Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 3

MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3 

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry 

CHIEF MASTER 

MIKE 

BUGG 

FROM OFFICER IN THE 

DEATH CHAMBER 

TO MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL OWNER 

LIFE CHANGER 

Samuel L. Jackson 

Paws of Fury: 

Legend of the Hank 

Chuck Norris 

Boots & Black Belts Gala

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CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

24 AFKA Martial Arts Retreat 

28 Anouncing: The Official Martial 

Arts World News Magazine App 

34 Chief Master Mike Bugg: From 

Officer in the Death Chamber to 

Martial Arts School Owner Life 

Changer 

103 FREE Tool of the Month 

DEPARTMENTS 

14 Industry Insights 

15 Birthdays 

16 Industry Innovations 

20 Social 411 

52 School Profiles 

63 Classified Ads 

99 Advertiser Index 

YOUR INPUT 

48 Tell Us Your Story 

57 Feature Your School, 

Organization, Accomplishment, 

or Event 

COLUMNS 

6 Editorial 

Summer Student Retention Strategies 

Master Toby Milroy 

8 Martial Arts World News Faculty 

12 Ninja Business Tactics 

Moving Like a Ninja 

An-Shu Stephen Hayes 

58 Mind Mastery 

The Power of Self-Belief 

Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

60 Growth Hacks 

Use 3 Martial Arts Priniciples for Effective Advertising 

Mr. Sean Lee 

62 Next Level Strategy 

Contract or No Contract? That is the Question, Part 2 

Shihan Allie Alberigo 

66 Pillars of Success 

What is a healthy lifestyle? (Part 1) 

Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

70 The Way of the Samurai 

Children and the Art of the Sword, Part 3 

Shihan Dana Abbott 

72 Extraordinary Marketing 

Don’t You Dare Miss an Opportunity! 

Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

74 Mastering Modern BJJ 

Add ‘Value’ to Your School 

Master Carlos Machado 

78 Tactical Self-Defense 

Press the Points, Part 2 

Grandmaster Tom Patire 

80 Complete Martial Arts Concepts 

Teaching the Complex Art of Kung Fu, Part 2 

Professor Willie “the Bam” Johnson 

4 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3

STAFF 

82 The Millionaire Smarts Coach 

4 Sure-Fire Tips to Take Pressure Off Yourself 

Ms. Lee Milteer 

86 Budo Philosophy 

A Particular Vision, Part 2 

Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

88 Pro Shop Power 

You Can Boost Your Income By $12,000 to $24,000 a 

Year with Strategic Pro Shop Sales 

Mr. Sun Kang 

90 Master the Basics 

Funding Your Exhibition and Tournament Teams 

Master Tina Bane 

92 Instructional Excellence 

The Value of Stretching 

Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

94 Business Buzz 

The Top Ten Negative Habits That Keep You From 

Achieving Your Goals, Part 2 

Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur 

96 Martial Arts Philosophy 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 5 

Sensei Gary Lee 

98 Management Excellence 

Are You Still Doing Too Many Tasks For Your Martial 

Arts School? 

Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

100 The Warrior Way 

The Persistence Factor, Part 1 

Grandmaster Bill Clark 

102 Staff Development 

Mining for Instructors: Planting the Seed, Part 1 

Master Zulfi Ahmed 

104 Tools & Tactics 

Lean On AMS for Your Success 

Ms. Chris Lee 

VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3 

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 

Hanshi Dave Kovar 


Mr. Sean Lee 






Chief Master Mike Bugg 

Professor Willie Johnson 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed 

Ms. Chris Lee 



Mr. Sun Kang 









COVER ATTRIBUTION 

Samuel L. Jackson photo: 

© Glenn Francis, www.PacificProDigital.com 

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. 

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MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3 5

EDITORIAL 

Summer Student 

Retention Strategies 

by Master Toby Milroy 

I’ve been tremendously “lucky” in my career in the Martial Arts. Early on, in fact, even 

before opening a school, I learned all the “Dogma”; the current ‘Beliefs’ about how the 

Martial Arts Business was supposed to “be”. 

I learned that Summertime always sucked. 

I learned that most elementary schools wouldn’t allow Martial 

Arts schools to do ‘anything’ with them. 

I learned that as long as you have good quality classes, marketing 

will take care of itself. 

I learned that your ‘area’ determines how much you can 

charge, and how financially stable your school will be. 

I learned that if you really love what you do, 

people will simply ‘feel’ your passion, and will just 

enroll because they like you so much. 

I learned that people are ‘too busy’ to commit to 

a regular class schedule of 2 or 3 times a week. 

I learned that people won’t sign agreements/ 

contracts for Martial Arts. 

I learned that certain ‘styles’ of Martial Arts made 

the school more or less ‘successful’. 

Then, after months of struggling, 

I was LUCKY enough to learn 

that ALL OF THESE Beliefs Were 

TOTAL “BS”. Please forgive my 

language, and directness, but for 

me, this realization was a GAME 

CHANGER for my business, 

career, and personal life! 

ALL the “Dogma”, the 

limiting beliefs I’d heard, 

preached as ‘gospel’, and 

simply ‘how things are’, were 

simply WRONG. After that ‘lesson’, 

I was finally able to BREAK 

these limiting beliefs and start building REAL, SUBSTANTIAL businesses 

but ONLY AFTER I reset the way I ‘thought’ about them. 

After PROVING this, year after year, with (literally) many HUN- 

DREDS of schools all across the world; 

I’m often asked: 

Why do some school owners fear the dreaded “Summer Slowdown”, 

while others see virtually NO DISRUPTION, NO Additional 

Cancellations, NO Vacation “Holds”, and actually generate MORE 

Revenue and MORE Leads than most other months of the year? 

Well, it’s tough for me to condense all that in the 500ish 

words that will fit in this column, but here are some IMPOR- 

TANT components: 

First: You have to ‘dig in’ and ‘work the problem’. You do NOT 

have to suffer in the summer. You do NOT have to have high drop 

outs, you do NOT have to have a loss in recurring revenue because 

students are on ‘hold’. ALL these problems ARE solvable. 

Next: Your “membership” structure is critical. If your programs 

are ‘month to month’, or have no real ‘goal’ focused programming, 

you’re setting yourself up for a difficult summer season. 

Using solid ‘outcome’ based ‘programs’ in your school helps 

set appropriate expectations and behaviors for your students. 

People don’t ‘expect’ to put their mortgage on ‘hold’ when they 

go on vacation for 2 months, and if your program is structured 

properly, they won’t expect, nor WANT to put their Martial Arts 

program on ‘hold’ either. 

We just conducted about an hour-long webinar on this topic a 

few days ago, filled with strategies and tactics to help you transform 

the summer slowdown into a summer jump start! 

I’d be happy to give you ABSOLUTELY FREE access to it - simply 

visit: TryAtlasSoftware.com/summer 

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

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

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

martial arts school operators in the world. 


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. 

12 


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. 

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 


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). 

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 


is one of the pioneers of Brazilian Jiu 

Jitsu in the United States of America. 

Currently a Coral Belt, and promoted 

to Black Belt by Carlos Gracie Junior, 

Carlos Machado came to the USA in the 

early 1990’s with his brothers where they 

formed the RCJ Machado Jiu Jitsu Association, 

one of the strongest & growing 

BJJ organizations in the world today. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

90 


is a 6th degree master instructor and 

owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer 

camp programs. 

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. 

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 Gojurue, 

with 40 Super Kick Karate locations, 

and founder of AFKA. World champion 

Lawrence also runs the Black Belt Success 

Systems consulting firm, training 

martial arts instructors on proper business 

practices in schools all over the country. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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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NINJA BUSINESS TACTICS 

Moving Like A Ninja 

The martial art of To-Shin Do is an up-dating of the ancient art of Japan’s ninja. 

1500s Japan had its own distinct culture, legal system, social 

formation, ways of moving, and codes of morality – all quite different 

from those of 2020s America. I took the practice forms and 

guiding principles of historical ninja taijutsu and adapted them to 

better fit the 21st century in the West. 

Modern attackers use a distinctive approach to causing trouble. 

They have a predictable verbal lead-up. They move quickly 

and erratically, throwing looping punches and ducking in for full 

body takedowns. Street scrappers are likely armed with a knife, if 

not a handgun. 

The goals, form, and appearance of high level To-Shin Do do 

not differ from classical ninja taijutsu. We grow beyond reliance 

on speed when we learn to apply timing. We advance beyond 

crude power when we learn to utilize leverage. We no longer rely 

on complex techniques once we grasp perceiving what 

our attacker is trying to do and going with it to 

defeat him. 

The original Togakure ninja were intelligence 

gatherers. Their goal was to find out 

what an enemy was planning, and then get 

their findings back to their superiors. As an 

intelligence gatherer, the last thing a ninja 

would want is to have their cover blown 

and then have to fight with those who made 

the discovery. To defeat an adversary would 

draw everyone’s attention to the fact that a 

spy had gotten into their midsts. 

Today, To-Shin Do training purpose and 

methods are very different from 

most other martial arts that emphasize 

willing competition 

to defeat an adversary. 

We aim to get out and 

away with the least 

amount of effort. 

In the beginning 

stages of 

training, however, 

we do allow students 

to believe in speed, power, and technique. One, this is what 

most people expect when studying a martial art. And two, this is all 

that most people are capable of in the beginning. 

After a few years of practice, students gradually come to appreciate 

the sneaky subtleness of timing over speed, leverage over 

power, and responsiveness over set techniques. They recognize 

how much more effective smart fighting is over crude struggling. 

They then have more experience allowing them to move with the 

more advanced approach. 

After even more years of practice, To-Shin Do students see 

themselves as “above, looking down” on the fight as a whole. They 

know what a conventional fighter is likely to do, and they are able 

to fit in in such a way that their attacker gives them the means 

to defeat them. At this stage, the To-Shin Do student needs less 

energy, and yet the results are definitive. 

Decades into the training, students are able to embody the 

Togakure Ryu Soto Tonko no Kata approach to fights, amusingly 

translated as “escaping rat method”. At this extreme level of skill, 

the student is able to feel the attacker’s movements at such a 

subtle level that he or she can effortlessly blend and actually lead 

the attacker to defeat through knowing exactly what they are trying 

to make happen. 

So, in the beginning, we allow students to use their muscles 

and some tension to get things done. It is what they are capable 

of, it makes sense to them, and they really are incapable of the 

more advanced movements anyway. Fitting what they expect is 

a good idea in the beginning. Eventually they move on to higher 

skill levels. 

By the time the student reaches older age through decades of 

training, skills have progressed to where the little-effort ways just 

naturally mirror the reduced energy of older age, and yet provide 

an increasingly amazing ability to handle violence. 

Contrast this skill and age parallel progression with more 

athletic martial arts, such as judo or kickboxing. In those arts, 

skill levels definitely give way to age, and most retire from active 

cutting edge performance by early middle age. With the unusual 

To-Shin Do system, based on the ancient ninja combat method, 

age is no barrier. Indeed, the older one grows, the more effective 

he or she becomes. 

AN-SHU STEPHEN HAYES has authored more than 20 books, worked as a bodyguard 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 


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 

Martial Arts Training the Farlek Way 

Of course, martial arts uses explosiveness in techniques, but 

every aspect of training is not carried out in this way. With that 

in mind, you not only have to train muscle for anaerobic activity, 

but also for the aerobic system in the body. Sometimes situations 

require fast-twitch explosion and others rely more on slow-twitch 

endurance, so differing kinds of training are often needed to bring 

the intended results. 

Enter Fartlek training which is a mix of interval and continuous 

training. Basically it mixes from the least explosive activity to the 

most: walking, jogging, 

and sprinting. 

Because of this combination 

the Fartlek 

method trains all of 

your different muscle 

fibers. An example 

could be jogging for 

a couple of minutes, 

followed by 10 to 15 

seconds of sprints with 

several intervals, then 

a return to the jogging 

pace combining all the 

activity in a continuous 

fashion. 

Martial arts training 

can use the Fartlek 

method in the following 

way. Begin with continuous 

slow and low intensity 

form movements 

like Tai Chi for two minutes. Next perform 5 to 10 second intervals 

of explosive intensity kicking like front snap kicks or side kicks. 

