looking for another location, 

but because the Atlas program was working really well for us, we 

didn’t really need a prime spot, so I found a secondary location just 

about one mile down the road. Four thousand dollars, half the rent, 

and the space was almost double the size at 3,400 square feet. 

MAWN: Wow. That’s quite a difference. And now, once you got 

the bigger location, you got more after school students and more 

evening students? 

JV: Yes. We started after school maxed out, but now we’ve 

got a waiting list. That pretty much capped the space for our after 

school program. We got another van. And our traditional program 

started booming. 

MAWN: School owners say the Atlas program brings adults 

back, what’s been your experience? 

JV: Yes. The biggest challenge we had was—we have a saying: 

‘try not to leave the back door open, a lot come in and go.’ 

But because of the Atlas program, more families are coming in, 

more adults 

are coming in, 

they get to try the program. 

We have specials 

where they get one month 

in; by their second or 

third week they love it, 

and they signed up. So 

we doubled our traditional 

program. 

MAWN: Fantastic. This must 

have relieved a lot of stress from you 

and your team? 

JV: Oh, big time. The staff gets to really understand the Atlas 

program. It’s really easy to manage; the system works really well so 

now we get to concentrate on the quality and instruction of class. 

We’re not hitting the pavement anymore, we’re focusing on bringing 

in the new students, making sure they have a great time, that 

way we keep them and that way we are making black belts. 

MAWN: Wonderful. Has all this social media advertising actually 

made a difference in your school’s reputation? 

JV: Oh, yes. We’ve been getting calls from our little town here 

from schools wanting us to come in and do teach-ins, local businesses 

wanting us to come in for their events to do some exhibitions; 

people that call in already know about us. We’ve gotten 

really good results on Yelp and on Facebook. It’s been quite an 

amazing journey. 

MAWN: So, since you’ve started the Atlas program you’ve had 

to move to a bigger location, you’ve increased your income six 

thousand dollars, you’ve maxed out your after school program, 

your staff is less stressed, your reputation has improved, and 

you’re getting adults back in the classroom. If somebody out there 

who has heard about the Atlas program has some doubts about it, 

what would you say? 

JV: I’d say give it a try. The same money that you are putting 

into promotions on the pavement, into exhibitions, and setting up 

booths, put that focus into the Atlas program. Learn it well so that 

you can really make it work for you. Give it a month and you’re 

going to start seeing results, that way you can get that mindset 

change. Less stress and focus more on quality instruction so that 

everybody is having a really good time while teaching martial arts. 

Bring it back to old school, the way it was back then when everybody 

had a blast teaching class. 

MAWN: Wow. All right. Thank you, for sharing with us. We look 

forward to your future success and talking to you in the future. 

JV: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure and honor speaking 

with you. 


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BJJ TRAILBLAZER 

MASTER CARLOS 

MACHADO 

Reveals His Path to Success 

Master Carlos Machado has revolutionized Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the 

United States and around the world, by blending practical, proven 

techniques with the latest teaching strategies and business operational 

principles. This has made Machado BJJ more consumable for kids, 

families and professionals, while still maintaining amazingly high 

quality standards, and providing high level programs for competitors.

COVER STORY 

MAWN: Master Machado, you have been gracious to spend 

some time during the COVID crisis to really help the industry think 

a little differently about running a martial arts school and operating 

their businesses through this time. 

One of the things that you’ve contributed to the industry in a 

very meaningful way is that you’ve built a way to teach a robust, 

eclectic, and some would say a complex Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu curriculum 

to kids, adults who are professionals, seniors, and people 

who can’t go to work with a black eye or with broken fingers. What 

do you think the ‘magic sauce’ is? Why do you think you’ve been 

so successful at teaching? 

CM: I have this thought that less is more. And whether it’s kids 

or adults, you have one technique. The difference is that for kids I 

make the goals more attainable. An adult can think it out and see 

things ahead. They might have more expectations. Kids are in the 

moment. A lot of people have challenges in terms of keeping the 

attention span of the kids, and that’s one of the challenges. Kids 

are not about teaching; kids are about show and tell and exciting 

them. It’s not so much just the entertaining aspect of the teaching, 

because we’ve got to be entertaining to a certain degree, but it 

comes to a point that we have to also incorporate the role of an 

instructor: input the discipline, input the mindset with a mat chat 

and create a structure. 

I feel kids are visual and they don’t hear much sometimes because 

their attention is not there. They sometimes have a year difference 

between one kid and another; a seven year 

old to a six year old is like a mountain of difference. 

So it’s kind of funny because you’re putting them all 

in the same group. I believe you have to hit the endorphins, 

so when I teach, the kids are in constant 

motion even when they are watching a technique, 

because as long as they are focused on their body, 

it’s easier for me to keep their minds wherever I need them to be. 

If they’re left idle and just listening, it’s really hard. I think, for 

instance, other martial arts like Karate and Taekwondo have a 

better experience in regards to the teaching aspect because you 

Master Machado receives the coveted coral belt in Jiu-Jitsu 

do kicks in the air 

and you can do all 

the demonstrations 

with the mirror. The 

kids have more 

things they can 

focus on. But in 

Jiu-Jitsu, you have 

the instructor and 

another training 

partner or body 

for you to practice. 

One teaching 

technique I use is 

Chuck Norris studied with the Machados and 

animals to illustrate different 

characteristics that I want them to 

rekindled his passion for martial arts. 

incorporate. 

For example, if I wanted to grab and squeeze, you’re going to 

be like an anaconda or a big bear. You start to stimulate the kid’s 

imagination. 

So how do we integrate that with the curriculum? The curriculum 

is kind of streamlined. You have a list of the techniques, 

the lesson plan, the warm ups, how much you repeat, how many 

minutes you spend on each drill, what intensity of the sparring 

and all the rules of engagement. Every school nitpicks what works 

best for them, but I think the key here is triggering the imagination. 

“…but I think the key here is triggering 

the imagination. That’s how I feel I 

can get to them the most.” 

That’s how I feel I can get to them the most. 

We do constant motion. For instance, if I teach my kids how to 

do a Jiu-Jitsu guard pass, I break it down into two groups: one half 

the passers, the other half the finishers. I teach them, first, how to 

be in their position. We do a little running 

around, like musical chairs; they 

run around and you pick a spot on the 

mat. If you don’t do it, you do squats or 

push-ups; we make a big deal in a fun 

way out of it. Then, I teach them the 

rules of engagement. 

They’re having fun and understanding 

what is asked of them at the same 

time. I think the challenge with kids 

is not the teaching, it’s how clear the 

instruction is for them to interpret. Now, 

if there are five to eleven year olds, 

the language that I’m explaining in this 

illustration is universal. I don’t care what 

degree they are or if they have a learning 

disability, they’re going to get it. 

I have autistic kids and kids that have 

handicaps. They still figure things out. 


COVER STORY 

They’re not as fast as some of the other ones, but 

they still figure things out. For me, whenever they do 

that, there’s a spark. You know why? Because you 

make a big deal one day when they know where to 

find their spot, they know what’s asked of them and 

perform what’s expected of them. We clap and then 

I tell the parents to get them engaged, ‘Parents, give 

it up!’ With kids, they are a reflection of their parents. 

I know some schools don’t even like the parents 

around, they put up barriers, a wall with a one-way 

mirror because the parents can be disruptive. 

They can behave in ways that undermine the 

kid’s performance by putting too much pressure 

or expectation on their kids. They treat the training 

session like the world championships, you know? So 

I don’t blame some instructors that try to put some 

barriers up so they can have the peace of mind for 

the kid, and so they can run the classroom without 

interference. But if that’s not possible, I like the 

parents to be on the same page, being enthusiastic, 

giving little pats on the back or acknowledgement 

every time there’s a little detail that the kid gets 

through. But anyhow, for me, this is it: endorphins, 

imagination, and making sure you’re clear about what 

you’re asking, what the expectations are for each of the things you 

want the kids to do. 

MAWN: You also had some other innovations in your space 

where you maybe borrowed some ideas perhaps from other styles 

where you’ve built forms and flows, ways to teach chunks of curriculum 

in a way that makes it much more easy to consume and 

much easier to learn faster. And I know you took a lot of heat for 

some of that too. What was your thinking, what were you trying to 

accomplish, and how have the results been? 

CM: You have to think outside the box. 

At one point in time, you have to step out 

of your comfort zone. I’ve been blessed to 

have incredible students that have been 

successful in their own right teaching 

different martial arts. I think that business 

principles apply to martial arts instruction 

in terms of the structure, the consistency, 

the way you look at things from a larger perspective. It has to do 

with touching the three aspects that I consider essential. A lot of 

times when people come to your gym, if it’s a kid, the parent wants 

the kids to develop discipline and self-confidence, primarily in the 

beginning. Adults, they want to be enthusiastic about a new hobby 

and also learn some self-defense, and some others, they are more 

acquainted with the martial art itself. 

I think the first part is the lifestyle change. I cannot tell you to do 

something that I don’t do. I have to live the lifestyle because then 

whatever I tell you has a little more weight. If I just tell you what to 

do, but then I’m doing something opposite when I’m outside the 

academy…you know, we separate the personal from the business. 

I think you should be friendly with students, but be careful how 

you carry on your relationships. The worst thing that can happen 

Master Machado has created a modern, effective Jiu-Jitsu program for children, parents, 

professionals, and competitors alike. 

is instead of being an instructor that has a degree of authority that 

you can expect to implement within your group, you become a 

peer where everybody feels everybody’s the same; That’s a very 

undermining culture. 

I think this was the biggest challenge. Initially, the culture was 

seen as very laid back with high fives. We didn’t treat anybody 

with any reverence. We started whenever we wanted; we finished 

the class whenever we wanted. It was all about the rolling and the 

flowing. But then, when you come to the United States, you realize 

“I feel that when you make changes, 

you’re not making changes for now; 

you’re making changes for the future.” 

that people have a life that is structured. They have work, they 

have family, they have all their businesses they have to attend to. 

If you don’t have a structure within your school, you’re out of sync 

with everything else that’s happening outside of the school. I think 

every instructor experiences that when you want to implement 

changes: it’s not the new crowd that you recruit on a daily basis, it’s 

the old crowd that has been with you for a while that are used to 

things being done in a certain way. 

I feel that when you make changes, you’re not making changes 

for now; you’re making changes for the future. If you’re thinking 

in terms of a legacy or a mission, you can’t be held back by a few 

individuals who maybe feel entitled or spoiled, or are stuck in their 

own ways. They don’t see the same way you see. The worst thing 

continued on page 40 


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COVER STORY 

Machado BJJ has helped add a whole new dimension to the skills of Black Belts in many other styles. 

continued from page 37 

for me is to try to show somebody a vision that they cannot see 

yet. A lot of times when it has happened, I didn’t burn my bridges. 

I let people go to the door if they need to, if they don’t agree with 

what I’m trying to do, and always leave the door open depending 

upon if they are ready to come back at a point in time. This has 

happened quite frequently, but with that said, you as an instructor 

have a mission. 

A lot of people have tried to do things in a certain way. Like 

when you boil the frog, raising the temperature a little bit at the 

time, they should do a price change. You don’t change the price to 

the existing members, but you make the new price sheets for any 

new members. Then as you increase your student base, you trickle 

down to everybody else. By that time, you won’t affect the bottom 

line of your business. When you have a vision, you have to stick to it. 

For us, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is such an amazing art because it 

becomes a lifestyle for most practitioners. It becomes a second 

chance for martial artists that may have been burned out or have 

accomplished most of their goals in a certain discipline to go 

into something else. Chuck Norris, for instance, when he started 

with me, he’s a tremendous Karate black belt, has been a serious 

student of Judo who trained with Gene LeBell. He’s always open 

to more. I think for him, Jiu-Jitsu kind of hit the right spot. He was 

in his prime as an actor, but he didn’t want to get hit on the face 

before going to the movie set. 

