Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 4

MartialArtsWorldNews.com 

VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 4 

The #1 Business Resource for the Martial Arts Industry 

GRAND MASTER 

G.K. LEE 

Is the GTMA the Fastest 

Growing Organization 

in History? 

Martial Arts Documentary Produced 

by Laurence Fishburne Wins Top 

Tribeca Film Fesival Prize 

GRANDMASTER 

KAREN 

EDEN 

“Helping Our Missing Sisters.”

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CONTENTS 

FEATURES 

28 Helping Our Missing Sisters 

34 An Outstanding Leader 

Advancing Traditional Martial 

Arts Globally 

103 FREE Tool of the Month 

DEPARTMENTS 

14 Industry Insights 

15 Birthdays 

16 Industry Innovations 

20 Social 411 

54 School Profiles 

65 Classified Ads 

99 Advertiser Index 

YOUR INPUT 

50 Tell Us Your Story 

77 Feature Your School, 

Organization, Accomplishment, 

or Event 

COLUMNS 

6 Editorial 

Preparing for the Upcoming Economic “Hurricane” 

Master Toby Milroy 

8 Martial Arts World News Faculty 

12 Ninja Business Tactics 

A Dream Life Indeed 

An-Shu Stephen Hayes 

58 Teamwork 

4 Tips to Boost Your Social Media 

Hanshi Dave Kovar 

60 Mind Mastery 

Exploring the Subconscious Mind Pt. 1 

Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

62 Growth Hacks 

Social Media Marketing Is Here To Stay, But Are You 

On Board? 

Mr. Sean Lee 

64 Next Level Strategy 

Convenience Morality, Part 1 

Shihan Allie Alberigo 

66 Pillars of Success 

What is a Healthy Lifestyle? Part 2 

Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

70 The Way of the Samurai 

Children and the Art of the Sword, Part 4 

Shihan Dana Abbott 

72 Extraordinary Marketing 

Just Sell Something 

Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

74 Mastering Modern BJJ 

Teaching Child Students Jujitsu 

Master Carlos Machado 

78 Tactical Self-Defense 

Less Can Be More! (Part 1) 

Grandmaster Tom Patire 

4 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 4

STAFF 

80 Complete Martial Arts Concepts 

Teaching the Complex Art of Kung Fu, Part 3 

Professor Willie “the Bam” Johnson 

82 The Millionaire Smarts Coach 

6 Ways To Deal With Setbacks 

Ms. Lee Milteer 

86 Budo Philosophy 

“Educare” (Part 1) 

Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

88 Pro Shop Power 

Get the 3 Keys to Running a Profitable Pro Shop 

Mr. Sun Kang 

90 Master the Basics 

Master the Art of Operating Your School 

Master Tina Bane 

92 Instructional Excellence 

The Value of Stress Training 

Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

94 Business Buzz 

9 Keys of Black Belt Leadership Charisma 

Grandmaster Lawrence Arthur 

96 Martial Arts Philosophy 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 6 

Sensei Gary Lee 

98 Management Excellence 

Why Struggle, When ATLAS Can Make Your School 

Management Effortless? 

Chief Master Kirk Pelt 

100 The Warrior Way 

The Persistence Factor, Part 2 

Grandmaster Bill Clark 

102 Staff Development 

Mining for Instructors: Planting the Seed, Part 2 

Master Zulfi Ahmed 

104 Tools & Tactics 

Remove Any Doubt That You’re Only In It For The Money 

Ms. Chris Lee 

106 After School Excellence 

Use Summer Camp to Promote After School 

Chief Master Mike Bugg 

VOLUME 22 | 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 

source for information, news, education, 

ethical business practices, 

product reviews and innovative 

developments in the world of martial 

arts business. 

Martial Arts World 

News does not accept 

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News Magazine, its 

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are not responsible in 

any way for any injury 

that may occur by 

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we expressly disclaim 

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MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 4 5

EDITORIAL 

Preparing for the Upcoming 

Economic “Hurricane” 

In a recent interview, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, stated that, even 

though things look ‘sunny’ right now, with low unemployment, high demand for 

skilled workers, robust consumer spending, and lower consumer debt, people and 

businesses better brace themselves for the Economic Hurricane that’s coming. 

With inflation at decades highs, supply chain disruptions, energy 

prices at historic levels, a war in Ukraine, and a Fed that was 

slow to respond, we’re facing a significant ‘slow down’ of some 

type. Whether it’s a mild recession, or something more dramatic is 

yet to be seen, but either way, smart school owners 

need to be preparing now! 

Recession is nothing ‘new’. We have short 

term economic cycles, and we typically see a 

recession or pull back of some type every 7 to 

9 years or so. So, how is a school owner to 

prepare for these types of disruptions? 

First, it’s VERY important to differentiate 

the impact of the “Macro-Economic” situation, 

from your specific school’s “Micro- 

Economic” situation. “We”, my 

fellow school operators, have NO 

ability to impact the inflation rate, 

unemployment rate, gas prices, 

and other Macro factors they’ll 

be talking about on national 

news over the next year. 

These factors do have 

some impact on general 

consumer confidence, and 

general consumer behavior, 

but, we’re very fortunate in 

our business, that we have far 

more flexibility and control over 

our own destiny. 

The ‘key’ factors to your success are 100% IN your control! 

The “Micro” factors that mean FAR, FAR, FAR more to you in 

your school are simple. Your ability, skill and execution of these 

simple activities. 

Your ability to ‘drive traffic’ into your lead funnel. The effectiveness 

of that lead funnel for converting leads into intros. Your 

ability to convert intros into enrollments. Your ability to deliver your 

program so expertly, that students want to stay forever, upgrade/ 

renew their program, and want to refer all their friends. 

“The ‘key’ factors to your success 

are 100% IN your control!” 

I’d challenge you to think about it this way. If you had an additional 

100 new students in your school in the next 60/90 days, how 

much more ‘recession proof’ would your school be? We need to be 

focused on ‘preparing’ for difficult economic times NOW, and in my 

view, the absolute best way to prepare is flooding the school with 

new students, ramping UP your marketing activities (especially 

lower cost, community marketing), and investing in the quality and 

training of your staff. 

NOW is the time for ACTION! 

PREPARE NOW, and whatever downturn comes, you’ll be in a 

position to win! 

If you need any help driving traffic into your school, or preparing 

for the upcoming challenges, give my team a call at 1-800-275-1600, 

and we’ll be happy to help you! 

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

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

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

martial arts school operators in the world. 


CHECK OUT OUR 

MARTIAL ARTS 

BUSINESS 

DISCUSSION GROUP 

No Egos – No Politics – No Trolls 

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

facebook.com/groups/MartialArtsWorldNews

OUR EXPERT FACULTY 

6 


is a 5th degree Black Belt, the CEO and 

Publisher of Martial Arts World News 

Magazine, and the Executive Vice 

President for AMS. In addition to building 

a successful multi-school organization, 

Master Milroy has positively influenced 

more martial arts schools than virtually 

anyone in our industry. 

12 


has authored more than 20 books, 

worked as a bodyguard for the Dalai 

Lama, supervised over 30 school locations 

worldwide, and was named, “One of 

the 10 Most Influential Living Martial Artists 

in the World” by Black Belt Magazine. 

60 

Mr. Sean Lee 

is the Executive Director of Sales and 

Marketing for hundreds of martial arts 

schools and specializes in online and social 

media marketing using his extensive 

professional experience in sports and 

martial arts marketing, contract negotiation, 

and investment. 

64 


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 


is an 9th 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. 

60 


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. 

66 


is the most successful martial arts business 

leader in the US, having written 

over 30 books on martial arts, business, 

leadership, and success. He has won 

numerous public service awards and is 

the founder of the leading martial arts 

marketing and management company in 

the US. 

70 


is a 7th degree black belt in Kenjutsu, 

starting his 14-year education in Tokyo. 

He has published five books and designed 

a US Patent. Abbott has also 

conducted seminars in over 30 countries 

and obtained his black belt at the Hombu 

dojo in Yokohama. He currently offers 

online classes on LearntheSword.com. 



72 


is a 9th degree black belt and is the 

founder and CEO of Mile High Karate 

schools, and founder of the Martial Arts 

Wealth Mastery Program. 

74 


is one of the pioneers of Brazilian Jiu 

Jitsu in the United States of America. 

Currently a Coral Belt, and promoted 

to Black Belt by Carlos Gracie Junior, 

Carlos Machado came to the USA in the 

early 1990’s with his brothers where they 

formed the RCJ Machado Jiu Jitsu Association, 

one of the strongest & growing 

BJJ organizations in the world today. 

78 


is known as “America’s Leading Personal 

Safety Expert” and has appeared on 

Good Morning America, The CBS Morning 

Show, The Colbert Report, Montel, 

plus in mainstream publications such as 

Family Circle, Redbook, Fortune Magazine, 

and The Wall Street Journal. 

80 

Professor Willie “The BAM” Johnson 

is a 7th degree black belt and seven-time 

sport karate and Kung-Fu world champion. 

He has appeared in four movies, 

16 plays, and 11 television shows. He is 

also the national spokesperson for the 

Stronger than Drugs Foundation and the 

Champions Against Drugs. 

82 


is an Intuitive Business Coach, awardwinning 

professional speaker, and TV 

personality who has counseled and 

trained over a million people throughout 

her career. Lee is Stephen Oliver’s 

Martial Arts Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire 

Smarts Coach and is also a best-selling 

author of educational resources. 

86 


is the CEO and General Manager of the 

Budo International Publishing Company, 

a leading publisher in the martial arts 

with over 35 years in the industry. He 

is also author of several books: The 

Immaterial Dimension, The Way of the 

Warrior, and The Spirit. He currently lives 

in Valencia, Spain. 

88 

Mr. Sun Kang 

is the President of Vision Martial Arts 

Supply who helps school owners all over 

the US maximize their retail sales and 

drive more revenue into their schools. 

90 


is a 6th degree master instructor and 

owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer 

camp programs. 



92 


is a 9th degree black belt and is a martial 

arts educator with a master’s degree in 

education. He has been instrumental 

in developing two industry-changing 

programs, and has directed and been 

featured in hundreds of martial arts videos 

and webinars. 

94 


is a martial artist specializing in Karate, 

Kung Fu, Kenpo, Shoto-kan, and Gojurue, 

with 40 Super Kick Karate locations, 

and founder of AFKA. World champion 

Lawrence also runs the Black Belt Success 

Systems consulting firm, training 

martial arts instructors on proper business 

practices in schools all over the country. 

96 


the American Samurai, is a 9th Dan black 

belt, a USA Karate Federation gold medalist, 

winner of five Super Grand National 

Titles, a featured actor in the movie Sidekicks, 

and is the founder of the National 

Sport Karate Museum. 

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 


has amassed acclaim as a world-class 

competitor, martial arts educator, and is 

most notably founder and designer of 

the internationally renowned style, Bushi 

Ban. With over 45 years of martial arts 

experience and over 300 martial arts 

awards, his schools include ten locations 

across Texas. 

104 

Ms. Chris Lee 

is a martial arts business development 

consultant with a background in online 

and social media marketing. 

98 


is an 8th degree black belt and is the 

President of a multimillion-dollar, multischool 

organization, has a 30-year track 

record of success, and is currently on the 

leading edge of martial arts curriculum 

and business innovation. 

106 

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. 


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NINJA BUSINESS TACTICS 

A Dream Life Indeed 

by An-Shu Stephen Hayes 

Going on 72, at this stage of my life and career, I am happy to say I am accomplishing 

what was most motivating and stirring to me as a child. 

I was driven by two quests. One – I wanted to know how to handle 

cruel, brutal, and dangerous bullies and victimizers in order to 

do my part to bring more peace, joy, and kindness into the world. 

Two – I longed to understand the big beyond-understanding spiritual 

questions that have haunted humanity since time immemorial 

– what makes a life meaningful, why is there evil in the world, 

where do we go after life? 

