Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 21 | Issue 4

MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 4 

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry 

GRANDMASTER 

Troy 

Dorsey 

World Champion Boxer 

and Kickboxer Reveals His Secrets 

to 40 Years of Success 

Celebrities Give Glowing 

Endorsement for the Martial Arts 

Industry Congratulates 

Grandmaster Bill Clark for 50 Years 

of Outstanding Leadership

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CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

24 The Martial Arts Industry Unites 

to Congratulate Grandmaster 

Bill Clark on 50 Years of 

Dedication and Leadership 

32 World Champion Boxer and 

Kickboxer Troy Dorsey Reveals 

His Secrets to 40 Years of 

Success 

103 FREE Tool of the Month 

DEPARTMENTS 

14 Industry Insights 

15 Birthdays 

18 Industry Innovations 

22 Social 411 

50 School Profile 

61 Classified Ads 

99 Advertiser Index 

YOUR INPUT 

13 Tell Us Your Story 

74 Feature Your School, 

Organization, Accomplishment, 

or Event 

COLUMNS 

6 Editorial 

Setting New Records or School Closure, 

Which Will Be Your Story? 

Master Toby Milroy 

8 Martial Arts World News Faculty 

12 Mastering Modern BJJ 

Build a Community in Your School 

Master Carlos Machado 

54 Teamwork 

Are You Ready for Back to School? 

Hanshi Dave Kovar 

56 Next Level Strategy 

Branding: Is it a Waste of Your Time? (Part 1) 

Shihan Allie Alberigo 

58 Growth Hacks 

Analyze Your Web Marketing, Part 2 

Mr. Sean Lee 

60 Ninja Business Tactics 

Teaching “Tricks” to Our Students Makes Them 

Better People 

An-Shu Stephen Hayes 

64 Pillars of Success 

How Do You Know if You Have Physical Fitness? 

(Part 1) 

Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

68 The Way of the Samurai 

Chanbara: Melee Combat for All Ages 

Shihan Dana Abbott 

70 Extraordinary Marketing 

Does Your School Have the X Factor? (Part 2) 

Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

72 After School Excellence 

Turn Summer Chaos into Summer Success 

Chief Master Mike Bugg 

76 Tactical Self-Defense 

Getting the EDGE! 

Grandmaster Tom Patire 

4 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 4

STAFF 

78 Complete Martial Arts Concepts 

Branding: From the Ring to the Screen..., Part 4 

Professor Willie “the Bam” Johnson 

80 The Millionaire Smarts Coach 

Everyone is in Sales 

Ms. Lee Milteer 

84 Budo Philosophy 

Individuality vs. Adaptation, Part 2 

Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

86 Pro Shop Power 

Dress Up Your Exhibitions with Costumes 

Mr. Sun Kang 

88 Mind Mastery 

Success Plan for Changing Times 

Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

90 Master the Basics 

Fantastic Field Trip Ideas on a Budget 

Master Tina Bane 

92 Instructional Excellence 

The Value of Failure, Part 1 

Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

94 Business Buzz 

Statistics, Part 2 

Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur 

96 Martial Arts Philosophy 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 2 

Sensei Gary Lee 

98 Management Excellence 

Make Your Staff Perform Effectively With These 4 

Easy Fixes 

Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

100 The Warrior Way 

What’s Your Attitude Today? 

Grandmaster Bill Clark 

102 Staff Development 

Mining for Instructors: Planting the Seed, Part 2 

Master Zulfi Ahmed 

104 Tools & Tactics 

Why Aren’t They Enrolling? 

Ms. Chris Lee 

VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 4 

PUBLISHER 


EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

Mr. Sean Lee 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Mr. Jeff Reulbach 

ART DIRECTOR 

Mr. Frank Meyer 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

Mr. Amen Blue 

WEB DEVELOPER 

Ms. Erin Pham 

COLUMNISTS & CONTRIBUTORS 



Mr. Sean Lee 






Chief Master Mike Bugg 

Professor Willie Johnson 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed 

Ms. Chris Lee 



Mr. Sun Kang 









The mission of Martial Arts World 

News Magazine is to be the definitive 

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developments in the world of martial 

arts business. 

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MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 4 5

EDITORIAL 

Setting New Records 

or School Closure, 

Which Will Be Your Story? 

MASTER 

TOBY MILROY 

is a 5th degree 

black belt. Known 

as “The Master 

Systemizer,” 


has positively 

influenced more 

martial arts schools 

than anyone in our 

industry. He has 

built a successful 

multi-school 

organization, 

lead the national 

trade association 

for the martial 

arts industry, and 

coached some of 

the most successful 

martial arts school 

operators in the 

world. 

As the country continues to open more broadly, and 

the economy jolts ahead, I’m seeing a widening ‘gap’ in 

our industry. 

Through the pandemic, we’ve faced many challenges 

as an industry, and as individual business owners. 

Depending on the state your school is in, the conditions 

you’ve had to deal with may be notably different, 

but we’ve detected some patterns even within the same 

state that you should note. 

Some schools quickly identified the threat COVID 

(and the government’s response to the pandemic) posed 

to their family, their business and their students. These 

schools found ways to ‘pivot’ to virtual classes, augmented 

their programs with alternate profit centers, reduced 

expenses, re-negotiated leases, and re-doubled their 

efforts to add value to the lives of their students. 

Other schools, were not successful in making the 

pivot, failed to act quickly enough, didn’t take dramatic 

enough steps, or faced other extreme conditions that 

pushed them over the edge into business failure. 

We saw some operators who were ‘close’ to retirement, 

and with the additional financial pressure, decided 

to enter retirement early. 

We saw some operators who were ‘barely’ making 

it during the economic boom preceding the pandemic, 

who had no hope of surviving any economic disruption, 

much less one of this magnitude. 

We saw some operators who had such fragile relationships 

with their students, such limited communication 

with the families, and offered so little value to their 

communities, close their doors in the very early days of 

the lockdowns. 

So, through the pandemic, we’ve seen a bit of a ‘divide’ 

between schools who were more responsive to the 

crisis and survived, and those who did not adapt well, 

deepen their struggle or die altogether. 

Now, with most lockdowns lifted, and people getting 

back to ‘normal’ (as much as we can under the circumstances), 

we’re seeing ANOTHER ‘divide’. 

The economy is ‘whipping’ back into shape, federal 

stimulus funds are sloshing around the economy in vast 

quantities (the likes of which we’ve never seen before), 

consumers/families are EAGER to get back to their lives, 

and businesses are springing back. 

Even so, some school owners are setting new, ALL 

TIME RECORDS for new enrollments and revenue, while 

other owners are barely making it. 

Why is this happening? Why isn’t this ‘light speed’ 

rebound affecting school owners ‘equally’. 

Certainly, some areas around the country have 

been more draconian in their restrictions, and had more 

extended lockdowns on it’s citizens and businesses, but 

even so, some schools in these areas are still enjoying a 

disproportionately high share of the ‘rebound’. 

We’re seeing schools that have better quality SYS- 

TEMS and RELATIONSHIPS are outperforming others by 

HUGE margins. 

Better systems for communicating with their students/families. 

Better systems for keeping track of their 

students and identifying any problems early. Better systems 

for managing their finances, collecting payments, 

managing student ‘accounts’, handling memberships, 

and dealing with ‘difficult’ student financial conversations 

professionally. Better systems for generating new ‘traffic’ 

into their schools. Better systems for retaining students, 

and more. 

NOW is the time to take advantage of this MASSIVE 

opportunity to take your school to the next level. The 

“market” is ready NOW. 

I want YOU to be one of the schools who THRIVE, 

not those who fail. I want YOU to be one of the schools 

who develop the next generation of professional 

school operator. I want YOU to live the life of your 

dreams, doing what you LOVE and making a fabulous 

living doing it! 

NOW is the time! 

If you need help turning this crisis to your advantage, 

give my team a call at 1-800-275-1600 and ask for the 250 

FREE Tools to help you ‘recover’ from the COVID Crisis, or 

Visit: www.AtlasMartialArtsSoftware.com/Covid19 


Check out our new 

MARTIAL ARTS BUSINESS 

DISCUSSION GROUP 

No Egos – No Politics – No Trolls 

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

facebook.com/groups/MartialArtsWorldNews

OUR EXPERT FACULTY 

6 


is a 5th degree Black Belt, the CEO and 

Publisher of Martial Arts World News 

Magazine, and the Executive Vice 

President for AMS. In addition to building 

a successful multi-school organization, 

Master Milroy has positively influenced 

more martial arts schools than virtually 

anyone in our industry. 

12 


is 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. 

54 


is an 8th degree black belt and recognized 

as the “Trainer of Trainers.” Hanshi 

Kovar is an internationally acclaimed 

instructor with black belt degrees in ten 

different martial arts styles. His systems 

have been implemented in hundreds of 

schools around the US. 

56 


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). 

58 

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. 

60 


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. 

64 


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. 

68 


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. 



70 


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. 

72 

Master Mike Bugg 

is an 8th degree black belt and the 

owner of a 1.5 million-per-year location, 

with one of the largest after school and 

summer camp programs in the country. 

76 


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 


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. 

84 


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. 

86 

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. 

78 

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. 

88 


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. 



90 


is a 6th degree master instructor and 

owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer 

camp programs. 

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. 

92 


is a 9th degree black belt and is a martial 

arts educator with a master’s degree in 

education. He has been instrumental 

in developing two industry-changing 

programs, and has directed and been 

featured in hundreds of martial arts videos 

and webinars. 

94 


is a martial artist specializing in Karate, 

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

with 40 Super Kick Karate locations, and 

founder of AFKA. World champion Lawrence 

also runs the Black Belt Success 

Systems consulting firm, training martial 

arts instructors on proper business practices 

in schools all over the country. 

96 


the American Samurai, is a 9th Dan black 

belt, a USA Karate Federation gold medalist, 

winner of five Super Grand National 

Titles, a featured actor in the movie Sidekicks, 

and is the founder of the National 

Sport Karate Museum. 

100 


is a 9th degree black belt and a former 

PKA Fighter of the year. He is widely considered 

one of the top experts in martial 

arts business with over 40 years of 

leadership and innovation, having been 

inducted into almost every Hall of Fame 

in the industry. He is one of the largest 

multi-school owners in the world. 

102 

Grandmaster Zulfi Ahmed 

has amassed acclaim as a world-class 

competitor, martial arts educator, and is 

most notably founder and designer of 

the internationally renowned style, Bushi 

Ban. With over 45 years of martial arts 

experience and over 300 martial arts 

awards, his schools include ten locations 

across Texas. 

104 

Ms. Chris Lee 

is a martial arts business development 

consultant with a background in online 

and social media marketing. 


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MASTERING MODERN BJJ 

Build a Community in Your School 

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 

BJJ organizations 

in the world today. 

You’ve got to communicate consistently and service your students in 

what they need, whether you do direct instruction or long-distance 

training. That applies to whatever the case might be, in regards to 

your customers. 

I feel that structure is important: you have a pattern in 

terms of what you teach, how you teach; students know 

your instructors and everything is clear. 

In my schools, we do weekly calls where we talk to 

everybody. Even if they cannot make it, students can 

always see the recorded events at their leisure. 

We had our last spring camp the second weekend of 

April. We do two of those a year. Before, we used to do 

them at my academy, but we got so many schools and 

participants that now we need to be in a hotel, and it creates 

an experience because most of the participants stay 

in the same hotel. 

We tried to build a family. In my schools, it’s a family 

environment, because even for the newcomers, the 

people that come for the first time, they know it’s welcoming. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re a brand-new martial artist 

or somebody who is a proficient black belt in Brazilian 

Jiu Jitsu; everybody experiences that level of camaraderie. 

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

experience in terms of a human experience. It becomes a 

remarkable event. 

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

people we invite that come and give their spiel on 

their knowledge in the industry, how to make things 

better. My partner talks about marketing, my partner and 

I talk about our experiences working together, and we 

both do Q and A sessions with everybody. 

But it’s always a work in progress from the first 

event to the next one. One of the issues with the pains 

of growth is that it’s kind of like when you’re in UFC: 

when you get to the top ten—UFC is not the kind of job 

where the more you win, the more you get, it’s actually 

the other way around—and by the time you become a 

champion, it’s always an uphill battle, and success is a 

similar thing. Success is you got into the top ten of the 

UFC, so any challenge from now on, any obstacle that 

you’re going to face, they’re going to be way harder for 

you to deal with. 

12 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 21 | ISSUE 4 

Photograph by Liderina

BE RECOGNIZED in future editions of 

Martial Arts World News Magazine. 

Our goal at Martial Arts World News Magazine is to 

support our industry and help you grow your martial 

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

about YOUR specific experiences and results. 

You are part of a wonderful industry and community with 

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

able to share and contribute to that community in a more 

rich and meaningful way than ever before! 

Share Stories About: 

• Achieving a New Rank 

• Opening a New Location 

• Winning an Award 

• Discovering a Successful Marketing Strategy 

• Building a Retention System that Works Well 

• Tournament Results 

• Anything else that our readers might find valuable! 

MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Ureport 

Or send your story ideas to Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

Bushi Ban Martial 

Arts Kick-A-Thon 

Raised $12,500 

for the Texas 

Children’s Hospital 

Bushi Ban Martial Arts is a world renowned, 

international martial arts system, headquartered 

in Pasadena, Texas, and has seven schools in 

the Houston Clear Lake, Friendswood, 

Pearland, Seabrook, and League City 

areas. Bushi Ban Martial Arts has 

graduated thousands of Black Belts 

over the past 37 years and has made 

significant contributions to improving 

Bushi Ban Founder, Zulfi Ahmed the lives of its students and the communities 

they serve. 