Finally, return to moving around at the lower intensity form pattern 

training for a few minutes. 

Many different styles of martial arts use this kind of training so 

it is not stylistically confining, it is really up to your imagination, but 

can add some flavor to an already great curriculum. 

Paws of Fury 

On July 15, 2022 Samuel L Jackson teams up with a star studded 

crew in voice for the upcoming animation martial arts 

movies: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank. The plot is about a 

down and out-on-his-luck hound dog who finds himself in a town 

full of cats that need a hero to defend them from a ruthless villain’s 

evil plot to wipe their village off the map. Through the help from a 

reluctant trainer (Jackson), the underdog must assume the role of 

heroic samurai and team up with the cats to save the day. Check 

out the trailer: https://youtu.be/A_hkjvjx2ek 

Chuck Norris Holds the 29th 

Annual Boots and Black Belts Gala 

On April 9, 2022, Chuck and Gina Norris along with Keith and 

Alice Mosing celebrated the Kickstart Kids 29th Annual Boots 

and Black Belt Gala in Houston Texas. This year’s event featured 

an exciting Kickstart Kids Martial Arts Demonstration and a concert 

by Country Music performer Pat Green. 

Every year the Gala recognizes individuals that embody the values 

of the martial arts organization in the everyday curriculum as 

well as their long-term commitment and support of Kickstart Kids. 

Those traits include honesty, loyalty, courage, discipline, respect, 

dedication, kindness, and responsibility. Recipients are chosen for 

their positive impact on the communities they serve. 

This year the Character Award recipient was Squire Patton 

Boggs, LLP and the Founder’s Vision Award recipient was Dr. 

Charles Dupre. Check out these video clips: 

Character Award: https://youtu.be/hvg2yjZqyu4 

Founder’s Award: https://youtu.be/iPyCTEuBWkg 

14 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3 

Photographs by Ulza (top left), JackF (top right)

Martial Arts 

Celebrity Birthdays 

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

May 

May 5 ..............................Jim Kelly* 

May 12 ..........................Jerry Trimble 

May 21 ...........................Dave Kovar 

June 

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

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

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

May 25 ..............................Cung Le 

*Deceased 

“Did We Miss Someone? 

Is There a Someone Who’s Been Influential in the Martial 

Arts that isn’t Listed? Send in the Information for Consideration! 

Email: Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

Or Visit: MartialArtsWorldNews.com/uReport 

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 


INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

Take Advantage of ATLAS Martial Arts 

Software Automation 

The automation platform provided by the ATLAS Martial Arts 

software will make you more productive, save your valuable 

time, and make sure things don’t ‘slip through the cracks’. 

ATLAS Automation will work for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a 

week, 365 days a year. It’s like having an entire staff working for 

you, without a day off, or a lunch break! 

Here are a few examples: 

Missed Class Automation 

It’s not uncommon for students to miss class from time to time 

for one reason or another. With this tool, you will be able to create 

follow-up messages for students whose attendance has declined 

and they will be sent automatically, which is very convenient. You 

can also set up ‘reminders’ for your staff to follow up with these 

students, to keep your retention high, and your students more 

engaged. 

Automatic Referral and Parent Add-On Reminders 

This tool will allow you to set up referral and parent add-on 

campaigns where your students will receive engaging messages 

that inspire them to share their martial arts journey with their 

friends and family, and can even be rewarded for it! 

This feature alone makes the ATLAS Martial Arts software 

worth many, many times its investment. 

Upgrade/Renewal Automation 

Some schools have an incredibly high upgrade rate, while 

others struggle to fill their higher level programs. With the ATLAS 

Automation platform, you’ll be able to educate your students 

about your higher level programs, and inspire them to qualify, on 

autopilot! 

You can deliver sequential multi-media messages when a student 

earns a new rank, as their agreement approaches its expiration 

date, and much more. This can be a massive breakthrough for 

your upgrade programs and your school. 

Report Automation 

The most successful school owners alway ‘know their numbers’! 

Imagine having the key performance indicators for your school 

not only at your fingertips, but automatically sent to you inbox 

when you want them most. 

Get your A, B, C, MIA Student lists every Monday, get your revenue 

reports every evening, or get a list of all the agreements that 

will expire this month on the 1st. It’s all up to you! 

Student Reactivation Campaign 

If you haven’t had communication with former students in 

a while, it may be time to reach out! The student reactivation 

campaign can automatically send useful and valuable content to 

communicate with former students and open the door to a return 

through the doors of your school. 

These are only a few of the automation options ATLAS Mar tial 

Arts software provides. There’s also social media automation, 

which will save you a ton of time, follow-up automation so students 

can receive automatic and personalized communications at the 

right time, and much more. TryAtlasSoftware.com 


Photograph by anyaberkut

Our Goal is to Help Young Minds 

GROW Stronger and EMPOWER 

them through Stories that will: 

• Inspire Their Imagination 

• Develop Their Moral Compass 

• Set Positive Examples Both Visually and Verbally 

• Prepare Them for Life’s Challenges 

Sarah B. Tucker, Author of 

The Adventures of Harry & Friends 

Book Series 

AdventuresOfHarryAndFriends.com

INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

Point MMA Programs Equip 

The Whole Person 

Point MMA provides exciting new programs for martial arts 

school owners and instructors to add some dynamic techniques 

and skills to their curriculum. Currently, there are three 

programs: Krazy Athletic, Kids Point MMA 37 Skills, and Warrior 

Mindset. The primary purpose of these programs is to teach 

students the tenets of the martial arts like respect, perseverance, 

self-control, integrity, humility, and indomitable spirit. 

With the help of these powerful programs, school owners or the 

instructors can help students in building up their mental, emotional 

and spiritual well-being with a Kung Fu flavor. All of the programs 

use unique methods and techniques that students might not be 

able to learn anywhere else. Being equipped with these skills can 

help children succeed academically and professionally currently 

and in the future respectively. 

It is Point MMA’s motto to empower youth against bullying, 

abuse, addiction, obesity, drug dealing and help them navigate 

their energy towards positive and healthy activities. 

To find out more visit: pointmma.com 

Vision MA: For ALL You Martial Arts 

Supply Needs 

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HEADACHE

SOCIAL 411 

The Core Components of a Strong SEO 

Strategy: Technical Setup 

strong SEO strategy is defined by three core components— 

A technical setup, content, and links. When you focus on these 

areas, your martial arts marketing will become more and more 

effective. Today, we are starting a series of articles where we will 

explore each core component individually. So, continue reading 

and don’t miss the next two articles! 

An Introduction to Technical Setup 

Three things need to happen for your website to rank on 

Google. The search engine needs to be able to 

find your pages so it can scan them (this is 

called ‘crawling’ and ‘indexing’ your site) 

to identify what your site is ‘about’ and 

add the site (using keywords and 

other content) to the index. From 

there, the algorithm will consider 

displaying your website when a 

relevant search is done. This is 

how SEO works. 

It sounds easy enough, 

but there’s a catch. No matter 

how carefully you design the 

look and feel of your page(s), 

the search engine can only see 

your text, links and other content 

if you structure it appropriately. 

Enter technical setup, also known 

as on-site optimization! This is what 

ensures that search engines can scan 

your website so the pages can be indexed 

successfully. Of course, there are lots of factors 

that Google takes into consideration. In fact, more 

than 200 factors are evaluated to determine how your site should 

rank. We’ll discuss some of the key factors below. 

Some Key Ranking Factors 

1. The Content 

As we’ll discuss in more detail in this series, the content of the 

pages is a critical ranking factor. Google is essentially ‘reading’ 

your pages. If the page is ‘about’ Kids Martial Arts Lessons, then 

the page should have those words, and words like it in the content 

(likely in several places) and should have other words and phrases 

that reinforce them. You don’t want to un-naturally ‘stuff’ your 

target keywords all over your page(s), but you need to make sure 

that Google, and human visitors can easily understand what your 

page is all about, and that it matches what human visitors are likely 

to search for. 

2. Website Navigation and Links 

Search engines crawl sites by following their links because 

that’s how they find the pages and content they need to analyze. 

Using meaningful link anchor text helps Google understand 

what your links are ‘about’. For example, “Click Here” 

doesn’t really tell Google much, but “Kids Martial Arts Classes” 

is far more meaningful. 

“Backlinks”, or links “to” your site from other sites with a high 

relevance and reputation will give Google even more confidence 

in your site. 

3. URL Structure 

If there’s one thing search engines don’t like is to 

read through lengthy and complex URL structure. 

That’s why it’s important to keep your 

URLs short and sweet, so make sure they 

don’t include much beyond the main 

keyword that you used to optimize 

your page. 

4. Page Speed 

Search engines will measure 

load time so they take page 

speed into account and it’s 

a relevant ranking factor you 

shouldn’t neglect. Load time is 

a big indicator of quality for the 

algorithm. The faster your website 

is, the better. Many elements 

can affect page speed, so we 

recommend you check out Google’s 

tool, Page Speed Insights, to learn to 

improve load time. 

5. Dead Links or Broken Redirects 

Dead links send people to nonexistent pages 

while broken redirects lead to resources that no longer 

exist. As you can imagine, both of these things affect user experience 

and they are a big no-no for search engines. If they are present 

on your website, your pages won’t rank. 

6. Sitemap and Robots.txt Files 

Sitemaps are files that list all the links available on your website, 

which is what search engines use to choose which pages 

to crawl and index. Robots.txt files tell the search engine what to 

ignore, which speeds up the crawling and indexing process. 

7. Repeated Content 

Last but not least, search engines notice repeated content 

and it makes it very difficult to identify what to index. This is a 

negative factor and the search engine will choose not to display 

any of the pages. 

If you are a martial arts school owner and you want your online 

marketing to succeed, you need to hit these three SEO hotspots. 

Don’t miss the next two articles, where we will explore the other 

core components for a strong SEO strategy. 


Image by Mohamad Faizal Bin Ramli

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SOCIAL 411 

To Get More Emails Opened Use Human 

Instinct Subject Lines (Part 2) 

Once again, it shows wisdom 

when a martial arts school 

owner can attract new students 

through email marketing by utilizing 

human instinct to get recipients to 

open your marketing emails. As 

mentioned previously, 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 more instinctive ideas for subject lines that are 

proven to increase email open rates: 

We All Enjoy Laughing 

If you can create subject lines that make people laugh, then 

they can’t stop themselves from 

opening an email because it puts 

them in a good mood. 

Ex. Lose Weight And Get In 

Shape The Fun Way While Learning 

Martial Arts. 

Anybody Can Be Vain 

Subject lines that promise something 

that makes a person look 

better to peers, or invokes the fear 

of being shamed by others tend to 

get open at high rates. 

Ex. Martial Arts Training Will Give Your The Body And Skills That 

Turn Heads 

To bring martial arts school growth from your email marketing, 

you have to consider people’s instincts because they can’t resist 

what innately moves them to respond! Check out our next issue for 

a few more attention grabbing headline ideas. 

Instagram Has Expanded Its Reels 

Now that Instagram has extended its reels length limit from 30 

seconds to 60 seconds for users, it is great news for martial 

arts school owners. This will allow you to provide more information 

in one Reel, connect with followers through their creative content 

and see a spike in conversion. 

This is quite interesting for Instagram as all its other components 

do allow longer video uploads. Videos that appear in the 

regular feed can be up to 60 seconds long, but you also can 

upload 15 seconds videos to Stories, and 60 minutes clips to 

IGTV if you are uploading from the web. Now Reels clips are also 

becoming popular in other Instagram functions, which could make 

it become a less unique option within the overall IG experience. 

Whatever it may be, one thing is certain, this option will provide 

users with more freedom to create longer clips or upload the same 

Tik Tok clip or Youtube Shorts to Instagram as well. With this new 

development, Instagram is likely signaling that they are open for 

more cross-posting, which will boost the amount of Reel content 

shared on the platform but probably also increase the repetitive 

experience across apps. 