Doing Jiu-Jitsu became a longevity factor. You can do this type 

of martial arts for a much longer period of time. Many of my Karate 

black belt students didn’t change their school from Karate to Jiu- 

Jitsu, but they make Jiu-Jitsu somewhat of a requirement for that 

Karate black belt. If you’re testing for your Karate black belt, you 

have to be a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu. So it was not uncommon that 

many of those black belts would pursue a new hunger for more 

training in a new discipline. Jiu-Jitsu became somewhat of a lifeline 

in regards to retaining those guys. 

It takes such a long time for you to produce a black belt, or not 

everybody that starts with you becomes a black belt. They say 3% 

is the average, I hope it’s more now, but it doesn’t change the fact 

that for many of those guys, the opportunity was there for them to 

still stick to the lifestyle. The bottom line is martial arts and lifestyle. 

You know, your best relationships are forged within the walls of 

your school. I think the influence the instructor has on kids these 

days is very critical to their success in their adult lives because he 

builds their self-esteem. It’s an amazing opportunity all of us have 

within our reach. If we make it right and keep people long enough 

we can make an impact. 

MAWN: A few of the things you did to make Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 

‘palatable’ to the typical suburban community was that you made 

it systemized so that you could teach it. You sort of integrated 

things like what a Karate or Taekwondo stylist would consider a 

form, where there were patterns of movements that were taught 

in chunks. I think you took some heat for that. How do you feel 

that that has been a benefit or a detriment, and what other sort of 

mechanisms like that do you feel helped bring Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to 

the reach of more people? 

CM: When you talk about ‘lifestyle,’ you’re talking about joining. 

When you talk about joining, you talk about attainable goals and 

structure with lesson planning; curriculum gives perspective. When 

a student starts, there’s an ending in sight. You have a timeframe; 

you have a number of lessons. We borrow a lot from approaches 

that have been standard in the martial arts industry. Although I do 

have a certain concern in regards to being overly zealous and excited 

about making it available to the masses and watering things 

down just to make it easy. My concern is that the integrity of the art 

remains so the foundation is strong. We have a strong foundation, 

you can always add more, but we try to use whatever curriculum 

we lay out. 

We give that all the way and make rotating curriculums. We try 

to make sure that nobody’s lost, nobody’s out of touch with what 


COVER STORY 

they need to obtain. It doesn’t matter when you start; you’re going 

to know where you’re going to end up. There are some rules 

that we follow in regards to how the students interact, not just in 

relation to the instructor, bowing, the procedure when you arrive, 

when you leave—every academy has this set of rules—but also 

how you become a training partner in the real sense. You help 

build your group and we share. 

If there’s somebody that develops a certain knack for a certain 

move, they become potential staffers and become very involved 

in the progress of everybody else. If a student has someone else 

in a submission, he or she shares what they did to that person and 

helps that person to either learn the technique or counter that 

technique. It’s easy for you to build that up from scratch, because 

when you have a bunch of newbies, they learned the culture from 

the start, but when you have people that are transplanted, a lot of 

times they have different habits or cultural backgrounds that conflict 

with the way we do things. So there’s a transition period and 

it’s a group effort. I don’t do things alone. 

I have, besides myself, my partner Adam Carl, who helps 

people in the business and marketing. We try to leverage from 

each other and within our group. We can go from a guy that has a 

garage dojo to a guy that has multiple schools with thousands of 

students. You have the whole range that we can tap from. In our 

group, they help each other out. I ask 

advice from some of my affiliates and 

students who are successful in their 

businesses. In a lot of the things we 

do, there’s a reflection of the input we 

received from them. 

I don’t know it all, nor entertain that 

I’ll ever know at all. ‘Leave your ego at 

the door’ is not just for training; it’s a motto for life. So we’re always 

receptive to new suggestions and always willing to help. A lot of 

times when you learn a technique, it’s not enough. You have to 

learn how to train. That’s the part that we try to emphasize and 

makes the most difference, because it helps your longevity. It 

helps you achieve your goals, we break down things. A lot of times 

we will have that challenge: how can you cater to the 40+ crowd 

that wants to join an adult class? What if the guy’s a surgeon or a 

lawyer? He’s somebody who is a professor. He can get hurt. If a 

surgeon or a dentist, God forbid, they hurt their hands. They can 

be off work for a while. We divide the group into the areas that they 

feel are more comfortable, but everybody knows the intensity, 

which they push it. We will always work with safety in the way we 

train. I emphasize as much how to train as I do what to do when 

you’re training. So, those two elements are there. 

MAWN: Let’s talk a little bit more about specifically schooloperations. 

You have a multi-school operation and then affiliates 

that teach your curriculum. What do you think has been the biggest 

challenge or the biggest challenges that you faced in developing 

that organization over the years, and how have you overcome that? 

CM: In my opinion, it’s the relationship aspect that you develop. 

You build a good staff, you develop good relationships, it’s usually 

very seldom that I see staff that goes or students that break away. 

The relationship remains a small, neat circle. I feel the thing that I 

learned, and I’m still learning so much, is the accountability factor. 

Me being the owner of a business does not give me the right to 

infringe on the expectations in relation to the people that I work 

with. For instance, if I tell everybody to be on time and I’m late, it 

takes away my authority to enforce what I expect of them, because 

they’re going to look at me thinking that’s hypocritical. 

I want to be able to reach out to as many people as possible, 

so I have to be adamant about how much time I’m willing to put 

into each area of my business. I feel you don’t have to be overzealous. 

I think you should have a structure in your academy. I have a 

head instructor, a manager, and three part-time instructors, so this 

is my structure. This is what I need at the moment. We do have 

plans to expand and once we do, there’s always that growth they 

call ‘growing pains.’ Then you realize that you need more people 

in order for you to keep up with what’s happening, right? A school 

that has 100 students has different problems than a school that has 

1,000 and for one instructor that has multiple schools. 

Learning from my mistakes off the mat is more important to 

your business than your time on the mat. A lot of instructors stack 

up a lot of their schedule and spend so much time on the mat 

teaching classes at the expense of spending time planning their 

business marketing, doing a staff meeting, developing their marketing, 

and so on. 

“Consider the amount of time that you 

can do business or be with your family, 

and have a better quality of life.” 

Another thing is I’m a fan of the ‘slow to hire quick to fire.’ I was 

the opposite before: I was quick to hire and slow to fire. It’s so 

much more costly. I don’t hire anybody permanently until the 90 

days out, because you can use personality tests. You can do background 

checks, you can drug test people, but people will not show 

that they might have underlying issues for a while. So, I always like 

to give it enough time to develop somewhat of a relationship to 

see if there’s anything to be seen in that regard. 

I feel that the title ‘business owner’ is a misnomer because the 

business owns you. That is how it works and people nowadays still 

don’t take time into consideration. For instance, how many of us 

are blessed to have billing companies or software companies doing 

the legwork for us in regards to performing our billing, collecting 

tuition for our students, sending templates for emails, text messages, 

reminders, and so on? Ironically, you have people that still 

are caught up with the old-fashioned way, paper and pen, which I 

don’t have a problem with, but they want to do all the menial tasks. 

They do their own billing. I can’t fathom that because time is 

such a currency that you choose how to spend it. Why spend more 

time on billing rather than paying the small percentage of transaction 

fees or the monthly fee for the service? Consider the amount 

of time that you can do business or be with your family, and have 

a better quality of life. I remember a time when I had one business 

and then I opened a second location. It doubled my work, but 


COVER STORY 

didn’t necessarily double my income. So 

I’d rather operate one school than two or 

three and not have a life. 

MAWN: You have a really good reputation 

for maintaining very high quality standards 

for your students, for your instructors, 

for the affiliates, and the operators. 

What do you think the core systems are 

that you have in place to be able to maintain 

the high quality standards you’re trying 

to accomplish with affiliate schools? 

CM: I can only say that we have recommendations 

in regards to vendors that we 

have had great experience with. I get to 

meet a lot of people in the industry that offer 

services and products that are amazing 

in many ways. So, despite any personal 

benefit that I may have, if it’s a good product, 

I’ll more than happily try to encourage 

the people to take advantage of it. 

In regards to systems, the whole thing is a 

job is never done; it’s always a work in progress. Like when you 

bought a laptop two years ago, and then you go to the same shop 

two years later. All the current software, all the new apps are up 

there, I need to add more memory, and this and that. 

There are certain things at the core. I think tracking your students, 

being engaged from a customer service standpoint, you 

have to give more than what’s expected of you. I have issues with 

staff at different points in time because they came from different 

backgrounds. A lot of people have what I call ‘the poor man mentality’ 

because they had bad experiences in their upbringing. They 

never grew out of it. No matter what system you have in place, they 

can’t really integrate themselves with it because they have that 

bias, that self-limiting thought process that came a long way back. 

A lot of people have the before and after experience when 

they do martial arts in a way supposed to and it becomes a 

lifestyle. Without question, it becomes a life changing experience. 

Then people don’t ask questions about price when the value is 

clear, the decision is easy. If I do an intro class and price becomes 

an issue after the introduction, I didn’t do my job. When someone 

takes an intro class, I want him to look for my staff and say, ‘I want 

to join right now.’ He’s not going to ask how much it is. That’s out 

of the question. 

You can make all the promises, but if what we deliver is not 

beyond somebody else’s expectations, price is going to always be 

an issue. They’ll say, “I’m not sure, I’m going to ask my wife, or I’m 

going to go and check the market”. I don’t want that client. I want a 

client that says, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m ready.’ 

I have to do my part to add value. Part of the system is your posture, 

having clean gear, presenting everything well, nails trimmed, 

and a nice haircut. Brush your teeth before you start talking to your 

students, get a mint before you go to teach, all the small details. 

You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing. I can’t have somebody 

with me that doesn’t believe in what they’re doing, because he’s 

not going to be able to replicate the quality. 

The Machado family have been a powerful influence in expanding the reach of BJJ throughout the world. 

I’ve seen success stories amongst some of our affiliates. One 

gentleman was married with two young kids and he wanted to run 

a dojo. That was his dream, but he was working a full-time job in 

a manufacturing plant. You know how it is, you work full time and 

you’re going to go for the rest of your day and still do the martial 

arts and run the business. Then what energy are you going to have 

left for anything else in your life? When you go home, you don’t 

want to play with your kids. You don’t want to spend time with your 

wife because you’re too tired. You just want to go to bed. So, he 

said, ‘I can’t wait for the day that I don’t have to do my daytime job. 

I can’t be 100% dedicated to the school business.’ 

Six months later, he was able to refrain from doing the full-time 

job and be a full-time martial arts owner-instructor. It still took another 

year for him to be really successful because he was resisting 

everything that we were trying to tell him. My partner and I have 

Zoom sessions every single week where I talk about the martial 

arts mindset with marketing and business principles. Finally, after 

a loss, he said, ‘You know what, I’m going to just shut up and do it, 

not question it. I’m going to just see what happens.’ It was his most 

successful month, not only of the entire year, but in that month 

alone, he made as much money as he did all the months prior. 

From that point on, he said, ‘I don’t question it anymore.’ 

The other thing is really to apply the principles of those who 

know more than you. You can accumulate knowledge, but if you 

don’t use it, it becomes wasted. 

MAWN: You’re very proud of and meticulous about maintaining 

the standards of your teaching and in the art. What are some of the 

mechanisms that you use to make sure that you have high instructor 

quality? 

CM: I think that you’ve got to communicate consistently and 

service them in what they need, whether you do direct instruction 

or long-distance training. I think that applies to whatever the case 

might be in regards to your customers. I feel structure is important. 



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COVER STORY 


You have a pattern in terms of what you teach, how you teach, 

what it takes for growth for, everything needs to be clear. We do 

our weekly calls where we talk to everybody. Even if you cannot 

make it, you can always see what was recorded at your leisure. We 

also do two camps a year. We used to do them at my academy, but 

we have so many schools and participants that we need to be in 

a hotel, and it creates a greater experience because most of the 

participants stay in the same hotel. 