Recently, Bushi Ban Martial Arts held a Kick-A-Thon fundraiser 

that featured over 100 skilled Bushi Ban Martial Arts students, 

plus local families and friends, who gathered together to test 

their endurance by doing thousands of kicks to raise funds for 

Texas Children’s Hospital. The Kick-A-Thon was a wonderful success 

as the participants raised a total of $12,500 donated to the 

Texas Children’s Hospital. Way to go to Bushi Ban in demonstrating 

the huge impact martial arts can have beyond the four walls 

of your schools! 

New Kukkiwon Sparring Style 

In May of 2021, the Kukkiwon leadership announced its intention 

to develop a branch of sparring that would be specific to the 

organization at a rebirth ceremony. Kukkiwon’s intent is to develop 

a style of sparring that will be fundamentally different from the current 

Olympic style, in that it will focus on more ‘practical’, real life 

situations. Taekwondo leaders are excited about the 

new sparring style because it is intended to be appropriate 

for students at every level, and empower 

students with more practical self-defense skills. 

Leaders from around the world have been 

providing feedback and input to Kukkiwon, which 

is very important in this development. A couple 

of examples are how Kukkiwon Sparring 

would be systemized and which techniques 

and skills need to be part of the guidelines. 

The hope is for the public and practitioners to 

see a difference between Olympic Sparring, 

and the much more dynamic and powerful 

practical application of characteristics in 

Kukkiwon Sparring. 

The implementation of real-life situations 

is what Masters globally would like to see 

and they’re being encouraged to contribute 

Dong Sup Lee their ideas for developing this new sparring 

curriculum. With their combined efforts, the intention is to finalize 

the sparring curriculum in the upcoming months. President, Grandmaster 

Dong Sup Lee will be creating a task force to help develop 

Kukkiwon style sparring, with the feedback gathered from leaders 

around the world. 


Martial Arts 

Celebrity Birthdays 


September 

September 1 ......................Billy Blanks 

September 6 ...................... James Lew 

September 7 ......................Phillip Rhee 

September 9 ...................Stephen Hayes 

September 10 .....................Don Wilson 

October 

October 8 ................... Michael Dudikoff 

October 11 .......................Kane Kosugi 

October 17 .......................Keith Hafner 

October 18 ...........Jean-Claude Van Damme 

October 28 .......................Simon Rhee 

Sepember 12 ........................ Bill Clark 

September 27 ............Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa 



Extraordinary Martial Arts Demo Brings 

AGT “Golden Buzzer” 

The World Taekwondo demonstration team was pushed 

through to the quarter-finals of America’s Got Talent after a spectacular 

performance that was rewarded with the “golden buzzer” in 

the auditions round. 

The extraordinary demo was so moving that the host of the 

show, Terry Crews, came out from backstage to give his golden 

buzzer pick to the team. 

The judges expressed their amazement at the performance 

with exclamations like; Sofia Vergara saying, “Perfection”, Heidi 

Klum saying, “I had goosebumps. That was amazing.”, Simon 

Cowell saying, “one of the most extraordinary things I’ve seen 

in all the years I’ve been on America’s Got Talent,” and Howie 

Mandell saying, “The discipline that is involved, the message that 

you have - amazing.” 

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the team was not able to 

attend the Olympics and go for the gold, but on AGT they used 

the theme of mental training as an opportunity to deliver a 

message for a more peaceful world. Being overwhelmed with 

excitement, host Terry Crews said, “This is not about fighting, 

it’s about courage, it’s about confidence and respect... You 

were not able to make it to the Olympics and get a gold medal 

but I am going to give you something golden right now.” Check 

out the audition here: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_V6PTcCQCc 

Judges blown away: give glowing endorsement for martial arts 


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 

For Immediate Release 

New Film: 1 Out of 100 

Seven time Karate and Kung-Fu world champion and two-time All-American champion Willie “The BAM” Johnson is introducing a 

new inspiring film entitled 1 Out of 100. The impactful story was written by Mr. Johnson and features a dynamic cast including his two 

sons Marshieh and Zarion and World Champion Black Belt Martial Artists. 

1 Out of 100 is about the mindset to make that extra effort that puts you ahead of the 99% who choose to rest or quit. It’s a film 

based on real life events and struggles during the COVID-19 era in facing the most devastating obstacles and setbacks that come 

about from negative self-talk. It is a coming of age project that is sure to motivate and inspire a movement for change in the next 

generation and beyond. 

The characters in the film demonstrate a commitment to their daily grind to achieve internal success equal to consistent external 

growth. In dealing with unforeseen real life battles, the remarkable discovery of faith is brought to life. The empowering movement 

that is taking place as a result of this film is so important for the next generation. In it they are finding, the simple, yet powerful martial 

arts tools called Point MMA 37 Skills which gives them entrepreneurship leadership skills to achieve success and control their destiny. 

The story of 1 Out of 100 is set in the backdrop of Baltimore City and Laurel Maryland, and presents the hidden richness of structured 

martial arts activities. Point MMA Crazy Athletics is a complete system for personal development of mind, body and spirit. It is a 

unique program developed in the heart of Baltimore that has spread throughout the world teaching millions of people. 

This historical completion of the full length sports drama that showcases realistic challenges for you and adults during COVID-19 is 

a must see. We believe a day should be recognized in honor of “The BAM’S” 1 Out of 100 film competition day and mindset to inspire 

others to reach whole new heights. 

The movie was completed with almost no budget, other than $2,500 with 50% donated by Robert Wallace of Bithgroup Technologies 

in Baltimore City (who was a candidate for mayor in 2020). In addition, Robert Parham, one of the most sought-after independent 

film directors, united with Willie “The BAM” Johnson, Kimber Johnson, and a team of other filmmakers from around the world in order 

to complete this heartfelt film to inspire many with a sense of hope and empowerment from the inside out after dealing with the 

devastation of COVID-19. 

We are asking people who see this review and are moved to step up to a call to action because 

for every program purchased we will be able to give a program away to any kid, teenager, 

or young adult who truly qualifies. The initial goal is 100 scholarships to impact Baltimore City, 

Prince George’s County, and many other major cities in California and Florida. Then we would 

like to grant 1000 scholarships and licensing to over 1000 teenagers and young adults to be 

coaches and mentors in the program. 

Part two is currently in the works and we are seeking funding and support as post production 

for part one is taking place now. Any type of donation or support is welcome. This is a once 

in a lifetime opportunity to show the world unity, love, peace and harmony in a commitment to 

Professor 

Willie “The Bam” Johnson 

empower the next generation with key Point MMA 37 Skills. The format for this program in the 

mindset of 1 Out of 100 is already laid out. It should be emulated and implemented throughout 

our country. 


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INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

SafeLoc Delivers Peace of Mind 

Personal Protection 

Tom Patire is one of the leading spokespersons on the subjects of personal 

safety and workplace violence prevention. Recently, he created a new practical 

weapon to aid you in personal safety called SafeLoc, the ultimate portable door 

lock. 

One of Tom’s family members was away at college when her dorm room 

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SOCIAL 411 

Are Your CTAs Pushing The Right 

Psychological Buttons? 

First, it’s important to have a CLEAR understanding of the ‘purpose’ 

of your school’s website. 

For our time today, the purpose of your site is to generate prospects 

and create enrollments for your martial arts program(s). 

So, it’s important that you have clear CTA’s (Call to Actions), on 

your site. 

You want to be driving visitors to take a concrete action to 

move toward enrolling. 

This might be to request a free report, to watch a video, to 

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some type. 

Your CTA’s might say something as simple as: “Subscribe Now”, 

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to give clients and prospects clear instructions to do whatever 

your intended purpose is for them coming to the page in the first 

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The locations of your CTAs is also important, if they are too 

difficult to see, the response to them will be minimized rather than 

maximized. 

Not only is location of the offer important, but the design of the 

CTA button itself is also important to consider, for a higher click 

through rate, and drive more leads/enrollments. 

CTA buttons should be designed considering human psychology. 

The color, size, shape, text, and placement all need to be taken 

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The Following Principles Will Get You Into the Psyche of Visitors: 

• Contrast in colors stand out to the eye 

GO 

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emotions 

• Red stirs up passion, excitement, and 

urgency 

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• Yellow catches attention and is optimistic 

• Green says “go” and is easy for our brains to process 

• Blue builds trust and sense of security 

• Purple is calming and relaxing 

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• Black is sleek and used for luxury 

• Buttons must to be big enough and clickable for mobile an 

desktop 

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• 1st person language improves conversions by 90% 

• CTA placement “above the fold” improves the chance of users 

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Get Your Content Strategy In Order 

Martial Arts School websites must have compelling content, 

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Illustration by XtockImages (top), photograph by tumsasedgars (bottom)

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GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 

The Martial Arts Industry Unites 

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MAWN Magazine would like to give 

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Grandmaster Bill Clark, in celebration 

of his 50 years in professional martial 

arts with Karate America and Warrior 

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His accomplishments alone are 

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Thank you, Grandmaster Bill Clark, for 

all you’ve done for our industry and 

we wish you 50 more great years. 

Watch the video to see how 

Grandmaster Clark has influenced 

their lives. 


GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 

From high level competitor, to founding member of the ATA, to multi school owner, and industry leader - 

Grandmaster Bill Clark has had an immeasurable positive influence on our industry. 


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COVER STORY 


COVER STORY 

World Champion Boxer and Kickboxer 

Troy Dorsey 

Reveals His Secrets to 

40 Years of Success 

Eight-time world champion GM Troy Dorsey sits down with us in a candid, exclusive 

interview and reveals how he translated the skills he learned in competitive martial 

arts into running a super-successful martial arts school in Mansfield, Texas. 


COVER STORY 

Respect, discipline, and a positive attitude are the focus of Grandmaster Troy Dorsey’s program. 

MAWN: We’re honored that you’d be so willing to share your 

‘secrets of success’ with us today, walk us through how you got 

started in the martial arts. 

TD: I started Karate in the summer of 1974 between my fifth and 

sixth grade year. I was getting picked on at school, I came home 

crying, so my parents put me in Karate. 

I took Karate that summer and when I went back to school, I 

thought I was Bruce Lee. I was confident and fought back when 

I got picked on. I didn’t start any fights, but I wasn’t afraid to fight 

anymore. It got around pretty quickly; he will fight you so don’t 

bully him anymore. So that’s how it all started. 

MAWN: How did that lead into your martial arts competition 

career? 

TD: Two weeks after I started Karate, I fought in my first Karate 

tournament I was 11. I loved it. In my first tournament, I took second 

place. After that, there was a dry spell for about three or four years. 

My brothers did really well in competition, my youngest brother 

Rodney especially; he was really gifted in the martial arts. Then 

my middle brother Brian would also place and do really well in 

tournaments. But me, not so much. I remember one time I fought 

in a Karate tournament, and my dad took a picture of my brother 

and his big trophy and I remember not wanting to take a picture 

because I didn’t have a trophy like my brothers did. My Dad made 

me take a picture that day without a trophy. That picture has been 

in some of the martial arts magazines. You can see I wasn’t happy. 

I hated losing. I did point tournaments for many years, then when 

I was 15 I found my real passion, Kickboxing. I continued to point 

fight, but I loved full contact Kickboxing. 

MAWN: You also crossed over into the professional boxing 

realm in 1985. If you looked at the top of the heap in the Kickboxing 

world and the top of the heap in the tournament Karate world, 

and then you looked at the same thing in Boxing, how would you 

compare and contrast the belief systems and success mindsets 

that you saw in one side of the sport versus the others? 

TD: I’ve seen a lot of the same things: the desire, training hard, 

believing in your heart, and doing all that you can do to win. We 

all have a passion, whether it be kickboxing or boxing. We are 

competitors and want to win. We all have to have a strong work 

ethic, are driven and motivated and we all have to have the will to 

get back up after being knocked down to succeed. The mindset 

in both sports is the same. But what makes a champion in the ring, 

being a martial arts school owner, or manager is really just digging 

down deep, working hard, and doing what you’ve got to do to 

reach your goals. 

MAWN: You had this “breakthrough” in your competitive 

career. You weren’t doing so well in competition, then started to 

dominate the sport. What do you think contributed to that? 

TD: I think it’s just like our martial arts schools: it was consistency. 

I never gave up. I had the desire to win, and I kept pushing 

no matter what. In 1990, I fought Jorge Paez for the IBF World Title 

in Las Vegas and lost a split decision. That fight with Paez was one 

of the most controversial fights of the decade. Many, including 

myself, thought I won that fight. The judges saw it in his favor and 

that’s just how it went. 

Grandmaster Dorsey’s habits of success in the ring earned his world 

championships in multiple disciplines. 


COVER STORY 

TROY DORSEY 

Kickboxing Organization 

Grandmaster Troy Dorsey helping a child 

build confidence through breaking. 

I could have let the politics that were involved get to me and 

quit. It was a very discouraging loss, but I had a choice, and I 

chose not to quit which led to me winning a world title in boxing. 

I’m reminded of the verse from Romans in the bible that says, “We 

are more than conquerors”. I think as business owners running our 

schools, we don’t have the option to quit, but should always strive 

to be more than conquerors. If I do well it’s my success. If I don’t do 

well, it’s my fault. It’s always on my shoulders. 