(Note: Make sure that your short video clips do not have watermarks 

when cross-posting because Instagram will penalize your 

reach for that). 

While this expansion is a great thing, all these options are starting 

to look the same. The question then arises; why do you need 

different video upload processes for every option? Why not allow 

users to just upload their clips, edit them how they want and finally 

organize them all together? 

By doing so, Instagram would have more content to show 

within Reels, which in turn could increase the engagement on the 

site and also assist in boosting views within the different components 

of the app, instead of separating the different video types. 

Perhaps that is the new route as Instagram is now testing a 

new TikTok-like display format for exploring that puts all content 

in one format. This is a good thing as it could help the content get 

seen more easily while giving Instagram’s algorithms more video 

inventory and further streamlining the user experience instead of 

making each element single. 

Martial arts school owners should consider trying out longer 

Reels as it can be an improved way to promote your school. 

22 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3 

Photographs by sdecoret (top) and Hamster3d (bottom)

THE #1 SOURCE FOR DAILY 

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LAWRENCE ARTHUR 

FOUNDER & GRAND MASTER 

It gives me great pleasure to invite you to the AFKA Martial Arts 

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Natural Bridge is a great vacation location in the Blue Ridge Mountains 

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Be sure to get registered by June 15th. There will be no registration 

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FROM OFFICER IN THE 

DEATH CHAMBER 

TO 

MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL OWNER 

LIFE CHANGER 

For almost 3 decades Chief Master Mike Bugg has 

been the undisputed champion and king of martial 

arts after school and summer camp programs. He is 

the leading authority on children’s programs and is sought 

out regularly for his understanding, methods, and advice 

on them. In this interview, Chief Master Bugg explains what 

were the driving forces that lead to him becoming one of 

the leading mentors and role models for children in these 

kinds of programs in the U.S. From humble beginnings, his 

school has become the blueprint for achieving financial 

freedom with after school and summer camps that truly 

prepares tomorrow’s leaders to become life champions.

COVER STORY 

Chief Master Bugg works extensively in his community, growing deep roots in the local school systems and businesses. 

MAWN: You have a law enforcement and corrections background 

prior to getting into the martial arts industry. Can you tell us 

what led to you changing careers and deciding to open a martial 

arts school? 

MB: I grew up in a small town in Virginia and I spent 13 years in 

law enforcement and corrections. I was really happy in my career, 

even though my passion was to do martial arts full-time. I wanted 

to have a martial arts school because in my career I saw a lot of 

troubled kids and I personally thought I could change a lot of 

people’s lives through a martial arts program. 

I had a pivotal moment while I was working on death row. I met 

this kid who was soon to be executed and we had a conversation 

about why he got involved in crime, and how he got locked up? He 

told me he wished there was a program that would have put him 

on the right path when he was in elementary school. He wished 

that he would have had some positive mentors and role models 

that could have changed his life around middle school, so he could 

have been a better citizen. 

He told me that he grew up with his single mother. His father 

was randomly in and out of his life. His mother married another 

man, who was a present stepfather, but he really didn’t understand 

him or guide him in the right direction. The youngster would 

frequently lash out violently at the family and others, seemingly 

unable to control his anger. 

He further explained that he now realized that he didn’t understand 

fundamental values and principles. As a result, one night 

he fell into a fit of rage because he was not allowed to go to his 

girlfriend’s house, and ultimately killed his mom and stepfather. 

This conversation had a deep impact on me, and afterwards, I 

really became more certain that I could change a lot of lives, with 

the right kind of program, and perhaps prevent some of these 

senseless tragedies in the future. At the time I was still processing 

inmates to go to the death chamber, so this realization really hit 

me hard. I had this kid that was going to be executed in 30 days, 

and maybe, just maybe I could make a positive impact on kids just 

like him in the future. I then realized that this profession wasn’t my 

passion anymore. 

MAWN: Wow, that must have a very challenging type of career. 

So how did you transition from the death chamber to a life changing 

Martial Arts School? 

MB: I was now certain that my passion was the Martial Arts, so I 

quit the corrections career path and started down the road of running 

a Martial Arts School. My first experience was to take over a 

small school in Chester, Virginia. I really struggled with that opera- 


COVER STORY 

“…you have to realize that 

just because you’re a black 

belt in the martial arts, 

doesn’t mean that you’re a 

black belt in business…” 

tion and truthfully, I thought I made a huge mistake. The school did 

not do well financially, and I didn’t have the skills, or attitude at that 

time to rescue it. I lost my house, my car, and my family. It pretty 

much destroyed my marriage and everything. 

After so much trauma, I was to the point of quitting and giving up 

on my dreams, but I had a wonderful mentor, Grandmaster Y.K. Kim. 

He helped me to set my goals and focus on all the little details that 

really make a school work well. He said, “If you stick with and focus 

on your goal, then you will overcome all these obstacles!” So I literally 

lived in the school, built a new operation from the ground up 

and started an afterschool program. I initially resisted doing an after 

school program, because I was already struggling and I felt like 

now I was being asked to “babysit all day”. But I took on the challenge 

because Grandmaster Y.K. Kim was my mentor, my coach, 

and essentially the father figure I never had growing up. I decided 

to suspend my skepticism, did exactly what he told me to do, stuck 

by it every day, set my goals, followed, believed, and just went for it. 

Chief Master Bugg Receives Award for Service to His Community. 

That was the beginning of a massive transformation for me. 

MAWN: So you got into a location that was already operating, 

but was really tanking. What were some of the lessons that you 

had to learn and things you had to implement to get that school to 

be successful? 

MB: The most important thing you have to realize is that just 

because you’re a black belt in the martial arts, doesn’t mean that 

you’re a black belt in business, and that’s the hardest thing I had 

to learn. Having a mentor telling me what to do was very crucial. 

I’ve talked to a lot of school owners and the hardest thing you have 

to do is look at the business part, because you may be a great 

instructor, but we’re often not great business people. So, we need 

a coach in the area of business. Once I got the coaching in that 

continued on page 40 


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COVER STORY 

“The after school Martial Arts program 

pretty much saved my school” 

continued frorm page 37 

area, I started to have the right goals, set plans, and learned to 

execute the plans on a daily basis. 

At the start, it’s hard work. You have to promote every single 

day, do exhibitions, work with local businesses, create relationships 

with elementary schools and more. Sometimes, you get very 

few prospects, maybe one that’s interested, or at best two to three. 

That can be discouraging and stressful, and I took those feelings 

home. I really had to take care of the business side of things which 

is different from teaching, but with a coach and a good plan, I started 

doing things that bring in more leads and then I learned how to 

sign people up. I spent tons of hours in the community, passing out 

flyers, and performing lots of exhibitions. It’s a lot of hard work. 

MAWN: So how did you take that single first location from 

essentially zero to having the kind of success you’re experiencing 

these days? 

MB: The after school Martial Arts program pretty much saved 

my school, but my adult programs were not flourishing to the same 

level. My career change and faith in what my mentor was directing 

me to do was paying off in a big way. 

MAWN: How did you eventually end up overcoming 

the struggle that you were having with the 

adult programs growth in your school? 

MB: Around 2017, we began using a system 

that had a radically different approach in marketing 

to the adult market. Since so many of our schools 

have been losing the adult market to other pro- 

Chief Master Mike Bugg receives the Outstanding Financial Speaker Hall of Fame Award presented by Y. K. Kim at the 2006 Martial Arts Leaders Summit. 


COVER STORY 

Chief Master Bugg has literally built his school from the ground up, building and all. 

“Our after school program took us 

to grossing $800,000 a year. We 

were up to $1.5 million a year and 

still growing.” 

grams like Yoga, we really needed to change our method to find 

a system that was designed to attract the adult market. We knew 

that adults were seeking fitness and mind body solutions as we 

saw the Yoga industry swell from 9 million to more than 28 million 

practitioners. 

The ATLAS Software and iEnroll Marketing Systems provided 

the answers I was looking for. It provided an easy way for us to 

specifically market to and enroll more adult students. It was very 

unique in that it combined ‘done for us’ marketing on social platforms 

and brought leads to my school through a lead generating 

website. It was almost like I didn’t have to do anything and I was 

getting qualified adult prospects and we were enrolling them and 

growing our adult programs. 

MAWN: What were the results like for your school with a thriving 

after school martial arts program and the growth in your adult 

programs? 

MB: Ok, we started out with zero and struggling. 

Then our school saving after school program took us 

to grossing $800,000 a year. Then with a growing 

adult program added to an already successful after 

school program we were grossing $80,000 a month 

and got up to $1.5 million a year and it was still growing. 

I was not satisfied seeing the gaps in our markets 

and martial arts school, then recognized the opportunity 

to grow big and basically doubled income. In 

addition, I went from just one location to sponsoring 

With a tight regulatory environment in Virginia, Chief Master Bugg adapts. 


COVER STORY 

Chief Master Bugg is Not Only an Inspirational Leader, but Also a Talented Martial Artist 

five locations in Virginia. 

MAWN: So you’re a multi-school operator as a result of the new 

approach of social marketing and online marketing. What were 

the mental and logistical shifts you had to make to get this all to 

happen? 

MB: A lot went to the planning, teamwork, and how we were 

going to do our promoting and enrollment process. Of course, we 

also discussed what the goals were going to be for maximizing our 

after school program and the adult program as well. Every week 

we meet to go over what we’re doing? How many leads do we 

have this week? How many appointments do we have this week? 

And how to follow up. Not only did we work with our team here, 

but we also worked with our business consultant team at AMS to 

make sure that we were on track for success. 

MAWN: After school Martial Arts has been a godsend for many 

schools, but it also can have its own challenges. You’re in one of 

the tougher areas in the nation to make all this happen so what are 

some of the big lessons and big obstacles you had to overcome to 

find success? 

MB: Sure there are a lot of obstacles to get into the schools be- 


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COVER STORY 

“I went from just one location 

to sponsoring five locations in 

Virginia.” 

cause our program is Martial Arts. Some schools are of the mindset 

that “We don’t want that in our school”, so sometimes just getting 

past the front door is difficult. Whatever it is, I’ve been there, done 

that, and have found ways to work with the school systems. 

You have to find ways you can contribute to what they are 

doing in their school, and learn to communicate with the staff well 

to find a way to get into the system. Now Chesterfield County is 

one of the toughest in the state to get into, but there’s not a school 

that I cannot walk into right now without an ID or with anything. 

That’s how it is for all our locations around the Richmond area, we 

can get into the schools with no problems. It’s all about building a 

win-win relationship. 

Simply put, you first have to make up your mind that you are 

going to be a partner in education. We are going to be partners 

with elementary schools. We explain what we are going to do, how 

we’re going to do it and what the benefits are for the school, the 

students, the teachers and the families of the students. Right. Really, 

it’s all about showing them what’s in it for them. 

MAWN: You had been so focused on the transported after 

Full Classes are a Ton of Fun at This “Super School” 

school martial arts program for children, but you saw a need and a 

gap in the adult market, right. Why did you then feel it was time to 

refocus on adults and what are the results like? 

MB: Well, most of the time inbound phone calls were for the 

children’s program. We might have had 10 adults in class. We’d 

lose a few, then we’d get three or four more and have the same 

cycle happen over and over. We saw a need to really have a focus 

on the adult market. With the social media marketing strategies 

with ATLAS Software and the iEnroll System, it uses pinpointed 

marketing to reach the right people. The marketing campaigns use 

the right marketing messages that are attractive to adults, which 

“…we can get into the [public/ 

private] schools with no 

problems. It’s all about building 

a win-win relationship.” 

Treating Your Staff Well is Something Woven Into the Culture of This School 

was something that I struggled with. Most people might think, just 

focus on children, but now we’re packed with adults. It’s unbelievable 

and we’re still getting new leads daily. So this was the right 

marketing strategy to help our location with the adults. 

MAWN: Operating multiple schools can be challenging. One of 

the challenges multi school operators face is recruiting and developing 

staff members. 

MB: The instructor recruiting process is doing really well now 

because we are constantly getting more and more adult students. 

With children it can take many years before they are able to be 

competent instructors and staff members, but adults can get there 

much faster. 