We tried to build our family. It’s a family environment because, 

even for the newcomers, it’s welcoming. It doesn’t matter if you’re 

a brand-new martial artist or somebody who is a proficient black 

belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; everybody experiences the camaraderie. 

We are there for one another, so it’s really a magical experience in 

terms of a human experience. It becomes a remarkable event. Of 

course, there’s business involved: we have lecturers, people we 

invite that come and give their spiel on their knowledge in the industry 

and how to make things better. My partner talks about marketing 

and we also talk about our experiences working together 

and do Q and A sessions with everybody. 

It’s always a work in progress which is why you have to leverage 

good people around you for a strong team. We need to have 

a support structure and I can comfortably say that we feel with the 

group that we have from affiliates to the staff, to our management, 

and partnerships it has a really strong foundation. People try to 

copy you, they’ll try to see what’s the secret sauce. They can try to 

copy whatever sauce recipe you have, but they cannot copy the 

human aspect of it, your personality is key too. 

This is really a strong element and I feel that if I’m the same 

person a year from now, I failed. If I’m not a better version of myself 

in 12 months, I’m not doing my job, because that’s the nature of 

how things go: you have to evolve. By the time people want to be 

like me, hopefully I’m already a more evolved version of myself. 

The worst fear is not fear of others pushing past you, but fear of 

not becoming who you can be. The man in the mirror is always a 

measure, in my opinion. 

There has to always be some notable 

improvement, even in our events. If you go 

to an event that’s the same every time or it’s 

not as good as the previous one, it leaves a 

bad taste in people’s mouths. But whenever 

they go and feel, ‘Man, this was even 

better than the last one,’ then at the end of 

next week, they say, ‘Oh, my gosh, how did 

they make that even better?’ So that’s the 

other thing that I feel: you cannot settle for 

less. It’s always a work in progress. 

MAWN: As you described earlier, with 

Chuck Norris and his team, you had a really 

interesting relationship with those guys 

from the standpoint of running a martial 

arts school. What are some of the things 

that you learned from him or he learned 

from you that might be interesting to our 

readers as far as being great martial artists? 

CM: He was and still is one of my best friends and an amazing 

individual. He is like a hero on and off screen. He has been a blessing 

to so many people and to my family in particular, a very amazing 

guy. With that said, I think at that time, the industry already had 

a lot of things going on, but it had not evolved to the degree that it 

is now. But he did have quite a few very successful academies. 

I went there more with the mentality of a coach. I went there to 

teach. I just wanted to show them my product. I was not yet mature 

enough to see a larger horizon with all the different things that 

could be available to me. 

I’m very respectful of everybody else’s business. You’re not going 

to see me using the approach of trying to solicit a student from 

another instructor or a school from another organization, because 

I don’t feel it’s right to infringe upon other persons’ livelihood. I 

should do my own marketing and earn my own customers. Let the 

market judge for themselves. If you have good service, people will 

see what you’re doing. They’ll come gravitate to you. 

Of the few MAIA shows that I’ve attended, I came across a lot 

of instructors who have been burned out and wronged by different 

organizations, which I’m not going to say names. I’m not actually 

asking him to come to me. He’s already out; he’s orphaned, 

and I call it ‘the orphans of the industry.’ I felt that I don’t agree 

when somebody who has knowledge to help somebody, not only 

doesn’t do it, but also wrongs that person. He doesn’t deserve 

that customer. 

So I talked to my partner and I changed my policy. Now I’ll never 

approach anybody for anybody else. But if I know for a fact there’s 

somebody who’s being wronged, I’m going to extend my services 

to that person, because I feel it’s the right thing to do. Remember, 

time is a currency. A lot of times we’re stuck in a situation where 

you are following the structure or organization for a long period 

of time, and your fear is not leaving the organization, but how you 

are going to be perceived by all the other members who are going 

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COVER STORY 

Master Machado has mastered the art of high quality instruction. 


peers, or partners, or friends, and look at you as a traitor. In Jiu- 

Jitsu, we have the term ‘creonte’ which means ‘traitor.’ 

This holds people back more; not so much because they know 

it’s in their best interest to leave an organization or instructor, 

but they are afraid of the repercussions in regards to how they’re 

going to be perceived by their peers or still going to be part of 

that group. I tell them, ‘Man, your number one priority is with 

your family. What’s in your best interest is in the best interest of 

your family, so you shouldn’t undermine that at the expense of 

somebody else. So this was really a soul searching moment for 

me because I realized we have a mission to rescue people, and 

not just to help people. 

MAWN: Some of the largest organizations in the industry are 

fracturing and having all sorts of internal struggles. Some organizations 

forget, if they ever knew it, that loyalty is a two-way street. 

CM: Loyalty is a handshake. Loyalty is, ‘I’m loyal to you because 

you’re serving my best interest.’ The minute you’re not serving my 

interests, what do I owe you, then? I do not believe in blind loyalty. 

You cannot ask somebody to be loyal to you when that person is 

being wronged by you or deceived. 

MAWN: One hundred percent it’s a handshake. What would 

you say, if you were advising somebody who maybe is new to the 

industry, or maybe they’re just opening a school now, what are 

one or two of the best business lessons or the biggest lessons that 

you’ve learned in the last 24 months that you’d want to make sure 

they took with them in their new venture? 

CM: Everybody went to virtual training. Their instructors had 

been doing that for ages. I think that was a very critical part of 

multiplying the delivery process of your classes. Even now, in 

California, a couple of my brothers are still doing classes via Zoom, 

and they’ve been able to keep a certain number of their students 

engaged. Even if they don’t take advantage of it, it’s a must that 

you provide a service. 

I think it’s always good to have a component that’s fitness 

based, so that way they’ll log in and do the six-feet distance, you 

just would have to grapple. It’s really hard to keep your students 

coming all the time. If they have to do shadow Jiu-Jitsu, they need 

to have another body to move with. Thinking in terms of longevity 

of your business, what can you offer your students as the reopening 

happens? What else can you offer them? When we reopened, 

we had extra classes that we gave them, some were semi-private 

packages to spice things up; they got some more value for the fact 

that they were continuing as members through the whole pandemic 

and helping other schools to stay afloat in the midst of the 

whole crisis. 

For some of the schools, I kind of stopped the operations of my 

after school program that had a quite large group of students. You 

can imagine how much that costs; they pay more than the average 

student for that service. Anyhow, we decided to just eliminate 

the after school altogether. We diminished the dimensions of our 

school because we didn’t need all the extra space that we were 

using. We had a fleet of 70 vehicles and we sold all the vans and 

buses and stuff. 

Sometimes you need to make strategic decisions that sound 

like you’re losing, but it’s kind of like a fight. In a 12-round match, 

I’m not going to go hard all the time. I’m going to slow down round 

8 and 9 so I can be up for round 10 and 11. If it goes to 12, then I 

have what it takes to finish the job. So, from a strategy perspective, 

you’ve got to think in more ways than one. A lot of times, some 

guys did really well by just cutting down their expenses and still 

being able to keep up with it. 

MAWN: That’s pretty comprehensive. Is there anything else 

you wish to share with the industry leaders? 

CM: From an instructor’s perspective, I feel life is more fun if you 

have time for yourself. If you invest in yourself, whether you’re reading 

good books, you’re doing good seminars, workshops, eating 

healthy, or using hacks. I started the carnivore diet. That has been 

a major thing for me because I come from the Gracie diet, which 

was based on vegetables and fruits, a lot of carbs, and transitioned 

from there to the keto diet, and then now the carnivore diet. I have 

seen amazing results for me in terms of weight loss, in terms of 

health, on my joints, and I feel a lot better overall. If you’re not well, 

it doesn’t matter how much you do for your business or everybody 

else in the end. You’re not going to be able to enjoy it. We owe it to 

ourselves and our family to take good care of ourselves. 

A lot of times, it’s hard when you have everything coming at 

you, being an entrepreneur, whether you have one school, multiple 

schools, or run an organization. Time is the currency. You’ve got 

to have time for yourself. I still have to go to the gym. After I teach 

my classes, I’m a member of one of the gyms here. I go down and 

do my hour workouts six days a week. It’s not because I want to 

compete at the world championships or anything like that. It has 

nothing to do with pursuing anything other than being healthy. Last 

point is, when I do a seminar, I have a rule: whether I have one or a 

thousand, I’m going to give my best. If I can save them by preaching 

Jiu-Jitsu to them, I did my job. I’m humbled because I’m there 

for them first. My time, my energy, my knowledge is for them. 

MAWN: Thank you for sharing your time currency and your 

business savvy, Sir. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Rifkin Professional Karate 

Center: 21 Years of Success; 

Empowering the Community 

Master J.D. Rifkin has done just about everything from dedicated 

student to competitor in traditional tournaments and kickboxing 

events, from Master Instructor to actor, fight choreographer, fitness 

trainer, and school owner. 

His school “Professional 

Karate Cen ter” has been in 

business for 21 years serving 

the people of the community, and helping them empower 

their lives. Established in Los Angeles, the school served the 

LA area for 11 years, and now, has been in Columbia, MO for 

almost 10 years, serving more than 200 active students. 

MAWN: What is the major contribution(s) that your school 

is bringing to its community? 

JR: RPKC provides a program dedicated to creating 

skilled martial artists. During 2020, throughout the 

pandemic, we continued to offer in-person classes with 

safety precautions. Because parents and adult students 

were looking for something live and not virtual learning, our 

school grew in numbers during the pandemic. Through this, we 

brought our community something that many of our children 

students were lacking: social interaction and an organized quality 

in-person program. 

MAWN: What are the best producing marketing strategies you 

use and what are the lead numbers like per month? 

JR: The only marketing we do is our website and word of 

mouth. We average about 30 leads per month between online info 

registrations and phone calls. 

MAWN: You mentioned a website. Do you have a lead 

generating website and what about it has been most productive 

regarding leads? 

JR: Yes we have a very effective website. The lead generation 

tools attract a steady stream of leads. We find that using real photos 

of our school and students rather than stock photos adds an 

authenticity to our site and seems to be more effective at producing 

results. 

MAWN: What are the most significant programs you provide 

and their benefits to participants? 

JR: We teach a unified, blended curriculum to a variety of class 

ages and skill levels, from our Little Warriors to Juniors to Teen/ 

Adults. It’s a blend of Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing and Aikido. 

It’s Important to RPKC to Provide a Modern, Safe, Clean, 

Professional Environment for it’s Students and Families. 

Our student benefits range from self-defense skills, fitness, 

weight loss, increased self-confidence, and athletic performance 

improvement. 

MAWN: Do you use a student management software and what 

features are providing the best benefits for running your school 

more efficiently? 

JR: Yes we use ATLAS Software for school management and 

billing with AMS. The use of the lead information widgets on our 

website integrated with the automated emails/texts feature allows 

us to focus more on current students, knowing that leads are going 

to automatically receive the information they requested. The simplicity 

of only adding a student agreement once into the software 

is a time saver as well. 

MAWN: What advice do you have for other martial arts school 

owners for having success in business? 

JR: Teach the best classes you possibly can. Your school is only 

as good as the quality of the last class. To create a culture of referrals, 

your students have to know they’re getting the best training 

possible and have absolutely chosen the right school for themselves 

or their child. If they’re excited about what 

your school has to offer, they can’t help but refer their friends 

and family. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Tae Kwon Do Training Center: 

Providing Traditional Martial 

Arts In An Ever-Changing World 

Master Rick Wiest began his martial arts journey by joining his children in their Tae 

Kwon Do classes. He found such a deep passion for it, that he established his own 

school, Tae Kwon Do Training Center LLC in upstate New York and has been providing 

services to his community for 21 years. The school provides a traditional foundation in 

Tae Kwon Do, but also prepares students interested in competing at a national level. 

Rick teaches a dedicated student base of more than 150 active students. 

MAWN: What is the 

major contribution(s) that 

your school is bringing to 

its community? 