I was so fortunate. Stepping stone by stepping stone, for over 

50 years, I studied the martial arts and developed what for me 

were the breakthrough answers for how to take down vicious and 

hate filled enemies of peace, gentleness, and goodwill. Based on 

the Togakure Ryu ninja Soto Tonko no Kata, the highest levels of 

my To-Shin Do offer ways to approach dealing with violence in an 

age when adversaries had reached new levels of cruelty, 

and court judgements regarding self defense had 

reached the extremes of abject nonsensicality. 

I was so blessed. Chasing around the world 

for over 50 years, I pursued the great spiritual 

traditions of antiquity and found what for me 

were the leads to grasping the answers to 

the timeless questions of how to live a life 

of depth and purpose. A strange amalgam 

of truly understanding the point of Tibetan 

Vajrakilaya practice and pursuit of the Japanese 

approach of Shugendo brought me to an understanding 

that half (or more?) of our troubles in 

life come from the inside out. 

At this point in my career 

of searching for truth and 

verifying it by teaching 

others, I have attained 

the “exciting peace” 

of fulfillment, contentment, 

and exhilaration. 

That certainly does not 

imply that I am done, that I have all the answers, that I have finished 

my exploration. I am sure more tests and discoveries lie ahead of 

me, both elevating and heartbreaking. But life has brought me to 

a place of deep meaning and understanding. I have been on the 

right 2-fold track for my entire adult life. I am doing what I set out to 

do, so many decades ago. 

At this stage, after so many battles won (and a few lost) I can 

see the important value of having a mind that is open to everything 

and attached to nothing. There are ever more new things to realize. 

There are so many attachments to let go of. Newer bigger answers 

will require a bigger mind to handle. Attachments – such as 

the need to be right, the urgency to own something or someone, 

to win at all costs, to be seen by others as superior – are chains 

that pull us down. 

This open mindedness can admittedly seem confusing to my 

friends. They may expect me to be firmly definitive in how I run 

my programs and seminars. They may assume I have figured it all 

out, I’ve covered all the bases, and know exactly what and how to 

present to folks. They may be frustrated that I ask more questions 

of people than give answers. I want to know what people want to 

know. You tell me. 

I have had a great trip for my life. I am so lucky to be fulfilling 

the dreams of my childhood. I can say I have never worked a day 

in my life; I have enjoyed daily pursuing my passions. I have ended 

up with the career of my dreams, the friends of my dreams, married 

to my dream girl for 41 years, blessed by the children and grandchildren 

of my dreams, lived in the house of my dreams, drove the 

cars of my dreams, traveled to the places I once only dreamed of. 

And certainly, granted, that could all be gone tomorrow. But I am 

enjoying these things today. 

Only one thing left now. How do I get a bigger audience of 

people tuned in to enjoying this path alongside me? 

How can I help more people help more people make the world 

a more beautiful place? 

You tell me. 

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 


You Don’t Need a Degree in 

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Raising 4 Dimensional Children in a 2 

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how a child’s brain develops, year by 

year. Even the youngest members of your 

staff will understand which activities are 

appropriate for which age groups, which 

activities are not, and why. 

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

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

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

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

Does Your School Need A TikTok 

Platform Account? 

If you do a quick Google search on social media trends for 

2022 and beyond, the first trend that will pop up repeatedly 

is the expected growth of TikTok. Currently, 

Instagram holds the first spot for social marketers 

and has been giving the highest return on investment, 

but things are changing. This is sure to have 

an impact on the martial arts industry as well. 

According to Hootsuite, Instagram’s active users in 

2020 grew at a 6% rate, but in 2021 from January to September 

TikTok grew from 689 million to over a billion 

users which was a 45% increase. Also, Google search 

trends show TikTok has gone up by 173%, but Instagram 

reels have only climbed by 22% and Instagram stories 

have declined by 33%. 

In 2020-2021 TikTok presented business tools like 

business profiles, ads, and a creator marketplace. To quote 

Hootsuite, “If brands aren’t flocking to TikTok yet, they will 

be soon. We recommend being at the front of the wave rather 

than behind it.” 

The 2022 Tribeca Film Festival 

Awards An Inspirational 

Martial Arts Film 

film called “The Cave of Adullam” 

won the best documen- 

A 

tary award. The film which was 

produced by Laurence Fishburne 

featured Detroit’s Cave of Adullam 

Transformational Training Academy 

and its Instructor Jason Wilson’s 

efforts to help young students 

build character for living in a tough 

world. The Martial Arts School was 

founded in 2008 and has a special 

mission in the community. 

Instructor Wison’s teaching methods have not only inspired the 

children in his community but also 3.2 million viewers of a video of 

him teaching on Youtube. The video inspired the television show 

“This Is Us” to create a similar scene in one of its episodes. At the 

Tribeca Festival Wilson was described as “living by the mantra it’s 

easier to raise boys than to repair broken men.” 

Martial Arts World Magazine also gives Two Big Thumbs Up! 

Here’s the video: https://youtu.be/ooAOc9Fwg0U 

From Humble Beginnings 

to Iconic Status 

W 

henever the nunchaku is mentioned, martial artists usually 

will recall fight scenes of Bruce Lee from any of his legendary 

movies. The speed, accuracy, innovation, and charisma in 

how he used nunchakus on the silver screen has inspired much 

imitation over the years. Even though his use of the weapon may 

have introduced it to the world and popularized it, the nunchaku 

is a traditional Japanese weapon that is commonly said to have 

been developed by humble farmers in Okinawa. 

Although the true origin is unclear, the most popular story 

told is that at a time when invading Japanese warlords banned 

conventional weapons in Okinawa, the farmers converted their 

tools into weapons to defend themselves. This tale suggests 

the nunchaku came about from an agricultural flail used to strike 

rice, wheat, and soy to remove husk from the grains. It was made 

from two sticks, one longer stick and one shorter flatter stick 

connected by a flexible joint, sometimes made of metal links. 

Another story on the origin of the nunchaku is that it is based 

on Okinawan clappers used by watchmen at night as warning signals 

that disasters were impending. Regardless, of the enigmatic 

and humble origins of the nunchaku, it’s popularity as a weapon 

for training and demonstrations along with those legendary movies 

has made it an iconic weapon. 


Dave Kovar Promoted to 9th 

Degree at ProMAC 

International Conference 

F 

or the first time since COVID 

hit 3 years ago, a ProMAC 

International Conference was 

held and it was truly memorable. 

Attendance was great, speakers 

were world class, and feature 

guests were some of the top 

Martial Arts industry leaders. In 

addition, the event was highlighted 

by Hanshi Dave Kovar 

being promoted to 9th degree black belt, an honor well deserved. 

While the event gave participants a renewed passion and new 

tools to help take their schools to even higher levels, it was more 

than the typical conference. On Friday night of the event, Hanshi 

Kovar was presented with the promotion by Grandmaster Fred 

Degerberg. That alone would be a great honor, but he was further 

honored by it being witnessed by Grandmaster Ray Arquilla, Hanshi 

Bruce Juchnik, Grandmaster Ernie Reyes Sr and Shihan Mikio 

Nishiuchi, along with 340 of his closest friends. 

Martial Arts World News Magazine also extends our congratulations 

to Hanshi Kovar. 

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

Martial Arts 

Celebrity Birthdays 

July 

July 3. ............................Bolo Yeung 

July 24. ......................... Dan Inosanto 

July 26. ........................Jason Statham 

July 27. ...........................Donnie Yen 

July 31. ........................ Wesley Snipes 

August 

August 3. ........................... Gary Lee 

August 22. .......................... Bob Wall 

August 23. .......................... Ray Park 


INDUSTRY INNOVATIONS 

Secure Your Financial Future With 

AMSkids After School Martial Arts 

Since your martial arts school is your financial future, you need 

proven tools to make sure that you secure it. AMSkids is a 

longstanding after school martial arts program with a proven track 

record that works like a GPS that will guide you to higher profits 

and better students by providing you with the tools and resources 

you need to reach your goals. 

AMSkids provides you with a complete start-up kit that will take 

you from A to Z with a step-by-step guide. Additionally, you’ll have 

access to minute-by-minute instructional guides and many powerful 

support tools. Anyone who can follow simple instructions can easily 

start this highly profitable business that has enabled many martial 

arts school owners find peace of mind relative to their finances. 

The program also includes a pre-planned character-building 

curriculum, program director operational plans, parent and student 

motivational newsletters, “Done for You” enrollment options, a 

teens program called Leaders Edge, and so many other amazing 

options to ensure success. 

AMSkids after school martial arts offers you a clear roadmap to 

success that will allow you to futureproof your martial arts school and 

provide a better service so you can make a positive impact on the 

lives of students who will become the leaders of tomorrow’s world. 

These resources and tools have proven to be effective and 

were designed by martial arts school owners who understand 

exactly what anyone needs to grow their own after school program 

and take hold of financial success. 

To learn more visit ourams.com/afterschool 


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 

Learn The Sword: Brings Japanese 

Swordsmanship Training 

Into the 21st Century 

Do you want to learn swordsmanship or add a program to your curriculum? 

What’s better than learning it from a master with over four decades of 

experience! Shihan Dana Abbott, a Black Belt Hall of Famer and a renowned 

expert in Japanese swordsmanship, is offering a unique and ideal opportunity 

for sword training online. His Learn The Sword is an easy to use platform for 

martial arts school owners or instructors to learn this skill and teach it to their 

students. 

With his online training courses, you can now learn Japanese 

swordsmanship sitting anywhere in the world. It is a comprehensive 

course designed to help anyone learn from basics to advanced 

techniques. 

Shihan Abbott uses both traditional and contemporary learning 

methods in order to help anyone learn swordsmanship. 

A great feature is that you will always have access to your 

instructor and won’t be left on your own to simply watch the 

training videos. The instructor is there to help you throughout your 

training and discuss any issue you can encounter during training 

with him and to give you the guidance you need, when you 

need it. 

To learn more about this program visit 

LearnTheSword.com and enroll yourself in. 

Otomix Has Shoes and A Whole Lot MORE 

Sometimes it gets difficult for you to find a high quality and 

durable pair of martial arts training shoes, but Otmix has got 

your feet covered. As a martial arts school owner or instructor, you 

won’t only find shoes, but you also will be able to find all sorts of 

martial arts gear at the Otomix online store for school’s needs. 

There are plenty of exciting high quality products available 

at affordable prices. When you visit Otomix.com you will see a 

catalog of resources ranging from uniforms, sparring gear, belts, 

carrying bags, workout pants, t-shirts, and of course shoes. There 

are wholesale opportunities, a “wear now pay later” feature, and 

deals of the day.” 

Otomix understands that martial arts training requires sturdy, 

comfortable, and superior grip shoes. Therefore, it promises to provide 

the best pair of shoes without compromising on quality. 

The website’s interface is very user-friendly and you will not 

have any difficulty in finding the product of your choice. 

Head to Otomix.com to see more of what they have to offer for 

your martial arts business needs. 

18 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 4 

Photograph by cynoclub (top left)

www.WhosWhoInTheMartialArts.com/nominate

SOCIAL 411 

The Core Components of a Strong SEO 

Strategy: Content 

We continue with the SEO Core Components series and we 

will be focusing on content. Content is the star of the show 

because it’s what people look for when they make a search, and 

therefore is what Google (and other search engines) use to determine 

how relevant your martial arts school site is to their query. It 

is the information that will allow people to solve a problem or make 

a choice. 

Your martial arts school website contains content of different 

formats, such as blog posts, videos, product recommendations, 

paragraphs of text, headlines, images, navigation elements, pages, 

listings, and much more. When it comes to SEO the content, the 

structure of the content, the keywords used in the content, and how 

‘relevant’ that content is to the person searching, are some of the 

most important factors and it affects visibility greatly. 

Find the Right Keywords 

SEO is not just about bringing visitors to your website, it’s about 

attracting your target audience; the people who are most 

interested in what you’re offering, and who will make the best 

customers. However, you can’t possibly do that if your website 

doesn’t rank for the right keywords those people are using on their 

queries. 