MAWN: That internal locus of control is something so many 

of us with a competitive career learn – that pattern of behavior. 

While we’re earning our black belt in a traditional martial art, we 

learn that behavior. We know it’s our performance that counts, but 

sometimes, for some reason, some of us as soon as we open a 

martial arts school, now want to blame the economy or the market, 

or we want to go blame the median income in our area, but what 

you just said, is you’re the only thing you can impact, so why waste 

your time blaming anything else? 

TD: My wife and started this business in 1999.The road to success 

isn’t a straight line. There are lots of turns and twists. We’ve 

had large competitors, we’ve had economic disruptions, we’ve had 

massive changes in what works for marketing and much more. 

I’m so grateful for the amazing support system I’ve had. The 

parents of my students, family, friends, fellow martial arts school 

owners and others reminded me that I have a good program and 

to keep pushing forward. 

In any circumstance, whether it be another school, changes in 

the economy, or whatever it may be you have to keep pushing forward. 

Like the bible says in Philippians 3:14, always press forward 

toward the mark, your goal, and the prize. You can’t worry about 

the guy up the street, you can’t worry about changes in the market, 

or changes in the economy. If I focus on what the guy up the street 

is doing, I’m not giving my all when I step on the mat to teach, but 

every class and every student counts more than ever. I have to 

focus on delivering great classes, training my staff, and spreading 

the word about my program. 

You have to focus on what you ‘can’ control, focus on serving 

continued on page 38 

For the first time ever I have created 

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We can do this inside of schools that 

have existing stand up programs, 

regardless of style, as well as in 

schools who need to start a kickboxing 

program for the first time. To do this 

we provide the schools with a world 

class curriculum both in kickboxing 

and in business. We meet quarterly 

to rank and certify school owners in 

Troy Dorsey Kickboxing allowing for 

the first time outsiders to earn a black 

belt under me by completing the 

new certification course. This proven 

blueprint has allowed its current 

affiliates to be extremely successful 

even through these uncertain times. 

In fact, one school’s reoccurring billing 

check is over $62,000 per month. 

Anyone interested in this world class 

kickboxing and business program 

should visit: 

pages.troydorseykickboxing.com 

or email me at: 

garrett@troydorseykickboxing.com 


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COVER STORY 

continued from page 35 

your students and serving your community. There are always lots 

of people who can benefit from our program, we just have to find 

them, and show them the benefits and results they can get. If we 

stay focused on that, we can be successful no matter what the 

‘market’ throws at us. 

And now, we’ve even made it through Covid shutdowns and 

are still going strong. I feel fortunate to have survived these 

difficult times. 

MAWN: I totally agree. The guy opened down the street, the 

economy tanks, the housing market goes upside down. Sure, 

those things are real, but who cares? Either you’re going choose to 

adapt or not. You guys own the building that you’re in now: a 5,500 

square foot location, you’re also managing staff members to help 

run the school. Walk me through your staff development strategies, 

how you think about developing staff, and how that works in 

your school. 

TD: I believe we all have a calling on our lives and my calling is 

teaching martial arts. Whatever we do, we’re doing it for the Lord. 

It’s two different types of success, winning world titles and being 

successful in business. I’m continually using different marketing 

tools to help promote my business. Referrals are the number one 

way I get new students. We give our students VIPS cards when 

they enroll and if they refer two prospects and they become 

members in our program they’ll get their sparring gear for free. I 

think ithelps, if from the beginning they are referring new members 

to the school for them to continue to do so continuously.I teach my 

staff it’s all about the students. We are here to make sure they are 

having fun and learning to become, not only good martial artists, 

Grandmaster Bob Wall and Grandmaster Dorsey. 

but all-around good people with strong character. I believe in leading 

by examplet starts with me. 

I have single moms, grandparents and parents who are looking 

for something to help build confidence and discipline in their kids/ 

grandkids, and that has nothing to do with ‘my’ world titles. It has 

EVERYTHING to do with what they can get out of their classes. 

We want to help direct those children to do their very best, “like” 

what a world champion would do. To work hard in school and be 

respectful and disciplined at home. 

You have to have a deep, burning desire to help ‘them’ improve 

their lives. It sounds simple, but the only way to have the level of 

impact on our students lives that we want to, is if you really care 

about them, and have that deep desire to want to help the children 

Grandmaster Troy Dorsey collaborates with some of the most successful martial artists to make his program better every day. 


COVER STORY 

succeed in every area of their lives. Not just at school, but at home 

and everywhere they go. They will be faced with many choices 

and decisions along the way and to get them thinking about how 

they choose can and will affect their lives. If the staff or future staff 

members can develop that desire, the rest becomes pretty easy! 

MAWN: What do you feel are the most important benefits of 

your program? 

Grandmaster Dorsey has worked with the PKA and 

Grandmaster Joe Corley for decades. 

TD: Well, the two most important things that we teach at our 

school is self-control and respect for yourself and others. Our 

school is based on those two things: using self-control and being 

respectful. Just like the Bible says, treat others like you want to be 

treated. If we can improve a child’s, or even an adult’s, self-control 

and respect, then I think we’ve done a great job. 

To help us teach and reinforce these lessons, we have monthly 

character-building themes, with specific handouts and activities 

that students are required to complete (at home, or at school) and 

turn back in. Each of these help us illustrate ‘how’ we can exercise 

these skills in the real world, and what type of impact this has on 

other people, our family, and ourselves. 

I teach my instructors the importance of encouraging, correcting 

and then more encouraging. We have to teach them to kick 

and punch with good technique, but if you only correct and move 

on, kids can become discouraged easily. It’s our job to build their 

confidence through their journey to Black Belt, not to discourage 

them. So “Praise – Correct – Praise” is the philosophy and, in part, 

the tactic we use. 

I believe that right now, we live in a society filled with instant 

gratification. A black belt at our school takes three or four years to 

reach. But since our students have experienced so much instant 

gratification in their video games, and on the internet, we have to 

retrain those students. 

We have to help them ‘learn’ that, to be great, takes work, and 

that mastery will take time. We also have to reinforce each of their 

accomplishments along the road to mastery. 

I think parents want their children taught by somebody that may 

or may not be a champion in the ring, but definitely needs to be a 

champion in life. They love that the instructor is a great martial artist, 

perhaps even a champion, but they really want their children to 

learn the skills and habits of a champion. 

MAWN: You described parents and families as wanting the ‘towering’ 

role model for their children. Unfortunately, there are some 

instructors, some who come from a competitive background, who 

think that ‘every’ parent wants their child to go to the Olympics or 

become a high-level competitor. What is your philosophy on that? 

TD: My goal is to teach them to become champions in life. Most 

parents want their kids to be involved and be good at something, 

but not necessarily be a world champion fighter. They want the 

best and most qualified instructors teaching their child and they 

want those traits taught so their child can learn to be like them. 

MAWN: One of the core skills you do a great job with is translating 

the physical into the mental or the character benefits. 

TD: I have learned through the years that what parents want for 

their kids is to learn characteristics of a champion. So yes, it has 

been a focus of my teaching to build those things in my students. 

“The biggest room in the 

house, at least in my house, 

is the room for improvement.” 

MAWN: You have incredibly high-quality standards for your 

school and your staff. How does that work in your school and what 

are the ramifications there? 

Champions all, (L to R) Grandmasters Jeff Smith, Troy Dorsey, and Joe Corley. 

TD: I chose my instructors carefully. My instructors are usually 

students who I have trained up to black belt. They know the 

system and are held to high standards as instructors. They have 

to show up on time, ready to teach their best class every time they 

step on the mat. They have to walk the walk and be good exam- 


COVER STORY 

person go, if they’re not going to try to improve in those 

areas. They have to be living, breathing examples of a 

‘champion in life’. 

In addition, I think it’s important to have high standards 

for your staff members when they are not ‘inside’ 

the classroom. Your instructors will be seen outside 

of your Karate school on occasion, right? They have to 

live like they are representing your school and values, 

because they are representing your school and more 

importantly themselves. 

MAWN: What were some of the biggest breakthroughs 

that you’ve had in operating your schools, the 

biggest catalyst for growth that you’ve seen in 40 years 

of school operations? 

Grandmaster Dorsey celebrates the success of his students in martial arts and in life. 

ples to students who look up to them. 

Every class is an opportunity to make a child’s day better, to 

build their confidence and give them encouragement where maybe 

they didn’t get it at home or at school. We have the opportunity 

to impact lives every day. I look at that as a blessing. 

We have regular instructor training classes. Certainly, we work 

on physical techniques and their higher-level curriculum, but we 

also focus on the skills of communication, teaching, demonstrating, 

encouraging and inspiring our students. As I was saying earlier, 

it’s about making this child into a better person. If they have great 

kicks, that’s required, and it’s great, but if 

they have a great attitude, that’s an A plus 

in my book. They have to develop a great 

attitude, and the never-give-up spirit. 

I had opportunities to give up in my 

competitive career, in my business, in my 

personal life, everywhere. We all have opportunities 

to give up. 

You could have given up on your martial 

arts training back when you first started, six 

weeks into it or three months into it. We get 

the opportunity to move forward or stay 

where we are. If you stay where you are, 

then you’re walking backwards, right? We 

look for people that seize the opportunity 

to push forward and choose success over 

failure. Of course, sometimes you have a 

staff member working in your school that’s 

not walking the walk and talking the talk. In 

those instances, I think it’s better to let that 

TD: I opened my first school in Dallas when I was 18. 

Before that time, I experienced some of what was known 

as the blood and guts era of karate, I kind of grew up in 

it and if someone got hurt in class that was just part of 

it. Around that same time, I started going to seminars 

to learn more about the business side and that’s when I 

learned about character building. 

I learned the importance of teaching more than just 

kicking and punching and being tough. I was having 

a hard time making it, I was letting students get hurt under my 

instruction and that needed to change. 

But then, I realized that I was only teaching that way because 

that’s what “I” liked, not what the students liked or needed. 

Now, we focus on teaching what each student needs, and what 

their families want for them. We still teach good self-defense and 

put students though hard physical combat and competition, but 

now we do it in a controlled, strategic and safe way. I was 18 when I 

opened up my school, so I’ve had a lot of time to grow and learn. 


Grandmaster Troy Dorsey is tremendously active in his community 

and here has a photo-opt with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. 


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I Love to Promote the Martial Arts -- I will not 

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COVER STORY 

Grandmaster Dorsey is always growing new black belts in his children’s classes. 


Do you want good quality students? Do you want champions in 

the martial arts? 

Of course, and we do have great students, and even some 

champion level competitors! But now, we also have many students 

that will never be world champion competitors but are now armed 

with the skills and habits of champions to apply to other areas of 

their lives. 

Karate, like all fitness, has evolved through the years. When I let 

myself evolve that is when I see breakthroughs. It’s easy to teach 

“old school”, but it’s harder to evolve with the times and I believe 

that is what creates growth. 

My oldest student was 91 years old. He died years ago, but he 

was the most dedicated student that I’ve ever had. He came to 

me when he was 58 years old. I was blessed to impact his life all 

the way until he passed away at the age of 91. He just loved the 

martial arts. He was in my wedding party. He helped me teach. 

He is a remarkable example, but I think we have the opportunity 

to make an impact on anyone’s life, in any stage of their life. Some 

people think that martial arts are just for children, but there is a lot 

of opportunity with adults too if your program is structured to be 

appropriate to the student’s age and ability! 

MAWN: I know you’re a big goal setter and accomplishing what 

you’ve accomplished in your competition career, doesn’t come 

without having your eyes on the prize. What are your objectives 

over the next five years for your schools? What’s the next step for 

you? What are you working toward, what are your goals for your 

schools, staff, and locations? 

Success starts at an early age with Grandmaster Dorsey’s program. 

TD: My goal is that this school would be more staff and less 

Troy. I wish you wouldn’t have made me say that, but it makes me 

focus more on what it needs to be: less Troy and more staff and 

systems. This has been a great reminder of that for me today, to be 

less of me and more of them. I have two daughters; both just had 

their first babies so now I’m a grandfather. My wife and I want to 

move closer to them in the near future so that’s a huge goal for me. 

So, in part, my goals are to build more systems in my school 

so the staff can successfully operate and not be as dependent on 

me. I have a great team, and I know they can do it, but I know that I 

have to surround them with better systems and give them the support 

they need to take the school to the next level. The truth is, I’m 



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Grandmaster Troy Dorsey’s demo team participate in numerous community events each year. 


in their way, so it’s my objective to build a career path for them that 

can help them accomplish their goals as well! 

MAWN: You guys have had a great record of high lead conversion; 

getting people who take advantage of an offer online and following 

up with them in a robust enough way to get them to come 

in for their appointment, and then their appointment goes well and 

they ultimately enroll. What would you say to a school that is 

struggling with that? What do your systems look like? 

TD: I’ve been blessed with some great friends who are also 

very successful school owners who have been great resources 

during difficult times. Hillary Sandoval, who advised me to systemize 

my business with things like good software, which has been a 

huge help in keeping my business more organized. Jeff Smith, Al 

Garza, Dave Kovar, Ty Garrett, and Stephen Oliver are others who 

I have learned from. I would say to the struggling school owner 

you have to network with the top guys. Don’t ever just sit back and 

watch things fall apart, reach out to others who have succeeded 

above and beyond what you have and always be willing to learn. 