RW: We provide a 

solid, long-standing, 

professional Tae Kwon Do 

program for both youth 

and adults in our community. 

In addition, our school 

is involved in several community 

service projects 

which includes a Tae 

Kwon Do program for Fort 

Drum’s BOSS program, 

self-defense training in 

local schools and for nonprofit 

organizations. We 

Master Rick Wiest 

also have a moral building feature during classes to get students 

thinking about the good things in their day rather than COVID 

related restrictions. 

MAWN: What are the best producing marketing strategies you 

use and what are the lead numbers like per month? 

RW: We have developed several marketing strategies that 

have been beneficial. First is social media! We post pictures and 

verbiage that support getting through COVID and how we keep 

pushing forward. We see these result in happy faces on kids, 

adults staying fit or getting back to working out, through the Tae 

kwon Do training. 

We have enhanced website features, like bots to pass on direct 

real time texting between prospective clients and me. Above all 

we stay open and never let up, we kept our program running at 

100%. That generated a feeling with our student base that if Master 

Wiest can do it so can we. In our small upstate NY market we get 

an more than 20 highly qualified leads a month. 

MAWN: What are your most significant programs you provide 

and their benefits to participants? 

RW: Our most significant program is by far worldwide KUK- 

KIWON Tae Kwon Do certification. Military families want their time 

and money spent to mean something no matter where their next 

duty station may be in the world and local families want the same 

thing for themselves and their children. This program gives them 

that consistency and continuity of quality. 

MAWN: Do you have a lead generating website and what 

about it has been most productive regarding leads? 

RW: Our website features lead generators like a direct real-time 

texting bot, that gets answers and a response within minutes of 

questions being asked. With the auto call scheduling, prospects 

and students can choose to set up a call with us at their convenience. 

Once I accept the time, the feature automatically schedules 

a call to answer questions or schedule an intro. 

MAWN: Do you use a management software and what 

features are providing the best benefits for running your school 

more efficiently? 

RW: We use ATLAS from AMS. The best benefit for us is being 

able to monitor completed agreements. In addition, running the 

paid-out report is a great benefit as well. 

MAWN: What advice do you have for other martial arts school 

owners for having success in business? 

RW: Lead by example during these tough COVID restricted 

times and adapt to what can be done within your states COVID 

restrictions, so that your program provides the most possible benefits 

to your students. Be a moral builder for students and word of 

that will get around - we call it making smiling faces! 


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TEAMWORK 

Resisting School Owner Burnout 

By Hanshi Dave Kovar 

I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the mid ’90s. My good friend had just 

opened up this gorgeous martial arts school and invited me down for a visit. 

Upon entering, I was blown away. It was fully matted, long 

before the average school even had mats. It had great equipment, 

a gorgeous lobby, and a state-of-the-art pro shop. It was one of the 

nicest schools I had ever seen. 

What happens when you combine a state-of-the-art facility with 

a knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and charismatic instructor? Success—and 

lots of it. Over the next decade, my friend thrived. When 

it came to business, he could do no wrong. Classes were always 

packed, the energy was great, and the paycheck solid. 

Over the years, our lives moved in different directions and we 

sort of lost contact. I would see him from time to time at conventions 

where we would exchange pleasantries, 

but we never seemed to have time 

for a deep conversation. Each time I saw 

him, his light was a little less bright and 

his smile seemed a little more forced. 

A couple of years ago, I was doing 

a seminar in his area and I had the 

chance to go to his school to say hello. It 

was the same location and the same guy, 

but it wasn’t the same experience. 

What was once a state-of-the-art 

facility was now a worn-down, 

battered, and smelly dojo. 

His youthful enthusiasm 

had been replaced with 

cynicism based on years 

of challenges. His hunger 

had been replaced 

by lethargy and compromise. 

To put it bluntly, he 

was suffering and so was 

his business. He was just 

plain burned out. 

I’m certainly not insinuating 

that he did anything wrong. Life 

has a way of humbling everyone. It was not the first time I’ve seen 

someone be slowly broken down by their school. It could happen 

to anyone. But nevertheless, it still broke my heart. Here was this 

capable, competent, amazing person who had become a shell of 

the person he once was. 

Although I’m still extremely enthusiastic about my career, I myself 

have had my moments of near burnout, to be sure. And after 

seeing my friend, I have doubled my efforts to avoid burnout by 

trying to do the following four things on a regular basis as a martial 

arts school owner. Perhaps these things might be valuable to you 

as well. 

1. Create a vision of what you want your school to be, then visit 

that vision often. I once read that burnout only happens when you 

lose sight of your vision. There certainly can be other things that 

come into play that could cause burnout, but losing sight of your 

vision is certainly near the top of the list. 

2. Constantly train your team. My friend in the story above had 

a philosophy that if you wanted something done right, you had to 

do it yourself. Because he was a hardworking guy, he was able to 

push himself and do virtually everything on his own, year in and 

year out, for over a decade before it caught up to him. 

3. Maintain a love for the arts. It’s been my observation that the 

people I see in our profession that have maintained a high level of 

success over time have been people that have kept their passion. 

People on the outside think that if you teach martial arts, you get to 

train all the time. We know that’s not the case. I believe that this is 

one of the X factors for a successful martial arts school and should 

not be neglected. 

4. Savor the moment. In a Japanese tea ceremony, there’s a 

phrase: “Ichi-go ichi-e.” Roughly translated, it means “one encounter, 

one chance.” It means that this moment with these people will 

never happen again the same way, so we should savor it. Every 

day I should consciously try to savor each class I teach, each staff 

meeting I participate in, and each student I converse with, because 

when I do this, I maintain a higher level of present focus, which allows 

me to be at my best and maximize the situation. 

HANSHI DAVE KOVAR is an 8th degree black belt and recognized as the “Trainer of Trainers.” Hanshi 

Dave Kovar is an internationally acclaimed instructor with black belt degrees in ten different martial arts styles. His 

systems have been implemented in hundreds of schools around the US. 


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MIND MASTERY 

Gain Mental Clarity 

By Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

Gaining mental clarity in this new environment is easier said than done. We have so 

many distractions and too much time to think about them. 

If you feel your world is chaotically cluttered with stuff that you 

need to get rid of, then this column is for you. 

In my personal coaching classes, I teach the law of attraction 

and life concepts. What is the law of attraction? Think of it in the 

simplest terms: whatever you think about most is what you draw 

into your life. Before you read this, I recommend getting a pen and 

paper and making notes about how not having mental clarity is 

affecting your life. 

Letting Go of the Past 

While the present can plague our minds when we have a lot on 

our plate, the past can take a hold of our mental facilities when it 

comes to dealing with people around us. Additionally, it’s safe to 

say that we all have had bad things happen to us in the past that 

we wish we could forget. Life can sometimes leave the emotional 

body with scars, but then it’s up to us to heal them in the best way 

we can. Letting go of the past is important because when you can’t 

let go of the past, it can dictate how you GAIN MENTAL 

CLARITY react to things in the future. 

Recognize Why Letting Go is Important 

Say a friend hurt you in the past, and you feel 

as though they left an emotional mark on you. Because 

of what happened, you don’t feel as though 

you can trust anyone now. This general 

sense of distrust, while you believe 

it’s protecting you from getting 

hurt again, is limiting your ability 

to form positive relationships 

with the people around you. 

You continuously go back 

to the situation and can’t let 

go. In turn, this creates emotionally 

driven mental clutter 

that dictates how you live your life. Therefore, letting go of the 

past is so important, and recognizing this fact is the first step when 

you’re looking to let go of negativity from the past. This way you 

can start thinking about letting go of the past as a positive thing for 

yourself. To this end, thinking about some of the following aspects 

should be able to help you deal with any issues about your past. 

Releases You of a Burden 

Carrying around the weight of something in that past that has 

hurt you can be incredibly tiring emotionally. By forgiving these 

circumstances and letting go of the hurt caused by the situations, 

you allow yourself to strengthen your own psyche. 

Releases You of Resentment 

It’s crucial that you understand that when you choose to let go 

of a hurtful past situation, it doesn’t mean you have to mend the 

relationship with the person that hurt you. Instead, you need to 

focus on letting go of your sadness, anger, and pain. This will help 

you become a better version of yourself without having to focus on 

the other person. 

Brings You More Understanding 

Many people who cause others pain are often hurting themselves. 

If you can recognize this fact and find it in your heart to be 

a bit more compassionate to others who hurt you, it might end up 

being easier for you to let the past go. 

Requires You Forgiving Yourself 

When you hold onto the past, there’s a chance that you also 

blame yourself for the circumstances that occurred. Similar to 

finding compassion for the people who hurt you, it’s also essential 

to find compassion for yourself. Relationships are complex, and 

it’s entirely possible that you could be the victim, as well as having 

some responsibility in the matter. 

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. 


All books are available on www.Atouchofzen.com 

or to place your order over the phone.

GROWTH HACKS 

Using Road Signs and Brochures 

to Promote Your School 

By Mr. Sean Lee 

With summer break coming and the new school year ending, it’s about to be a lively 

time of the year. 

That means it’s also time to get busy 

and make the money your school 

deserves. As a way to get the word out 

about the various programs and camps 

your school offers, and to make sure 

you get every use out of your marketing 

tools, it’s time to bring out the road signs 

and brochures to promote your programs 

and summer camps. 

What information 

is best to have on 

road signs? 

One of the easiest things 

about marketing with road 

signs is that ‘simpler’ the 

design, the better. People will 

be driving by the sign at speed, 

so you’ll have to make your message 

simple, and large enough to be read/ 

seen easily. You’ll want to use a 

short, catchy, benefit focused 

headline that is easy to understand 

and read. You’ll want to 

include an easy to remember 

website URL and phone 

number in some highly visible 

way, and perhaps an 

‘arrow’ or some directional 

mechanism that (literally) 

‘points’ people to 

your school. 

What is the main purpose of 

road signs? 

In general terms, people are creatures 

of habit. I’m sure you’d agree, we ‘tend’ to 

drive the same route to work or school day 

after day, with very little variance if any. 

Snipe signs on the side of the road ‘get 

noticed’ at a very high rate, because they 

are ‘unusual’ and tend not to blend into 

their typical surroundings. This will get 

your school noticed, and if well crafted, 

can stimulate interest in your programs. 

Updating your school 

brochures 

A benefit 

focused school 

brochure is also 

a useful tool for 

promoting your programs. 

Throughout the year, they’re 

maintained outside of local businesses 

that display them for you, and 

of course, outside your own school. In the 

months of March–August, more brochures 

will be taken than during the other times of the 

year. Be sure to fill up your brochure racks and 

make any necessary changes to them that you see fit. 

If you’re in need of professionally designed road signs, brochures, 

or other promotional materials designed by the industry’s 

leading experts, please give me a call 1-800-275-1600. I’d love to 

help your school reach its true potential. 

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. 


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NINJA BUSINESS TACTICS 

Ah-shu Defined 

People have asked about the meaning of the An-shu title that Rumiko and I use. 

Though the world knows our school as SKH Quest Center for Martial Arts in Dayton, 

the original Japanese name for our dojo is Kasumi-An. 

I have used that name since the 1980s to describe my dojo and 

the training method of that dojo, way before we founded the current 

SKH Quest network in the mid-1990s. 

The Kasumi-An is specifically the house I live in and the dojo 

and meditation halls in my house. People come to that Kasumi-An 

for private lessons with me. By extension, Kasumi-An also refers to 

the training curriculum system program taught in all dojos across 

the globe that operate as branches furthering my work in the world. 

Kasumi translates from Japanese to “haze” in English. There 

is the obvious homonym where “haze” sounds like “Hayes”, but 

beyond that, ancient legends from Japan’s warrior past 

often give kasumi an association with the lore of 

the ninja. For example, the recluse mountain 

yogi Kasumi Gakure Doshi was the teacher of 

Daisuke Togakure in the historical Japanese 

tradition I studied on my way to developing 

To-Shin Do. Kasumi implies that the enemy 

thinks he sees and knows what and who 

we are, but he is deluded and we encourage 

him to hold that delusion. 