If you want potential martial arts students to find your school, 

you need to figure out what phrases your potential customers will 

use in their searches. 

That’s where keyword research comes in, which is the process 

of identifying the terms and topics that are relevant to your business. 

Then, you can make keywords out of them and research to 

find related terms that your potential customers would use. It’s 

clear, by our research, that key phrases like “Martial Arts in YOUR 

CITY NAME”, “Karate Lessons in YOUR CITY NAME”, and similar 

phrases are a great place to start. Once you have a list of keywords, 

you have to work on optimization. 


Photographs by Be-Art (top) and Eugene Zvonkov (bottom)

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SOCIAL 411 

Optimize Your Pages 

On-page optimization or on-page SEO will allow search 

engines to understand the topics and keywords of your 

pages and then map them to relevant searches. To optimize your 

pages, you need to take your keywords and use them strategically 

throughout your pages. 

That includes URLs, H1 tags, meta-title, meta-descriptions, page 

text, image file names, and ALT tags. Of course, optimizing a page 

is not just about placing the keywords throughout the page. 

You also have to consider the length of your content, use 

external and internal links that are relevant, and consider adding 

multimedia elements such as diagrams, video, audio, and more. 

The general rule is, to write your content to be easily consumed 

and understood by human readers, but to always be conscious of 

how search engines ‘work’. 

All of these elements will help you boost your martial arts marketing 

and rank higher on search engine results. In the next article, 

we will discuss links, which is another important SEO hotspot you 

need to focus on! 

The Importance of Content for Visibility 

There are two reasons why content makes such a huge difference 

in search visibility. First, it’s what people want whenever 

they look for something. The more, good quality, keyword rich 

content you create for your website, the higher your chances of 

ranking higher on the search engine. 

Second, content is what search engines analyze to determine 

how to rank your pages. The relevancy between your content and 

search queries are essential. When the algorithm crawls a page, it 

determines the topic and analyzes factors such as length and structure 

to assess the quality of the content. 

Based on that, it will match a page with the person’s search. This 

is why it’s essential to optimize your content for SEO and the best 

first step is always keyword research. 

22 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 4 

Photographs by HYWARDS (top) and tumsasedgars (bottom)

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LAWRENCE ARTHUR 

FOUNDER & GRAND MASTER 

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

Retreat. We are hosting this retreat to give our students, instructors 

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This retreat will have something for everyone to take your skills to the 

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on Sport Karate, Self Defense and iKali, you will be able to earn your 

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

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to a beautiful newly renovated Hotel and Convention Center to 

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meet new friends, expand your knowledge, and have fun with 

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

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COMMUNITY 

“Helping Our Missing Sisters.” 

By Karen Eden Herdman 

Thousands of Native American and indigenous women from the U.S and Canada have 

gone missing over the past several years. The ones who return do so in a body bag… 

murdered. We’re talking about girls as young as twelve years of age and women well 

into their 30’s. 

My name is Karen Eden Herdman. I am of native descent myself, 

and I also have 7 black belts. I am humbled to be a rare female 

grandmaster of martial arts. My way of helping with this cause is 

to personally go into tribal areas and teach native women how to 

defend themselves. 

It’s unfortunate that Native Americans seem to remain so below 

the radar when it comes to dealing with their horrific issues. How 

can this be happening? Where do these women go? And why does 

this country’s officials care so little about it? I’ve pondered these 

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There are rumors about an underground sex trade taking these 

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areas, it would be easy to take someone…anyone, and leave very 

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A Navajo woman came up to me and told me that her 17-yearold 

sister has been missing for several years. No one knows a 

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hands-on, basic…yet very effective 10-step self-defense class that I 

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tie-wraps. Many of these U.S government instructors will volunteer 

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In the end, I have my faith, my God. I pray for protection for 

myself and these very worthy sisters of mine…and I ask you to do 

the same. “Wado (Thank you.”) 

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Tang Soo Do. She is also multi-ethnic, including Cherokee and American 

Indian. Karen has written for every major martial arts magazine across 

the globe. She is also a long-standing magazine columnist and has 4 

books out. If you would like to book her for a speaking engagement in 

regalia, you can contact her at kareneden@centurylink.net 


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AN OUTSTANDING LEADER 

ADVANCING TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS 

GLOBALLY 

GRAND MASTER 

G.K. LEE 

From 0 to More than 200 Schools in 18 Months, is the GTMA 

the Fastest Growing Martial Arts Organization in History, and 

What Are Their Keys to Success? 

Grand Master Lee began his martial arts training when he was in the second 

grade and by the time he was 12 years old he had earned his first black belt 

in Tang Soo Do. He served his country in the military for 4 years in the Korean 

Army where he also taught Taekwondo. When he was 26 years old left 

South Korea to come to the United States. With many accomplishments for 

his efforts, Grand Master Lee introduced Protech to the traditional Songahm 

curriculum, became the 4th presiding president of the ATA organization, 

and earned his 9th degree black. Now he has taken the lead once again 

to present an exciting new organization for traditional martial arts called 

Global Traditional Martial Arts which is on a mission to provide a place for 

and pass along the old traditions while also moving into the future.

COVER STORY 

MAWN: Thank you Grand Master GK Lee, Chief Master Kathy 

Lee, and GTMA CEO Jeff Nodleman for sharing with our industry. 

It’s really been fascinating to watch what you guys have been 

accomplishing over the last couple of years. It would be beneficial 

for our readers in the Martial Arts industry to get a good sense of 

what you’ve been building. Grand Master Lee, please tell us about 

yourself and where you’re from, and the direction the ship you’re 

steering is heading. Explain how you got started in the Martial Arts, 

what your early life was like, where you are now and what brought 

you to that place. 

GL: I was originally born and raised in South Korea and resided 

there for 26 years. My family has been involved with Tae Kwon 

Do for a very long time. So from a young age I learned from my 

family and my original instructor as well. At 26 I moved to the 

United States and have been here ever since. I worked for the ATA 

organization for a long time. In fact, I was also the fourth presiding 

Grand Master in the organization. Eventually, to further advance 

traditional Martial Arts, we had a separation and we began Global 

Traditional Martial Arts (GTMA). 

MAWN: A lot of the folks that we work with and we talk with 

are first generation immigrants from Korea in the Tae Kwon Do 

community. You were born during a time when Korea was emerging 

from a post-war mentality and the culture was really disrupted 

from all of that. You came from that environment to the US and 

have accomplished so much since you’ve been here. How do you 

think that that kind of childhood and your development in Korea 

influenced the direction you took and where you’re taking this new 

organization? 

GL: I learned from so many first generation Grand Masters. 

These Grand Masters started during the invasion, when Japan 

took over Korea for 36 years. During that time was when my 

instructors learned, so we had a very hardcore type of training, 

not like here in the US. You guys have it very easy because you 

can easily get into a school by just paying money. Back then, we 

learned in a totally different way. We had to be very loyal. It was not 

about just having money and paying. My time was very different 

than these days. 

First, the school was very far away so I had to go very early in 

the morning to learn, and then I had to go to my academic school. 

Today, you guys have a nice mat, but in the old days we had a hard 

floor that was hard wood. In the Winter time there was no insulation 

underneath from the cold weather. Then in the Spring and 

Summer, we almost never came out in the early morning. Normally, 

we would do one hour of morning training, then go to school 

riding on a public transportation bus and to go to school all day. 

We would come home at 9:30 in the evening. Unlike kids today, 

who come home around three o’clock, we had to stay there all 

day. We had to take two lunchboxes. It was totally different. Even 

instructors in the US have not had to go through much of that kind 

of toughness. 

Now these days, there is a more ‘sport’ like culture in some 

martial arts. When I was learning, it was always about having 

respect for our seniors. We could not hit our seniors, so we were 

always controlling ourselves. These days they just hit each other, 

but we had to be very respectful with our seniors and our juniors. 

Today all we do is sports, but not at that time. We had to have a really 

strong mental toughness, not just focus on physical things.The 

mentality was totally different. 

Grand Master G.K. Lee shares his wisdom, gained over more than 50 years in the Martial Arts through the New GTMA Organization. 


COVER STORY 

Grand Master G.K. Lee welcomed to one of the many GTMA locations he’s toured since the launch of the organization. 

The first generation was very tough because they faced war all 

the time. I was very lucky because I met so many good instructors 

who were really knowledgeable. My seniors were a little bit different 

because they had a very strong ego and were prideful. They 

felt they had a special kind of Tae Kwon Do as the first generation 

who learned from Japanese masters. That’s why they felt they always 

had to win, which comes from Japanese culture. It’s why the 

first generation always held back and never showed their feelings. 

They lived in a time of war, so their history is so different from mine 

because they were born on a battlefield. That’s why many Korean 

Masters are very, very tough guys. They are also very sad and 

don’t want to talk about their history or their pasts. This is why the 

first generation teachers are tough guys and want to teach really 

hard. It’s really different from here and today. 

JN: I would like to add some things about the G-Shim style of 

Tae Kwon Do that GTMA is practicing now. We’ve created a very 

modern curriculum, specifically tailored for today’s market, for today’s 

students, and for the realities of today’s culture. We have six 

color belt poomse forms and there are also nine black belt forms. 

Grand Master, put a little bit of that toughness into these forms. 

Everybody that has seen or done them notices that they’re very 

different. There’s also a difference that is an intangible thing you 

can’t see, taste, or touch, but you know it’s there. The application 

to some of the techniques are not just performance based. There 

is real self defense and real strength in a lot of these poomses. 

Which also makes them a lot more enjoyable to do for someone 

that’s got bad knees, bad hips, bad back, and falls down a lot. I 

feel strong doing them personally as a martial artist and watching 

martial artists that are actually good at these types of things. You 

can see that there’s an intent to every one of these types of strikes. 

It’s not about memorization or the performance. These are actual 

quality techniques that are practical. 

GL: I’m very lucky. My family is considered one of the top 

Martial Arts families in the world. Also I have 54 years of time and 

I have had many great instructors. So I’ve got about 50 years of 

study and deep research which are put into GTMA. Most founders 

in the early years of their life develop a Martial Art, but for me it’s 

after 50 years. I’m 65 and currently developing all the forms and 

many other valuable things. We even begin with the basics like 

your breathing and posture. I’m very proud of GTMA. 

Anyone from five to ninety years old can do the same format. 

It’s a pretty friendly form for the whole body. It’s very good for body 

functions. I’m very fortunate to pass this on. My senior instructor 

gave me so many great things, and finally I can put it into a package 

to give to my juniors. That’s why I’m very pleased, because it’s 

a great opportunity to give my juniors so they can learn forever. 

I’m not changing the name, it’s still Tae Kwon Do being passed 

on and continuing to be a better product. It makes me very happy 

because I can help people. I felt very humbled and had much 

pain when I left my family, but God gave me a great opportunity 

to give back and to pass this on. This makes me one of the most 

fortunate people. 

A lot of organizations, in the early days, got off track because 

they became so closed off that they are not open to curriculum, 

material, and learning things from outside of their own organization. 

It’s like a top down only leadership model that can be incredibly 

bad, because it means all knowledge must flow through me. 

You become the lid of the organization. But when you take the 

lid off the jar, you are freed up to encourage people and build a 

continued on page 40 


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COVER STORY 

Grand Master G.K. Lee addresses the Leaders of GTMA about the future and goals of the organization. 

continued from page 37 

culture that gets people to go find useful material, curriculum with 

character enrichment, and integrate them rather than reject useful 

things just because they didn’t come from you or your organization. 

So now G-Shim Tae Kwon Do is the curriculum. It’s the style 

we are now teaching inside the organization which is a rebuilt 

curriculum from the ground up. As a result there are better benefits 

for health and for students of different skill levels as opposed to 

the old ways. 

MAWN: Maybe if you could expand on that: Why would you 

rebuild a curriculum like that? What were the objectives of that? 

And where does that bring us today? 

GL: Some other organizations and their practitioners are more 

sports-oriented which also means more fighting. I have been 

introducing this new curriculum because we don’t want to go 

back to 50 years ago. We are training the Do which means the 

way of living. You are learning the Martial to be mentally in top 

shape and you’re killing other things besides a human opponent. 