This is due to very high quality prospects coming into our 

school who have already set an appointment to come in and see 


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you. They are excited about the lesson and in many cases, 

they bring a friend or family member to train with them from 

the start. We’re really excited about this because we’ve 

expanded to more locations, expanded our instructor base, 

and didn’t have to wait for children to grow up. 

MAWN: What do you see as the major benefits from the 

iEnroll way of marketing in contrast with some of the previous 

kinds of traditional marketing that you used to use? 

MB: It has actually saved me a lot of money as opposed 

to the old style of marketing. In relation to some of our 

other marketing tactics, it’s actually very cost effective. For 

example: we have a team that goes out Tuesdays and Thursdays 

to promote four or five hours a day. So you’re paying each person 

$12 an hour. I have an event planner who goes out on a weekend 

to promote and I have to pay her. They’re not paid solely commission 

on all those things, they need motivation, and still have 

to come in to teach class. I also spend close to $800 a month on 

marketing materials. 

Now we have appointments in the morning and the money 

that used to be spent, I used to give my staff a raise. Also, we use 

that money to have a staff meeting once a week and they all go 

to lunch. So now my instructors are motivated, I never really knew 

“School owners need to figure out how 

to move themselves into the CEO role 

rather than just the head instructor, 

marketer, manager, janitor, etc.” 

“…we’ve expanded to more 

locations, expanded our 

instructor base, and didn’t have 

to wait for children to grow up.” 

how much they hated going out there to promote. 

MAWN: You have kind of touched on it, but how has your role 

in the organization changed? 

MB: Well I’ve been elevated to a position of CEO in my organization 

from being a frontline operator of a Martial Arts School 

who did everything including the janitorial tasks. Now I can 

focus on enrollments, renewals, retention, and quality. Before 

I had to spend too much time on 

tasks that are being done for me 

even while I’m sleeping or on vacation. 

With automated marketing, we 

get better results and my staff is 

not burnt out. School owners need 

to figure out how to move themselves 

into the CEO role rather than 

just the head instructor, marketer, 

manager, janitor, etc. 

MAWN: When you’re a part of 

a team that’s growing, that’s pretty 

exciting. Do you have any advice to 

give school owners that might be 

sputtering, but really want to be on a 

growth curve? 

MB: First, you have got to ask 

yourself, “Am I a black belt in business?” 

If you’re not, you have to get 

on the right path and get with a mentor, 

somebody that’s going to help 

you focus on growing. This will help 

you grow. You also want to work on retention within your school, 

and focus on motivating your team, because if your instructors are 

not motivated, the back door is wide open in your school. It doesn’t 

matter if you get one or two enrollments coming in each day, 

they’re going to go right back out. 

I noticed that once we leveraged all these 

lead generation and marketing systems, the 

instructors could focus more on classes. Now 

the classes are more fun and beneficial as well. 

Daily we have 4 to 5 new appointments, so we’ll 

keep on growing. We are still growing so much 

that we went from a 10,000 sq. ft. to a 20,000 

sq. ft. building. 

MAWN: Thank you for sharing these great experiences, 

ideas, and strategies for our readers. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Master Renard Beaty 

All Roads Lead to Black Belt at 

Kick Start Martial Arts 

Master Renard Beaty is the owner of Kick Start Martial Arts which has been in business 

for 12 years serving the community of Atlanta, Georgia. For the first 8 years the school 

operated as a traditional brick and mortar type of business, but experienced growth that 

currently has produced an active student enrollment of more than 220 happy students. 

MAWN: What would you say is the major contribution that your 

school is bringing to its community? 

RB: We are conscientious about developing civic minded, 

accountable, leadership skills in students so they can be productive 

in society and to our community. I use a 2 year management 

training program I used to administer when I worked at a former 

corporation to aid in the process. 

MAWN: What are the best producing marketing strategies you 

use and what are the lead numbers like per month? 

RB: I use a digital media vendor and social media platforms 

(website, Facebook, Instagram, Google Business, Yelp) to get the 

word out about our school. Those platforms are thriving for us and 

give us about 100 leads every month. The average conversion 

the leads produces 16 new student enrollments a month. We have 

good growth and quality control which gives our current students 

a good experience. 

MAWN: What are your most significant programs you provide 

and their benefits to participants? 

RB: My school has two 12 month programs; the Little Ninja and 

Basic program. I also have three 24 month programs; the S.W.A.T., 

Master, and Black Belt training. Here is a general overview: 

Little Ninja: has students ages 5-7 and develops foundation 

skills like developing the body, emotional, social, and critical thinking 

skills. It’s 2 classes a week and includes sight teaching. 

Basic program: the students are ages 8 years and older. Also 

develops the body, emotional, social, and critical thinking skills. It’s 

2 classes a week and helps students to learn standard requirements 

for Tang Soo Do to earn a black belt to complete it. 

S.W.A.T. Club: For students who want to take part in my leadership 

development program. They learn how to teach in order to 

support the school. Get two extra classes a week (weapons and 

sparring) along with a special uniform. Learn 4 extra forms. The 

goal is to continue training as black belts. An invitation is given 

based on the student drive. 

Master Club: is for students that completed S.W.A.T. and want to 

learn sword. They can continue to take part in S.W.A.T. 

Black Belt Training: I found, in the past, that when I wanted every 

student to do S.W.A.T., some quit. They did not want the pressure. 

They just wanted to get a black belt and move on to another 

activity. So I offer two paths of enjoyment. 

MAWN: Do you have a lead generating website and what 

about it has been most productive regarding leads? 

RB: All my websites have a lead capture component. I get some 

leads from them and I recently updated one to have a better SEO 

experience. My leads come from many sources, including word 

of mouth. I am located in a major metropolitan area with only one 

competitor. We have two very different business models. For 

example, I am full time, they are part-time. I am for profit. They are 

not for profit. 

MAWN: Do you use management software and what features 

are providing the best benefits for running your school more efficiently? 

RB: I use AMS for school management. This is helpful for transfering 

my student body’s financial payment to another vendor so I 

don’t have any issues with payments. 

MAWN: Thanks for your example. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Universal Warrior Mixed Martial 

Arts: An Eclectic System of 

Traditional Martial Arts 

Grandmaster Austin Wright’s Universal Warrior Mixed Martial Arts has been in business 

since 1985. It was started with the United States Air Force Martial Arts Club at Seymour 

Johnson Air Force Space, located in North Carolina. It continues to spread traditional 

martial arts to kids and adults of all ages with more than 200 students! 

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

bringing to its community? 

AW: Through our teachings of traditional Okinawan and Isshin- 

Ryu style karate, American Kickboxing, Kung Fu, and Japanese 

Judo Jujitsu combative arts, we provide a safe place for people 

of all ages. We help at risk kids, veterans and adults build confidence, 

lose weight and feel great! Our goal is to help our students 

evolve themselves spiritually, mentally, and physically! 

MAWN: What are the best producing marketing strategies you 

use and what are the lead numbers like per month? 

AW: ATLAS! Through AMS I have discovered new and innovative 

marketing tools that have helped us increase our revenues 

astronomically within less than 6 months with anywhere from 15 

to 30 leads per month! And with the help of ATLAS I opened up 

international dojos in Kishanganj, India, Sicily, Italy, and La Vega, 

Dominican Republic. Thanks to ATLAS I can not only spread 

traditional martial arts in the United States, but in various 3rd world 

countries world-wide! 

MAWN: What are your most significant programs you provide 

and their benefits to participants? 

AW: Within our Mixed Martial Arts Dojo Academy we provide 

self defense, mixed martial arts fitness, and traditional mixed martial 

arts programs, through which we have been able to produce 

two generations of champions and grand champions winning 

students. Aside from teaching our students how to strive and 

achieve greatness on a competitive level, through these programs 

we are also able to teach our students Japanese terminology, build 

self defense and confidence, get fit and strong, build a growth 

mindset, learn how to focus, build social skills, and most importantly 

have fun! 

MAWN: Do you have a lead generating website and what 

about it has been most productive regarding leads? 

AW: ATLAS gives us a huge lead generating website that 

provides multitudes of leads. Aside from our walk-ins and word of 

mouth leads, the website is a great way to boost leads and spread 

the word. 

MAWN: Do you use 

management software 

and what features are 

providing the best benefits 

for running your 

school more efficiently? 

AW: ATLAS works 

wonders with their 

various administrative 

and financial management 

features. Features 

such as the attendance 

taker, billing organizer, 

and welcome feature 

allow me to easily keep 

track of my students’ 

attendance as well as 

Grandmaster Austin Wright 

progress and tuition dues. 

Alongside providing me with management organizational features, 

AMS provides me with other fun innovative, creative strategies to 

help maintain and increase student retention! “And you can take 

that to the Bank!” 

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

owners for having success in business? 

AW: Success is built through student retention and solid 

marketing, which is why I use and highly recommend the usage of 

ATLAS! With their multitude of resources ranging from account billing, 

marketing, and fun and innovative strategies, student retention 

has never been better! With AMS online’s amazing organizational 

features, I have been given more time to spend with my family as 

well as being a life coach to these kids and adults who struggle 

with anxiety and low self esteem to help build a more spiritually, 

mentally, physically and more confident version of themselves. At 

the end of the day, ATLAS allows me time to achieve our ultimate 

goal of taking the ordinary student and creating an extraordinary 

student through our martial arts studies! 


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practices, product reviews and innovative developments in 

the world of martial arts business. 

We are always on the lookout for notable, engaging and 

valuable stories for our readers! 

If you, your school, organization, event, product, or service 

has a story that might be of value to our readers, we’d love to 

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MIND MASTERY 

The Power of Self-Belief 

By Grandmaster Jesse Bowen 

Now in approaching the “Power of Success”, the power of self-belief is that if you 

don’t believe you can, then you won’t. Remember, you should note or highlight any 

ideas or strategies to implement your success plan. 

If you believe in yourself, there 

is little to stop you in whatever you 

want to accomplish. It gives you 

the power to push forward and to 

defy the odds. You will be able to 

handle any roadblocks that come 

your way. You will also brush off 

the naysayers. It gives you peace 

of mind when you stick to your 

self-belief. 

To keep that self-belief strong, 

you need to define your goals. You 

wouldn’t expect a general to fight 

a war without a map. 

You, too, need a 

map to guide you on how to proceed. Too many 

people skip this step and wonder why they aren’t 

getting anywhere. 

Goals are your guides, but carrying through 

with them is only done when you believe that it’s 

possible. Belief is the energy you need to take 

action. It helps you to focus on getting 

your tasks completed. 

You will also build confidence 

when you have selfbelief. 

It’s a powerful tool, 

as others will be attracted 

to that confidence. They 

will follow your lead 

and you will help show 

them what is possible. 

When you run into any 

stumbling blocks (and you will), 

that confidence will help you 

see them through. You will know 

how to take alternative action 

when necessary. The people 

following you will respect that 

as well. 

Several forces will try to beat 

you down. You may even find 

yourself letting it happen. You 

need to get centered on why 

you started your journey in the 

first place. Use affirmations to 

reinforce your message. Be consistent 

with your affirmations. 

Unfortunately, many of the negative forces are going to be 

from your family and friends. They will see it as helping you avoid 

mistakes. Many people will succumb to this negative pressure and 

give up. One way to prevent this is to join groups of like minded 

individuals. It can be related to your business, or it can be groups 

that focus on self-help. These organizations exist to try and push 

the negative forces out. It’s great to go to meetings and get encouragement 

from the group. 

Attending these groups can sometimes lead to friendships with 

people where you can extend the encouragement of each other. 

You may even form business partnerships from these friendships. 

It’s good to know that you have the support of these people when 

these relationships form. They understand when everyone else 

around you doesn’t. Your self-belief will strengthen considerably 

from this arrangement. 

Okay, it’s time to go to work! I believe the power of self-belief is 

the key to rapid success. 

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. 


Photograph by BrianAJackson

All books are available on www.Atouchofzen.com 

or to place your order over the phone.