Go to seminars so that you can learn and grow. During Covid 

restrictions I was in communication with Stephen Oliver and Jeff 

Smith. They taught me about virtual classes and how to run them. 

I truly believe if it weren’t for them, I may have lost my business 

during the shutdowns like so many others did. Follow up is crucial 

as well. From the first phone call or point of contact up until they 

enroll and then even beyond, you have to follow up. Follow up 

includes phone calls, texts, emails, sending cards, and in person 

meetings. It all matters greatly and affects enrollment success and 

retention rate. 

MAWN: What final advice would you like to leave other school 

owners with? 

TD: You’re not just teaching people how to kick and punch; 

you’re teaching people how to lead better lives and learn about 

respect and confidence. We’re going to help people get the 

confidence they need to survive and thrive at their job. Everybody 

is going through something — everybody. Maybe not today, but 

in the next day or two or three, everybody is going to go through 

something. So, pour some kindness into their lives! Be a giver, 

plant good seeds and leave people better than you found them. 

The Legend Chuck Norris with Grandmaster Dorsey. 

For those interested Grandmaster Troy Dorsey can 

be reached at 817-477-5523 to conduct seminars 

and private classes. 


A T T E N T I O N 

SCHOOL OWNERS 

MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL 

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COVER STORY 

Martial 

Supports the Industry Thr 

Whether it’s by helping you promote your martial arts school’s virtual classes, giving 

you the rich communication tools you need to keep your students engaged in your 

school, or keeping you plugged into the latest strategies for growing your school under 

today’s challenging circumstances, ATLAS Martial Arts Software is there for martial arts 

school owners. 

Our team prides itself on its deep roots in the martial arts with its more than 40 

years in the industry. Whether it’s supporting its clients and community in boom times 

or tough times. So, as the COVID-19 crisis began to threaten the martial arts industry, 

ATLAS sprang into action to support it’s clients and it’s industry! 

The ATLAS Martial Arts Software team has been working around the clock to create 

a huge toolbox of totally free resources to help martial arts school owners pivot, 

promote their online programs and profit in these difficult times, no strings attached. 

These resources include marketing campaigns to help you promote your virtual 

classes, social media-formatted videos, post graphics, ad graphics, promotions for your 

local elementary school Facebook groups, online fitness programs, letters and emails 

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In addition to these free tools and services, ATLAS is also still providing resources 

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economic downturn. 


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COVER STORY 

ough the COVID-19 Crisis 

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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Olson’s Martial Arts Academy: 

A Model For Success 

Master Amanda Olson Creates Young Leaders Through Her Powerful Program 

Olson’s Martial Arts Academy, INC in Tennessee has been operating as a 

professionally thriving and influential community business for over 24 years. Through 

exceptional instruction and caring customer service the school has achieved an active 

student enrollment of 365. Master Amanda Olson gives some insight into a few of 

the keys to their long-term success. 

MAWN: You focus a lot on community engagement; what 

are some of the most effective services that your school is 

providing for your community? 

AO: Of course, first we offer self-defense training, 

Secondly, we provide bully prevention seminars which are 

very relevant for school age children. We have also created the 

“Master Mom - Amanda Olson” program, which is an advice 

program for parent’s and families in the community. 

This program also includes a pod-cast and newsletter 

program called, “Ask Master Mom” (askmastermom.com), filled 

with successful parenting strategies and advise. 

MAWN: What are the most effective marketing strategies 

you use and what types of results do they produce? 

AO: Our goal is to generate more than 100 leads every 

month. We have a lead generation website that brings in 

anywhere from 35-45 prospects monthly. We keep a close 

eye on the SEO optimization of the site, create lots of keyword 

rich content, and drive traffic to the site from lots of offline and 

online sources. 

We buy ads on Facebook, which attracts 30-50 leads per month. 

And a combination of direct mail marketing, special events, 

YouTube, Instagram, Bandit Signs, school programs, email, and 

texting draw an additional 35-60 per month 

MAWN: What programs do you offer in your school, and 

what benefits are you focused on delivering? 

AO: We teach Taekwondo and Jiu Jitsu, but all our classes 

are part of our Leadership and Character Development Program. 

Through the instruction and training our students build 

confidence, achieve health and wellness, improve academic 

achievement, advance in the workplace, and gain Self-Defense/Personal 

Safety skills. 

The physical training is combined with time tested, practical 

leadership skills development activities and courses of study. 

We want our students to become better ‘people’ through our 

programs, not just better athletes. 

MAWN: What types of “systems” do you rely on to manage 

your school? 

AO: We rely on good martial arts management software. 

We use the POS system and auto tuition collection features to 

keep us organized and running smoothly in terms of finance. 

The student management database helps us keep up with our 

students attendance, ranks and history. It is easy to communicate 

with our students with texts and emails either individually 

or in groups of students. It also helps us keep track of all our 

leads and prospects so we can manage them well and communicate 

with them over time. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

“Our School Recovered to 90% 

of Pre-Pandemic Enrollment” 

Many students who quit at the initial stages of the pandemic are now coming back to class. 

Master Okjo An attributes the iEnroll System to her school’s success. 

MAWN: Most school owners know they need to do online 

marketing, but what are the reasons why you didn’t get started 

right away? 

OA: I’ve never done much online marketing, because it wasn’t 

effective. I thought, “If you invest your money and the success 

rate isn’t very high, it’s better to jump on and catch something 

certain?’ See In the past, the success rate of online marketing was 

low for me. 

MAWN: O.K. Since that was your experience, what was your 

main method of marketing your school previously that brought 

you success? 

OA: Before I went to all kinds of events to make booths, school 

PE classes, and referral promotions with retention. The referral 

promotion has the best signing rate. Events came up frequently, so 

I was very busy with events. 

MAWN: Your school has gone through some changes relative 

to your marketing and you were kind of forced into like most, so 

how to COVID-19 change your methods? 

OA: I think that after the coronavirus hit, people began seeing 

more online marketing with Facebook or Instagram. At home A lot 

of people use computers or mobile phones, and in the old days 

we had a website and Facebook, but the connection rate was low. 

I thought that the success rate of online marketing might be better 

now than in the past during the coronavirus panademic. 

MAWN: Recently, you’re school has been having phenomenal 

succes even while other schools were struggling due to the Covid-19 

impact, to what would you attribute that success to? 

OA: It has been the iENROLL System. It’s amazing and convenient 

because it does all of the work for us. It’s a terrific hands free system 

that does advertising, posting, and marketing for our schools. 

MAWN: You have had some exceptional success in the last 

few months. Can you please tell us the kind of success you’ve 

been seeing from this system in your school? 

OA: Yes, we have been having some record setting and surprising 

months of attracting prospects. In May we had 116 leads. A lot 

of leads came in all of a sudden, so our staff was sort of unprepared 

for that kind of success. But with some step by step training, 

the leads from May are signed up in June. There are many 

students who come in through the online marketing. 

MAWN: Most schools took a hit during the initial stages of the 

pandemic, and so throughout, so how much recovery have you 

made now compared to before the pandemic hit? 

OA: Yes like many, we felt the impact of restrictions and people’s 

fears. Our school that received the most leads has recovered 

more than 90%. There are a lot of sign-ups through the online market. 

The other two schools seem to have recovered about 80%. 

Also Now, since I got the vaccine, it seems to be coming up a lot. 

The students are coming back, the students who quit before came 

back. Yes, it seems to be coming up a lot these days after vaccines. 

MAWN: Do you think now is the time to invest much more 

boldly with the back-to-school season? 

OA: Yes, because even though there is a delta mutation, but 

now people don’t back down. Most of them seem to want to come 

out again. Before, we didn’t do Summer Camp, but this year, there 

were too many people even for a week’s summer camp. 

MAWN: Now that you’re mainly doing online marketing, what 

else do you have to focus on? 

OA: As you know, if you have 100 leads, you have to keep 

making 30 to 40 phone calls a week. In addition, there are a lot of 

students who need to be taken care of right now, so at least 1 time 

every month, we do a fun event at the School, so that the students 

can continue to have fun and relieve stress at the School. 


We provide integrity-based coaching and 

community resources to busy martial arts 

school owners that save you time and 

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MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TODAY 

VISIT WWW.KOVARSYSTEMS.COM/SUCCESS 

KOVARSYSTEMS.COM

TEAMWORK 

Are You Ready for Back to 

School? 

Back-to-school is an important time to bring more students into your 

martial arts school and reactivate students who quit over the summer. 

HANSHI 

DAVE KOVAR 

is an 8th degree 

black belt and 

recognized as the 

“Trainer of Trainers.” 


is an internationally 

acclaimed instructor 

with black belt 

degrees in ten 

different martial 

arts styles. His 

systems have been 

implemented in 

hundreds of schools 

around the US. 

Families will be planning their schedules for the 

school year, including after-school activities, so it’s important 

to raise awareness during this decision-making 

time of year. 

Although there are still a few more weeks of summer 

vacation (depending on where you’re located), there are 

a few things you can do right now to begin planning your 

strategy for the back-to-school season. Here are a few 

to-do list items to keep in mind: 

Develop a back-to-school offer for your marketing 

campaign. Use this offer in all of your marketing efforts 

to be consistent and make sure your team is aware of 

the offer. 

Order all of the items you will need to promote your 

school now while there’s plenty of time. This could 

include pencils, bookmarks, stickers, book covers, back 

packs, coffee mugs, and more! 

Be sure that all vacationing students have an appointment 

date set for when they’ll be back in class. 

In a few weeks, all stragglers should be contacted and 

offered extra help to get restarted. 

Plan a back-to-school party for your students. This 

would be a good time to reserve a location if you’d like 

to make it a pool party. The goal is to get everyone back 

from their summer vacation and involved ASAP…before 

they pick another activity! 

Pick a date for an open house event at the end of 

September/early October. Get all students involved in 

the demonstration to ensure you get a lot of spectators 

and guests. Friday nights work great. Plan a 30-minute 

demo, refreshments, a free trial class, and a raffle to ensure 

you collect names, addresses, and phone numbers. 

If you get started on this to-do list now, you’ll be off to 

a great start for a successful back-to-school season. 


Photograph by Sergey Peterman

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for information, news, education, ethical business 

practices, product reviews and innovative developments in 

the world of martial arts business. 

We are always on the look out 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 

hear about it! 


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or Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com

NEXT LEVEL STRATEGY 

Branding: Is it a Waste of Your 

Time? (Part 1) 

SHIHAN 

ALLIE ALBERIGO 


black belt, the 

founder of the L.I. 

Ninjutsu Centers, 

one of the largest 

Ninjutsu schools 

on the planet, the 

author of 4 books, 

and an entrepreneur 

with one of the 

first online coaching 

companies. 

Well, this is a long overdue conversation for many school owners. 

With such mixed emotions and theories of what 

branding actually is flying around the internet and spoken 

about by coaches, consultants, and experts, I want 

to give you my take on it. 

Heck, most of the time businesses don’t even know 

what it branding is, and if there’s one thing that’s elusive 

to the martial art industry, this would be one of the largest. 

Let’s start first by saying there are those out there 

that will tell you not to worry about branding your martial 

art school, or that your brand is what you teach, but I beg 

to differ. 

Once, while teaching a seminar in Atlantic City at the 

Martial Art Business Summit, I asked over 22 people 

what their brand was. Sadly, no one in the room actually 

had a clear definition. 

Most of the school owners in the room identified their 

brand with the style they taught, the name of the school, 

or even who they were. 

Not one of those school owners had a clear defined 

idea of what the brand of their business was. 

The thing is, it’s much easier than you can imagine. 

First, you have to ask yourself a series of questions 

from an outsider’s perspective: 

1) What do people see when they see your ads? 

2) What type of organization/school or business are 

you, and what is your specialty, if you have one? 

3) Who is your target market? This may be widespread 

with martial arts because we have multiple 

target markets. 

4) What vision do you want people to see your business 

as? 

5) What picture is drawn in people’s heads from the 

minute they enter your school? 

6) Is your message loud and clear? 


Photograph by tumsasedgars

GROWTH HACKS 

Analyze Your Web Marketing, 

Part 2 

SEAN LEE is 

the Executive 

Director of Sales 

and Marketing 

for hundreds of 

martial arts schools 

and specializes in 

online and social 

media marketing 

using his extensive 

professional 

experience 

in sports and 

martial arts 

marketing, contract 

negotiation, and 

investment. 

If you have an internal network or security firewall that prevents you from 

using the Google Analytics system, you may want to check out Urchin 7. 

Urchin 7 is just like Google Analytics, only you install 

it on your computer. You can use both of the apps together 

to give you the best data reports possible. There 

are some things Urchin cannot do that Analytics can. 

There are other website analytic software programs out 

there you may want to check out. You may find one that 

best suits your needs, or one that’s simpler to use. 

Another useful tool is the Alexa Toolbar, which brings 

up your site’s Alexa rating. As you may already know, Alexa.com 

is a subsidiary of Amazon. The Alexa rating is the 

level of traffic a site accumulates from other computers 

with the Alexa Toolbar installed. The rank is based from 

three months of traffic data from millions of Alexa Toolbar 

users, and is a combined measure of page views and 

users. This means that if your site has a high Alexa rank, 

someone that wants to place an online ad may see that 

your website has high traffic or is highly viewed. Therefore, 

your site would be a good value for advertisers to 

place an ad onto, and you could actually make some 

money and increase your site’s popularity even more! 