You are moving forward in a good way. At the same time, I’m sad 

that some, primarily in non-traditional Martial Arts, are pushing 

themselves in a negative direction because they only want to win 

and beat up somebody, but they are not doing things in the Martial 

Arts “way”. 

Martial arts means you are tough internally and not merely on 

the outside. We don’t want to be a bully, the aggressor, or someone 

who goes to jail. We want to be developing the whole person 

with the Martial Arts, not just teaching people how to fight. Martial 

Arts offers so much more to a student than just physically defending 

themselves, if they ever need to. I don’t want to waste our 

Martial Arts tradition by just going back to 50 years ago by trying 

to prove how tough we are. 

Mas Oyama, just like General Chae, would go out looking for a 

fight, but that changed when he went to China and challenged 10 

masters. From this he came to understand that Martial Arts is not 

just for fighting, but for discipline. His thinking was changed to an 

emphasis on how to be strong internally and how to take care of 

people and self. So now a good Martial Art instructor is very successful 

at teaching both adults and children. Also, they are good 

at teaching how to have that enormous spirit so they never give up 

and at passing on life skills. But those emphasizing only sport and 

competition are not teaching that kind of life skill anymore. 

People disrespect traditional Martial Arts and say they’re useless. 

I want to ask these people, How do you fight with a bear? Do 

you do it with an empty hand? Of course not, we have guns and 

other weapons. We don’t go around fighting bulls, like Oyama did, 

but every day we are fighting inside ourselves to be our best. So in 

G-Shim Tae Kwon Do you train everything physically; empty hands 

and weapons , but more importantly, we train the character, the 

integrity, the spirit, and the wholeness of a person. 

Which means we adjust our curriculum to the needs of the 

student. Now, with G-Shim, you can train if you’re over 50, or under 

7! Times are changing and we have to stay current. We have to 

think about the future, back in the former generation people would 

die at 50 or 60, but now we often live into our 90’s. This is why the 

arts have to update a little bit. We have to update to be better for 

the next generations to learn it. 

You know it’s funny that the Korean Martial Arts don’t get any 

credit. The Japanese say our punching and kicking copied them. 

The Chinese say our weapons were taken from them. All of them 

say we are copycats. As a result our juniors have no identity. But I 


COVER STORY 

have a saying about my training - “I have many Japanese, Chinese 

Masters and friends whom I have learned from and studied with.” 

Still I think about 70% of Martial Arts practiced in the United States 

is based on Korean Martial Arts. 

Bruce Lee had it right when he said to “Absorb what is useful”. 

It’s about the modernization of the arts for where we are today. 

You have to look at society and culture and build something based 

on them and improve it. 

JN: Grand Master specifically chose the name GTMA because 

it’s Global Traditional Martial Arts. It’s plural because you are learning 

from all different styles and funnel it all down into one system, 

which ends up being the G-Shim. One of the innovations Grand 

Master Lee has introduced into G-Shim is the multiple implementation 

of the forms. They can be done either open handed or with a 

weapon because they are designed that way. They can be done 

in a multitude of different ways, depending on where you are and 

what you’re doing. 

KL: As a practitioner myself, I appreciate the difference because 

I’ve been there and I’ve had the opportunity to do it. So the more 

modern technique is great. It’s teacher friendly. It’s user friendly. It’s 

real Martial Arts in a way that I could only have dreamed of wanting, 

but didn’t know. Being able to train with this modern approach 

to curriculum, kicks and punches and more, is easier on my body 

than I ever thought it could be. With this new approach to both 

training and teaching, it is so much better because I can leave the 

classroom without beating my body up. It’s still effective in the real 

world, and does the job that it needs to do, but it’s just in a different 

format that is far more user friendly and teaching friendly. 

JN: I have known Grand Master for well over a decade. One 

thing that was an epiphany for me is that this art was founded later 

in a Grand Master’s career. He built it as he grew, with a solid base 

of knowledge and experience, and started it after 50 years. It’s a 

very interesting thing to hear and will be part of all our marketing 

moving forward. 

MAWN: That’s pretty interesting. Now that we’ve underscored 

what the art of G-Shim style is, let’s talk about the organization in 

general. That’s been a big project, right? How do you execute it? 

How do we bring this product to the masses? How do we get students 

to enjoy this new concept? So when did GTMA start? What 

are its principles and mission, and where are we at now? 

KL: The 3 of us were in the school’s office on January the 4th of 

2020. It was a very special day going forward with the introduction 

of Global Traditional Martial Arts. It was the new and great way that 

we were going to leave our previous organization and become a 

new organization by taking our seven schools that we had in that 

direction. So that’s when and how we started. Then it seemed like 

it was the next day when we started asking who wanted to follow 

Grand Master and they started coming out of the woodwork. They 

were like, “We want to follow him in his direction.” 

JN: However we didn’t even get to Grand Master until April 1st. 

We very quickly started to realize that an organization could be 

created. It’s a group of martial artists that understand the needs of 

the Martial Arts school owners. We are all martial artists, every one 

of us from the CEO down to the Grand Master. Every one of us has 

been on the mats. 

It’s set up because we all understand the challenges of being a 

school owner. It’s a very simple system. It’s not like you have to get 

a license in this. Then you have to certify in that. You have to pay to 

be certified in this. And you have to sign up for this. All of that goes 

out the window, because at the end of the day, people just want 

to operate their schools. They want to be able to say, “Here’s what 

I need from an organization. I need to have this type of structure 

and this type of curriculum and be able to purchase these types of 

items. How do we do that?” So we started with the idea and it was 

Chief Master Lee who said, “The journey continues”. 

That has been our mantra from day one. With any kind of skill 

or lifestyle that you’re learning, the journey is going to continue. 

You start here, you move to here, you gain experiences, you move 

Grand Master G.K. Lee demonstrates a weapons form from the new modern GShim curriculum. 


COVER STORY 

Grand Master G. K. Lee takes pride in the dynamic, modern, new GTMA curriculum, built for student retention and longevity. 

to there. So we’re very excited and thrilled about where we all 

were as martial artists, just as we’re excited about where we’re 

all going to go and who we’re gonna meet along the way. The 

journey continues as a mantra, I think is really very special for us 

as an organization because of who we’ve been meeting along the 

way. Our mission statement is: Love The Art, Preserve The Craft, 

Empower The Future. 

That’s our three step process of what we do first off. We all 

love the art. Everyone is here because we love the art. It’s not 

about the monetization of how we can create a business. This is 

the business we want to be in. Preserving the craft is that we have 

a traditionalist that’s guiding each and every one of us. It was his 

genius that put it together in this G-Shim format. Empowering the 

future is what we’ve done as an organization. We’ve got the best in 

the fields of business, marketing, and finance that all have a Martial 

Arts background to participate with GTMA. So we’re doing it from 

a position of a martial artist which is unlike any other organization. 

Which is why I’m proud to say in our first fiscal year, which was 

January to January, we averaged a new location every 1.9 days. 

That’s Starbucks numbers. 

We got to 200 locations very recently and we’re very excited 

about it. We went from just a group of schools trying to figure out 

what we wanted to do to this full functional, amazing organization 

at fantastic speed. We’re all so grateful and humbled by all 

the support! 

It was, and still is a family based organization. At our very first 

globals, which was in July of last year, we were still in the middle of 

the pandemic and we faced all of the same issues that everybody 

else faced. 

Well, our stuff is in containers in the middle of an ocean somewhere. 

So we printed out over a thousand t-shirts and gave them 

away to people that didn’t have uniforms that said, “No Uniform, 

No Problem. I’m here with my family.” People competed in them. 

People tested in them. Parents loved them because they really 

express what it means to be part of GTMA. While it is a structured 

military Martial Arts organization with respect towards our craft 

and our seniors, there’s also the understanding that we’re all family 

here and we all want each other to succeed. 

MAWN: When we talked last, you described how you have 

this almost binary model where you have the GTMA member 

schools who are using the curriculum and to some degree all the 

operational processes. Then you also have another part of the 

model for affiliates, who maybe are not teaching the curriculum. 

So describe how the organization is structured and how these 

affiliate schools work? 

JN: First, I’ll explain about how we are as an organization. As a 

Martial Arts organization, one of the things that we’re very proud 

about is that Grand Master directed us to not only get more modern 

with the technique, but with the Martial Arts organization. I can 

explain that by saying the biggest boom in Martial Arts history has 

been what The Karate Kid, an entertainment property that everybody 

saw, or every martial artist that’s reading your magazine can 

go back to. And said, “I want to be like Chuck Norris. I want to be 

like Bruce Lee. That was something that I wanted to emulate.” How 

do we incorporate that? Typically as Martial Arts organizations, 

they would glean onto a Mutant Ninja Turtles kind of thing, and go 

to a theater and put out their tent and say, “Come train with us” or 

get those kinds of things. 

We wanted to take a step back as a Martial Arts organization. 

While COVID was a horrible thing, it was a great opportunity for 

all companies and organizations out there because it was like 

Boggle. You had to reshape the board, and let everybody decide 

how they’re gonna run their operations and what they wanted to 

be able to offer their people. So in addition to the curriculum that 

we have, we’ve created programming like our Shadow Moogi Program, 

which is a program for our elementary school kids. They’ve 

got the dragons, the story behind them, and all that kind of stuff 

that goes with it. That could be a comic book and it could be a 

television show. We actually as an organization have a partnership 

with a well known studio, which we can’t talk about right now, 

but at Globals will actually be airing a pilot television show. When 

this magazine comes out, our people will be able to see a GTMA 

co-branded television show. It will be on a subscription on demand 

television network, where they could participate in. 


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COVER STORY 

Grand Master G.K. Lee at a special “family gathering” of GTMA students and leadership. 

We’ve partnered with the Guinness Book of World Records. 

We’re doing a Guinness Book of World Records attempt at our 

global event where all of our students are using the discipline 

and the leadership skills that Grand Master was talking about to 

raise money for our nonprofit, which is the H and L hope foundation. 

It gives grants basically directly to school owners, schools, 

or individuals that have either a physical or cognitive disability. So 

if someone needs an OSHA compliant ramp, we will give them 

a grant to get that done. If someone is working with a child with 

down syndrome and needs special training, we’ll give them a grant 

so they can do that. So we’re offering all these additional things. 

In addition to the Martial Arts side of things,like the ability to buy 

equipment at a better rate. Get uniforms at a better rate because 

you’re buying in bulk. The business training and all that other stuff, 

we have the capability to do all of this. 

So I explained that because we have three tiers. Our first tier 

are the clubs that test under 50 students, every testing cycle. They 

have the rights to the intellectual property, to use the trademarks 

and participate in training. Once you go up to 51 students or more, 

we consider you a school. Our goal is not to tax our people. Our 

goal is to support them the best way we can. 

So the other side of that is our affiliate program. This is what 

we’ve opened up to the rest of the world. There are so many great 

organizations out there that range from a handful of schools to a 

big chunk of schools. They want to affiliate with a group that has 

these types of options. They don’t have the ability to create a television 

show. They don’t have the ability to buy in bulk or get other 

benefits that an organization like our can provide. 

Then there’s our tournament circuit, which we’re very excited 

about has three different levels as well. We’ll have our closed 

tournament circuit, which is just going to be for the GTMA schools. 

We’ll have our invitational tournament circuit where we’ll invite 

schools that we’re working with. One in particular is Carlos Machado 

Jiu Jitsu. They are top notch and we are thrilled to be partnering 

with them. We are actually the only organization whose patch 

he allows to be placed on his uniforms. So we have a co-branded 

Machado GTMA Jiu Jitsu uniform. They are our exclusive Jiu Jitsu 

partners. So when we sell Jiu Jitsu in our schools, it’s actually the 

Machado program. So as a GTMA affiliate or member, you can run 

the Carlos Machado program through your school at a lower rate 

than if you came to it as an individual. Eventually we’ll start hosting 

open tournaments as well. So closed, invitational, and open. 