GROWTH HACKS 

Use 3 Martial Arts Principles for 

Effective Advertising 

by Mr. Sean Lee 

You realize the importance of speed, power, and accuracy 

when attacking an adversary. The principles are second nature to 

you when you are sparring, but did you know that speed, power, 

and accuracy are just as important in advertising and promotion 

to attack your town’s market successfully? If you want to enroll 

25 to 50 new students every month you must understand how to 

advertise properly on social media or with a traditional method. 

As in the martial arts great skill comes through great effort, to 

be great at advertising and promotion much training is required. 

Do you have the time to focus all your energy while operating 

your school on learning advertising and promotion? If you answered, 

“Yes” are you planning on making a career 

change? The correct answer is “No” to both questions, 

but you still have to advertise and promote 

your school effectively. 

So what’s the solution to gaining the 

speed, power, and accuracy needed to 

reach more prospects than you thought possible 

without getting a degree in advertising? 

The answer is found in the professional 

products and services that AMS develops for 

martial arts school owners just like you. Every 

month well trained experts prepare the kind 

of speed, power, and accuracy in advertising 

and promotions 

designed to deliver a knockout. 

1. Speed – From an advertising 

and promotional standpoint, 

speed primarily has 

to do with hitting the target 

market at the right time. 

Experience leads to good 

timing and AMS has been 

providing school owners 

with marketing solutions 

for close 

to forty years. Each month tools like posters, flyers, tent cards, 

door hangers, emails, social media posts, etc. are designed with 

this kind of advertising speed in mind. 

2. Power - The idea of power with regard to advertising and 

promotion means to have impact. One key to powerful ads is 

eye-catching designs with images and a layout that appeals to 

prospective students. Another key is the use of words that capture 

the attention and move the reader to act. AMS has a team of 

expert graphic designers and writers eager to provide you with 

penetrating ads sure to increase your enrollment each month. 

3. Accuracy - Getting your advertising and promotions to the 

right people is what is meant by accuracy. 

Targeting the children, teen, adult, or even the senior market 

requires the appropriate kind of ads and 

promotions for each individual market. Many of these kinds of 

impactful tools can be found in the MA Biz Academy from AMS to 

hit the bull’s-eye in your city. 

To do your best in every way sometimes requires help 

along the way. You need your advertising and promotion to 

have the speed, power, and accuracy for great impact, so visit 

MaBizAcademy.com 

and find out how it can aid you in taking your school to the 

next level for skyrocketing enrollment each month. 

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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NEXT LEVEL STRATEGY 

Contract or No Contract? That is 

the Question, Part 2 

By Shihan Allie Alberigo 

Of course, if I need more justification, I simply talk about colleges. No college allows 

month-to-month payments with an open-ended agreement. If they did, they would 

also be out of business. 

I end the conversation with example after example 

of people who joined these “no contract” schools only 

to later on find one day that they’re out of business. 

Sadly, this has happened to 99% of my competition. 

She knew nothing of what an agreement 

represented, and my competitor 

had used the very fact that he 

didn’t have them as a selling 

tool. 

At Long Island Ninjutsu, 

we do exactly the opposite, 

and it’s quite obvious that in most cases 

it worked to Long Island Ninjutsu’s benefit 

and not his. We use yearly agreements as 

a selling tool, and it has indeed 

helped me take my studios 

from 50 to well over 1,000 

students in less than a 

decade! 

Remember, 

an agreement 

outlines the 

student-parent 

commitment 

As in any 

school, at Long 

Island Ninjutsu 

Centers, there have 

been students that have contemplated 

dropping out for one 

reason or another at some time. Having a membership 

agreement helps this situation. By directing the student 

to the martial arts billing company, where they’ll be 

told that, regardless of attendance, the payments must 

continue, you have an added tool for motivation. The 

school owner is able to reinforce the idea of continued 

commitment to training to the parent/student. Aside 

from that, what parent wants to pay for something they 

aren’t utilizing? Even if the parent/student ultimately 

decides not to continue with their training, or needs to 

take an extended period of time from training, having a 

membership agreement helps maintain steady cash flow. 

During the summer, many people take vacations or are involved 

with other activities. The buyer will justify that if they’re taking off 

two weeks for vacation, they may as well take the entire month 

off. We realize that breaks can demotivate students, causing them 

to never return to class at all. With an agreement in place, you’re 

allowing the payments to continue even if the student or their child 

isn’t actually training. An extension of time added to the end of the 

agreement will allow the parent to not feel as though they’re losing 

out on time that they’re paying for! 

Having an agreement guarantees growth and a stable income 

for your martial arts business 

If I have 200 students on yearly agreements, then I know 

that 200 people are paying for their tuition. This stable income 

allows me to focus my energy on building onto that 200. Schools 

that boast of not having agreements will experience moderate 

to extreme fluctuations during summer, holidays, and inclement 

weather. Steady cash flow guarantees you the time, focus, and 

revenue to increase enrollment and other areas of your business. 

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. 


Illustration by Oleksandr Hruts

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PILLARS OF SUCCESS 

What is a healthy lifestyle? Pt. 1 

by Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

E.E.R.T: The four wheels of physical fitness: 

Eat and drink wisely: Healthy food brings a healthy body. 

Exercise daily: Release stress and get in shape. 

Rest properly: Recharge your energy. 

Think positively: A positive mind creates a positive body. 

In my experience, physical fitness depends on the kind of 

lifestyle you lead: 

When you have an unhealthy lifestyle, you become weak, 

tired, overweight, and more vulnerable to illness. When you 

lead a healthy lifestyle, it is easy to control your weight and 

get in shape, and live a stronger and more energetic life. Put 

E.E.R.T. into action to build a healthier life. 

Your body is the best medicine for your body, which 

means that if you have a strong body, you 

have a strong immune system. Build 

physical fitness with E.E.R.T. 

The E.E.R.T. habits are like the 

four wheels of a car: Without all four 

wheels working in harmony, the car will 

crash. If you don’t discipline yourself 

to develop all four habits simultaneously, 

you will crash as well. Therefore, 

balance is the key to achieving great 

physical fitness. 

Only you have the power to put E.E.R.T. 

into action to change your life. 

E.E.R.T. Leads to Harmony and 

Balance 

1) Eat and drink wisely: 

The healthier your diet, the 

healthier you will be. Eating 

and drinking properly is 

critically important in 

building physical fitness. 

2) Exercise daily: 

The best way to get in 

shape, build physical 

muscle, and burn physical 

fat while releasing toxins, stress, and tension is to work up a 

sweat. Exercise is a very important part of physical fitness. 

3) Rest properly: Recharge your energy through proper sleep 

and rest. Properly recharging your body is critical to achieving and 

maintaining good physical fitness. 

4) Think positively: The body and the mind are intimately connected. 

The body follows the mind, because the mind controls 

the body. They exist in harmony as a part of you. If this harmony is 

interrupted, you become unbalanced. As a result, positive thinking 

is the key to eating and drinking wisely, exercising daily, and recharging 

energy properly. It allows you to create good habits while 

eliminating bad ones. 

Without positive thinking, you cannot maintain physical fitness 

because negative thinking blocks your ability to keep up a diet 

and exercise routine as well as interferes with your ability to get 

enough sleep. Negative thinking also breeds stress, which is 

the stem of sickness. Without the power of positive thinking you 

cannot set or accomplish goals. As a result, to truly build physical 

fitness you need to think positively in order to get rid of mental fat 

and build mental muscles. Positive thinking is the key to building 

physical fitness. 

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 3 

By Shihan Dana Abbott 

Ages 7 to 9 

Ages 7 to 9 are still best kept to the short sword. These students 

have better muscle control than the 3 to 6 year olds, but can 

still be prone to forgetting to be careful about accidentally hitting 

someone. They still need to stay aware that someone might be 

standing beside or in back of them while they are swinging the 

sword. These children’s wrists, from a strength perspective, may 

still be a concern. 

The ability of the individual student must be taken into account. 

The Chanbara bo staff may be introduced, especially for the 

students that have studied the bo outside of sword class. If longer 

weaponry or nunchaku are allowed, caution 

the students to temper the strength 

they use in their strikes. The 7 to 9 year 

olds don’t always realize how hard they 

are hitting one 

another. 

Because 7 to 

9 year olds are 

able to stay more 

conscious about 

safety, the reward 

system will need to 

change. For example, 

rewards can be tickets or 

points that can be saved 

up and turned in for 

prizes. 

This age group 

can improve on 

the basic techniques 

(head, wrist, 

body and leg strikes) 

by adding diagonal 

strikes. For the head 

this would mean strikes to just 

above the temple area (obviously 

while wearing a helmet). 

For the body, the strikes would 

be from just under the arm across 

the body and down to the waist. 

Simple blocking techniques can also 

begin to be taught. The 7 to 9 year 

old has good reactions and teaching 

blocking will help 

to improve their 

reaction time. 

A simple game 

for this age group is 

“capture the flag”. Place 

a red flag on one side of 

the deck. Place a white flag on 

the other side of the deck. Divide 

the kids into two teams of equal 

size and ability. The white team 

must protect the red flag from 

capture while trying to obtain 

their white flag from the red 

team. Conversely, the red team 

must protect the white flag from being 

captured while trying to obtain their red flag from the white team. 

Each student has one sword each. if struck in the arm, they must 

put that arm behind their back. If struck in the leg, they must drop 

down onto that leg (and, thus, can’t move around the deck). If they 

are struck in the head or body, they are “dead” and need to get off 

to one side. The first team to get their team’s flag is the winner. 

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. 


Photograph by IJdema

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EXTRAORDINARY MARKETING 

Don’t You Dare Miss an Opportunity! 

by Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

“It’s not what you don’t know that kills you, it’s what you know for sure that ain’t true.” 

― Mark Twain 

They used this quote in the excellent movie “The Big Short.” 

If you are in any way interested in how the Mortgage market 

collapsed the economy, it’s a great way to learn more about how 

things really worked. It’s not the full story but it’s a pretty good 

chunk of the “untold story,” behind what really happened. 

The Mark Twain quote also very much applies in my mind to 

how most of our industry is absolutely sure about wrong ideas. 

How the majority of school owners including those selling them 

“stuff” – ideas, software, websites, etc. Get it wrong so much of 

the time. 

There’s another great quote by Earl Nightingale 

I believe, that’s something to the effect of if 

you don’t know what to do, just look around 

at what everyone else is doing and do the 

opposite. Look at how most schools (by 

definition the broke guys) are running 

their school and do the opposite. This is 

why I have a tendency to yell at clients 

who tell me what everyone else in town is 

charging, by the way. 

Opportunity lost… makes 

me physically ill… 

seriously. 

You may or may not 

know, but one of the ways 

that Jeff Smith influenced 

my life is he got me 

hooked on Movies while 

I was in college and a 

branch manager and he 

was VP/Head Instructor for 

the Jhoon Rhee Institute. 

He and I used to hit two 

movies on Friday night. 

I’ve since passed this 

on to my kids and, now especially my 7-year-old son, Chase 

must see everything the moment it’s released, Thursday night. 

Over the holiday’s we saw 3 movies in three different theaters. 

In each of the lines we’re outside the door. Showings were 

sold-out. The Theaters were “beat-up”, out of concessions, and 

overwhelmed. That weekend broke EVERY standing record. 

Guess how many Martial Arts Schools or other similar businesses 

were in the lobby marketing to that crowd? 

Right. None. 

VERY close to two of these theaters is a former Franchisee of 

mine who was constantly complaining of having difficulty getting 

enough students. Guess what, no sign of him. And, this is 

someone who I personally taught how to do it, stood by his side, 

showed him how to make appointments, guided him on how to set 

up and organize the booth. 

Then I ended up in Tulsa for 8 days. The Big AMC Theater 

there was packed – all showings sold-out. The coke machines 

were sold-out, concessions overwhelmed, theater PACKED with 

people. Not far from there is one of the wan-a-be “industry guru’s” 

who was with me a few years ago for about a month. He had 

about 90 students in Tulsa last I knew but sounds really enthusiastic 

pitching his latest sales and marketing ideas to school 

owners. He’s always bragging about how he’s mastered email and 

Facebook marketing. 

Think he had anyone at that Theater (or, any in town?) No. 

