Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 2

COVER STORY
continued from page 44
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
to still continue to be part of the organization. They might be your
continued on page 46
The Machados impact every day families and Hollywood celebrities alike.
44 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2