Which is very exciting because some of the other organizations, 

their strength is their Achilles Heel, is that they keep everything 

so huddled and closed off that they don’t have the opportunity to 

branch out. 

Like Grand Master said, Global Traditional Martial Arts, sees 

all those great different arts and gives those opportunities for the 

school owners. School owners come in every shape, size and 

flavor. Some of them only want to do hardcore and sparring. Some 

of them will only want to do the family friendly stuff. Some of them 

want to do the kids. Some want to do Jiu Jitsu. Some want to do 

Gum Do. So with GTMA as an organization, we can make all those 

partnerships and make it easier for schools to come on board, 

whether they want to teach the G-Shim curriculum, or they want to 

keep their style that they’ve been doing. 

GL: GTMA benefits from very famous people. Bruce Lee and 

Jhoon Rhee, are all my seniors who had good names teaching and 

a great life. So we got a benefit, but our juniors have no benefit. This 

is why I got very upset and a little nervous. Maybe we’re just done 

traditionally. Everything is dominated by MMA. It used to be that 

UFC and championship contests were no big deal to me, but when 

they changed the name and called it a Martial Art. Then traditional 

Martial Arts people have no place to go. Which means we are engaged 

in a strong competition and the cultures are totally different. 

The emphasis is just fighting. Traditional values are gone. As 

a senior, I got so much benefit from my seniors. But now, I want to 

be able to give my juniors something better than they are seeing in 

MMA and other sport focused arts. That’s why we need Traditional 

Global Martial Arts, with Martial Arts instructors who love tradition 

and want to change the world together. There are great competitions 

and tournaments for sport oriented styles, but traditional 

Masters, meaning individual independent Martial Arts have no 

place to go. That’s why we created this. The tournaments and competitions 

we’ve created satisfy the more ‘competitive’ students, 

but also help students explore and express their martial arts in a 

warm, welcoming, supportive environment that’s appropriate for 

everyone. That’s why we name it GTMA so we can pass it on to the 

next generation because I owe it to my seniors. I owe my juniors. 

I need to give them a good format with a solid tournament, so we 


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COVER STORY 

can make heroes. Traditional Martial Arts is our life, so I want to see 

this moving forward. 

JN: Also, the idea that everyone comes together with a place for 

traditional Martial Arts. That’s why in July, our biggest event is called 

Global Celebration. It’s not a world championship, but rather people 

coming together and celebrating the traditional Martial Arts. 

MAWN: Let’s talk about that event. What is it? Who can come, 

who’s invited, what’s it all about, what are the objectives of the 

event, what do people need to know about it? 

JN: So it’s our largest event that we have annually. This is the 

second year that we’re doing it. Last year we had it in Grapevine 

Texas at the Gaylord Hotel. This year it will be in Orlando, Florida at 

the Gaylord Palms Hotel. 

We’re setting a very high bar of quality for what the GTMA 

events are. This one event is a culmination of a lot of different 

things. Our licensees come and there’s physical and business 

training for them. Then our masters come to train together and 

there’s a master’s class. There’s a graduation and we have a master’s 

ceremony which we combine with a very big gala dinner right 

afterwards. 

The Master’s Ceremony is all about family. It’s about the intimate 

thank you between the student and the instructor and the 

bond that they have together. Our families are literally right there, 

you can literally reach out and touch everyone. It’s a beautiful 

ceremony to be a part of and it’s an open ceremony. 

Then we have our tournaments. We have our international 

testing this year. We got over 150 visas from folks coming in from 

South America. We’ve got schools coming in from Europe. We just 

partnered with several schools in South Africa. They’re coming 

from all over, which is great. That’s kind of been the GTMA way. We 

add a lot of fun back into these events. 

One of the first things that I had the honor of doing was designing 

our ceremonial uniforms. We wear these at black belt events, 

testings, and tournaments. Grand Master’s only direction that he 

gave me was “I want to be able to kick in them. I want to be able to 

move around in them.” He didn’t want something that was stuffy 

because if a student came over and asked for his help, he wanted 

to be able to give it to him. That’s the mentality of this organization. 

It’s about not being on different levels, but all being there together 

sharing and trading knowledge and joy of what being a Martial 

Artist truly is. That’s kind of the feeling and the tone, which is why 

we went with celebration. This year obviously we’ve got a special 

event. Plus, there’s a theme park that’s right across the street that 

we may or may not be doing something fun in as well. It’s not a bad 

place to bring your family and it’s a magical spot. 

MAWN: Great. So next, what does the future look like? What’s 

the direction GTMA is heading? What does the future look like? 

What are the goals? What are the objections? 

JN: Right now at the time of this conversation, we’re only 16 

months old with 205 locations in 13 different countries and 33 different 

states. So the future I see is incredibly bright. It’s been really 

exciting because we started very early on with schools wanting 

to come to us for the reason that it was more personable. Now 

very quickly people are noticing that we have a great product. We 

have great leadership and the things that they’re looking for. The 

Grand Master G.K. Lee and a future GTMA Leader. 

decision of why to join GTMA has switched to this is a better opportunity 

for me as a martial artist. Is it an opportunity for me as a 

business owner? There are other reasons to make the choice. 

So the future is that’s the reason people come to us as we continue 

to grow, we are making partnerships with some of the best 

in the industry. More importantly, we’re making partnerships with 

some of the best outside of the industry. We’re looking outside 

into a world where things that wouldn’t necessarily be accessible 

to school owners, now are through GTMA. So as we develop 

these partnerships and start to do these kinds of wonderful things 

and open up our doors, it’s like when Willy Wonka opened up the 

chocolate factory. We want people to be able to come on in and 

enjoy being a martial artist again. 

We say, love what you do again. People that come to our GTMA 

events express, “This is just fun. Again, this is why I started in the 

first place.” Our focus is to keep passion for being a martial artist as 

our core from the headquarter standpoint. So our future is just to 

protect Grand Master’s vision and get as many people in the world 

to meet him. 

So this is why the journey continues. It’s not a disrespect to 

where you were yesterday, but that’s where you were yesterday. 

You’re living today. So if this is what you need now, that’s great. As 

GTMA, we want to be able to provide that for you. We also want to 

provide it for you in the future, but if we can’t, if there’s something 

else you need, there are no chains holding you to this as well. It’s 

an open door. We’re all martial artists and this is what we’re choos- 


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COVER STORY 

Grandmaster G.K. Lee and some of the most talented, experienced leaders in the Martial Arts lead GTMA (Global Traditional Martial Arts) 

The GTMA’s motto - “the Journey Continues” 

ing to do. I think it is a breathe of fresh air for the industry that I 

hope catches on with other organizations. 

It’s about servant leadership. It’s the organization that serves 

the members, not the other way around. It seems intuitive to most 

of us, but often these things get off track. 

MAWN: Yes. That sounds pretty interesting. If you don’t mind, 

let’s talk business for just a moment and let’s extend the servant 

leadership metaphor. So what do you think about this? How would 

you help each individual school be more successful as a business 

and how do you help them retain their students? 

JN: There are some styles of Martial Art that are just really horrible 

for student retention. And there are some styles of Martial Art 

that are really bad for instructors to teach. There are some ways to 

organize memberships or ways to organize business operations 

that are very not productive to running a successful profitable 

school. There are some strategies that are very useful and productive 

for running successful profitable schools. 

G-Shim was created at a point in his career where he already 

knew what he was doing. It wasn’t early on. Even though he was a 

fantastic athlete, this is after decades and decades of experience. 

We’re only 16 months old, but as someone said, we are the most 

established startup company in the history of Martial Arts. Our 

core group, if you put together their years of school ownership, 

would reach in 300 to 400 years of school operations. 

So we’re incorporating types of psychological things in our 

individual backgrounds too. We are striving to create a brand focus 

rather than a personality emphasis. For example, we want to avoid 

the situation where you have an age group that has bonded with 

an instructor. He’s an 18 year old kid that the school owner has to 

keep and hopes he doesn’t go off to college. Because then you’re 

going to have to bring in another instructor or you’re gonna lose a 

student base because they like the instructor and not the style. 

Instead, if we create a brand where everything around relates 

to the brand. You’ll have students enjoying who are anchored into 

more than ‘just’ the training on the mat, but a more holistic solution 

for students. It means we create an environment where they enjoy 

their classes, but then go home and read a children’s book that’s 

got great illustrations in it that reinforces the lesson of discipline 

from class. 

We read a story of Jun So, who is one of our Shadow Moogi 

characters. Now that relationship is now made with Jun So. When 

mom and dad give a kiss good night, and they turn off the lights. 


COVER STORY 

The child may grab a stuffed animal to go to sleep to 

protect them, but who can protect them? It can be 

what they’re learning, so they protect themselves 

with the stuffed animal Jun So. 

These kinds of ideas are built into everything 

that we’ve done. We’ve created a simple system of 

five programs. Everything is designed to integrate 

into the classroom, then extend those lessons into the 

home. 

This helps a school owner that may be a better 

martial artist than they are a business 

person or the one that’s a better business 

person than they may be physically as a 

martial artist. Each one can work within 

this system and not only retain their 

students, upgrade them into different 

programs, and give them other opportunities. 

It is a way to augment 

the skills they have and expand 

their creativity in their own school. 

We have school owners that are 

not GTMA and they’re this or that 

Martial Art, but they can teach 

our stuff. 

We don’t force them to use 

our logo. We want them all to 

use our logo, but we’d like them 

to get to the point where they 

choose that our flag is more recognizable 

and better for them as a business 

owner than their own personal brand. 

We have to prove that to them and that’ll 

come over time. 

So what they’re doing now is they’re 

saying, “I’m this brand of Martial Arts. I use 

GTMA programming. I have access to all 

this great content, and amazing resources 

and I can utilize it, but I choose what I want 

to do.” We’ve created a system where you 

can pick and choose. Some prefer everything 

to be laid out in specific details, so we are 

available for them too. Our license team works 

with each school owner individually. It’s really 

whatever they want or wish to approach it with 

GTMA. Then some go, “I want to be a part of 

the GTMA.” 

Additionally, one of the things that we’ve 

found with the Shadow Moogi program, 

which is really interesting is you’ll get parents 

that come in and say, “My kid listens to you 

better here than they listen to me at 

home.” So one of the things we do 

in the Shadow Moogi program is we 

deputize the parents. So there’s a 

book that they get which they have to get certain stars and 

mechanisms to rank up. But the last star that they need 

to graduate with the school, the school owner gives 

to the parents and they’re given a mission to do it at 

home. The parent is the one that explains the lesson 

supposed to be learned and when it is achieved. 

If they get that star, they get to move on. So we’re 

creating that Martial Arts culture, that traditional core 

of respect and getting the parents in on it as well. So 

it becomes family. That’s what is great about 

Martial Arts, it’s the only sport you can do as 

a family at the same time. 

JL: How we can help the licensees is 

really what we focus on. We are constantly 

focused on solutions for our members’ 

problems, and adding value to their 

programs, because we are martial artists 

for martial artists. We know what it’s like 

in the ‘day to day’, operating schools for 

decades and being responsible for it, 

making the bills, making sure employees 

get paid, taking care of their 

families, and living a good life. It’s part 

of our DNA, not an afterthought. 

We can suggest, “This is difficult 

here, do this, try this. We’re sure you’ll find 

that this is very useful, helpful, and productive 

in your business and you’ll be successful.” 

All we want to do is make sure they’re going 

to be successful. Everything has the goal of 

them having a productive life by enjoying the 

Martial Arts again. 

JN: It’s all about showing respect for 

what we do. You have to walk the walk and 

it starts at the top. It starts with our Grand 

Master. We are running the business like it’s 

been done outside of this industry. Organizations 

this size don’t typically do that 

from my experience. 

GL: The secret is having a passion in 

my heart to motivate my instructors to have 

the same thing. My job is to touch every 

student in the same way. We are very open 

at GTMA, I’m very proud that our students 

and instructors always desire to come see 

me and I welcome them. We spend time 

together, work out together, and sweat together. 