On the flip side, to place an ad for your school, you’d 

want a site with a high Alexa rating to get maximum 

exposure. The only downside to Alexa is that it isn’t 

totally accurate. The Toolbar must be installed on every 

computer in the world to make it so. 

So, how can you increase your Alexa Rating? 

1) Install the Alexa Toolbar on your browser. 

2) Put an Alexa rank widget on your website. (According 

to some, a click counts as a visit even if 

the visitor doesn’t use the Toolbar.) 

3) Encourage others to use the Alexa Toolbar. 

4) Post quality content. 

5) Use pay-per-click campaigns for advertising. 

6) If you have a popular post that gets traffic, put 

the Alexa widget on it! 

If you’re an ATLAS Martial Arts Software user, your 

martial arts school website will be seamlessly integrated 

into the system, so site traffic can be converted into 

more leads for your school with no friction. 

To put ATLAS to work for your school, simply visit 

AtlasMartialArtsSoftware.com and register or call 

1-800-275-1600 today! 


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NINJA BUSINESS TACTICS 

Teaching “Tricks” to Our Students 

Makes Them Better People 

And I’ve got some tricks for instructors too. 

AN-SHU 

STEPHEN HAYES 

has authored 

more than 20 

books, worked 

as a body guard 

for the Dali Lama, 

supervised over 30 

school locations 

worldwide, and 

was named “A 

legend; one of the 

10 most influential 

living martial artists 

in the world” 

by Black Belt 

Magazine 

We can teach tricks to kids. Like with their school 

workbooks, they’re reading through it and not comprehending, 

so their parent says, “Read slower,” or “Read it 

three times.” 

I always say to ask the laziest, cheapest person how to 

get something done. They’ll come up with the best way. 

So, I say to that kid, “No, go to the end of the chapter 

where they always have questions, read those questions, 

and now read the chapter so you know what to 

look for.” 

And they’ll say, “Oh wow, I can do that!” 

Yeah, it’s easy and cheap! What we’re doing as 

instructors is very subtly affecting our students’ actual 

character, who they are. We’re opening up their potential, 

and at the deepest level, we’re altering who they are. 

They’re changing as human beings. 

We might even ask the adults, “We’re requiring you to 

change as a human being in here, is that OK?” 

And they’ll say, “Uh, I don’t know.” 

But then you explain that it’s like the office bully is 

deviling you, and you now see where they’re coming 

from and understand that this is a tactic that works for 

them, but I’m above that: “You can counter that, and it almost 

amuses you—would it be OK if you were like that?” 

“Oh gosh, yes, yes!” 

Some knucklehead cuts in front of you in traffic and 

you used to get mad, but now you know that it’s just a 

poor knucklehead who didn’t allow himself enough time 

to get somewhere. I’m above that: “Would that be OK if 

you didn’t respond in anger?” 

“Oh, gosh, yes!” 

So, that’s really what we’re looking at. We tell people 

right up front, “No, you’re changing as a human being 

through your martial arts training. You’re bigger now, 

you’re expanding your capabilities, your possibilities. 

You’re not three anymore, you’re 28. You’re 42.” 

People are happy with that. One thing I emphasize to 

my teachers over and over again is a twofold idea. Number 

one, people come in and you’re the teacher. They 

expect, at least on the floor, for you to command yourself 

with some dignity and a higher vision. And when you’re 

28 or 33 years old running a martial arts school, that can 

be a little intimidating. So, put your head in that place. 

What does this person expect? I’m not their buddy, I’m 

not just a cool guy they know. I am wisdom. You can’t lie 

or fake it, but bear in mind, how am I behaving? Am I an 

inspiring person? 

The second thing I’ll mention is when it comes to 

teaching, I see so many people over teaching, so we 

have a saying: “If the student has enough time to get all 

of their weight onto one leg, you’re talking too much.” 

I had a friend who said, “We have a rule in our school: 

for every degree of black belt you are, you get one sentence.” 

Third degree, he can go for three sentences. He 

has a lot more to teach than a first degree. 

Comport yourself with a friendly, open, natural dignity, 

but just give students the bare minimum. Give them 

a big grin and let people learn the lesson through their 

body rather than through listening to you. 


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PILLARS OF SUCCESS 

How Do You Know if You Have 

Physical Fitness? (Part 1) 

You must determine your physical fitness level by asking your physical age: 

How old do you feel physically? ____ 

What is your real age? ____ 

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. 

For some people, their real age 

is 30, but their knees are stiff and 

they suffer from chronic back pain, 

so they look and feel like they are 70 

years old. Conversely, some people 

are 70 years old, but still enjoy 

dancing and can beat their kids in a 

tennis match, so they look and feel 

like they’re just 30. 

The lesson to be learned is that 

while you can’t control your real age, 

you can control how you look and 

feel by building physical fitness. People 

with an unhealthy lifestyle abuse 

their bodies when they’re healthy, so 

their bodies take revenge on them. 

People with a healthy lifestyle take 

care of their bodies when they’re 

healthy, so their bodies take care of them! 

Ninety-nine percent of our health crisis comes from 

an unhealthy lifestyle. If we can change an unhealthy 

lifestyle into a healthy lifestyle, we will help more people 

live a positive life. 

I thought only I suffered by living an unhealthy 

lifestyle. However, I found out others were needlessly 

suffering from their lifestyle choices too, even during my 

ordeal. I did not want to go through another agonizing 

experience, and I wanted to help other people avoid it as 

well. Because of that, I organized all of the research I did 

during my rehabilitation and combined that with my experience 

to write “Health is the Foundation of Success,” 

a book and DVD package that focused on preventing 

health problems instead of trying to cure them. 

A healthy body requires harmony and balance, which 

is found in the 4 Wheels of Physical Fitness: a new concept 

of prevention that has helped me totally change my 

lifestyle to live a healthier and more positive life. 

First, let me introduce the Break Free to a New You 

movement. Second, I will show you how to build the Four 

Wheels of Physical Fitness. 

The United States is the super nation of the world. 

Living in America is something to be so proud of. However, 

I am terrified about two key areas that will affect the 

future of America, our children, and our grandchildren. 

Over 112 million people, including 14 million children, 

suffer painfully because they are overweight or obese. 

They could be members of our family, our friends, or 

even you or me. 

Being overweight brings too many illnesses. We lose 

tens of millions of workdays in the corporate world and 

health insurance is sky high. This problem continues to 

grow like an epidemic. We have to stand up and fight to 

turn this crisis into opportunity before we are faced with 

disaster. 


Photograph by RyanKing999

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THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI 

Chanbara: 

Melee Combat for All Ages 

Most people have already done Chanbara without even knowing it. 

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. 

Almost everyone has pretended to be a knight in 

shining armor or a samurai, brandishing a stick and 

pretending it was Excalibur or a samurai sword; that 

youthful play is now sport. 

Many of those who enjoyed the essence of 

swashbuckling now often study and practice martial 

arts such as Kendo. Various rules have been applied 

to this game, not to mention the hundreds, if 

not thousands of dollars’ worth of protective gear 

needed. Chanbara is not like this. It has few restrictions. 

There’s no incorrect way to fight and it contains 

all the romance of swordplay. One combatant may 

practice Kendo while his opponent practices European 

fencing. Both can fight together with the same 

weapons and with no fear of injury to their opponent. 

Chanbara originated in Japan centuries ago. 

However, thirty years ago, Master Tanabe Tetsundo 

and some of the top swordsmen in the country collaborated 

and formed a new school of thought called 

“Goshindo,” later nicknamed “Chanbara.” Master 

Tanabe took a sport once only for the elite classes 

and made it easy and affordable for the masses. He 

was taking swordplay back to its basics. With a little 

innovation coupled with science and technology, he 

designed a system where the weapon was padded, 

not the combatant, allowing them to move more 

freely. The only equipment required is a padded 

helmet and your weapon of choice. 

Needless to say, the sport swept through Japan 

like wildfire, even becoming part of the Japanese 

Department of Education. In the United States, 

Chanbara has now become an alternative to the 

few Kendo schools in the country. Not many people 

in America are familiar with Kendo, and even fewer 

can afford the high-priced equipment. Chanbara 

enhances all styles of martial arts by making it simple 

and inexpensive for any dojo to instruct its students 

in swordsmanship or weaponry regardless of rank 

or age. Children love Chanbara. An instructor can 

take an entire classroom of students and teach them 

the basics in less than an hour. It’s easy to introduce 

into any school’s physical education program, be it 

kindergarten or college. Children learn quickly and 

retain information well because they’re having fun. 

Older students find Chanbara to be a new challenge 

and a welcome change to conventional sports and 

traditional martial arts. Teachers enjoy Chanbara 

as well, finding it to be a good balance, combining 

mental strategy with physical endurance. It’s like 

a full-body game of chess. In a matter of hours it’s 

possible to have students fighting and performing 

like professionals, as reflexes and motor skills quickly 

improve when put to the test. 

Chanbara tournaments are fast, fun events for 

combatants and spectators alike. Not only are these 

tournaments inexpensive, they can also be incorporated 

into standard martial arts tournaments with 

categories for all ages. Unlike many major martial 

arts tournaments that can cost upwards of $50 to 

attend, Chanbara tournaments are less expensive for 

participation and spectators usually get in for free. 

The certificates and awards are all located on the official 

web site (Samuraisports.com) and available for 

download. So, no matter the location, there’s always 

an official Chanbara tournament to be found. 

Chanbara is also one of the best full-body aerobic 

workouts you can find. It utilizes both the upper and 

lower body in a fast-paced series of movements, 

which burns calories and polishes technique. Not 

only does it help develop muscle tone, it increases 

manual dexterity, speed, and awareness of one’s 

surroundings in the process. The human body learns 

from its mistakes and quickly discovers how to avoid 

being hit, no longer blocking, but simply dodging 

each blow with grace and skill. Chanbara is a sport 

for everyone. Regardless of age, size, or fighting 

style, anyone can enjoy themselves and get in shape 

too! Tested and proven in Japan, Chanbara has finally 

reached the United States. Simply visit a local dojo 

that supports Chanbara and have fun. 


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EXTRAORDINARY MARKETING 

Does Your School Have the 

X Factor? (Part 2) 

GRANDMASTER 

STEPHEN OLIVER, 


black belt and is 

the founder and 

CEO of Mile High 

Karate schools, 

and founder of the 

Martial Arts Wealth 

Mastery Program. 

I can tell you that the key is NOT I.Q. Certainly, to be 

successful, you must be fairly intelligent. But some of the 

most intelligent and educated (not the same thing, by the 

way) school owners that I’ve known will have failed. 

It’s not charisma. While it’s nice to have that trait— 

naturally or learned—it’s not the key. I’ve hired A LOT of 

highly charismatic instructors over the years. I’ve seen 

very low-key school owners and staff be very successful, 

some of them rather severe introverts. 

It’s also not training. Although it’s NECESSARY to 

learn all of the skills of running a business, I’ve had staff 

members who could teach someone else everything 

but just couldn’t execute it themselves. I’ve worked with 

owners who could “write the book” but couldn’t run 

their business. 

Honesty. This is a key. But it’s not enough. 

If you don’t CONSTANTLY LEARN, then you fall behind. 

Keep learning. Keep relearning. 

What’s the key? 

To really expand a school, you must have a high level 

of “esprit de corps” among the student body, among 

the leadership in the school, and among the staff. 

Some think that’s high-energy classes. It’s not. 

Some think it’s success in tournaments. It’s not. 

Some think it’s about high-level athletic talent among 

the students. It’s not. 

What is VERY important is a genuine team atmosphere 

in your school. It’s about each individual being 

recognized as an individual. It’s about high levels of 

rapport between staff and students, AND among students 

and parents. It’s about the entire school being 

a family. A series of “small families” among different 

belt levels or “teams.” It’s also about a family environment 

throughout the school. Often, in turning around 

a failing school, the first thing I did was fire 10–20% of 

the student body. Well, actually, first I’d fire the branch 

manager and/or the balance of the staff, and then I’d 

go about quickly and aggressively weeding out the 

“cancer” in the school. 

See, really, in a failing school, often the “wrong” 

students stay and the “right ones” drop out. Many who 

would’ve been fine with the right leadership become 

cancerous. Some of them can be fixed (you’d be amazed 

at the positive benefits of 100 new white belts on everyone’s 

attitude); others must go away before they infect 

any of the new people. Staff’s the same thing. You can’t 

hire great, new people if you let the old ones with bad 

attitudes or low expectations infect them. 


Photograph by Miljan Živković

AFTER SCHOOL EXCELLENCE 

Turn Summer Chaos into 

Summer Success 

CHIEF MASTER 

MIKE BUGG is an 


belt and the owner 

of a $1.52 millionper-year 

location, 

with one of the 

largest after school 

and summer camp 

programs in the 

country. 

Just because summer is here, it doesn’t mean your life has to be 

postponed for the next three months. 

Even though the kids are overjoyed to be out of their 

academic schools and in your martial arts school, you 

can transform that positive energy into coordinating an 

organized, structured summer camp full of martial arts 

development, character building, and success. 

First, plan each day. Some paid programs, like 

AMSkids, provide instructor’s guides to guide you 

through the daily rigors of activities. 

But you need to be sure to help your staff, and 

traditional students keep themselves on track for their 

regular classes, curriculum, and schedules. Be sure the 

instructors know who is teaching each martial arts class 

while still being able to focus on each student. 