The An is a place of refuge, usually a 

small cottage temple on the grounds of a 

larger temple to which warriors or monks 

could retreat in the old culture of Japan. The An 

is a place you can go to get a break 

from all the craziness in life, all 

the heartbreak and heartache, 

the frustration, the 

overdone pointless 

competition, all the 

meanness, all the 

compelling distraction 

from what is 

truly important. 

Taking refuge in 

the An, you get your batteries re-charged, your juices re-bubbled, 

your vision re-focused, your intentions re-calibrated. You get back 

in connection with the touch of life itself. On retreat, you get back 

to what is real for you, or you practice arts or meditations that allow 

you to expand to new broader horizons what is real. After your time 

in the An, you are ready to re-enter your community refreshed and 

renewed and re-pledged to making the world a better, healthier, 

saner, safer place for all. 

Shu in Japanese means one who runs an operation or facility of 

some sort. The common translation is “master”, but it really implies 

more like “facilitator”, in the sense of being the stable master 

where horses are trained, or range master where firearms are 

taught. An-shu is then retreat master, or “one who facilitates the 

retreat cottage”. I hyphenate the title so the English hints at the two 

Japanese kanji letters for An and Shu that form the word; it could 

just as well be written Anshu. 

An-shu is a very humble title of service, deliberately chosen in 

my mid-40s when I went from 30 years as a self-oriented student 

of the martial arts to a new focus on assisting others to find the 

martial truths that I had attained. An-shu is not a ninja title as such. 

Yes, I am aware that a few individuals pretending to a past of “secret 

ninja training” have adopted my An-shu title in imitation; that 

is so predictable that there is little I can say about it. You cannot 

properly be titled An-shu if you are not head of an An. 

Others suggested I use an impressive title like soke, which 

means “original founding family”, or saiko shihan, which means 

“top-ranked master”, or kan-cho, which means “training hall headmaster”. 

Those are oft-used titles for head of a martial group, but 

those seemed to miss the mark of what I wanted to communicate. 

I want to be on record as a person who vowed to devote himself 

to assisting others as a guide on the path. An-shu as “custodian 

of the spiritual inn” seems warmer and more in line with my focus 

these days in my 60s. No need for a grand and formal high-falutin’ 

title, because as I have often commented before, my real rank is 

“Stephen K. Hayes”, the most honest and powerful title I could use. 

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 


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PILLARS OF SUCCESS 

Fight Daily Until You Win and 

Enjoy a Healthier Life 

By Grandmaster Y.K. Kim 

Quit Smoking and Get in Shape! 

It is shameful as a martial arts instructor, but I have to confess to 

you: I could have been a chain smoker because I enjoyed smoking. 

When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I was looking for was 

a cigarette. After every meal, I had to smoke. I was smoking before 

going to bed, and whenever I was stressed out, I chain smoked. On 

top of that, without smoking, I couldn’t focus on whatever I did, because 

my body was asking for nicotine. Smoking was part of my life. 

One day, 30 years ago, I had a very important meeting. For 

some reason I couldn’t think properly, and I couldn’t have the right 

judgment, so I could not talk well. As a result, I 

made a big mistake and lost a very important 

deal. I got so disappointed and depressed 

that I started to dig out why I couldn’t think, 

couldn’t talk right, and lost this very important 

deal. I realized I needed nicotine 

for the meeting, but I didn’t have time 

to smoke, so I lost the deal. I started to 

get angry with myself because the damn 

cigarettes controlled me; how weak and 

stupid I was! I was a slave to cigarettes! This 

is how cigarettes impacted me: I abused my 

body and made myself sick. My mouth 

was like an ashtray and smelled 

terrible, and I wasted money and 

time. I felt that if I didn’t quit 

smoking, I would be a failure 

in life. Therefore, I decided 

to quit smoking right away. 

I was committed: I threw 

away all the cigarettes 

in my home and at my 

office, and I told myself 

that I was a nonsmoker 

forever. 

On the first day, I was so strong. The second and third days 

were OK. Then, wow, starting on the fourth and fifth days my 

cravings were crazy. My body wanted nicotine so badly, I was 

looking for cigarette butts everywhere, but I couldn’t find anything 

at my home, so I started drinking lots of water. I practiced martial 

arts nonstop to make myself busy. After two weeks, it was a little 

better. I fought hard for 21 days like I was really crazy. Finally, my 

body no longer craved cigarettes. After six months, I became a 

new and confident person, and my decision transformed my life. I 

was so happy because I saw that the government made rules and 

regulations that a warning must be included on cigarette packs. 

However, I was shocked that still over 480,000 people were dying 

every year and over 36 million people were vulnerable to cancer 

and heart attacks because of smoking. I believe together we can 

create a smoke-free America. Therefore, Martial Arts World and I 

challenge 36 million people to quit smoking and get in shape, so 

America can become smoke free and enjoy healthy living. 

5 Steps to Quit Smoking and Get in Shape! 

1. Commitment: Throw away all cigarettes from your home and 

office, and never buy any again. 

2. Do my U.S. National Exercise every day. 

3. Fight for 21 days: Fight for control of your body and your life, 

and never give in until you make things happen. You can control 

cigarettes. 

4. Keep going for six months: You are a nonsmoker. You will get 

in shape. 

5. Help other people quit smoking: When you help others, you 

help yourself. 

You are not alone! 36 million people will motivate one another. I 

strongly believe that together we can turn this obstacle into a stepping 

stone. Cigarettes are your enemy, my enemy, and health’s 

enemy. Martial Arts World will continue to fight for healthier living 

and research new ways to make it happen. 

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. 


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THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI 

Children and the Art of the 

Sword, Part 2 

By Shihan Dana Abbott 

Ages 3 to 6 

Children in the 3- to 6-year range look for attention and approval. 

A small class size for these age groups is suggested to 

help give each student personal attention. Only the short sword 

is recommended for 3 to 6 year olds. Unless modified for these 

children’s sizes, longer weapons such as the bo staff or long sword 

are too hard for the children to control. These weapons tend to be 

heavier, possibly causing injury to small wrists. They are also longer, 

which can increase potential injury to other children in range. 

Three to 6 year olds can be instructed in basic safety. They 

should be taught not to hit someone outside of class with the 

swords. I’ve learned the hard way that horseplay 

around the house with the Chanbara 

equipment, even with adults who have 

a lot of control, usually ends up with 

someone getting 

their eyes 

watered, or their 

nose literally “out 

of joint.” You certainly 

don’t want 

Johnny going home 

and beating away on 

his sister with his newfound 

sword techniques. 

The 3- to 6-year-old 

children can also be 

taught to hit another 

student only when 

that student has 

put on a protective 

helmet and gloves. 

Good safety behavior 

can be rewarded with 

small prizes. Because 

children of this age group have fairly short attention spans, the rewards 

will need to be given as soon as the good behavior appears 

in order to be properly related in their minds. Another reward can 

be assigning someone to be the “safety monitor,” such as the 

child who best exemplifies safe behavior. You can also rotate the 

assignment of safety monitor for each class, which helps instill the 

safety message. 

Optimally, children in this age range can be taught the proper, 

basic grip of the sword and the four basic strikes: head, wrist, 

body and legs. These strikes should be the simple 12-to-6-o’clock 

technique, i.e. raise the sword above the head and swing straight 

down. The techniques may be sloppy, but the beginnings of understanding 

how to swing and where to strike can be understood. The 

strikes can be practiced using a dummy. 

Another method of teaching the strikes is to use an X-ray 

picture as a target, or something that makes enough noise when 

hit. For example, to teach striking the head, have the kids line up all 

facing forward. Hold the X-ray in one hand and walk quickly down 

the line, holding the X-ray at the students’ head height. Instruct 

each child to hit the X-ray as you walk by. 

The advantage of the X-ray is that it produces a noise when 

struck, something the kids seem to enjoy. You can vary the height 

of the X-ray to teach wrist, body, and leg strikes also. Additional 

advantages of this simple technique are: patience (the student 

must learn to wait his or her turn to strike the X-ray); accurate striking 

distance (correct distance produces a better, louder sound); 

awareness (both timing awareness from hitting in sequence and 

awareness of the location of other students, so as not to strike the 

student next to them). 

Adapted from Lin Conklin 

Samurai Sports, Inc. 

Children’s Curriculum development 

SHIHAN DANA 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. 


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EXTRAORDINARY MARKETING 

Is Everyone in Your Boat Rowing 

in the Same Direction? (Part 2) 

By Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

What Else Could I Do To Improve Results? 

What could I do to make sure that I generate more leads, 

more intros, and more students, not just “exposure”? 

In most cases “exposure” or “branding” is the byproduct, not 

the primary objective. 

The key is to be a constant whirlwind of activity; to constantly 

look for new ways to share the benefits of your 

program with your community, and to be VERY, VERY focused 

on turning EVERY activity into IMMEDIATE and long-term new 

student enrollments. 

If you must have 20 or 30 marketing activities 

a month to generate 20 or 30 new 

students, fine—get busy! 

As a very simple observation, 

your effort for growing your school 

will likely require 50–75% of your 

personal time. With proper systems in 

place, much of the rest can run efficiently 

without your personal involvement. The 

marketing will typically be the hardest to 

delegate and the most valuable aspect. 

ALMOST EVERYONE I talk to 

is missing two components of 

marketing: first, they aren’t 

doing enough “stuff.” You 

truly need the Parthenon 

approach to your efforts. 

Make sure you have 

strong systems for generating 

referrals; strong 

systems for effectively 

getting family add-ons. 

Strong efforts on many 

different aspects of community 

outreach actively 

(host-parasite relationships). 

Work consistently to generate publicity in the local press—television, 

radio, newspaper, as well as various online sources. Be great 

at online marketing, certainly, and include today’s version of the 

Yellow Pages: Google Local, Google SEO, Google Pay-Per-Click. 

Today’s version of Val-Pak and Money Mailer: Groupon, LivingSocial, 

Amazon, etc. Today’s version of hyper-targeted newspaper 

or magazine ads: Facebook and similar. And don’t forget all of 

the “low-tech” stuff that works just fine, like door-to-door flyers, 

rack cards, lead boxes, “bandit signs,” etc. SECOND, follow up on 

leads and dropouts. Just about everyone is anemic on this front. 

How long should you continue communicating with someone who 

expressed some interest or who attended then dropped out? 

As a rule of thumb I’d say for AT LEAST two years multiple times 

per month. 

How should you follow up with prospects or lost students? 

Outbound telemarketing; direct mail; text messaging; broadcast 

voicemail; email; Facebook (paid advertising), and more. 

To conclude, market more than you think you should need to. 

Over-communicate in order to not get lost in the flood. 

GRANDMASTER STEPHEN OLIVER, is a 9th degree black belt and is the founder and CEO of 

Mile High Karate schools, and founder of the Martial Arts Wealth Mastery Program. 


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AFTER SCHOOL EXCELLENCE 

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By Chief Master Mike Bugg 

Every successful business fills a need for its clients. Your school is in the business of 

self-defense. 

You might not know it yet, but the school bully can help your 

school double even triple your income by offering bully-proofing 

with AMSkids. 

You can never be too sure about your children’s safety. One 

of the biggest threats children face is other children. 

AMSkids meets the needs of parents in your community 

by helping children train against bullies. 

When you show parents what AMSkids has 

to offer, parents will be lining up to enroll their 

kids in your empowering program! 

Don’t think a kid’s program is for you? 

AMSkids is a complete curriculum that 

focuses on more than just kicking and punching: 

Philosophy that teaches kids about the 

core principles of the martial arts and learning 

activities that help students build their lifeskills 

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needed to deal with bullies. 

There’s really nothing else like it! 

Students will flock to this program! 