My desire is to pass on knowledge 

and wisdom that I have gained from my 

Masters and connect to future generations. 

I learned from seniors, and always 

want to pass on the great thing I learned 

from them to my juniors. That’s what 

GTMA is all about. 

MAWN: Thank you so much Grand 

Master Lee. 


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SCHOOL PROFILE 

Sensei John Venson – A Traditional Stylist With a Successful Modern Business 

Just For Kicks – A Chicago 

Landmark and Measuring Stick 

for Excellence 

Just For Kicks—The Martial Arts University opened in September, 1970 by Sensei John 

Venson Sr. Since opening, we’ve been honored to serve 4 generations of students in our 

Shuri Ryu Karate-Do system! 

Just For Kicks is an institution of self-improvement with Champions 

in the arena and in life following a blueprint for successful living 

through self-confidence, self-discipline, personal safety, focus 

and perseverance. 

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

bringing to its community? 

JV: For over 50 years we have been teaching life skills. Over 

this time we have also developed many leaders in the school and 

in the community by teaching leadership skills. Additionally, we are 

helping young people with building up their social skills so they 

can be productive and have better interpersonal relationships. 

MAWN: What are the most effective marketing systems you 

use in your school to attract new leads? 

JV: Our marketing is primarily done through two methods. 

First, we get a number of leads and sign ups through our professional 

school website. Secondly and hugely important, because it 

demonstrates the satisfaction of our current students, is marketing 

by word of mouth. 

MAWN: Which of your programs are helping participants the 

most and what are the benefits? 

JV: Of course, urban life is not easy so to aid the adults in our program 

we are seeing them gaining health & fitness along with stress 

management skills. For our younger students, they are learning Bully- 

Proof self-defense because this is a major issue for them, but they are 

also gaining better fitness and life skills that help produce success. 

MAWN: Do you have a lead generating website and what 

about it has been most productive regarding leads? 

JV: Yes our school does have a website designed to bring in 

leads. The most productive and lead generating items on our 

website are our lead capture offers available for each program 

and the testimonials from our clients which strongly bear witness 

to the benefits of our classes for current students and encourage 

prospects to try them out. 

MAWN: Do you use a management software and what features are 

providing the best benefits for running your school more efficiently? 

JV: Yes, we use ATLAS Martial Arts Software with AMS. 

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

owners for having success in business? 

JV: Treat customers as you would wish to be treated if you 

were the client. Don’t get discouraged just because every lead 

does not turn into a sign up. Provide truthful and informative data 

on your website. 

MAWN: Thanks for your tremendous long standing and outstanding 

example. 


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Olympic Taekwondo Academy: 

Educating Tomorrow’s Leaders 

Through Martial Arts 

Master Sunmi Jung has been the head instructor of the Olympic Taekwondo 

Academy which has had two branch locations in Connecticut since 2009. The 

academy has a solid foundation of helping children develop strong character as a 

partner in education and families building tight bonds through a traditional martial arts 

curriculum over the last decade. 

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

school is bringing to its community? 

SJ: We provide Taekwondo classes to public elementary 

schools to increase children’s self-esteem and to 

have a positive impact on schools, families, and society 

by learning manners. 

Our school has established and coached the competition 

and Poomsae teams that foster the national 

youth professional athletes to promote Taekwondo in 

the CT area. 

MAWN: What are the best producing marketing strategies 

you use and what amount of leads are generated 

from them monthly? 

SJ: We primarily utilize all sorts of social media ads to 

promote the school. Our efforts usually produce about 

20 new lead prospects every month. 

MAWN: What programs are having the most impact 

for your school and what are the benefits to the participants? 

SJ: We provide martial arts for kids, adults, families, 

and our Little Tiger program with a goal of equal education 

based on love. Since children are the light and future 

of the world we have a great emphasis upon character 

building for future leaders. 

MAWN: Do you have a lead generating website and 

what about it has been most productive regarding leads? 

SJ: Yes, we utilize an Amazing Martial Arts website that is part 

of the package deal with ATLAS Martial Arts Software. 

MAWN: Do you use a management software and what features are 

providing the best benefits for running your school more efficiently? 

SJ: Again we have ATLAS, which makes things convenient to 

link social media channels and websites, plus it is very convenient 

for delivering information by rank through an automation system. 

In addition to guidance, it’s good at solving many of the necessary 

parts of school management. 

Master Sunmi Jung 

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

owners to have greater success in their businesses? 

SJ: Professional business marketing and management are 

not the only factors of success. We must also always be confident 

in our beliefs as educators. “What we can do best is to teach students 

physical training and mental training. And it is to train them 

to exert a good influence on society.” Therefore, I think I have what 

customers need, and I see good results when I increase my selfesteem 

by focusing on the fact that I am a Martial Artist. 


We provide integrity-based coaching and 

community resources to busy martial arts 

school owners that save you time and 

grow your business. 

MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TODAY 

VISIT WWW.KOVARSYSTEMS.COM

TEAMWORK 

4 Tips to Boost Your Social Media 

by Hanshi Dave Kovar 

It’s fair to say a lot of us would rather be training or instructing on the mat than spending 

time hunched over our computers on Facebook. 

But of course with their popularity, 

we can’t ignore the potential for 

growth using these ever evolving 

social media platforms. No matter how 

much some of us may try to avoid the 

digital frontiers, the truth we face is 

that in order to grow the attendance 

at our martial arts schools we must 

be willing to communicate where the 

students and parents are 

found most frequently. 

Today we will 

navigate just a short 

distance into the 

vast web that is 

social media. Here are some tips to help you 

venture into the world… 

1. Make sure you have your profile 

complete. 

The more information you provide 

to your viewers the easier it will be 

for them to find you. Make sure 

everything is filled out, you’ve 

added your own pictures, and 

all contact information is up-todate. 

Just like your martial arts 

school, you don’t want things 

to be half-presented. Think of 

your online profiles as your 

internet storefront. 

2. Interact with your 

social media networks. 

Being active and engaging 

is important. If a school that is 

always closed, is a school that 

will close—then a social media 

network that is never social, will 

never produce a return. Engage 

the audience and reply to comments 

and questions. 

3. Have visually appealing 

content. 

Sometimes all it takes is the 

same message in another format. 

Not everyone responds to plain 

text posts. Decide what messages 

need extra attention, then 

use more images, videos, or graphics to further drive the point you 

want to make. 

4. Be consistent with your brand. 

Understand that wherever you are, you want to keep a professional 

and consistent message just as you might at your school. 

Think to yourself, “Would I want my students and/or parents to see 

this profile?” You should always consider and be aware that your 

audience could and should be your students. Likewise, for logos, 

photos, and all content you share—keep to the same rules and 

make sure it stays true to your brand and welcoming to anyone 

you’d like to have as a student. 

These are just a few tips to help ease you into your social 

media marketing. If you can at least do 1 or 2 of these techniques, 

you may be surprised at how this will launch you ahead of many 

competitors already. However, the more time you put into these 

platforms will directly impact the value of your returns. The more 

time you spend, the more value you will see in new leads, developing 

community, and local networking. 

HANSHI DAVE KOVAR is an 9th degree black belt and recognized as the “Trainer of Trainers.” Hanshi 

Dave Kovar is an internationally acclaimed instructor with black belt degrees in ten different martial arts styles. His 

systems have been implemented in hundreds of schools around the US. 


Photograph by stnazkul (top)

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SEEKING STORIES! 

Martial Arts World News Magazine is the definitive source 

for information, news, education, ethical business 

practices, product reviews and innovative developments in 

the world of martial arts business. 

We are always on the lookout for notable, engaging and 

valuable stories for our readers! 

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

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

hear about it! 


Contact us at: 407-895-1996 

or Email Editor@MartialArtsWorldNews.com

MIND MASTERY 

Exploring the Subconscious 

Mind, Part 1 

by Grandmaster Jessie Bowen 

Why not explore your subconscious mind? We explore caves, dig for things from the 

past, we even explore outer space trying to discover new planets or what’s really out 

there. So why not explore your own mind? 

The brain is an organ, but the mind is not. The brain is the physical 

place where the mind resides. ... The mind is the manifestation 

of thought, perception, emotion, determination, memory, and 

imagination that takes place within the brain. Mind is often used to 

refer especially to the thought processes of reason. 

The human brain is unique: Our remarkable cognitive capacity 

has allowed us to invent the wheel, build the pyramids, and land on 

the moon. In fact, scientists sometimes refer to the human brain as 

the “crowning achievement of evolution.” 

To explore your mind is to learn about yourself, how you work 

as a human being, how to get the most out of you as a 

human being. For this purpose, we have to study the 

subconscious mind. 

The subconscious mind is the most powerful 

inner force driving human behavior, reactions, 

emotions, and synchronization. It defines all of 

our reactions and automatic actions that occur 

without us realizing unless we make an effort 

to do so. It is not in focal awareness 

but is in the background allowing 

all human interaction and 

actions to occur. 

Your subconscious 

mind regulates many of 

the body’s functions, 

including your heartbeat, 

breaths, and your nervous 

system. When the 

subconscious mind is 

acting correctly, your body functions in complete harmony without 

you thinking about it. Below is one exercise to access the subconscious 

mind and explore it through relaxation techniques. 

Spend Time in Quiet Places 

Spending time with yourself is one of the best ways to get to 

know and understand your subconscious mind. When you are 

surrounded by distractions and other people, you are not thinking 

about your subconscious mind as it is working for you. You are 

focused on reacting to others rather than reflecting upon yourself. 

By focusing on your breath and experiencing pure relaxation, 

fears and worries from your subconscious mind will most likely 

begin to appear. Rather than stressing about them and getting 

caught up in your thoughts, this is the time to understand them and 

begin to let them go. 

This practice of relaxation allows you to dive deep into your 

subconscious mind and understand the thoughts that you carry 

in the back of your head throughout the day. As you practice this 

relaxation more frequently, you will learn how to get rid of these 

thoughts and shape them into positive ones. 

GRANDMASTER JESSIE BOWEN is president of Karate International of Durham, Inc., a member of the 

American Martial Arts Association Sport Karate League and Hall of Fame, and has been a member of the Duke University 

PE Staff for over 25 years. He is the author of Zen Mind-Body Mindfulness Meditation and Zen Mind-Body Mindfulness 

Meditation for Martial Arts, as well as several other books, programs, and audio CDs on meditation and success training. 


Photograph by agsandrew (top right)

All books are avaiable on www.Atouchofzen.com 

or to place your order over the phone.

GROWTH HACKS 

Social Media Marketing Is Here 

To Stay, But Are You On Board? 

by Sean Lee 

There is no doubt that our world is crazy about Social Media! If you school doesn’t 

make use of it well, you’re behind the times and in need of getting connected with 

this powerful marketing channel for your school. Social Media Marketing is one form 

of Internet marketing can give you a greater Web presence through participating in 

various social media networks. Simply put, it is “networking” online. 

Here are three reasons: 

1. As our customers, and the public in general, 

spend more and more of their time online, the 

rise and impact of social media will continue 

to expand. With a supercomputer in virtually 

everyone’s pocket, and the amount of time 

we’re spending on these devices expanding 

at breakneck speed, social media 

provides consumers with the social connections 

they desire, and businesses with a 

marketing platform to reach them. 

2. It reduces marketing expenses. You 

can save a lot of money on printing and 

mailing costs because everything 

is done electronically over the 

Internet. Joining a social network 

on the Internet doesn’t 

cost anything so it is one 

of the best FREE forms of 

marketing. 

3. It increases enrollment 

and income. 

Through social media 

you gain greater 

exposure rapidly once you start. You can instantly reach unlimited 

markets with the click of your computer’s mouse. The 

increased Internet presence leads to an awareness of your 

school which leads to more enrollment and income. 

Did you know that Pepsi dropped TV advertising for the 

Super Bowl back in 2010 for the first time in 23 years to 

invest $20 million in a social media campaign? Traditionally, 

small business has spent the majority of their marketing dollars 

offline. From 2010, small businesses increased their use 

of email marketing and raised their budgets for social media. 

