Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 2

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.
52 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 2