Here are some of the features 

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Theme-based activities that 

teach principles and values: 

More than just a physical 

martial arts program, AMSkids 

provides unique materials that 

set your students apart and help build their “Yes, I Can!” attitude. 

Students will learn not to solve their problems through lying, cheating, 

or violence. 

Self-defense from self-confidence: Developing self-confidence 

comes when students start to see their physical practice paying off 

and learn techniques and principles of self-defense. Training kids 

to build their self-confidence means they may never have to use 

their physical self-defense. 

Discipline and respect: Through careful presentation of martial 

arts traditions, the AMSkids program teaches children how to 

show respect to others and for themselves. A child who knows the 

rules and plays by the rules is not a threat to others. 

Attracting the bully-proof audience is just one of the many benefits 

of running the AMSkids After School Program. AMSkids gives 

you the marketing materials needed to grow your student body 

and a step-by-step curriculum that will have any instructor teaching 

your new students like a pro! 

AMSkids is designed to attract the broadest spectrum of 

students to boost your enrollment numbers through the roof. 

There’s never been a program as fun, educational, and as dedicated 

to helping you teach the martial arts to children with ease 

and confidence. 

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Many more details available at www.ourams.com/afterschool 

Don’t let your school get pushed around by bigger and more 

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CHIEF MASTER MIKE BUGG is an 8th degree black belt and the owner of a $1.52 million-per-year 

location, with one of the largest after school and summer camp programs in the country. 


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Have Your School, Organization, 

Accomplishment, or Event Featured in 

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. 


Send your Story Idea to us. 

Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

Or Contact us at: 407-895-1996 

• 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 

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BLAC has made such a huge difference in our school! In a few 

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-Justin Cuellar, Owner of Atalla County Martial Arts

TACTICAL SELF-DEFENSE 

Press the Points, Part 1 

By Grandmaster Tom Patire 

In the past, I’ve talked about control tactics and how they are a necessity in the world 

of professional bodyguarding. 

Facts being facts, you hope to avoid confrontations most of 

the time, but if you do get into a physical confrontation, the use of 

force in many cases will be low-level or what many of us call “softhanded 

force.” 

A reader asked me via email what I personally thought of pressure 

points or pressure point-based techniques. As I’ve stated 

before, all aspects of training have their place and time in certain 

situations that you may or may not run across while working as a 

private protector. Pressure points are definetly something that fit 

the bill in full-circle training regarding the EP profession. 

Now, pressure point-type techniques are a debatable 

topic among many in the security and law 

enforcement professions. Some swear by them, 

while others swear against them. 

As in anything, it depends not only on the 

situation that you are dealing with, but it also 

depends on how you apply the technique and 

the state of the person you are applying it on. 

With that being, said let’s look at a few 

variables: 

Situations 

When you talk situationbased 

scenarios, you need to 

address what type of force is 

needed. 

In this case, since we 

are addressing pressure 

points, let’s look 

at specific situations or 

attacks on the principal 

that would warrant the 

use of a pressure point 

technique. Scenarios that 

involve restraining an aggressor that could or would do harm to 

not only your client, but to you and your team as well, would be a 

common one. 

Situations like overaggressive fans that grab or attempt to grab 

your client, like at a rock concert or autograph session, or when 

protesters lock onto stationary objects like doors, each other, or 

vehicles, and you, as the on-premise agent, need to remove them 

quickly so the client can get through. 

These scenarios and many others like them give you the option 

of using a soft-handed technique like a pressure point. And yes, 

when done right, they do work (I have used them). 

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. 


CUTTING-EDGE 

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Finally, a Beautiful, High-Quality, Lead Generating Website for Your Martial Arts School 

Visit AmazingMartialArtsWebsites.com or Call (800) 275-6900

COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS 

Teaching the Complex Art of 

Kung Fu, Part 1 

By Professor Willie “the BAM” Johnson 

Teaching Kung Fu is artwork: it’s truly a display of a painter painting a beautiful portrait. 

It is a complex art form, and to truly be good at it, the small 

details must be learned and displayed. 

Therefore, it makes the learning process truly difficult, 

but effective when learned and displayed properly. 

This could be the reason why there are more Karate 

schools than Kung Fu schools: because Karate is 

simple and easy to learn. And some of the so-called 

Kung Fu schools around have had to sacrifice 

one or the other—focusing more on 

the big moves and less on the small 

details to keep students longer, or 

focusing on details and having a handful 

of students. 

You see, most Americans want things 

fast and right away, so you lose them when 

it becomes hard and difficult. That’s a shame, 

because that’s when the real learning 

begins. So, over the years, 

we’ve had to adapt and 

change the required curriculum 

taught in order to 

keep students for long 

periods of time. And this 

approach, which has 

allowed martial arts as 

a whole to thrive, has 

affected the quality of 

black belts, since the 

requirements are not as 

high. To get even more 

detailed, if the students 

are not being rewarded, 

they will move on to 

another school—so there goes loyalty. Nine out of every 100 

students are truly dedicated to the value of Kung Fu and 

will stay around regardless of what occurs. And every 

good school needs a few strong human beings to be an 

example to the masses. 

The teacher’s mission is ongoing. It’s so hard today, 

because in the old days, you gave your heart and 

soul to the student and left a legacy to your senior 

disciple. But not today: students just jump from school 

to school when personal growth gets tough, and that 

party is disrespecting the instructor. So, l learned to 

become thick skinned and to not take their departure personally, 

but it still hurts if you’re truly a dedicated instructor. 

The long-term teaching plan always has to be the goal along 

with the personal expression of the student’s true self. The 

teacher must use their expression of the traditional techniques 

taught in order to bring life to the curriculum. Because Kung Fu 

is moving and adaptive in nature, it is alive and well. And, among 

100 students in a class, each must be taught personally. 

The traditional protocol allows the instructor to control the 

class structure and have everyone moving as one, but growing 

as an individual internally. The rules of protocol are things like 

bowing before entering and leaving the school, meditating before 

class, showing a respectful attitude and body language at all 

times. Do not interrupt instructors during class—hold questions 

until first executing the drill—and, most importantly, no chitchatting 

during class. 

This is from the old school of thought. Forget that first-name 

basis stuff, it should be Shifu, Sir, or Ma’am, used by everyone, 

even the two-and-a-half-year-old kids. Also, when the students 

are taught to show respect, the instructor must give respect in 

return by starting class on time, not teaching past the time, and 

not asking them to do things they would not do themselves. 

PROFESSOR WILLIE “THE BAM” JOHNSON is a 7th degree black belt and seventime 

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. 


Illustration by Andrii Koltun

www.budointernational.com

THE MILLIONAIRE SMARTS COACH 

Outstanding or Average? 

By Ms. Lee Milteer 

As entrepreneurs, it’s in our nature to see possibilities, but the main difference 

between outstanding and average income earners is the ability to take action even 

when conditions aren’t perfect. 

Ask yourself right now, and be brutal about the truth: do you 

have challenges, problems, and obstacles in your life due to the 

fact that you procrastinate on taking the right actions? Do you allow 

circumstances to best you instead of managing your time and 

being happy? How many good ideas, income streams, and market 

shares have you lost because of your unproductive attitudes and 

work habits? 

Will you admit to yourself that you could move toward the 

ultimate success you know you want and deserve, but instead you 

allow the negative news media to derail your plans? Or do you let 

shiny objects or fearful attitudes distract you from taking 

risks and achieving your goals? 

Let’s get honest and admit we all could 

make more money, be more productive, 

improve our performance, and have a 

lot more time for fun if we were more 

conscious of how we use our mental, 

emotional, physical, and financial life 

energy. 

To achieve top performance, one 

of the first things you must do is 

get real and get out of denial 

of where you spend your 

time, money, and creative 

resources. “Time is 

money” is true, and you 

have 1,440 minutes per 

day and 168 hours a 

week to manifest your 

life the way you want 

to live. You can replace 

everything except time. 

If you want to overcome 

unproductive behaviors, habits, and attitudes that have held you 

back, you must become brutally accountable for how you’re using 

your time and life energy. And, even more importantly, what is the 

caliber of information you are allowing into your brain to program 

you daily of what is possible? 

Remember this: we all have LIFE-GIVING personal life habits 

such as exercising, eating right, and taking time to relax to reenergize 

our minds and bodies. For business, LIFE-GIVING habits 

would be activities such brainstorming in a real coaching group for 

knowledge to attract new business, finding better ways to use your 

resources, marketing that brings you income, acquiring exceptional 

staff, updating technology skills, and looking for new avenues to 

expand your income streams without working harder. 

We also have LIFE-REMOVING personal life habits, such 

as working too hard, not taking care of our bodies, not taking 

time with our loved ones, losing our temper, blaming others, 

negative thinking, excessive spending, overuse of mindless 

TV or computer time, procrastination, being late, and various 

other unwanted habits that detract you from enjoying life. Life- 

Removing business habits would be spending too much time 

on email or social media, not training staff, being close minded 

about what is possible, pricing too low, not creating new 

products and services, trying to reinvent the wheel, or having 

unclear boundaries. 

Are you guilty of any of these? It’s time to habit bust! 

Let me give you a big secret: first, admitting that you have the 

problem is part of the solution. Seeding your mind with other successful 

people’s wisdom or the habits of the wealthy is, without a 

doubt, one of the most important skills of success to overcome any 

unproductive behaviors or negative attitudes that have prevented 

you from becoming the creative, solution-oriented person you 

want to be, earning the money you want to earn, and living the 

type of lifestyle you want to live. 

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 Martial Arts 

Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire Smarts Coach and is also a best-selling author of educational resources. Milteer.com 


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BUDO PHILOSOPHY 

A Particular Vision, Part 1 

By Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

“Martial art is the art of the mobilization and correct use of vital energy. 

Its techniques, positions, dances, and fights produce deep 

stimulations in the energy meridians of the internal organs and 

chakras, awakening our deeper and most unconscious feelings 

and sensations. Through that vibrational resonance with the primary, 

the movement of martial art revives in us our capacity to live 

in the present moment, as well as forgotten behavioral mechanisms, 

so necessary and balancing, as it happens in the case of the 

inhibition of aggressiveness and screaming, while making it easier 

for us to make an instant and intuitive assessment of reality.” –José 

Luis Paniagua Tébar 

Much of my training in martial practices was with a very special 

teacher, a man ahead of his time and a full-fledged transgressor. 

Back in the ’80s, José Luis Paniagua Tébar had a courageous 

experience, which, as expected in any revolution, didn’t satisfy 

anyone except, of course, those of us who lived it and 

participated in it. 

“Traditionalists” from both Taekwondo and 

Karate often looked at him with squinty eyes, 

and psychotherapists, who sent many of their 

clients to his classes, observed him with resentment, 

and I would even say with some envy. 

His heterodoxy led him to include in his classes 

Yoga, Tai Chi, middle-distance running (13 km), 

and especially a type of physical training in which 

particular attention was paid to the movement 

of energy flows. 

You had to learn the Taekwondo Hyons 

and their techniques, and of course, 

the Shotokan Kata forms and their 

techniques. But, above all, Paniagua 

put great emphasis in certain points 

generally ignored by other persons 

and systems, considering martial arts 

as a whole original that had been 

broken down into differences of 

cultural nuances behind which prevailed 

a holistic sense, long before 

that term began to be used. 

A supporter of the correct inclusion of Yin and Yang techniques 

in their right order and sequence, he maintained that this 

specialization was a DENATURALIZATION of Martial Art, with 

capital letters, an inclusive idea which led to a personal and very 

well-structured syncretic vision of an activity, which for others was 

nothing more than a sport, combat system, or cultural practice. He 

described it for the first time in a book whose title says it all: “Martial 

Arts: Body-Mind Balance.” 