When summer comes, martial arts schools have a 

tendency to fall into a daze of disorganization and a 

desperate plea to just get through it. 

But it doesn’t have to be that way, and your other 

students don’t have to suffer because of what goes on 

from 8 AM to 6 PM. There are still teachings they need 

to learn, belt testings for students AND instructors, and a 

school business that needs attention to function. 

What is on your side is that, with the expectation of a 

successful and moneymaking summer, you can accommodate 

your work needs with the proper amount of staff 

members so each one stays passionate in their work, 

energized, and well rested each and every day of the 

summer. 

Lastly, don’t forget the little things that are going on. 

Well, they’re not little things, but they seem that way 

compared to the tasks of summer camp. Promotions, 

birthdays, and ads should all be followed up on and 

used to increase your ever-growing enrollment. 

This is your time to excel, don’t waste it. Get to work! 

For more information regarding after school or 

summer camp tools, call a friendly ATLAS Marketing 

Consultant at 1-800-275-1600. 


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Have Your School, Organization, 

Accomplishment, or Event Featured in 

As professional martial arts school 

owners and instructors, it’s important 

that we stay up to date with the 

latest tools, tactics, and strategies 

for operating a successful martial 

arts school or organization. 

We here at Martial Arts World News 

Magazine are on an unstoppable 

mission to help our industry grow, 

and one of the best ways to do that 

is by sharing “what’s working” and 

what’s not. 

So, we want to feature schools, 

school owners, instructors, 

organizations, students, and industry 

contributors that might have a story 

our readers would find valuable! 

No story is too small or too big for 

consideration so long as there is 

value to our readers. 


Send your Story Idea to us. 

Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

Or Contact us at: 407-895-1996 

• One of your students 

overcame great obstacles 

to achieve their black belt? 

Awesome! 

• You’ve opened a new 

location? We’d love to hear 

about it! 

• Your martial arts 

association just set a new 

record? Great! Send us 

some information!

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C H I P T O W N S E N D 

14x ISKA World Champion, Multiple World Record Holder 

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had been doing several things incorrectly in regards to 

breaking, with material selection and holding techniques. 

BLAC has made such a huge difference in our school! In a few 

months, we will have made back what we spent just by being 

associated with BLAC! I really believe BLAC will add 

tremendous value to any school!" 

-Chance Burleson, owner Chance Legends Dojo 

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TACTICAL SELF-DEFENSE 

Getting the EDGE! 

Edge- or bladed-type weapons, like with other specific weapons, are 

their own animals when it comes to realistic defense. 

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. 

Simply put, when you deal with any hostile situation, 

you deal with the moment, and that moment relies on 

what, how, and where you’re attacked. One must realize 

that an edge weapon is a very up-close and personal 

weapon. Unlike the firearm, which projects an object 

by pulling a trigger, the edge weapon slices and dices 

and does unforgiving damage, especially if the blade is 

serrated. Pulling the trigger on a firearm is much easier 

than getting close with a blade and shredding your 

victim. I consider an edge weapon a very personal and 

vengeance-type weapon. As one convicted murderer 

told me during an interview for a book I wrote: “When 

you want to make an example out of someone and you 

want fear to play a key factor—do it with a blade!” 

So, in all the articles written and videos filmed on knife 

defense, why, in the majority of attacks against a person 

with some training, does the attacker usually prevail in 

some form or another? All I can say is that it has nothing 

specifically to do with the videos or articles I referred to. 

There are some very good techniques and philosophies 

being taught in the arts, but unless you’re born with “situational 

nasty,” no one can really understand a bladed 

altercation unless you’ve gone up against one—which 

I’ve done three times in my life, and I wear a battle scar 

on my right wrist which shows that things don’t always 

go as planned. What I learned in my world of protection 

is that you have to be prepared to go the distance, and 

either get to the weapon before the attacker begins his 

onslaught, land a fierce strike that either knocks out his 

sight or equilibrium, or permanently take out his base. 

The following is my philosophy of the word EDGE as it 

pertains to defense against edge weapons: 

E is for EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING is in play. 

There are no rules, just survival at all cost. Do EVERY- 

THING you can to avoid getting cut, or at least getting 

cut in a vital zone. Throw EVERYTHING you can at the 

attacker, and I do mean EVERYTHING—hands, feet, 

objects—EVERYTHING you can get to keep the attacker 

and his edge weapon on the defensive, away from his 

comfort zone. Remember, action is faster than reaction, 

so do EVERYTHING in your power to stay on the action 

side of self-offense! 

D is for DESTROY. The weapon is evident, the situation 

is life threatening. It’s time to unleash the inner you 

and DESTROY the element that intends to DESTROY 

you and your client. Seek out and DESTROY the limb 

holding the edge weapon. DESTROY the base supporting 

the attacker. DESTROY the vision so sight no longer 

plays a factor. DESTROY anything and everything that 

will stop the attacker dead in his tracks and keep him 

from his ultimate mission: to take you and the client out 

permanently. 

G is for GET. GET out of the way of the blade. GET 

your client in a safe zone that they can protect themselves 

in. GET the attacker distracted. GET to the 

attacker’s balance by attacking the legs or equilibrium 

points. GET to the attacker’s sight picture and knock out 

his vision. GET to your weapon or anything you can use 

as a weapon and even the playing field. GET to safety 

once the attacker is disabled or disarmed. GET out alive 

and live! 

E is for ESCAPE. ESCAPE the first initial strike— 

that’s key. ESCAPE the fear factor and replace it with I 

can, I will. ESCAPE falling prey to self-pity (“why me?”). 

ESCAPE the severity of the moment with direct focus of 

self-offensive techniques. ESCAPE anyway, anyhow, and 

by any means because the edge weapon you face can 

dictate your existence or nonexistence! ESCAPING with 

your life and that of your clients’ is the key element of 

your defense. Remember, it doesn’t have to be pretty or 

perfect—it just has to be life saving! 


Photograph by BrianAJackson

CUTTING-EDGE 

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That Bring New Students Into Your School–Fast 

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COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS 

Branding: From the Ring to 

the Screen, and All Things in 

Between, Part 4 

PROFESSOR 

WILLIE “THE 

BAM” JOHNSON 



seven-time 

sport karate and 

Kung-Fu world 

champion. He has 

appeared in four 

movies, 16 plays, 

and 11 television 

shows. He is 

also the national 

spokesperson for 

the Stronger than 

Drugs Foundation 

and the Champions 

Against Drugs. 

Authentic Branding Tips 

Brand yourself through your 24/7 presence. This is 

truly defined in your alone time with God and defined in 

your character, your dress, your method of communication, 

your personal hygiene, and how you make others 

feel before and after your presence. 

Brand yourself through your relationships. Know 

your customer’s background and interests and how they 

align with your brand. Your customers are partners in 

your business. Once the relationship is established, it is 

your goal to make them a customer for life, through their 

referrals and loyalty. 

Brand yourself through strong communication. It is 

important to read your customer and possible customers 

in less than a second. And never let anyone go unnoticed, 

even in a crowded room. This is done through 

words, a look, a touch, shout outs, mail outs, emails, 

and just a “thank you” to all you did not get a chance to 

thank personally. 

Brand yourself by staying one step ahead. Always 

research human needs through all means of studying 

(reading books, magazines, the internet, watching 

films, DVDs, listening to audio, seminars, classes, 

reading consumer surveys, having social interaction 

with customers). This allows you to anticipate what your 

customer wants or needs and prepare to meet them 

with solutions. 

Brand yourself through your great people skills. 

Charisma is the key here and it is one that’s developed 

by selflessly giving all the time when you are interacting 

with people. You must balance this out by also allowing 

yourself alone time and family time. 

Rebrand. Like with anything, your brand will depreciate 

over time and must be renewed in order to not lose 

your customer loyalty. As your customers’ needs change 

and competition emulates your success, you must dig 

deep. This way you gain internal clarity and external 

focus and are able to expand your brand in another way 

based on your original vision. 


Photograph by Prostock-Studio

THE MILLIONAIRE SMARTS COACH 

Everyone is in Sales 

I was at a cocktail party once and I met a number of different 

professionals: doctors, attorneys, and CPAs. I was shocked that some of 

these professionals seemed offended by the labels of “entrepreneur” 

and “salesperson.” 

MS. LEE MILTEER 

is an Intuitive 

Business Coach, 

award-winning 

professional 

speaker, and TV 

personality who 

has counseled 

and trained over 

a million people 

throughout her 

career. Lee is 

Stephen Oliver’s 


Wealth Mastery’s 

Millionaire Smarts 

Coach and is also a 

best-selling author 

of educational 

resources. 

It struck me how the labels we put on ourselves 

can determine whether or not we reach greatness. 

Our deepest beliefs can cloud our judgment about our 

potential in business. I see clearly how these “professionals” 

who don’t want to be called “salespeople” or 

“entrepreneurs” are very limited in their mindset of 

what’s possible. Not only are they limited in marketing 

themselves, but also with the bottom line. Their poverty 

beliefs are costing them big time in profits. They’re 

missing out on big opportunities. As professionals and 

entrepreneurs, we want to work on ways to incorporate 

new mindsets about selling our business and 

ourselves that’ll add balance and integrity to our work, 

increase sales, improve relationships with clients, 

and improve self-confidence and income. This new 

attitude about sales is a win-win for everyone. Most of 

us forget that by supplying our services or products, 

we’re adding a dimension that not only empowers 

us, but also adds value and meaning to the lives of 

the people we encounter. Most people have been 

programmed to be afraid of the sales process and 

of salespeople. Can you imagine life without salespeople? 

Can you imagine how much time, energy, and 

expense it would take if everyone had to do all the 

research on the products and services they use all by 

themselves? How drastically different life would be if 

we didn’t have salespeople to educate and assist us in 

obtaining the necessities of life! The entire structure of 

our society would be very different. You can be proud 

of the fact that you’re helping people get what they 

want and need. Selling is one of the most important 

professions in the world. In the world we live in today, 

I don’t believe that just knowing how to sell is enough 

anymore. We must learn to see life—and our customers—from 

an entirely different perspective. Value 

has replaced image, and intrinsic worth has replaced 

name brands. Our clients are asking themselves very 

important questions, such as: 

● Does this feel real? 

● What is quality? 

● What is good service? 

● Who can I count on and believe in? 

The old, standard beliefs we hold about ourselves 

and the world of sales must change. Today’s 

consumers are intelligent, alert, highly selective, and 

independent in their thinking. To work with today’s 

consumers, you must strive for excellence, integrity, 

and high ethics. You must be someone that stands 

out from the competition. Focus on sales as a means 

of creating relationships, not just making deals. Most 

traditional sales philosophies are outdated in today’s 

crowded marketplace. The future belongs to the 

salespeople and organizations that are flexible and 

nontraditional in their thinking. When you add balance 

and integrity to your work, you’ll increase your 

sales, improve your relationships with clients and 

customers, and improve your self-confidence as a 

sales professional. By adding the integrity dimension 

to your professional sales toolbox, you can improve 

your ability to be of service to others, as well as your 

enjoyment of the process of sales. So, ask yourself 

the following questions: 

● How do I feel about actually selling? 

● Do I feel positive or negative about it? 

If you feel positive, you’re on the right track! If you 

feel negative, you have some serious work ahead of 

you to change that belief. Everyone is in sales. No 

matter your title or profession, anyone who’s succeeded 

at anything is an effective salesperson. You 

sell your knowledge, talents, abilities, experience, 

point of view, beliefs, values and enthusiasm daily. 

Please make note of how you feel when you’re dealing 

with someone; if it’s negative, beware: it’s costing 

you big bucks. 


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BUDO PHILOSOPHY 

Individuality vs. Adaptation, 

Part 2 

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. 

Frustration is the first consequence to which we are not accustomed. 

When our attention existed in the very fact of adaptation, experts in it as 

we were, the loss or failure of targets was a daily occurrence we had to 

deal with in our lives. 

The prey after which we ran would escape most 

times, and if it was us running ahead, we’d be happy not 

to end up a beast’s breakfast and move on. Otherwise, 

there was nothing to worry about. Dead men have no 

friends. 

By placing the accent on the inside instead of the 

environment, on the reason instead of the instinct, 

humans enter into continuous contradictions with our 

basic nature. Such stress has significant consequences 

on the state of individuals. The alienation resulting from 

the normal nonattainment of most of our endeavors is 

a matter for which we do not now seem at all prepared. 

We’ve even had to invent new words to define virtue as 

an attitude, resilience that everyone had before...without 

knowing it! 

The resilience of those who live in contact with 

nature provided them with the guidelines in which the 

environment rules more than the individual, with tools 

they treasured and possessed naturally. Alienation and 

depression are the most striking consequences of this 

new paradigm, where a new plague, suicide, wrapped in 

the silent complicity of idiotic ideologies, yields the worst 

figures of our modern societies. The idea of human 

rights without its counterpart, human duties, is a sign of 

the optimistic simplicity that has led us to this nonsense. 

The ignition of individual consciousness is a leap of 

giants in the evolution of planet Earth. The gestation 

of the noosphere is undoubtedly the most important 

evolutionary value after the ignition of the spark of life 

millions of years ago. The biogenesis that preceded this 

new leap took its time, and many failures and successes 

preceded the moment when consciousness finally made 

its appearance. 