Clearly, social media marketing has taken over for quite 

some time, and it is the form of marketing that can help your 

school reach the next level. But what if you don’t know much 

about social media? That’s alright because I’ve been helping 

hundreds of martial arts school owners over many years raise 

their web presence and marketing impact with social media 

automation. 

You should not be out of the loop or ineffective with regard 

to social media marketing when you can quickly and easily get 

on track with a profitable social media campaign. Call me at 

1.800.275.1600 or email Marketing@ourams.com to find out 

more on taking the next step to elevate your school’s enrollment 

and income with social media marketing. 

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. 


Photograph by anyaberkut

We teach Character through Karate 

Kickstart Kids is an award winning in-school 

character development program that uses 

karate to teach life-changing values to middle 

school and high school students. The non-profit 

organization was founded in 1990 by martial 

artist, actor, and philanthropist Chuck Norris. 

For employment opportunities or to find out 

how you can help support this great cause, visit 

kickstartkids.org 

KickStartKids.org

NEXT LEVEL STRATEGY 

Convenience Morality, Part 1 

by Shihan Allie Alberigo 

When I was a young man around the age of 20, one of my martial art teachers taught 

me a very valuable lesson. 

Actually the reality is he did it unintentionally by stealing from 

me. Just recently another person that I thought was a friend of 

mine and a high ranking Grandmaster did something similar by 

showing me their true colors in a conversation we had, unveiling 

he had been holding a grudge for many years and never truly 

looked at me as a friend. 

In the first story the teacher didn’t technically reach into my 

pocket and take my money or go into one of my bank accounts 

and steal. We had entered into a business partnership together 

and he went back on a series of promises resulting in a 

huge amount of money lost for me and years of 

time wasted. The deal was, I would work hard 

and put in the time and make money through 

a series of companies we started and we 

would invest the profits into real estate, later 

flipping the properties for a profit and keep 

growing the business. 

At one point he decided he was going 

to live in the very house we invested in and 

make it his permanent residence. 

In turn I was going to lose out on 

all the time, money, effort and 

energy I had put into this first 

deal. He justified his 

actions 100 different 

ways, skewing the 

facts but the reality 

was he was living in 

a house I worked 

hard to buy. This 

was one of the most 

valuable lessons I 

ever learned. 

Skip ahead 25 years, as a martial 

art teacher running a rather 

successful martial art school I deal with people on a daily basis interacting 

with hundreds of people. While the majority of clients are 

kind, honest, loving great people, I have seen a trend that supports 

my theory, leading me to believe that a majority of people will do 

what is right, expected and proper as long as it fits neatly into their 

schedule. If it takes above and beyond effort to do what is correct 

they may stop, making an excuse or finding a reason to walk away 

and not do anything at all. I have come to one definitive conclusion 

- society has adapted what I call “Convenience Morality.” 

In many situations people are frozen in the feeling of ease and 

comfort. One of my mentors and self-help guru Tony Robbins 

talks about the human desire to experience pleasure. I agree with 

his statement. Sometimes though this quest for pleasure may be 

short term and result in long term pain or at a minimum wasted 

time - RE: drinking alcohol, smoking, drugs, stealing, cheating, 

over eating or eating improperly etc. Another example that is less 

drastic may be procrastination. Waiting till the last minute to study 

for a test and then cramming. This person may pass the test but 

they will forget the material just as quickly – resulting in wasted 

time due to the lack of actual knowledge for time spent. The initial 

desire to experience pleasure is destroyed by the long term result 

of long lasting pleasure. 

The same goes for Morality. What can I do today that is easy to 

help people? There are a small percent of the population that will 

go out of their way to help people if it doesn’t fit into their comfort 

zone or pleasure. For example, if we help someone and it makes us 

feel good, and it is easy to do, we may do it. But if we know helping 

someone may create pain for us, a larger group of the population 

will avoid it. This again, is a matter of convenience or comfort. 

I have proven this over and over again when I run charity events 

in my martial art school. With the mass volume of students I have 

in my school we could ban together and make a considerable difference. 

Unfortunately, when I speak to my students, parents and 

friends, they look me in the face and yes me to death. They don’t 

actually go out of their way to help. 

SHIHAN ALLIE ALBERIGO is a 7th degree black belt, the founder of the L.I. Ninjutsu 

Centers, one of the largest Ninjutsu schools on the planet, the author of 4 books, and an entrepreneur 

with one of the first online coaching companies. 


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PILLARS OF SUCCESS 

What is a healthy lifestyle? 

(Part 2) 

by Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

Do you want to lose weight? 

Drink at least 7-8 cups of water a day. Eat limited amounts of 

protein and vegetables as well as whole grain carbohydrates, such 

as brown rice, and whole wheat bread, and vegetables. Avoid 

sugar or fat. Do not mix fats and carbohydrates in one meal. Doing 

so causes the body to store the extra calories. 

Do you need a lot of energy for strenuous physical work? Eat 

lots of good carbohydrates and drink water for energy. 

Do you need concentration for a desk job? Eat fewer carbohydrates 

and increase your intake of water, herbal tea, and natural 

juice. Also eat protein and vegetables together for 

mental power. 

Do you want to have good time management? 

Do not eat too much at one time, 

because it can make you sleepy. Avoid 

junk food because it can make you fatigued. 

Drink water, herbal tea, and juice 

to cleanse your internal body and gain 

energy. 

Do you want to develop a positive 

attitude? Remember, you are what you eat 

and drink. As a result, you should always eat 

and drink wisely to be a better and wiser 

person. Change junk food to healthy 

food and change soda to water 

to build a positive attitude. 

Do you want to have a 

productive life? Follow the 

five finger system: the 

thumb is bigger than any 

other finger, so eat a big 

breakfast for a productive 

day; the second 

finger is small, so have 

a snack between breakfast 

and lunch; the middle finger is longer, so have a good lunch for 

a productive afternoon; the fourth finger is smaller than the middle 

finger, so have a snack between lunch and dinner; the last finger is 

the smallest among the five fingers, so have a light dinner for easy 

digestion when you sleep. (Exception: if you work in the afternoon 

or at night, adjust the timing of your 5 meals accordingly.) 

Intentionally transform eating junk food into eating healthy 

food. Your body will take care of you. 

(2.) Exercise Daily to get in shape 

Imagine that you wear dirty and stinky clothes, so you are uncomfortable 

and tire easily. No one will want to stand close to you 

because you smell like a dead fish. However, it’s OK because you 

can always wash your clothes and wear them again. If you’ve been 

sweating in them for 6 months without washing them, they will be 

rotten. You won’t be able to wash them this time, because they 

will shred into a million pieces. You may say, “Hey, Y. K. Kim, don’t 

worry. I will throw these rags away and buy new clothes because 

I am rich.” You are right. You can throw away your clothes and buy 

brand new ones. 

Likewise, if your body is dirty, you can clean it up. But if your 

body rots, you can’t throw it away. No matter how rich or powerful 

you are, you can’t replace it like you would an outfit. 

Once you throw away your body, it will never come back again. 

You need exercise to clean out your body, release your stress, expel 

toxins, and energize yourself. Remember, 85 percent of modern 

sickness -- like cancer, heart attack, and depression -- comes 

from modern stress, and it causes some people to commit suicide. 

Prevention is better than cure, and exercise is the best prevention 

to build physical fitness. 

GRANDMASTER Y. K. KIM is the most successful martial arts business leader in the US, having written 

over 30 books on martial arts, business, leadership, and success. He has won numerous public service 

awards and is the founder of the leading martial arts marketing and management company in the US. 


Photograph by Ridofranz (top right)

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THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI 

Children and the Art of the 

Sword, Part 4 

by Shihan Dana Abbott 

Ages 10 to 13 

The 10 to 13 year olds are able to adjust all the strikes. 

Their attention spans have increased, thus allowing longer practice 

sessions on any one technique. This age range also seems to 

enjoy one-on-one combat. It is a good time to introduce using two 

weapons (one in each hand). 

Simple games can include contests similar to “King of the Hill.” 

This game is conducted by having the students line up. The first 

two students in line battle until the first strike occurs. The loser 

gets zero points. The winner gets one point and continues on to 

fight the next student in line. Again, the winner 

gets one point, and the loser gets zero. 

This continues until you reach the end of 

the line. At the end, the student with the 

most points wins. 

In case of a tie, 

the students with 

the same number 

of points then 

battle until a winner 

is determined. 

Generally speaking, 

at thirteen, students 

are physically ready to 

train more intensively, 

however, it is important 

to decide whether 

they are mentally 

ready for this 

jump as well. The 

instructor must judge 

whether they are large 

enough in stature and 

mature enough in demeanor 

to do so. 

There are many other 

examples of ways you can 

incorporate the sword into 

your program for younger 

martial artists. Be 

creative in coming up 

with different games 

or “drills” to reinforce 

the techniques you 

are teaching. The main 

things to remember are 

to avoid overstressing 

young 

bodies and 

keep young 

minds (and attention 

spans) engaged. Most of all, keep it interesting, keep it simple and 

keep it fun! 

As stated in an earlier article, by starting with soft weaponry, 

instructors don’t need to worry about the inability of children to 

handle bamboo or wood to teach basic sword strikes. Students 

can also begin learning sword techniques earlier through the use 

of games and simple exercises. In addition, the fear of injury that 

we often see in students when they’re concerned about being 

struck by the Shinai or Bokuto is removed. 

Adapted from Lin Conklin 

Samurai Sports, Inc. 

Children’s Curriculum development 

SHIHAN DANA ABBOTT Is a 7th degree black belt in Kenjutsu, starting his 14-year education 

in Tokyo. He has published five books and designed a US Patent. Abbott has also conducted seminars in 

over 30 countries and obtained his black belt at the Hombu dojo in Yokohama. He currently offers online 

classes on LearntheSword.com, his unique swordsmanship academy. 


Photograph by master1305 (top right)

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EXTRAORDINARY MARKETING 

Just Sell Something 

by Grandmaster Stephen Oliver 

Peter Drucker said the purpose of a business is to create and 

keep a customer. That’s right. Our job is to find someone who’d 

love to do what we do and get them enrolled. Once enrolled then 

it’s sweat blood to keep them engaged, happy, and training. 

Strange how often I talk to owners who think there’s more to it 

than that. What should you go to bed thinking about and wake up 

and immediately work on – to the exclusion of all else? How do I 

get a new student? How do I keep the ones I have longer? (and, 

how do I ratchet up my tuition) Really that’s it. We’re in an incredibly 

simple business. 

For years my life boiled down to I need 12 Intros and 6 enrollments 

a day (across 6 schools) That was really it. Each month I 

needed 240 Intros and 120 enrollments. Every day started with 

thinking about marketing and student retention. Every day ended 

thinking about – that’s right – marketing and student 

retention. 

For a single school, you can gross 

$100,000+ per month with 2 intros, 1 enrollment 

each day. Each day you wake up 

and figure out what you could do – today 

– right now to generate at least 2 intros – 

today. See, that’s pretty simple. 

And, certainly I’d rather it be set up 

and create 252 appointments which turned 

into close to 100 enrollments between 

August and September 2018, like 

Jan Lappin did during recent 

“Back-To-School” – Orientation 

Days. But, hell if 

you need to, take a right 

out the front door of your 

school and start knocking 

on doors. How many 

would you have to knock 

on to generate 2 intros? 

Really, if it took 2 hours 

let’s say 1 yes and a BUNCH 

of nos per hour. And that 2 

hours turned into 1 enrollment 

at $400 down and 

$200 a month X 12 – that means that those two hours generated 

$2,800 in contract amount and $400 cash right away. Let’s see 

that’s $200 an hour for the labor of knocking on doors. Not bad, 

right? 

And, seriously I’ve rarely had my staff knocking on doors, or 

“VIP’ing” however, it works just fine. And, let’s see $200 an hour 

X 40 hours X 4.2 = $33,600 a month from one person’s labor. 