The idea of seeing martial arts as a practice focused on this 

purpose was very encouraging for a young Alfredo Tucci, hungry 

for knowledge and willing to reach the very core of things. I 

wasn’t the only one. An interesting group of practitioners joined 

the classes, a heterodox group without a doubt because, except 

for a few exceptions, probably none of them would have ever 

thought of wearing a kimono, much less kicking and punching; 

renowned psychologists, noted characters from the art world, 

financial aristocracy, medicine doctors, engineers, sociologists, 

many college students, and some occasional “thrill seeker” as 

the present writer. 

The TEAM—acronym for Taller Experimental de Artes Marciales 

(Martial Arts Experimental Workshop), formerly TEPAM, 

Taller Experimental y Psicodinámico de Artes Marciales (Experimental 

and Psychodynamic Martial Arts Workshop, the P fell 

with the early departure of a group of psychotherapists)—was 

a spectacular experience. To start, it didn’t look like a gym. In 

the no. 45 Pirineos St. of Madrid, the leaves of the Dehesa de la 

Villa Park trees practically slipped through the windows, and the 

park, crossing a quiet street, became on Mondays our training 

place, where we jogged under pines in that beautiful and welllooked-after 

haven of peace surprisingly located in the center of 

the capital of Spain. 

Paniagua was a master in directing the group energy flows 

based on his idea of cycles of rupture, expansion, stillness. People 

came out refreshed from classes. Even today the idea of training 

combat for an hour and a half, and then finishing the class doing 

Yoga and meditation, is an absolute transgression. 

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. 


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Martial Arts Professionals in 

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Email Sponsors@MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

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PRO SHOP POWER 

Get Paid to Advertise Your School 

By Mr. Sun Kang 

Many longtime school owners are aware of the three classes of advertising: 

1. Paid advertising 

2. Free advertising 

3. Profit advertising 

Everyone is familiar with paid advertising: 

you pay someone to advertise your school. You 

can pay a newspaper, television station, radio 

station, or printer who prints your flyers, but 

you pay someone real money to advertise your 

school. 

Many school owners are also aware of free 

advertising in the form of publicity, but not many 

schools use it. You can get publicity by submitting 

news stories to local newspapers, magazines, 

and radio and television stations. If you 

get a half-page article in the newspaper, that’s 

literally hundreds—maybe thousands—of dollars 

of advertising the paper is giving you for “free” 

(in exchange for giving them an interesting story). Likewise, if you 

get a two-minute video segment on the local news station, that’s 

definitely worth thousands of dollars, and again, you get it for free. 

How can you get more publicity? First, establish a relationship 

with your local media (newspaper, radio, TV) staff. The small-town, 

weekly papers and magazines are easier to work with, because 

they have less news and a smaller budget, so they generally 

appreciate any help you can give them. They like human-interest 

stories about local people, so all you have to do is supply them 

with a good story about your students. Some schools have their 

local paper print the results of each of their belt tests, tournaments, 

etc. They’ve also established themselves as 

local experts on safety, submitting a regular safety 

column. 

Larger, big-city daily papers are a little tougher 

to establish this kind of friendly relationship 

with, but they’re still interested in good stories 

that sell papers. All you have to do is create that 

story. A great way to become friendly with larger 

staffs like daily papers or TV news is to sponsor 

a charity event. 

The kind of advertising that we referred to in the title is profit 

advertising, where someone actually pays you to advertise your 

school. How can you get in on this great deal? You may already be 

doing some of it, but why not do more? 

You make a profit by advertising your logo on items for sale in 

your Pro Shop like school t-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, equipment 

bags and back packs, etc. You can order them easily and inexpensively 

from Vision USA (1-800-424-5425), and then sell them at 

a profit. Every time your student wears the clothes or carries the 

bag/back pack, he advertises your school. 

Of course, you can compound the power of profit advertising 

with VIP cards, where the student gives them out to friends 

who ask about your school when they see the clothing or bag. 

The friend gets a free week, and the student earns a reward 

from your pro shop, like a t-shirt, jacket, or bag, and you continue 

the cycle. 

We strongly recommend that you take advantage of all three 

classes of advertising to promote your school. If you haven’t been 

using free publicity and profit advertising, be sure to add them to 

your toolbox to increase your enrollment this year! You have nothing 

to lose and everything to gain! 

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. 


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MASTER THE BASICS 

Looking for ‘Teachable Moments’ 

By Master Tina Bane 

While their academic schools may be students’ biggest source of education, that 

doesn’t mean your martial arts school is all about kicking and punching. 

Your school is an essential source of education of all types: 

physical, academic, social, etc. You may not realize it, but every 

day there are “teachable” moments just waiting to be shared with 

your students. 

A “teachable moment” is an opportunity during an activity or 

event where you can teach by example or use the activity as an 

illustrative example to help your students learn and grow. There’s 

an infinite number of teaching opportunities that occur every day. 

Think how impressed your students’ parents would be if their 

children came home saying, “You know what I learned in martial 

arts class today?” 

Having this kind of impact on students will pay 

dividends when it comes time for parents and students 

to renew their memberships, and will have 

a positive impact on your retention. Here are four 

foundational strategies for taking advantage of 

teaching moments and improving the quality of 

your school’s instruction: 

Discipline 

When children become unruly, 

discipline becomes necessary. It 

may seem like discipline is all 

about maintaining order and 

control, but it provides 

you with some great 

teachable moments 

as well. When two 

students are arguing, 

disciplining them gives 

you an opportunity to 

teach social skills and why 

it’s important to listen to other 

people’s points of view and not 

get into arguments. The social skills 

necessary to operate in society can 

be difficult for kids to grasp, but are very important aspects of their 

development nonetheless. 

Teaching Outside of the Field 

You may not think there’s much room for exploring things like 

math or English in your class, but there are also many teachable 

moments for these areas. Every drill is accompanied with counting, 

and this can be turned into a math exercise by having students 

count by twos or having them multiply and divide their drills. Students 

can also learn vocabulary words that you teach them during 

class games and activities. 

Stop and Demonstrate 

Repetition in the martial arts is essential to students perfecting 

their form and their practice. However, just because students have 

performed a movement over and over, doesn’t mean they’ve mastered 

the technique. When you can see that a student is performing 

a drill or activity incorrectly, stop the class and demonstrate the 

correct way for them. This is often the most effective ways to teach 

children as they get 

to model your 

movements. 

Field Trips 

Plan trips 

outside of the school 

so that you’re visiting 

a diverse range of 

events and locations. 

The local science 

center, art museum, 

and zoo all provide 

great places for 

students to learn and 

develop their core 

knowledge. 

MASTER TINA BANE is a 6th degree master instructor and owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer camp programs. 


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INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE 

The Value of Forms 

By Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

There are some who say the ultimate way to judge a martial arts technique is its selfdefense 

or street application. I respectfully disagree. 

Why? Because, to me, self-defense is only one aspect of the 

martial arts. In my martial arts, the best self-defense is NOT fighting. 

If I have to fight, I fight to win…but if I can avoid a fight with 

patience and cooperation, I think that’s a much more valuable skill. 

Of course, it all depends on your goals. If you have an MMA 

gym whose goal is to produce successful ring fighters, then the 

practical application of ring results is the ultimate judge of your 

success. On the other hand, if you have a family martial arts school 

where building confidence and respect are more useful to your 

students in their everyday lives than high kicks and 

submission holds, then the practical application 

becomes something entirely different. 

I consider myself a martial artist, not a fighter. 

I enjoy the art more than the martial. I haven’t 

been in a street fight in over 45 years, and even 

then it wasn’t much of a fight. If I spent those last 

45 years training only for street effectiveness, 

I would’ve wasted a lot of time. However, in my 

training, I developed strength, flexibility, balance, 

endurance, and self-control by practicing forms. I 

enjoyed my art like a dancer enjoys dancing, 

and pursued perfection in my expression. 

That pursuit led to the development 

of dedication, concentration, and 

indomitable spirit that bled over 

into other areas of my life, including 

huge dividends in health and 

fitness over the years. I’m not 

sure I would’ve gained all those 

“outside the ring” benefits had 

I only focused on fighting, and 

probably would’ve sustained 

a lot more injuries. 

I understand that what 

works for me may not work 

for you—we’re all different with different needs. My question to you 

is what are your students’ needs? Do they need to be the best street 

fighters in the city, or do they need to learn discipline, respect, confidence, 

and indomitable spirit? If your students are like mine, they’re 

in the second group, and the traditions of the martial arts are just as 

important as the effectiveness of the techniques—maybe more so. 

Some forms’ training actually does teach valuable self-defense 

techniques. I’ve heard that the older forms disguised the techniques 

because they were so deadly that students were only 

taught the true application after many years of study and achievement 

of sufficient rank. Some forms even disguised the techniques 

by separating them by one or two moves, so that what appears to 

be a series of blocks was actually a throw. Perhaps that’s why the 

techniques don’t always make sense to someone who thinks they 

know more than they actually do. To me, the martial arts are not 

about fighting, but about self-improvement using techniques that 

also have a self-defense application. Sparring is valuable because 

it helps reveal weaknesses in my techniques and improves my 

spirit of competition, but it’s only one aspect of a complete program. 

I would rather spend the bulk of my time focusing on how to 

make myself better through forms practice than on how to defeat 

someone else through sparring. 

I believe in the traditions of bowing and treating each other with 

respect because the attitude also works outside the ring. I believe 

the discipline in one-step sparring helps not only teach technique, 

but teach children to take turns, cooperate, and control both their 

gross and fine motor skills. I believe breaking teaches undeniable 

lessons about the power of our techniques. I believe forms practice 

is an artistic expression that challenges us in the relentless 

pursuit of perfection. 

In short, I believe in a complete martial arts program that has 

proven effective for generations over the opinion fighters who 

say their area of expertise is the only one that counts. If that line 

of reasoning were accurate, shouldn’t Mike Tyson have become 

president of the United States…or at least secretary of education? 

GRANDMASTER TIM MCCARTHY 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, plus has directed and been featured in hundreds of martial arts videos and webinars. 


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BUSINESS BUZZ 

The Top Ten Negative Habits 

That Keep You From Achieving 

Your Goals, Part 1 

by Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur 

…and what to do about them. 

It might seem like the most successful schools are just lucky, 

or in the right location, or were born under the right zodiac sign, or 

whatever other excuse you can come up with to keep from looking 

at what YOU are doing, or not doing, to build a successful school. 

I have the opportunity to coach many schools in all types of demographics, 

from small-town, part-time clubs to big-city, full-time 

operations with hundreds of active students, and I’ve identified 

several key components that the most successful 

schools are willing to do that the 

unsuccessful schools don’t do. Take a 

close look at this list and ask yourself 

how you can improve your school by 

taking action in each area. 

1. You don’t let business happen. 

You should make it happen every 

day. That means you have to run it like 

a real business—by the numbers, not 

by emotions. The numbers 

you need to be keenly 

aware of are: the 

number of inquires 

per day (10), the 

number of appointments 

from those 

inquires (75%), 

the number 

of introductory 

lessons from 

those appointments (50%), the number of enrollments (80%), the 

percentage of paid-in-fulls (PIF) from those enrollments (25%), the 

number of upgrade nominations made, the number of upgrade 

conferences given, the number of upgrades enrolled, and the 

number of PIF from those enrollments. There are other numbers 

that you need to be aware of, such as your per-day minimum gross 

and your daily goals. 

2. You think income is owed to you. 

If you think income is owed to you, you will fail to fulfill your 

responsibilities to your business and earn what you’re worth. You 

must create your action steps every day. Plan your marketing efforts 

and the income that you’ll ask for from the nine areas of our 

business the night before. 

3. You don’t have personal income goals. 

Decide what you want to earn and make it big enough to 

change your lifestyle. The old adage “pay yourself first” means you 

have to demand of yourself a wage that will enable you to live the 

lifestyle you desire and save for your “old self.” Your goal has to 

be motivating enough to get you to do the work necessary to earn 

your goal income. 

4. You’re way too cool to VIP. 

Make it a point to personally invite someone every day to take 

classes from you. Just go meet someone! Make them an offer 

they can’t refuse: a free month of classes and a free uniform. What 

would happen if you only got one person per day to take you up 

on your offer and only 50% of them enrolled? 