How about a kiosk at the local shopping mall? Nope. How about 

rack cards, bandit signs and other “gorilla marketing” around the 

area, nope. 

Opportunity lost forever. 

I’m sure he’s having a holiday camp and charging $20 a day for 

it. Thinks he’s rich. Doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. Well, the 

cost of living is pretty low in Tulsa. 

Don’t complain about your active count and miss opportunities 

like these. There’s opportunity EVERYWHERE. Go talk and take 

advantage of that opportunity. 

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. 


Photograph by chaiyon021

www.ExtraOrdinaryMarketing.com

MASTERING MODERN BJJ 

Add ‘Value’ to Your School 

By Master Carlos Machado 

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, you look at yours saying, “Man, this thing is crap now. I need to 

add more memory,” and this and that. 

The same applies to business, but I think there are certain 

things at the core. Whether you’re tracking your students or being 

engaged with the customer service aspect, you have to give more 

than what’s expected of you. Often staff have a problem with following 

a sales script. They worry about the price. They almost challenge 

their students. And I have issues with staff at different points 

in time because they come from different backgrounds. 

Many 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. 

Digital makes a difference in the quality 

of your school. There’s no question about 

price when the value is clear; the decision 

is easy. I quote Dan Pena on that. 

If I do an intro class and price 

becomes an issue after the introduction, 

I didn’t do my job 

because what I want is that 

when a guy has an intro 

class, I want him to just 

look at my staff on the 

desk and say, “I want 

to join right now.” 

He’s not going to ask 

how much it is. That’s 

out of the question. 

This is the part that, in my opinion, people miss out on: you can 

decorate all the sales scripts. 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 what the market says.” 

And I don’t want that client. I want a client that says, “Oh, my 

gosh, I’m ready!” 

I have to do my part if I don’t add value. Part of the system is 

your posture, being clean with your gear, being presented well, 

having your nails trimmed, and a nice haircut. 

MASTER CARLOS MACHADO is one of the pioneers of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in the United 

States of America. Currently a Coral Belt, and promoted to Black Belt by Carlos Gracie Junior, Carlos 

Machado came to the USA in the early 1990’s with his brothers where they formed the RCJ Machado 

Jiu Jitsu Association, one of the strongest & growing BJJ organizations in the world today. 


Photograph by designer491 

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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 

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TACTICAL SELF-DEFENSE 

Press the Points, Part 2 

By Grandmaster Tom Patire 

Application 

Like in all training, applying the right technique at the right time 

is the key to success. Also, applying it in real-world conditions is 

what makes you invaluable to your client, as well as your team. 

What I have found in my training is that many people that fail at 

pressure point techniques fail not because of the technique itself, 

but because of the missed application. See, a pressure point has to 

be “cleared” before you apply it. For example, you attempt to apply 

a point to, let’s say, in the region of the clavicle, where 

there are numerous, very effective points that can 

immobilize an aggressor in seconds. Where this 

point, and many like them, goes wrong is when 

the applicator tries to apply it directly through 

the clothing. When that happens, the clothing 

jams the point and creates a buffer so that 

the aggressor never feels the full effect of the 

point, allowing him to resist or, in some cases, 

break out of the technique. Some helpful advice 

when applying a point to the clavicle region is to 

slide your finger down along the neck so that it 

goes under the shirt or jacket, and once 

directly on the targeted point, 

use another finger to activate 

the pressure point. 

This technique is called 

“clearing” and works 

most of the time in most 

situations. 

Body Types 

Body type often 

dictates the effect of 

a pressure point. For 

example, a person 

with less body 

density (fat and/or 

muscle), in most cases, 

is easiest to apply. 

That does not mean that the other body types can’t be targets with 

pressure points. What it means is that you need to read a body and 

apply the best point that shows itself during the altercation/situation. 

In a situation where a person is irate and swinging his hands 

violently, many seasoned professionals I work with like to target 

facial points or points that lie in the arms like the radial nerve. If a 

person is on the attack and an agent enters from his rear, many 

favor points in the neck, back, or lower legs. What it really comes 

down to is what is accessible at the time. In many cases, you take 

what is given to you instead of trying to go after a point that may 

not be accessible at the time. 

At the end of the day, the training you choose is your choice, 

but the law dictates what we can do and what we can’t. Make 

sure you are skilled in all aspects of use of force, and when you 

have the choice, make sure you use less force instead of more. 

Less means fewer problems and fewer headaches, especially if it 

involves any type of civil and criminal repercussions. 

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. 


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COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS 

Teaching The Complex Art Of 

Kung Fu, Part 2 

by Professor Willie “The Bam” Johnson 

Each class must be taught with a teaching plan that must be 

organized before each class. I mean everything must be written 

down in detail. It is your map for progress; it helps your instructor 

not to lose the point of what is important for the student. The 

“class agenda” as we call them should be made up based on the 

student’s struggle in and outside of class. You see class is not just 

about the physical skills needed, but life skills and philosophy as 

well. It covers individual basics such as strikes, footwork, stances, 

kicks and sweeps and then blocks on trapping skill at least three 

days a week. Then there are the forms, two person fighting 

sets, weapons, sparring grappling and self-defense 

for the next three days. 

Also warm ups, cardio, strength, and flexibility 

are a part of every class. The tempo of 

each class varies from high intensity to medium 

intensity all the way down to slow. Each of 

these levels of class serve a purpose. For 

example the high intensity is to exhaust them to 

a point where they can’t think about the 

next move, but just flow at a 

medium pace. One, it allows 

them to work hard and 

think in the present, while 

the slow pace allows the 

student to correct their 

skill and work on the 

small details. 

Detail notes on each 

student should be kept 

along with good job 

cards that should be 

mailed daily along with 

the student’s attendance. 

Compliments on 

a student’s progress in activities 

in and outside the school, showing them how they complement 

one another is important to a student’s longevity. 

These things make Kung Fu a way of life and it can not be 

taught any other way. Constant calls and regular private lessons 

along with group ones are key to help the student feel confident 

about the learning process of this complex art. The key to helping 

the students’ learning process remain enjoyable is keeping them 

in the now, helping them to not let their minds wonder what could 

be or what is going to happen, only on what is going on at that 

moment. They have to think about nothing, so therefore the mind 

must be empty and allow that present moment to fill it up. 

You see, the true secret of teaching Kung Fu is having all 

the things needed for class but not at the expense of losing the 

freedom of creative expression. This is what makes class fun, your 

ability to be open to the new as a teacher in order to experience 

what the students are presenting you with. It is like a dance and 

you follow their steps and lead them to the goal in a harmonious 

manner. 

Through this method of teaching we promote the growth 

process of true human potential and through their every effort 

and action inner strength is gained. As teachers we must recognize 

that the student’s emotions that are expressed through the 

technique, is about reading their body language, facial expression 

and eyes. You see, Kung fu can not be learned or taught in a lazy 

manner or with a closed mind because then everything becomes 

rigid and stiff. Kung Fu is free flowing and must flow to bring forth 

the students’ great spirit from within. A spirit that is greater than 

ambition, confidence, determination, vision, etc. Everything is transcended 

by it. It is the chi of life, a true expression of one’s inner 

self expressed outwardly. 

As teachers we must remember that we are only guided by 

and to inner truth and are never the giver. So as a catalyst we 

must continue to strive for the true expression of this complex art. 

And what is art; an expression of life that transcends both time 

and space. 

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. 


www.budointernational.com

THE MILLIONAIRE SMARTS COACH 

4 Sure-Fire Tips to Take Pressure 

Off Yourself 

By Lee Milteer, Performance & Productivity Coach 

WE live in an unprecedented time for sure, where people seem 

to be beyond stressed and easily offended. How often do you put 

unnecessary pressure on yourself by trying to do and say the right 

thing? Most likely this occurs daily. Fortunately, you can avoid this 

kind of stress. 

Give yourself PERMISSION to plan what you’ll say when future 

stressful situations pop up. Here are four jewel statements I 

personally use that always work for me. I hope you will add them 

to your tool bag of coping strategies for dealing with the endlessly 

changing reality we live in. Try them, I promise they work! 

Learn to Say These Four Phrases at the Appropriate 

Time to Help You Lighten Up and Stop Putting Pressure 

on Yourself. 

1. I Don’t Know. 

Many times, you won’t say, “I don’t know,” 

because you’re afraid others will think you’re 

incompetent. Hey, you’re just human and 

can’t possibly know everything – and 

that’s okay, no one does. And you can 

always say, “I can find out and let you 

know later.” Sometimes you can say, 

“I don’t know” when dealing with 

people who are highly combustible 

and just looking for trouble. In that 

kind of situation, being neutral 

prevents conflict that you 

cannot win anyway. 

2. I need help. 

Everyone needs 

help from time to time. 

Unfortunately, you’re 

going to burn out without 

a support system. 

Saying, “I need help” 

must be done at the appropriate 

time. Most of us 

really strong-minded folks often take on too many responsibilities 

and fear we will look weak if we ask for help. As a business owner, 

I have learned it’s important to ask for help, to keep myself from 

burning out. 

There is one place I recommend that you rephrase “I need help” 

and that is at home. When you ask for help with the housework or 

yard work, you’re implying that it’s your entire job. Since we teach 

people how to treat us, be careful not to set yourself up for taking 

on more responsibility than necessary. Instead, try saying, “I need 

you to share responsibility for the housework or yard work.” 

3. I Was Wrong. 

When you’re wrong, admit it. If you don’t, someone else will be 

pointing their finger and saying it for you. I recommend that you 

only apologize once, then take your energy and go right into problem 

solving. Ask, “What can we do to fix this situation?” 

4. Learn to Say “NO” at the appropriate time. 

How many times have you overbooked yourself? Gotten involved 

with a project that you didn’t have time for and didn’t want to 

do in the first place? Here’s a time management tip: go through your 

calendar and write “BOOKED” on your weekends and free time. 

Now when people ask you to do things and you’re not sure if you really 

have time or want to get involved, you tell them, “I have to check 

my calendar, I might be booked, I’ll get back to you.” This strategy 

allows you to choose what activities you really want to become 

involved with instead of being a reactor and overbooking yourself. 

It’s hard saying “NO” to people because you want them to like 

you. You end up giving too much of yourself because you don’t 

want to disappoint anyone. Better to suffer the sixty seconds it 

takes to decline with kindness such requests of your time than suffer 

way much longer doing things you don’t have time for. 

So LIGHTEN up folks! Allow yourself to have more of a sense of 

Humor in life and give yourself a break. After all, you are HUMAN – 

a work in progress!!! 

BEST, 

Lee Milteer 

Performance and Productivity Coach 

Millionaire Smarts Coach 

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. 


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BUDO PHILOSOPHY 

A Particular Vision, Part 2 

By Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

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 in combat for an hour and a half, and then finishing the class 

doing Yoga and meditation is an absolute transgression. 

Another surprising finding was his way of teaching kicks 

from the ground, taking out the need to maintain balance, but 

generating enough muscle memory and tone so that once the 

basics were mastered, they could be performed standing up. 

Divide and rule! Therefore, people with lesser motor 

skills learned much faster this way than in 

any other gym. 

His perception of some learning problems, 

such as “the dizzy duck complex,” and the 

problems of transference and countertransference 

in the Master student relationship, 

were just some of his revolutionary observations, 

in an activity that rarely had a bigger 

judgment than that of “repeating what another 

had taught you”, because it had always 

been done like that. 

For José Luis Paniagua, Martial Arts 

were a vehicle, a tool of balance, health 

and adaptation to the environment, 

which he knew how to adapt to his 

own needs, which, on the other 

hand, were those of the overwhelmed 

urban dwellers of a 

modern age, in which alienation, 

lack of mind-body balance, 

were beginning to point out 

intensely, and which today are 

a widespread and pathological 

reality. 

The essential thesis of 

Paniagua was that from 

the moment in which man gave up his natural activities in the 

environment as hunter-gatherer, his psychophysical balance was 

compromised in formulas, which resulted in instability affecting 

several poles, mind and emotion, body and spirit, which always interact 

with each other. Martial Arts, when well oriented, were the 

necessary medicine to rediscover this balance. Our bodies were 

made to move, and the “couch surfing”, the apathy and inactivity, 

were only the entrance door for self-destructive behavior of every 

kind. 