The idea of the individual is one more step in this 

race, and many more “misses and hits” will be necessary 

until we tame that bull. No matter how hard we try, we 

remain within nature, and consequently its laws are still 

prevailing, among them that of inequality or what is the 

same. 

Not all will access this new evolutionary state at the 

same time. Look around and judge; nowadays some are 

not so far from the Homo erectus. 


Photograph by Tiziano Cremonini

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Visit MartialArtsWorldNews.com/Sponsors 

Email Sponsors@MartialArtsWorldNews.com or Call Jeff @ 407-895-1996

PRO SHOP POWER 

Dress Up Your Exhibitions with 

Costumes 

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. 

When most people think of exhibition teams, they think of fancy exhibition 

team uniforms. If your students wear white uniforms, exhibition team 

uniforms may be red, blue, black, or a combination of different colors. 

If your students wear cotton uniforms, your exhibition 

team uniforms may be silk or satin, or some other 

dramatic, flashy material. You may even find more exotic 

designs of martial arts uniforms from a martial arts supply 

company like Vision for your team. 

But why limit yourself to martial arts uniforms? 

One of the more powerful ways to communicate with 

an audience is with a story. Some exhibition teams, like 

Martial Arts World’s exhibition teams, will often structure 

part or all of their show around a skit, much like a movie 

or play. Like any good story, they introduce characters 

that face a conflict, who then eventually overcome that 

conflict to arrive at a resolution. Good drama involves the 

audience more deeply. 

Once you open your vision to include stories, your 

exhibitions are only limited by your imagination and the 

funds you have raised. Some teams choose popular 

movie themes like “Star Wars,” “Avatar,” or “The Avengers.” 

Other teams choose themes like classical mythology, 

music icons, or develop a completely original story 

and characters. 

Challenge your exhibition team captain to be as 

creative as possible and develop a skit that will involve 

the audience, yet still showcase the value of martial arts 

training in modern life! 

If you’d like to purchase fairly priced, great-quality 

uniforms, Vision would love to help your vision (pun 

intended) come to life. Head over to MyKick.com for 

information! 


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MIND MASTERY 

Success Plan for Changing Times 

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. 

The last couple years have been impactful on everyone’s life. Where do 

you figure out new things to do to enhance your business, new job, or 

just your personal life? 

We’ve all had to deal with changes. But the most 

important thing to use as a lesson is that we need to 

continue to step ahead with our ambitions, hopes, and 

expectations. Yesterday is over, a new day is on the 

horizon—our new future—and you must see that you’re 

apart from this new vision of opportunity of growth, 

health, and wealth. 

It can sometimes be discouraging to know precisely 

where you want to be, only to find yourself in the 

position of being unable to succeed in the timeframe 

or in the ways that you hope to. However, it shouldn’t 

be as discouraging as many people find it to be. It can 

take several times to try to meet a goal before we’re as 

successful as we’d like to be. But that doesn’t mean we 

should stop trying. The only way we will surely fail is if we 

completely give up on the goal we have in mind. When 

we don’t get what we want in the way we want it, it’s a 

sign that we must do everything we can to look back 

on the strategies we were using to find the weaknesses 

in those plans and our limitations. It is essential to be 

honest with ourselves about how we lack or cannot 

perform because it can give us an area to focus upon for 

improvement. Visualization is an incredibly useful tool, 

but there’s no guarantee that it’ll work immediately. We 

must move forward with wisdom and caution to make 

sure that we’re doing things in the ways that are most 

organic to our lives. To benefit from the laws of attraction, 

we have to believe that we will succeed even if we 

fail. It’ll help us tap into the power to continue trying and 

stay the course, which is the hardest part of achieving 

any goal. 

Even if it takes more attempts than you initially 

thought it would, that doesn’t mean your goal is impossible. 

If anything, maybe it’s a sign that you need to 

rethink your approach and figure out where the weaknesses 

in your plans or actions may be. It’s important to 

remain diligent in your efforts; otherwise you can talk 

yourself out of believing that success is possible. Keep 

in mind that many successful people, including writers, 

actors, and entrepreneurs, have had multiple setbacks 

on their way to success. But the thing they have in common 

is that they never stopped trying and did not halt 

their efforts. It was vital for them to remain focused and 

continue working on the path toward the goals they’d 

set for themselves. Eventually the life they had visualized 

came to fruition and they were able to succeed. 

“The possession of anything begins in mind.” 

–Bruce Lee 

If it seems like things aren’t going right, don’t assume 

that it’s because you aren’t capable or worthy of realizing 

your goals. Instead, take it as a sign to reevaluate your 

progress and methods, and keep on going! You’ll only 

fail if you quit, so keep on working and you’ll be able to 

achieve the life you want! 


Photograph by Arthit_Longwilai

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Facebook Group 

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MASTER THE BASICS 

Fantastic Field Trip Ideas 

on a Budget 

Every now and then, it’s a great idea to get away from the martial arts 

school with your students to build up even more camaraderie. Going on 

inexpensive field trips is another way to show students you really care 

about them and want them to have great learning experiences. 

MASTER 

TINA BANE 


master instructor 

and owner of a 

Top Ten martial 

arts school with 

successful after 

school and summer 

camp programs. 

Field trips are a great way to break up long weeks, 

and to give your students some enrichment outside of 

the classroom. Check out this list of the cool and fun 

activities you can have with your students this year to 

build your school retention. Note: These activities are 

cost effective and designed to save both you and your 

students some money. Give a call to any of these places 

you’re interested in going to and set up the field trip before 

hand. Always make sure you send permission slips 

home and don’t take any student with you who hasn’t 

returned a permission slip in time for the event. 

Movie Theater: Sure, you can play movies at your 

school, but there’s nothing like watching a movie in the 

theater. It also makes a nice little trip out. 

Local Park: Sometimes kids just need to run free. You 

may not have the space necessary in your school or on 

your grounds. A local park gives you the opportunity to 

play soccer, baseball, or on a playground. 

Sporting Event: Baseball, basketball, football, soccer—many 

semipro and amateur teams play in cities 

all over the country. Check to see if your city has local 

teams you can take your students to watch on a field trip. 

Animal Shelter: The Humane Society and other 

animal shelters are good places to teach students about 

respect and responsibility for animals. 

Art Museum/Science Center: Art museums or 

science centers can be costly outings, but both often 

have free or reduced cost days/hours that you can take 

advantage, as well as group discounts. 

Fire Station/Police Department: Taking a tour of the 

local fire department is both affordable and educational. 

Take advantage of any relationship you may already 

have with your local emergency responders to arrange a 

visit and possibly a special demonstration. 

Restaurant for Lunch: Like the movie theater, sometimes 

all it takes to make an everyday event extraordinary 

is by making it a day out. Pack up your students and 

take them to a popular local restaurant. You can also 

teach them lessons about etiquette beforehand so that 

they can practice their manners at the restaurant. 

Farm/Bird Sanctuary: If you’re near the countryside, 

a trip to the farm can be cheap and highly educational. 

This is also an opportunity to show your students how 

their food is cultivated and to teach them a bit about 

nutrition. 

Fishing/Swimming: Grab some fishing poles and 

take your students out for a relaxing day by the water. 

Fishing is also a great way to develop patience and 

focus. Check local wildlife laws first to ensure you aren’t 

breaking any laws by allowing students to fish. 

City Map Tour: Grab a city map and have your students 

circle some landmarks on it. Take them out on the 

street and do a walking tour of the city, trying to identify 

the various places/buildings marked on your map. 


Photograph by SerhiiBobyk

INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE 

The Value of Failure, Part 1 

GRANDMASTER 

TIM MCCARTHY 



is a martial arts 

educator with a 

master’s degree in 

education. He has 

been instrumental 

in developing two 

industry-changing 

programs, plus 

has directed and 

been featured in 

hundreds of martial 

arts videos and 

webinars. 

Failure is always an option, and it’s a tough lesson…a lesson some people 

can’t recover from. 

So, how do you incorporate failure into your martial 

arts curriculum without causing your students to quit? 

First of all, teach your students a growth 

mindset. 

A fixed mindset is one that doesn’t change: you are 

either smart or dumb, and you can’t change the cards 

you were dealt. You’re either strong or weak, fat or 

skinny, etc. 

A fixed mindset focuses on why you can’t: I can’t lose 

weight because ____; I was never good at math; I don’t 

like to exercise. 

A growth mindset focuses on growth: I may not 

be good at math today, but if I study and practice I can 

become good at it. I may not have lost weight in the past, 

but if I choose better foods I can lose weight. I may not 

be strong today, but I can exercise regularly and improve 

my strength. 

The whole point of taking classes at your school is 

that you have the knowledge and skill to teach, and 

your students have the ability to learn self-defense, 

self-control, and self-confidence. Every student should 

believe that they can change their future by practicing 

the martial arts, or they are wasting their time and money 

at your school. 

Second, structure where failure is allowed to 

happen and for whom. 

I believe that a belt test is a place to build a student’s 

confidence. No student should fail a belt test unless they 

show a complete lack of discipline and respect. 

How can I say that? 

No student should be allowed to test unless they 

show that they’ve sufficiently learned the curriculum. It 

is my job as the instructor to prepare them for success. 

If they’re not ready (sufficiently prepared), I should not 

let them test and set them up for failure. Failing a test 

can be devastating, especially to a child. They may quit 

because they weren’t strong enough emotionally (yet) to 

handle it. To conclude, ask yourself these two questions: 

Where does failure fit in? 

How do we make them strong enough emotionally? 


Photograph by NeilLockhart

Touch The Future 

Of Martial Arts School Management 

RETENTION 

AUTOMATION 

• Send automated 

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• Create unlimited 

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students whose 

attendance has 

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slamming your 

“back door” shut! 

REPORT 

AUTOMATION 

• You don’t even 

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schedule any of the 

over 100 reports 

to be automatically 

emailed to you or 

a staff member 

whenever you wish. 

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• Generate new 

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prospects, 

collect their 

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funnel them into 

your school. 

• Guide new 

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with automated 

sequential email 

and SMS text 

messages. 

FORMER STUDENT 

AUTOMATION 

• Reactivate lost 

and former 

students with 

regular automated 

communications 

about special 

events and special 

offers at your 

school. 

SOCIAL MEDIA AUTOMATION 

• Automatically push, pre-scheduled 

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BUSINESS BUZZ 

Statistics, Part 2 

There are certain key numbers you should keep track of to help you 

maintain control of your school, and know if you’re doing the right kind 

of work to make your school successful. Remember, “What gets counted 

gets done.” 

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. 

Prepaid Programs—There are three ways for a 

student to pay for their classes: prepay in full, in half the 

program length or less (e.g., a six-month program paid 

off in two months), or monthly (the worst way). Twenty to 

50% of new students will prepay for their basic program 

if it’s properly presented to them. Those who prepay 

stay. Those who pay less stay less. Understanding how 

to teach your students how to pay for their classes will 

dramatically change your bottom line and your lifestyle. 

Most instructors teach their students to pay them 

monthly. The problem is they don’t make all their payments 

when they quit. The average student will make 

ten payments on a 36-month program. That’s AVERAGE. 

I know we all have students that have been paying us for 

years and years, but I also know we’ve all had students 

that only made one or two payments. When a student 

makes a bigger financial commitment to your program, 

they are less likely to quit and more likely to purchase 

all the other products, seminars, and activities you offer. 

Equipment Packages—Eighty percent of new 

students will purchase a basic equipment package if 

they’re directed to buy. Every program should have an 

equipment training package to go with it. A basic training 

package would consist of a small duffle bag to keep 

personal property in (shoes, jacket, etc.), a uniform, a 

beginner DVD, and a Black Belt Manual for about $99. 

When you’re giving a prospective student a tour, you 

should explain your pro shop and tell them about the 

basic equipment package that “you’ll purchase today, 

and it’s only $99.” You don’t ask them to buy it right then, 

you just inform them that it’s part of your program, and 

you should price drop so that it’s not a surprise when you 

ask them to buy after they enroll. 

Upgrade Memberships—Fifty percent of new 

students should be upgraded within the first month of 

classes to a higher level of training and commitment: a 

36-month commitment with an additional $50 to $100 

additional tuition per month with a $200 to $300 enrollment 

fee. To get someone to upgrade quickly, there 

are several steps that need to be taken that will show/ 

convince your student that it’s the right thing to do. First, 

you pre-frame the program when enrolling a student in a 

basic program. Second, you show where their instructor 

has been through a similar program. Next, you tell them 

they will be given a progress check to see if it makes 

sense for them to set their goal to become a black belt or 

Leadership Student. The instructor tells them and their 

parents they’re ready/qualified, and suggest they enroll 

after a couple of weeks of training. 

Prepaid Upgrade Programs—Twenty percent of 

students upgrading will prepay for the entire 36 months 

or for the upgrade amount for the entire program. That 

means you’ll collect over $5,000 from them, or from 

families as much as $14,000! Sound farfetched? We do it 

every day. 

Upgrade Equipment Package—Eighty percent 

will purchase another equipment package, which will 

include a bigger duffle bag, all safety sparring gear, 

including face, chest, gloves, boots, shins, cup, mouthpiece, 

and all safety weapons, including rubber-coated 

bo, nunchaku, kama, tonfa, and Escrima sticks. We’ll 

also include the next DVD, a rebreakable board, their 

Leadership Workbook, and their Leadership Uniform 

for $595. 


Do You Serve Martial Arts Professionals? 

Share Your Message in 

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

MARTIAL ARTS PHILOSOPHY 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 2 

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. 