GRANDMASTER LAWRENCE ARTHUR has been a martial artist, specializing 

in Karate, Kung Fu, Kenpo, Shotokan, and Goju 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. 


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MARTIAL ARTS PHILOSOPHY 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 4 

By Sensei Gary Lee 

Bull in the Ring in Acapulco, Mexico 

16 months later 

5th Green Belt/Black stripe 

I have been an advanced student 

now for almost a year, 

and today I test for my 

black stripe. This 

will be a two-part 

story of what 

I feel now and 

how I feel after 

the test. I have to 

admit it has been 

tough. These 

classes are harder, 

more complicated, and 

way over my head. I have to 

listen and watch the black belts. 

They’re a tight-knit 

group, very 

friendly but 

stern. 

I didn’t understand 

washing 

the toilets and 

cleaning the bathrooms 

the first three months before I could work 

out, but now I do: you earn everything, 

and when you do, you appreciate 

it so much more. Cleaning 

earned me the privilege to 

learn more, for it humbled 

me in a way you can’t 

explain unless you 

experience it, and 

the black belts 

knew that. 

Sure, they’d make fun of me, but they would also teach me, guide 

me, and beat the crap out of me. They taught me how to love the 

pain! My next entry will be after 

the test. Five black 

belts are going 

up in dan rank. 

Guess I’m 

going to be 

fresh meat, 

hope not, but 

don’t mind 

since all of 

them beat me 

up every night 

anyway! 

I’m sitting in back 

of this Japanese sushi bar 

over on the Big Island, and the entry 

about the test is pretty short and sweet. 

I passed, got my butt kicked all over the 

place, broke my first board, and saw one of 

the black belts go berserk in Bull in the 

Ring. He wasted a couple of dudes; I 

mean knocked them out cold. They 

had to be revived with smelling 

sauce. 

I was so nervous when they 

called my number to grab him; he 

dumped me but didn’t hurt me like he did those black belts. Scary 

as hell, real Karate! 

I feel it was one of my best tests. Starting to understand how 

the animals play their part also didn’t bleed (!). No broken bones! 

And my gi didn’t get ripped. I’ve gone though three uniforms, 

ripped and torn from my body. 

Finally, for my birthday, I got a Tokaido brand 14-ounce canvas 

from Japan. 

Sensei said I will “grow old with this gi.” Oss! 

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. 


Photograph by Michael Burrell

Protecting the History, One Warrior at a Time 

The History of 

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MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

Do You Spend or Invest Your Time? 

By Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

Motivational speaker Brian Tracy is fond of citing the Pareto Principle, which is 

basically the 80-20 rule. In a martial arts school, the rule can be applied to tuition 

billing in that 20% of your students will take up 80% of your time with billing problems. 

In any group there’s always that bottom 20% that causes trouble. 

Some may actually be troublemakers, but most are suffering 

from an accident or bad circumstances. Regardless of the reason, 

they have problems, and therefore, you have problems. 

What if I told you that you could change the 80-20 rule and 

reduce that 20% to zero? 

With AMS Billing, you can. 

AMS will handle all of your tuition billing, including that 

dreaded 20% of problem students, so that you can 

invest 100% of your time in better instruction and 

promoting your school. 

It just makes sense to separate tuition billing 

from instruction. The master should focus his 

attention on helping students improve, not on being 

a bill collector. Students who have a financial 

problem should speak to a financial counselor, not 

their master instructor. 

Many schools assign a member of the school 

staff to take on the role of bill collection to insulate 

the master. However, this situation still 

creates an adversarial relationship between 

the student and the school. 

It’s far better to have a middleman 

absorb the abuse and maintain 

a positive relationship between 

the student and the school. 

Now, some people will 

say that hiring a middleman 

is too expensive. In reality, 

hiring a professional saves 

you money. AMS account 

representatives are trained 

in the latest programs and 

techniques to achieve the highest rate of collection in the industry. 

They’ll get you more money than your staff would because they 

have the knowledge and experience that your staff doesn’t. Plus, 

they follow the guidelines of the Fair Debt Collection Act, so you 

and your school won’t be subject to lawsuits for unfair practices. 

Even more important is the fact that AMS is not just a tuition billing 

company. They’re also a marketing and management company, 

helping you enroll more students, keep them longer, and manage 

your school better. 

Think about it—if you took the time you and your staff spend 

dealing with problem accounts and turned that into time spent 

recruiting new students, how much more income would you make? 

Now add to that programs and promotions that have been proven 

effective all over the country to add ten or more new students a 

month, and thousands of dollars in income, and you have a service 

that doesn’t cost you money, it makes you money. 

So, the question remains: do you spend your time chasing 

after students for money, or do you invest your time in acquiring 

new students? 

AMS can save you time and make you money. Invest five minutes 

in a phone call at (800) 275-1600 to find out more. 

CHIEF 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. 


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THE WARRIOR WAY 

Twenty Ways To Keep Your 

Attitude Positive, Part 2 

By Grandmaster Bill Clark 

Physiology Plays a Huge Part in How You Feel 

Pay attention to your own body language. Stand up straight, 

shoulders back, and smile in this position. It’s impossible to feel 

bad. Do the opposite and it’s alarmingly easy to feel bad. I regularly 

practice Tai Chi and Qigong. This practice has kept my posture at 

the top of my mind. This allows me to look and feel my best. 

Exercise Daily 

● Workouts of any kind create endorphins, which is a chemical 

produced in the body that makes you feel better by creating a 

natural high. 

● Don’t ride whenever you can walk. 

● Walk and bike whenever you can. 

● Park in the spots furthest from the store. 

● Take the stairs, not the elevator. 

● Walk between terminals in airports where possible. 

● Do anything to increase your number of daily steps and 

calorie burn. 

My life has been staying in good physical shape through the 

practice of martial arts. Grandmaster Y.K. Kim tells how this was 

vitally important to him when he was fighting in the PKA and how 

he continues today. 

Have a Goal 

People with goals are more motivated and positive because 

they have a destination and something worthy to accomplish. 

People without goals are trying to find a new destination without 

a map or GPS and often get frustrated. Turn your dreams into real 

goals with plans and deadlines! Mr. Kim set my first goal for me. 

This set me on the path of lifetime goal setting, including goals for 

opening up my first school. That’s what made it successful. 

Use Positive Words to Describe Your Life 

When someone asks, “How are you?” instead of answering, 

“I’m fine” like most people, use words that open the doors of success, 

such as “fantastic,” “stupendous,” “remarkable,” or “brilliant!” 

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 50 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. 


Photograph by phototechno

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STAFF DEVELOPMENT 

How to Have a Five-Star Curriculum 

in a Multi-School Organization 

By Master Zulfi Ahmed 

In my multi-school organization, we have an eclectic curriculum. The curriculum is by 

itself a unique system: it’s not pieces, it’s a whole all by itself. 

My system, Bushi Ban, isn’t described as kicking, punching; it’s 

a collective system. Let’s say I’m giving you advice on how to make 

your martial arts school a five-star school, which will provide you with 

retention, financial success, and integrity-based martial arts teaching. 

The first star is people. It’s all about your leaders, personnel, 

prospects, population, and students. Leadership has to be ever 

evolving. It takes responsibility to lead, but when you lead, lead 

for their benefit, not yours. The personnel have to have the same 

vision, mission, and thought process as the leader. The prospects 

must connect to your system. The population is all about how 

we’re catering and servicing populations of people. 

The second star is your product. Taekwondo, for example, is 

the product. That’s what we give, and it’s always going 

to be needed. The martial arts are not going out of 

style or need. I tell my students, “You found the 

fountain of youth. You found a lifestyle that will 

make you healthier, happier, and just give you 

life within your life.” The product is what you 

teach on the floor, how you teach, when you 

teach, why you teach what you teach. 

The third star is your business model. Are you 

in a sprint or a marathon? Are you there for the 

long term? Is your student growing with you and expanding, 

or is the student there for only six months, 

six weeks, three years? Are they going to go 

or grow old with you? You are in a lifelong 

relationship. You and your student grow, 

evolve, learn, and share together. 

Your fourth star is your culture. 

What culture are you providing? Are 

you providing a militaristic culture like, “I’m the Grandmaster 

and you’re my humble student,” or I am equal to you and we’re 

friends? We care about each other. We want to benefit each other. 

We have to have a win-win situation. Is your culture friendly? 

Dry? Warm? Welcoming? Is the atmosphere genuine? 

The fifth star is very important: you can have all of the above 

four, but if you don’t have the fifth star, then you only have limited 

success. The fifth star is becoming a community. Does your school, 

your organization, represent a community-based brand? I’ll give 

you two different examples: Hell’s Angels, the motorcycle gang, 

that’s also community. They’re based on their philosophy and principles. 

People who drive a Porsche, they also have a community. 

There’s a community at ATLAS. Your organization is a community. 

Your martial arts school or organization, do people feel it’s a community 

or is it a business? Does the community have a culture, or 

do people just come for a business transaction and then they’re 

out? Is it business centric or people centric? 

People, product, at the end of the day, we can have all of the 

above. But if the product is poor or weak, you can only keep 

people connected for so long because when people come to you, 

they don’t come to you because of who you are or what kind of 

culture or community you have; they come to you for the product. 

They want to learn something from you, and they’re assuming that 

you can fulfill their wants and needs and address their challenges; 

you’re a problem solver for them. The balancing act of a successful 

business is to put people first, then your product, business model, 

culture, and then your community. Is it a community or just a transactional 

process? Anybody running any type of business, regardless 

of whether it’s martial arts, if they keep the five stars in mind, I 

think they will be very successful. 

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. 


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Tools & Tactics 

Make Enrollments Fun 

By Ms. Chris Lee 

All year ’round, you emphasize enrollments. For your business, bringing in new 

students is what it’s all about. 

You and I both know that without making new enrollments, your 

school will eventually tank. 

For your staff, driving and motivating them to promote your 

school for the business’ benefit is probably easier said than done, 

but for good reason. Sometimes it’s hard to stay motivated on 

something at all times. 

So, as a way to make things more exciting in your martial 

arts school, conduct fun competitions to see how many students 

each of your staff members can enroll. Usually you look 

at your enrollment ratios every month. This 

fun and exciting way of getting your 

staff more determined would put your 

school on a daily check of enrollments 

and ultimately boost your 

school’s enrollment drastically. 

By organizing fun ways to get 

your staff more motivated to grow 

the school, they will be more 

creative in their persuasion, more 

savvy in their methods, take more 

initiative, be more willing, and 

happier on their job. 

A normal day of teaching 

will become a day of 

teaching and recruiting. If 

they don’t enroll someone, 

they’ll feel guilty and disappointed. 

Not that you want 

that to affect them, but a 

passionate team member 

is a good team member 

and one that cares. 

Now, of course, 

they’re not just pushing 

for enrollments because 

of a competition. There 

are awards involved. The added enrollments will allow you to be 

more flexible and rewarding a monthly staff winner will set the 

bar high for everyone. Such an award can be an “employee of the 

month” certificate, photo, or perhaps a minor raise for every one 

they win. 

There are really so many ideas you could come up with. Your 

staff will be urged to arrange their own promotional ideas, and 

carrying them out can’t hurt your school. The combination of extra 

effort and time for each staff member will add so many enrollments, 

and improve student retention so much, that it could push 

your school to new heights. 

After a period of time, you can upgrade the look of your school, 

purchase new equipment or uniforms, or even hire more staff and 

add programs to your other curriculums, such as an exhibition 

team, sparring tag team, cage fighting class, etc. 

It’s all up to you! 

If you’d like to learn more about different enrollmentgenerating 

promotions, please feel free to give me a call at 

1-800-275-1600. 

MS. CHRIS LEE is a martial arts business development consultant with a background in online and 

social media marketing. 


Photograph by AndreyKaderov

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Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 2

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