For almost a decade, I participated actively in that experiment, 

even as a non-profit teacher. I made great friends, such as 

Lorenzo Castro and Tomás de Santiago, who to this day they remain 

so. In addition to all this, Paniagua’s vision allowed me later 

to develop my work as editor of books and Budo International 

Magazine, and do it in an inclusive way, without ever judging the 

diversity of styles and Arts, to which I had to give fair space on 

our pages. An inclusive vision that went beyond the details and 

that gave me the intelligence, the intuition and the insight of a 

teacher and a friend, who will always remain in memory, feeling 

gratefulness. 

Of him still remain his books, some I published them myself, 

others my brother, also editor; his children and his widow María 

González Garzón, who still teaches Tai Chi; but above all, he left us 

an imprint that touched intensely those who, like me, frequented 

the Pyrenees Street, in the best of environments, in order to sweat, 

clean and balance our lives. 

It’s still modern. Very modern! Watch out! If you are in the 

Martial Arts thing, no matter what your style, his books can be an 

extraordinary additional contribution. José Luis went out of the 

path, to help us get back to it. 

Thank you, Master. 

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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Every school owner is looking to increase their income for 

school success and to enjoy a better life. You can generate more 

revenue by enhancing your pro shop sales which is one more way 

to bring in that boost of income you desire. 

There are two huge reasons that sales from your pro shop can 

deliver a rise in your annual income with the impact of getting 

$12,000 to $24,000 increase in revenues: 

1. Your students need various training equipment 

Students need uniforms, sparring gear, shoes, etc. Why should 

they go any place beyond your school for these kinds of purchases? 

The answer is they shouldn’t because buying from your pro 

shop is the most convenient means and it builds loyalty. 

2. Create Monthly Sales Promotions 

One mistake many school owners make is having a pro shop 

just for the sake of having one. In these instances, the pro shop 

just sits there stocked with supplies and has slow sales. Wise 

school owners realize the income generating power a pro shop 

can have with a little bit of ingenuity through retail promotions. 

Have a T-shirt day in the summer months, 

hold a special weapon seminar, or 

teach how to use a new piece of 

training equipment. 

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Vision is the exclusive distributor for the World Taekwondo 

recognized Tusah branded products. Tusah uniforms and 

gear are World Taekwondo approved. Vision uniforms and 

gear are USA Taekwondo approved. 

4. Full Customization Service Offerings: Send your school logos 

and designs. Vision will print them on your products with 

Quick Design Set Up, Silkscreen, Embroidery, Heat Transfer, 

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anywhere in the Continental United States. 

6. Expertise of Sales Team: Deep Product Knowledge 

7. Responsive Customer Service: Vision provides Dedicated 

Customer Support Personnel for Each Individual Customer Account. 

In addition, we Tailor Product Recommendation Based 

on School Programs and Events, and Student Demographics. 

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Visit VisionMA.com for more information 

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 

Funding Your Exhibition and 

Tournament Teams 

by Master Tina Bane 

One of the secrets to long-term 

student retention is forming teams. 

Your regular classes have to be 

designed for all your students, of all 

ages and ability levels. Teams allow 

students with outstanding ability to 

focus on their area of interest and 

develop their fullest potential. Two 

teams no school should do without 

are the Exhibition Team and the 

Championship Team. 

The Exhibition Team, 

which is sometimes called your Demo Team, 

practices exciting techniques to use during 

exhibitions. We call ours the Dream Team, and 

we dedicate one special class a week to them. 

They prepare exhibitions for our belt tests, plus 

any other exhibition opportunities we get during 

the year to promote our school. We give them 

special training in higher level techniques, 

exciting breaking, crowd-pleasing falls 

and throws, and exceptional team 

coordination. 

To give our team a sense of 

being special, we buy special 

exhibition uniforms 

that make their show 

more exciting. We 

invest in music and 

special props for their 

exhibitions and help 

with travel expenses 

and entry fees for competitions. 

We also provide some team 

identity items like equipment bags, 

t-shirts, and warm-up suits. 

The students, both adults and 

children, are proud to be members 

of our Dream Team, and the 

parents are extremely supportive. 

They feel like they have ownership 

in a special part of our school, 

and when they feel ownership, 

they naturally give more time and 

receive more satisfaction. 

At this point, you are probably 

asking, “Where do we get the 

funds for all those expenses?” 

Our major fundraiser is our annual 

Breaka-thon. It works great because we use the money we raise 

to pay for the expenses of the event, and then divide the profits 

equally between the ICG, an international charity, and our student 

teams. We have raised $10,000 before, so our Exhibition Team 

budget was really good. We are looking forward to raising more in 

the future, because the students and parents work harder to raise 

money when they know that a large percentage of the money is for 

their own team. 

Our Championship team works the same way. In our tournament 

system we have championship tag-team matches, which – if 

you’ve ever seen them – are unbelievably exciting. Our competitive 

athletes train hard, and spend many extra hours focusing on 

sparring. We just can’t do that much sparring in our regular classes, 

so we created a special class that provides a great outlet for 

students who really love to spar. Plus, they get to compete on our 

Championship Team, win trophies and medals, and receive travel 

subsidies from our fundraising efforts. 

I highly recommend you develop your own Exhibition Team and 

Championship Team, and fund them with a Break-athon. You can 

get all the materials and guidance you need setting up a Breakathon 

included for AMS marketing consultants as with your other 

martial arts school needs. 

Schedule a Breaka- thon this year, so your teams will be better 

equipped, and your students and parents will be more loyal 

than ever! 

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. 


Photograph by SerhiiBobyk

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INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE 

The Value of Stretching 

by Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

Do you have your students stretch at the beginning of classes? 

Perhaps you have a warm-up routine for the beginning of each 

class. If you don’t, you might consider adding one. 

There are many values to a good warm-up. First of all, you 

literally warm-up your students’ bodies. They go from a state of 

calm to a state ready for action. You increase their blood flow, 

heart rate, and body temperature to prepare them for the strenuous 

activities in class. Without a warm-up you risk unnecessary 

injury. The warm-up is also a good time for some basic conditioning 

like push-ups, sit-ups, etc. to develop body strength. Most 

beginners need some conditioning, and more advanced students 

can benefit from advanced conditioning. Finally, stretching 

can be included to prevent injury and, if done properly, to 

increase flexibility. 

Stretching is also a great way to develop confidence 

because it develops bravery. Now, I want 

to distinguish right here the difference between 

stretching and loosening-up. I have known 

some very flexible people who never stretch. 

They plop down into a front split or a side split, 

then stand up and begin to do amazing kicks. 

To me, that’s not stretching; that’s loosening-up. 

Both are good, but there is a difference. 

Stretching hurts. Loosening-up doesn’t hurt. 

Stretching involves extending your muscle 

to its limit, where it hurts. At that point, 

your natural tendency is to back off. 

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to 

know that if something hurts, you 

stop. A martial artist knows that 

sometimes pain is the price of 

progress, and stretching is an 

easy way to not only learn, but 

practice that principle. Pain is 

an important component. 

As you lead your students 

through a stretching 

session, first make sure 

they have warmed-up 

sufficiently. Cold muscles do not stretch easily nor do they 

stretch as far as warm muscles. When stretching to develop 

bravery, I recommend showing your students proper form and 

then encouraging them to stretch to the point where the muscle 

hurts. Some simple guidelines to use are (1) light muscle pain is 

OK, but intense muscle pain is not. Don’t be stupid and pull a 

muscle to show how brave you are. (2) Light muscle pain means 

you are stretching the muscle, but joint pain usually means you 

are damaging the joint. Avoid joint pain. (3) Don’t bounce. Move 

slowly and deliberately. 

As you are at the point where the muscle hurts, simply stay 

there for about 30 seconds or so. You will probably notice that 

if you don’t back away from the pain, the pain backs away from 

you. Your muscles will stretch a little and hurt less. When your 

muscle no longer hurts, chase the pain by stretching a little 

deeper until you find that point of light pain again, and then wait. 

If the pain backs away again, chase it again. When you reach the 

point that the pain no longer backs away, simply stay there and 

endure the pain for about 30 seconds at your maximum stretch, 

and then relax. Of course, follow the same routine for your other 

leg or on your other side. 

The process of not only enduring the pain but chasing the 

pain is what creates bravery. People who react emotionally will 

want to flee from the pain. By intentionally staying at the pain 

point, you help your student move out of their emotional mind 

and into their rational mind. You help them learn how not to 

react instinctively (emotionally) but react rationally. You teach 

them bravery and self-control that goes a long way in conflict 

management. A student who can control her instinct to avoid 

pain can more easily control her anger or jealousy, and take a 

few seconds to respond rationally to insults, accidents, or even 

physical threats. 

Some people want to measure martial arts by their effectiveness 

in the ring. I choose to measure my teaching by its 

effectiveness in everyday life. Full splits may not help you win 

the UFC, but stretching with a goal in mind can help you learn to 

be brave, control your emotions, and delay gratification toward 

longer-term goals. I will choose those lessons for my students 

any day of the week. 

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. 


Photograph by NeilLockhart

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BUSINESS BUZZ 

The Top Ten Negative Habits 

That Keep You From Achieving 

Your Goals, Part 2 

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. Here are the last 5 habits that are 

deterrents to achieving your goals. 

5. You’re not training to be a better 

salesman. 

Our business is sales and 

marketing! There are lots 

of resources for sales 

scripts and formulas to 

follow to enroll students 

and upgrade them. 

Find and study them 

to improve your 

closing ratios and 

professionalism. 

Stop prejudging 

everyone 

and everything like you think you know their financial ability. Lower 

your expectations and raise your effort to communicate the value 

of your program. Be focused on collecting money. Make a daily 

plan on who you’re going to enroll, upgrade, or ask for a bigger 

commitment from. You only get paid just after you ask for it. 

6. You don’t look professional. 

Don’t follow trends, don’t try to look cool with earrings, tattoos, 

spiked hair, etc. You’re setting an example of what it’s like 

to become a black belt leader in your school. Parents want their 

children to emulate success and conservative values. Wear a polished, 

clean uniform with a new belt instead of your old tattered 

belt that you’re so proud of. 

7. You think great classes will make you successful. 

Don’t get me wrong: great classes are very important; however, 

they only represent a third of your business. Marketing and sales is 

another third, and operations and paperwork is another third. 

8. You’re over sensitive to comments from others. 

Don’t accept what they think of you. It’s their thoughts, not 

yours, and it’s really none of your business what they think. Have 

tenacity and create your own future based on your personal goals. 

9. You bring your personal life into the academy or post it on 

Facebook. 

Your students should not know about your personal life. Your 

academy should be a sanctuary of positive energy and encouragement. 

There’s no room for gossip or any negative comments from 

or about anyone. 

10. You break your promises. 

Your word is who you are. You show what you are made of when 

you keep your promises, agreements, schedule, and appointments. 

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. 


Do You Serve Martial Arts Professionals? 

Share Your Message in 

For Sponsorship Options & Packages 

Visit: MartialArtsWorldNews.com or Call Jeff @ 407-895-1996

MARTIAL ARTS PHILOSOPHY 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 5 

By Sensei Gary Lee 

21 months later 

4th Purple Belt 

This was the hardest test I have ever been a part of because of 

the bunkai. All bunkai had to be performed for all Pinan,Teki, and 

Heian Kata, and then applied. You would start your kata, the board 

would stop you, you’d be asked to perform bunkai, and then go on. 

I did five rounds of Bull in the Ring and was a Uki for all the black 

belts going for higher dan ranks. I believe I was more spent before 

my basics than I’ve ever been before, because I had to do all the 

bunkai and Bull in the Ring with the black belts. Five bad, bad 

dudes beat me up pretty good. Love the pain! The fighting was 

normal except that, with this test, the Board seemed to emphasize 

that this group needs to know strong, strong BASICS. There were 

nine of us going for purple, four going for third brown, and five 

black belts testing. I believe the word Kihon, meaning “basic,” was 

thrown at us hard, and the other new word is Kime, focusing my 

technique with precision as the standard. 