Six months later 

8th Orange Belt 

As the day ends, feel in your heart you have absorbed 

much knowledge! Man, in my heart I thought the 

yellow belt test was hard, but this test was a hoot! They 

had me do this drill called “Bull in the Ring.” No warning 

of this drill, I’ve never practiced for this drill, never seen it 

in class—it was an advanced-only drill! 

I’m nervous, what are they going to make me do? A 

circle of black belts, Kyu grades, and surprises surround 

me and are given numbers. An instructor calls out one 

number and that number attacks you with a punch or a 

kick, or grabs you. I have to defend myself in front of a 

board of black belts, spectators, and fellow students. 

After I’ve gone through three or four circles of basic 

technique, the board says, “Kick it up a bit, please,” so 

now the Instructor is calling out four and five numbers at 

a time, and now I feel my Karate and it happens: block; 

side kick; front leg sweep; drop my knee on his chest; 

punch him; grab the right shoulder; break the little finger 

and thumb from second opponent; lock his arm; symbolize 

breaking it; KIA very loud with much spirit; elbow the 

head several times; grab his groin, rip it; hammer fist his 

foot; his head drops; elbow him in the face; get up and 

third opponent puts me in a bear hug, back head butt to 

face, stomp the foot hard, drop to low horse stance, right 

and low elbow strikes to both sides of his body, step 

across, pop the groin, when his head drops down poke 

his eyes, sweep him, stomp him, stand up, and be ready 

for next opponent. 

My Karate was for real and my instructor had just 

proved it to me. The rest of the test was strong. Hard, but 

easy compared to being taught under certain circumstances. 

It’s good to know real Karate at this level and 

I wonder if I’ll ever make black belt. That is way too far 

away to think about, but I think I want to try. Man, I’m 

tired but I’m an orange belt now in Japanese Karate. And 

now I want to train as much as ever and learn as much 

as I can. 

Ten months later 

7th Blue Belt 

What will I learn in my next class? In today’s test for 

my blue belt, we were introduced to sport Karate point 

fighting, and let me tell you, it is different than anything 

we have done up to this point. 

First of all, it is about Ippon, one-technique knockout, 

or symbolizing a knockdown or knock-punch or kick to 

a legal target area. Cool! This part I didn’t like: we had 

to wear hand pads and footpads and headgear and 

mouthpieces and groin cups, too much stuff! One of my 

friends told me there’s a Karate competition where there 

are knockouts and a one-punch Ippon attitude and different 

circuits. You can win trophies and awards! I might 

like this avenue! My first tournament is in two months 

after my next test. I’ll train for this and be prepared. Kinda 

nervous about doing this Karate stuff in public, but my 

Sensei says, “Competition is good but only 1% of real 

Karate, always remember that.” 

So another door has opened—oh, one more thing; I 

learned a new word today: “Oss,” meaning respect and 

acknowledgement of one’s attitude toward you. You 

say it not because Sensei tells you to say it, but because 

you’ve earned the privilege to say it among your fellow 

warriors and peers. This is loyalty, this is trust, this is 

acknowledgement—Oss! 


Photograph by hanzl

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

Make Your Staff Perform 

Effectively With These 

4 Easy Fixes 

Getting your staff to perform effectively is simple. If their lack of 

performance is constant, there’s only one place left to look: the 

leadership. 

CHIEF MASTER 

KIRK PELT 

is an 8th degree 


is the President 

of a multi-million 

dollar, multi-school 

organization, has 

a 30-year track 

record of success, 

and is currently 

on the leading 

edge of martial 

arts curriculum 

and business 

innovation. 

The great news is that fixing the problem is easy. 

By rearranging your leadership style, you can improve 

your team’s effectiveness with relative ease. The fact is 

that most staff members want to perform well, but there 

are four reasons why they don’t: they don’t know what 

they’re supposed to do, they don’t know how to do it, 

they don’t know why they should do something, and 

there are obstacles beyond their control. Here are four 

easy fixes: 

1) They don’t know what they’re supposed to do. 

Teach your staff what they’re expected to do and invest 

time in training your staff. If a staff member is never 

told to answer the phone, he may not answer the phone. 

If a staff member knows that answering the phone is part 

of their job, he’ll do it. 

2) They don’t know how to do it. 

Again, teach your staff how to do what’s expected 

of them and invest time into training your staff! Training 

in the beginning can save you time and energy later on. 

If a staff member is answering the phone incorrectly, 

take time to train them how to do it right. Problems won’t 

magically solve themselves. 

3) They don’t know why they should do it. 

Just like with the last two problems, this is a training 

issue. Invest time into training your staff! Show your staff 

how every part of their job is important to the organization 

as a whole. If a staff member doesn’t understand 

that answering the phone properly can directly affect 

sales and your school’s income, explain it to them! Your 

staff will know why they should do something if you communicate 

the reasons clearly to them. 

4) There are obstacles beyond their control. 

This is slightly different from the other three reasons 

that can create discord in your school. Your staff can 

easily take care of some obstacles by themselves. Some 

problems are trickier and they might need your assistance. 

Here are some examples of obstacles beyond 

your staff’s control: 

Poor equipment will make it difficult for an 

employee to perform her job well. 

Upgrade the equipment! This applies to all equipment, 

from phones to copiers. 

Your employee takes a bus that runs 30 

minutes late daily. 

If the employee is valuable, change his schedule. 

Making minor changes like this shows compassion and 

increases employee loyalty. 

The fact is that you can make a difference in the 

lives of your staff. Examine your leadership style now 

to make sure your staff has as much support as possible 

from you. It’s your leadership, compassion, and 

ability to solve problems that will make your staff a 

winning team! 


Photograph by sutlafk

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THE WARRIOR WAY 

What’s Your Attitude Today? 

Chances are that the words of Abraham Lincoln can hold true for you if 

you let them. To quote him exactly: “Most people are about as happy as 

they make up their minds to be.” 

GRANDMASTER 

BILL CLARK is a 


belt and a former 

PKA Fighter of 

the Year. He is 

widely considered 

one of the top 

experts in martial 

arts business with 

over 50 years of 

leadership and 

innovation, having 

been inducted 

into almost every 

Hall of Fame in the 

industry. He is one 

of the largest multischool 

owners in 

the world. 

The truth is that most of 

us get out of bed each morning 

in a state of suspended 

animation. At this point, your 

attitude is neither good nor 

bad. Then the shower water 

turns cold before you’ve 

finished showering, the car 

has a flat on the freeway, 

and you get a ticket trying to 

make up for lost time. 

How’s your attitude now? 

Conversely, you get up, 

put on an outfit you haven’t 

worn for a while, and find 

$100 you’d forgotten about. 

In the mail is a much bigger 

refund check than you 

expected from the IRS and 

the first news you get upon 

reaching the office is that you’ve been promoted. 

How is your attitude now? 

As you can see, most of us start the day without an 

attitude but quickly allow the events of the day influence 

our attitude and our work accordingly. Attitudes are also 

learned from our parents when we’re young. This is great 

if your parents had a good attitude, but it’s not so good 

if they didn’t. If your parents had a prejudicial attitude 

toward a certain group of people, then chances are 

you at least started out with the same type of attitude. 

Over time, if you met someone from that group who did 

a good turn for you and became your friend, you might 

have changed your attitude. You also could’ve had such 

a poor attitude toward this group that you never let yourself 

change your attitude. 

Attitudes are formed in three ways: 

1) From beliefs or knowledge 

2) From feelings and emotions 

3) From tendencies to act in a specific way based 

on knowledge and emotion 

The first step in making sure your attitudes are 

consistent with those of successful people is to make 

a quick and honest review of them. Answer these 

questions: 

● Do you have a good attitude toward yourself? 

● Do you have a good attitude toward the work you 

do? 

● Do you have a good attitude toward those with 

whom you work? 

● Do you have a good attitude toward your boss? 

● Do you have a good attitude toward other people 

in general, regardless of their background, color, or 

creed? 

● Do you have a good attitude toward life and the 

rewards it holds for you? 

If the answer to any of these questions is no, 

break it down further and ask yourself why you 

have this attitude. What shaped your thinking into 

this mold even though you know that it may be 

counterproductive? 


Photograph by AaronAmat

STAFF DEVELOPMENT 

Mining for Instructors: Planting 

the Seed, Part 2 

Here I will demonstrate in just seven easy steps how you can improve 

and grow the instructor training and recruitment process in your 

school, providing yourself and your school with highly skilled and 

dedicated instructors. 

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. 

Plant Seeds As Early As You Can 

The process of planting the seed of becoming an 

instructor begins at the very first meeting with a new 

student. Upon conducting the trial lesson, the instructors 

will communicate two influencing ideas. The first is complimentary 

of the student on their performance, suggesting 

they may even possess the talent required to one 

day become a master instructor. This statement is part 

of their goal-setting and future-planning objectives. The 

second statement is explaining that all of our instructors 

were at one time a beginner student just like them, 

and even you began your own journey in a very similar 

fashion. It’s no secret that the majority of our instructors 

come not from outside talent acquisition, but are grown 

and nurtured within our school from the very beginning. 

It’s a source of great pride for our instructors who began 

their martial arts journey with us from the beginning 

and have now achieved the titles of Instructor, Master 

Instructor, or even School Owner/Director themselves. 

Use Visual Examples Throughout Your School 

Having photos of instructors, master instructors, 

junior instructors, and other student leaders from around 

the school and office where you enroll students is valuable. 

Take a new prospect on a school tour and point 

out the photographs of all the people in leadership and 

teaching positions. Have a patch system displayed in 

view of the students and prospects so they can see 

what they’ll earn and what they’ll need to work toward. 

Uniforms and special belts are allocated only for instructors 

to wear. Framed articles and letters of appreciation, 

which were written by parents and other students in the 

application of your instructors and awards or certifications 

they received, are all part of promoting your staff 

development system and culture. 

School Literature Should Promote Instructor 

Training Opportunities 

Strategically placed suggestions and statements 

throughout your literature, both digital and hardcopy, 

must have information and recommendations of how 

they, too, can one day become an instructor in your institution, 

and how your instructors are recognized and supported. 

Your culture and training should encourage one 

to become a master instructor and that it’s a part of their 

training requirements. All the literature that your black 

belt candidates get should clearly outline the process 

and procedures of how one is now required to teach and 

guide others, and how your system encourages senior/ 

junior mentorship and role modeling. 


Photograph by Ljupco

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Tools & Tactics 

Why Aren’t They Enrolling? 

When a prospective student visits your martial arts school, you expect 

them to enroll. You have to. If you aren’t, you’re already setting yourself 

up for failure. 

MS. CHRIS LEE 

is a martial 

arts business 

development 

consultant with 

a background in 

online and social 

media marketing. 

This may sound harsh, but let’s take a closer look at 

this situation. In our analysis we’ll use a mother bringing 

her nine year old into your school to check on lessons, 

but adult prospects definitely apply as well. 

First, think of what got the parent and child to show 

up at your school. They had to begin with some basic 

interest in martial arts, had to hear about your school 

from an advertisement or word of mouth, contact you 

to inquire about lessons, agree to visit your school, and 

actually make time to come by your location to check 

it out. Negative images like those in TV shows, videogames, 

and movies show only the violent side of martial 

arts, leaving many parents with these images as their 

only perspective of martial arts. Watching almost-naked 

men beat each other up to a bloody mess, locked inside 

a cage every night on TV, parents may assume that this 

is what martial arts are and definitely don’t want that for 

little Joey or Sarah. The fact that, after all of the above, 

the family still comes to your school to get a firsthand 

look to decide if martial arts training is for them means 

they must have a reasonable amount of interest in your 

school to begin with. 

Next, they come to your 

school for a trial lesson, then 

maybe again for a second 

introductory lesson, 

and maybe again to 

try a first class. These 

people are pretty interested 

in martial arts 

lessons or they would’ve 

never come back after 

their first time. 

Finally, martial 

arts are FUN for 

kids and adults! 

It’s not like a gym 

where almost 

everyone loses 

interest because they have to motivate themselves. 

WE ARE MARTIAL ARTS! WE ARE FUN, EXCITING, 

BENEFICIAL IN MANY WAYS, AND PERFECT FOR 

ANYONE! Do you understand now that if your prospective 

students aren’t enrolling, you may have done 

something wrong beforehand? If you haven’t already, 

figure out or calculate from now on the percentage of 

prospective students that enroll. A successful martial 

arts school that leads its community should enroll 75% 

of them. Make this a goal for your school. There are only 

three reasons why someone doesn’t join your school 

after their trial lesson: 

First Impression: You didn’t live up to their expectations 

or your teaching style or art isn’t what they’re 

looking for. 

Commitment: They object to making any type of 

contractual term agreement. 

Money: They can’t or don’t think they can afford your 

program, or they simply don’t see the value enough to 

justify the expense of your program. 

These above reasons can be overcome easily with 

things like great customer service, a flexible curriculum, 

and a clean school. By having a well-trained professional 

staff that operates the basic business systems of the 

martial arts, like AMSkids, you can succeed. By realizing 

and believing in the benefits 

of your teachings, 

you can set yourself up 

for accomplishing your 

school’s goals and 

new student enrollments. 

For more information 

regarding enrollment, 

please feel free 

to call my Marketing 

Consultant colleagues 

or me at 

1-800-275-1600. 


Photograph by Ljupco

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Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 21 | Issue 4

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