Also, after this test, a couple of the black belts came up to me 

and said I did good. I was really humbled; after all, I’ve come a long 

way in my training, but especially in my attitude. 

Sensei came up to me and pulled me to the 

side. He was always so polite, but mysterious 

at the same time. 

He said, “Purple belt is like being at the 

ocean’s edge: you’re to venture out into the 

water, deep water, full of danger and life. 

These are the brown belt years, purple will 

prepare you for that encounter, and I hope 

you are prepared well, for most brown 

belts quit because they just cannot 

take the pain!” Oss. 

Two years later 

3rd Brown 

Reaching brown belt was impressive. Basics, basics, basics, 

and more basics: Konk Ku Dai, Seisan Kata, advanced Teki Kata, all 

Kata Bunkai applications; black belt attackers only. Bull in the Ring 

and one on one, two on one, three on one, four on one, five on one 

Kumite, no rest between rounds, no water, no excuses, no quitting, 

and well, I’ve graduated from cleaning the toilets to sweeping the 

front of the matted area every day before the black belt class. Sensei 

says he did this so all the black belts can see me all the time 

and see I have good technique in sweeping. 

I said, with much respect, “They see me enough when they 

beat the crap out of me, Sir!” 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

ActionHeroPhotos.com

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

Are You Still Doing Too Many Tasks 

For Your Martial Arts School? 

by Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

Wouldn’t you like to have more time in your life and double or even triple the amount 

of money you earn? 

You can do exactly that with the ATLAS system. It is designed 

to do things for you even while you sleep! Much like an avatar, 

ATLAS can engage your influence and information to increase 

your enrollment, income and retention. This management software 

can do virtually everything! You will have more time to teach more 

classes to more students and spend less time on the computer, 

doing accounting, trying to think of ways to market your 

school, and figuring out when your next students are 

due for belt testing and which color, etc.? Are you 

beginning to get the picture? AMSonline can do all 

of that for you! 

ATLAS software has an amazing accounting 

system that keeps track of your students’ tuition 

and your money spent. The financial data can be 

exported to QuickBooks software program for 

easy compatibility. There is even an HQ application 

to monitor multiple schools from your main Headquarters 

or main office school. 

Are you having difficulties thinking of new 

ways to market your school and create 

ads for print or social media and to 

make them look professional and 

customized to your school? AT- 

LAS is connected to a resource 

that has many ads to choose 

from. You can customize each 

ad with your school’s information. 

Every month ATLAS has 

different martial arts ads for 

you to use in many different 

ways along with promotions 

for each month! No 

more worrying about what to do next to bring in new students! 

These marketing promotions and ad campaigns can be done easily 

and at no cost in many cases! 

The system is so smart that it can even take attendance! How, 

you might ask? The state-of-the-art fingerprint scanner that is 

available takes attendance of every student upon entry. The 

attendance tracker is linked up with the automated emailer. So 

if someone is out, the system will automatically send an email to 

them stating, “We missed you!” The feature also includes 2-4-6 

week, birthday, holidays, and so many more automated emails. Not 

only automated emails, but customized automated emails are sent 

out on your behalf! This makes it seem like you are doing so much 

when in actuality you have cut your work time in half! This is what 

some instructors and school owners say is the secret to retention; 

follow-up, follow-up, follow-up! 

The FREE lead generating website you will receive when you 

sign up with ATLAS will give you an optimum web presence specific 

to your market with great SEO and attract more lends for your 

school. You will have more prospects than ever and start getting 

more enrollments at your school because of the special offers and 

the greater ability for exceptional follow-up! 

You can have an online Pro-Shop of your own to make more 

money 24/7! Students or anyone will be able to purchase items 

online from you with your online Pro-Shop. You won’t have to do 

anything but set up your free website with ATLAS and you will 

begin to make money around the clock! 

The ATLAS system will make your life so smooth and easy, you 

will not know how you got along without it. You will have so much 

more time to do what you love, teaching martial arts to so many 

more students! More students means more tuition and that means 

more money. ATLAS will handle the rest, you just do what you love 

best. To learn more visit TryAtlasSoftware.com. 

CHIEF MASTER KIRK PELT is an 8th degree black belt and is the President of a 

multi-million dollar, multi-school organization, has a 30-year track record of success, and is 

currently on the leading edge of martial arts curriculum and business innovation. 


Photograph by Ratana21

59 

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107 American Martial Arts Alliance 

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26 Black Belt Principles 

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77 Break Like a Champ 

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81 Budo International Magazine 

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73 Extraordinary Marketing 

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15 Karen Eden 

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62 Kick Start Kids 

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91 Lee Milteer 

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53, 101 MA Biz Academy 

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43, 105 Martial Arts Business Institute 


95 Martial Arts History Museum 

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84 Otomix 

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97 Sport Karate Museum 

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31, 45 Stephen K. Hayes 

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32 Tom Patire 

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3 Vision 

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30 Warrior Defence Lab 

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56, 67 Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

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THE WARRIOR WAY 

The Persistence Factor PT. 1 

by Grandmaster Bill Clark 

Reaching your goals, raising children, learning martial arts, running a business, running 

your life… is not really easy. It comes with long hours, road blocks, unplanned events, and 

a seemingly never-ending roller coaster ride of emotional and financial highs and lows. 

Just about every rider has hit the dirt, more than once. Broken 

or bruised their bodies, bones and egos but kept going and 

found a better way. Just about every parent struggles with raising 

their child and making decisions that didn’t turn out well. 

Almost every business struggles for survival at some point in 

its life. In fact, the average self-made millionaire has been broke, 

bankrupt, or financially destitute 3.7 times before becoming a 

financial success. 

Most people give up easily when things don’t work 

right away, or they get frustrated, mad and upset. 

So, in my Martial Arts program we have a 

couple of sayings to help you think beyond the 

emotional problem. It goes like this: 

1. Passive persistence in the proper 

position. 

2. Stay with it! I’ve never seen it take longer 

than two days. 

Most people lose patience in 

a matter of seconds. When 

something doesn’t work, 

they get more forceful, 

irritated, mad… or they 

give up. You often see 

that with students 

and their lessons! 

In fact, that used to 

be me too. 

Persistence 

is probably one 

of the weakest 

human traits, so 

it needs constant 

nurturing. You have to persist at persistence! One of my teachers, 

Robert Kiyosaki, during a life-changing course I took with him in 

the mid 1980s, said: The only failure is the failure to participate. 

That’s a really powerful statement because it means you have to 

keep showing up in order for something to work. 

The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying. 

Most success stories are filled with examples of how people 

persisted no matter what obstacles were thrown in front of them. 

They found a way to get over, through or around it. They got 

stronger instead of weaker. 

It is truly amazing how many turning points come down to 

the same decision: Should we try again, or should we throw in 

the towel and settle down to a more normal, “safe” and predictable 

life? 

There is no better long-term solution to personal or business 

success than single-minded determination. 

You will need to make changes to deal with fluctuating circumstances 

but, even if you have to change strategy, the long-term 

goals remain the same. 

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

EVERYTHING You’ll EVER Need 

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STAFF DEVELOPMENT 

Mining for Instructors: 

Planting the Seed, Part 1 

I believe everyone reading this column can agree that one of the most frustrating and 

challenging aspects of running a successful martial arts school is locating, acquiring, 

and retaining extraordinary staff at all levels of your business. But the one staff 

member who can ultimately make or break a martial arts school is its instructor. 

It is a fact that most, if not all, success depends on how well 

your floor is operating and the quality of students you are producing. 

The development of new and future instructors and the 

retention of high-quality instructors has always been a challenge 

throughout our industry. I’ll help you gain a better understanding of 

the process of obtaining the top 1% of instructors in 

your martial arts school. 

Start with the mindset that everyone who 

walks through your doors is a potential future 

instructor. One of the biggest mistakes most 

school owners make is waiting too long to 

begin looking for someone to fill an instructor 

role. The higher the position, the harder 

it becomes, and the longer it takes to fill the 

position. Only when they are faced with losing 

or the loss of an instructor, or if and when they 

are motivated to grow their business, do they 

begin their search. The instructor development 

training and retention process 

should always be in effect in your 

school. Future instructor and leadership 

classes and curriculum should 

be yet another ongoing program 

or feature that is available to every 

student as a normal and required 

part of their training. 

At Bushi Ban, the seeds of 

becoming a future instructor 

are planted even as early as their first trial lesson. This mindset is 

intrinsically woven into our training culture. Our students routinely 

talk about teaching and one day becoming a master instructor. 

Beginning with our friendly receptionist staff and continuing all the 

way up to our Grand Master, our students and staff are always talking 

about teaching and its many rewarding aspects. The students 

and parents are constantly being exposed to the thought that one 

day they or their child might become an instructor, allowing that 

goal to guide their training and reinvigorate their motivation to set 

and accomplish their goals while helping to generate a renewed 

commitment to their training, your school, and their personal journey 

in the martial arts. The culture of higher aspiration and future 

instructorship positions is created and displayed throughout the 

school in the form of posters, pictures, and other visual elements 

as well. This helps further promote and propagate the culture 

within our schools. 

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. 


TOOL 

OF THE MONTH 

Buddy Passes 

Buddy Passes are an effective 

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print shop and give them to your 

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invite their buddy to free classes 

to try out the martial arts for 

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Get this FREE sample of the 

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Tools & Tactics 

Lean On AMS for Your Success 

by Ms. Chris Lee 

Face it, there are numerous threats trying to rob you of success as a martial arts 

school owner. 

You’ve felt the choke hold of the negative perception MMA can 

bring to the martial arts. You’ve been impacted by the blows of 

tough economic times and their effect on the martial arts industry. 

If you’re almost out of breath and losing consciousness professionally, 

there still is hope. 

Consider the following adapted lyrics from a well known song, 

“Lean on AMS, when you’re not strong. And AMS will be your 

friend. AMS will help you carry on.” It’s not a sign of weakness, but 

rather a mark of wisdom to seek a helping hand when it’s needed. 

Regain consciousness and breathe easy by leaning 

on AMS for your success like hundreds of 

other successful school owners. 

The industry has gone through many 

trends plus economic highs and lows during 

the forty years AMS has been helping 

school owners. AMS can’t control trends 

or the economy, but they have successfully 

helped many martial arts professionals 

maintain their own distinctiveness 

while realizing their dreams of 

financial freedom. You’re probably 

wondering, “How?” 

First, many school owners 

get a lot of headaches and 

heartaches by struggling to handle 

their own billing for student 

tuition. It can be a draining task 

doing the accounting on student 

contracts and it steals the 

energy you need to teach great 

classes. Also doing collection 

on student contracts can hurt 

retention by giving the perception 

you’re a bill collector 

rather than a teacher. 

When you lean on AMS, 

you get reliable, accurate, on-time, and professional billing service 

that eliminates the headache and heartache so you can focus on 

what you love, teaching the martial arts! You can have peace of 

mind that your student contracts are being handled with great care 

and professionalism in order for you to get the highest income on 

your student tuition. 

Next, how can leaning on AMS help with the negative perception 

of the martial arts and a down economy? Receive highly 

effective, totally customizable, new, relevant, and eye-catching ads 

each month that can help you enroll 25 to 30 new students each 

month. Get ideas for family oriented promos and instruction where 

you still maintain the integrity of your style. 

AMS has been innovative in creating the most profitable after 

school martial arts program that can increase your income by 

$100,000 or more a year in any economy. In addition, AMS has 

the most technologically advanced school management software 

in the martial arts industry that aids you in achieving high level 

retention through its VIP promotion and automated emails. 

Leaning on AMS helps your school succeed through higher 

professionalism and advice with proven results to bring financial 

success in any economy. The famous song adapted would 

say, “AMS’ll share your load, If you just call AMS.” So just call 

1.800.275.1600 or visit ourams.com and begin leaning on AMS for 

your success now! 

MS. CHRIS LEE is a martial arts business development consultant with a background in online and 

social media marketing. 


Image by LoveTheWind

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Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 3

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