Not bad. 

Really, what’s your excuse? 

Just make sure that EVERY day you create a minimum of 2 

Intros and that at least 1 end up enrolled. The most profitable 

single school I’ve ever seen was running on that formula more or 

less. It was 22 enrollments a month, each ultimately worth $5,000 

each. Therefore $110,000 gross revenue per month. Way over 

$50,000.00 a month NET profit. Not bad for one school? 

The secret? 

1 enrollment a day. Keep them A LONG time. Charge enough 

to average $200+ per month per student. That’s the formula. It’s 

enough to make you rich in the martial arts school business. Sadly, 

for some it has nothing to do with XMA, Hyper, adding “cage-fit” or 

Krav Maga to your traditional school. 

Want to be very successful? Develop OCD (Obsessive Compulsive 

Disorder) about 2 (and, only 2) things: 

First: What am I doing RIGHT NOW, to create new students? Did 

I create AT LEAST 2 intros today? 

Second: What else can I do to keep students longer? 

Oh, and by the way. The answer to the second question. Want 

to know “THE SECRET?” Hire only NICE people. Train them how to 

be nice to the students and the parents. Treat each student like a 

cherished friend or family member. 

From my perspective the easiest way to sell something is faceto-face…. 

Next in line on the phone. WAYYYY down the list is sending 

them an email. 

What you’ve got to do is move people from “suspect” to “prospect” 

– in other words get them to “raise their hand” and express 

interest in what you do. Interest is a big deal. You can shout all 

day long to get the attention of someone who’s not interested. 

It’s mostly a waste of time. However, moving them from a little bit 

interested to a student is typically not all that hard over time and 

through education. 

GRANDMASTER STEPHEN OLIVER, is a 9th degree black belt and is the founder and CEO of 

Mile High Karate schools, and founder of the Martial Arts Wealth Mastery Program. 


www.ExtraOrdinaryMarketing.com

MASTERING MODERN BJJ 

Teaching Child Students Jujitsu 

By Master Carlos Machado 

I have this thought that less is more. Whether it’s teaching kids or adults, you have 

one technique. 

The difference is that for kids I make the goals more attainable. 

An adult can think it out and see things ahead, but kids 

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

of keeping the attention span of the kids, and that’s one of 

the challenges. Kids’ classes are not about teaching; it’s more 

about show and tell and exciting them. It’s not only about 

entertaining, but there also comes a point that you have to 

incorporate the discipline, the mindset with a mat chat and create 

a structure. 

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

their attention is not there. Sometimes a year difference 

between a kid and another can be like a mountain to climb. It’s 

kind of funny because you put them all in the same 

group. I believe you have to hit the endorphins, 

so when I teach the kids are in constant motion 

even when they’re watching a technique. 

As long as they are focused on their 

body, it’s easier for me to keep their minds 

wherever I need them to be. If they’re left 

idle in terms of not moving and just listening, 

it’s really hard. 

For instance, other martial arts 

like Karate and Taekwondo have 

a better experience in regards 

to the teaching aspect, 

because you do kicks in the 

air and you can do all the 

demonstration with the 

mirror. The kids have 

more things they can 

focus attention on. But 

in Jujitsu, you have the 

instructor and another 

training partner to 

practice with. To help the kids, I use animals to illustrate different 

characteristics that I want them to get. 

If I wanted to grab and squeeze, for instance, you’re going to 

be like the anaconda or the big bear, whatever animal you want to 

be. You start to pick the kid’s imagination. You might ask, how do 

we integrate this with the curriculum? The curriculum needs to be 

streamlined. Have the list of the techniques, the lesson plan, the 

warmups, how much you repeat, how many minutes you spend 

on each drill, what intensity of sparring and all the rules of engagement; 

every academy will nitpick what works best for them. Then 

the key here is triggering the imagination because I feel that gives 

them the most. 

Here is an example of how we do the constant motion: if I teach 

my kids how to do a Jujitsu guard pass, I break it down into two 

groups: one half are the passers, the other half the finishers. I teach 

them, first, how to be in their position. We do a little running around, 

like musical chairs; they run around and you pick a spot on the mat. 

If you don’t do it, you do squats or push-ups; making a big deal in a 

fun way out of it. Then, I teach them the rules of engagement. 

They’re having fun and understanding what is asked of them 

at the same time. I think the challenge with kids is how clear the 

instruction is for them to interpret. For all ages the language that 

I’m explaining for an illustration is universal and I don’t care what 

degree they are or if they have a learning disability, they’re going 

to get it. We make a big deal when they know where to find 

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

expected of them. We clap and tell the parents to get them 

engaged too. 

I like the parents to be on the same page, being enthusiastic, 

giving little pats on the back or acknowledgement every 

time there’s a little detail that the kid gets through. For me, it is: 

endorphins, imagination, and making sure you’re clear about 

what the expectations are for each of the things you want the 

kids to do. 

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

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

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

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


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TACTICAL SELF-DEFENSE 

Less Can Be More! (Part 1) 

By Tom Patire 

As the world changes public privacy becomes less private due to technology, namely 

cameras. They are everywhere and anywhere, some seen - many unseen. 

To make things even with all of the hi-tech camera phones 

that the majority of people carry look how quick people video 

events, especially alterations or racially charged situations, then in 

seconds put them up on social media. Yet, a number of people in 

our society seem to not care and do what they want, when 

they want, and to who they want - thinking that they 

will get away with it. 

Situations that involve rioting, burning, looting, 

hurting, and destroying private and public 

property. Do these types of people really think 

that these acts will go unpunished? Take it 

from me as a private protector and a licensed 

bodyguard by trade, I have been in many situations 

where things have erupted, and chaos 

took over. Situations like the LA and Bensonhurst 

riots, and storming Capitol Hill. My teams and I 

were in the heart of it with a major news 

crew who were there to get 

the minute-by-minute 

scoop. I remember asking 

a police captain after witnessing 

buildings getting 

destroyed “Why can’t 

this be stopped?” His 

answer was direct and 

unemotional, he said 

“Today they break 

the law, tomorrow 

they answer for it. 

We as law enforcement 

have all the 

time, resources, 

and manpower to 

find them one by one 

and arrest them! From there it’s up to the judicial system.” He was 

so right. Months later I saw on the news how many of them were 

arrested for their actions with some crying and others hiding their 

faces in disgrace as they were being escorted to the jail. The biggest 

aid to finding them was all of the footage from cameras in and 

on buildings, ATMs in the surrounding areas, as well as what was 

posted on social media via cell phones. 

So now to my point of why a seasoned martial artist such as myself 

preaches, yes preaches, the concept that ‘Less Can Be More’! 

Do not get me wrong I will never say that using your skill set for defense 

of yourself or a person that cannot defend themself is wrong. 

It is one of the reasons why we train! But over doing it to the point 

of no return could end up costing you more than you think. It may 

go criminal, civil or both. You may end up in jail, on probation or being 

sued. You may lose something or everything that you worked 

so hard to achieve. Even if all points to you being 100% in the right 

you may still have to go out of pocket and hire a lawyer to prove 

your innocence and protect your assets. Remember this - even 

bad guys, tough guys, or crazy guys, sue! It is the American Way! 

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. 


Photography by Kiyoshi Tanno (top right)

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COMPLETE MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS 

Teaching The Complex Art Of 

Kung Fu, Part 3 

by Professor Willie “The Bam” Johnson 

Key Points Of Teaching The Complex Art Of Kung Fu 

Lead by example, show and ask, not tell- you should always 

make sure you are carrying yourself in a positive manner and go 

above and beyond the call of duty. Then others around you will do 

the same. 

Conduct yourself in a respectful positive manner in and outside 

the school to the best of your ability – you can not lead two 

lives, who you are is who you are in front of the student body as 

well as behind closed doors. Don’t be a fake leader. 

Be human not superhuman by admitting your 

shortcomings and mistakes – no one is perfect 

and if you present yourself as not being perfect 

but always striving for perfection you will be 

looked up to and respected for your honesty. 

Develop great people and then you will 

have great champions- sometimes it is about 

letting go and allowing others to become great in 

order for you to move to a higher plateau. 

Be prepared, on time, as 

well as the first to arrive 

and the last to leave – 

always put your best foot 

forward, the hard worker 

will be rewarded without 

even having to ask for it. 

Give credit to a higher 

being and teacher than 

yourself – only spirituality 

will take you above and 

beyond all situations. 

Stay in shape and 

maintain a high standard 

in your skill – practice 

what you preach. 

Pay due respect to your instructor – highlight and promote 

others for a job well done because then they will be even more 

willing to go above and beyond the call of duty. 

Be involved in community service and charity – in order to 

receive you must give, give, give it away first! 

Discuss the painful process of learning with positive feedback 

– praise, correct, praise – never allow anyone to feel that their best 

was not good enough. 

Keep class continually flowing with positive energy – give 

more than 100% of what you have – this allows others to then give 

100% in return not 80%. 

Try to keep discussions along the line of the students level of 

comprehension – do not talk over them, but to them. 

Make sure you demonstrate all techniques with perfection – 

keep your skill level sharp because after all your students will only 

retain 80% of what you give them. 

Give students high fives, thumbs up, head nods and smiles – 

everyone wants to be praised, adults, teens and children alike. 

Refer to each student with sir and mam – to get respect you 

must first give respect. 

PROFESSOR WILLIE “THE BAM” JOHNSON is a 7th degree black belt and seventime 

sport karate and Kung-Fu world champion. He has appeared in four movies, 16 plays, and 11 television 

shows. He is also the national spokesperson for the Stronger than Drugs Foundation and the Champions 

Against Drugs. 


Photograph by Tuned_In (top right)

www.budointernational.com

THE MILLIONAIRE SMARTS COACH 

6 Ways To Deal With Setbacks 

By Lee Milteer 

Adventurous soul that I am, I signed up for flying lessons a few years ago. The day of 

my fourth lesson my instructor was letting me pilot the plane. It was very windy, and I 

was having a heck of a time staying on course. 

The Burning Question 

To deal effectively with setbacks, you must question your current 

perceptions. Your personal perceptions filter all your incoming 

experiences of life. These perceptions are strongly held rules and 

regulations in your mind that can blind you to creative solutions. 

When you resist new ideas, you reject new ways of thinking before 

you’ve even given them a chance. 

It’s only realistic to understand that there will be obstacles. But 

there is a fine line sometimes between being realistic and pessimistic. 

Keep trying to overcome setbacks by using more intelligent 

data, systems, knowledge, and clear plans—as many 

times as it takes. 

Tips for Dealing with Failure: 

1. Reframe your situation. No matter 

how disappointed you are about a setback, 

ask yourself, “What have I learned 

here?” Force yourself to answer this 

question till you find the answer. It 

helps to remember things can always 

be worse (“At least X didn’t happen”). 

Your mindset is crucial 

for success—whether you 

think you can or think you 

cannot, you are always 

right! Control your internal 

dialogue to focus on 

solutions, not blame. 

2. Analyze exactly 

what went wrong. Who 

dropped the ball, 

what systems failed, or 

worse—did you not have 

a plan or system? Leverage what you learn to bring you one step 

closer to your goals. Don’t focus on “failing”—focus on what you 

can do now to be successful. 

3. Be flexible: It is important you become flexible in your view of 

life. We should all learn to imitate the simplest laws of nature. Water, 

for example, takes the path of least resistance on its journey to 

the sea. When it comes to a rock, it simply flows around it. Making 

smart adjustments and changing your course of action are just as 

necessary to get you where you’re going. Sometimes it’s important 

to know when to cut your losses and set another goal. However, 

never abandon goals just because you’ve had a setback. Abandon 

goals or projects only if they have lost meaning for you. 

4. Always ask for feedback from others you trust. And don’t think 

of their feedback as criticism! Credible resources, such as your own 

Team, your Coaches, & Mastermind support can provide fresh eyes 

to help you succeed and move forward. People who have no skin in 

your game can more easily separate emotions from facts, helping 

you see exactly the adjustments needed to reach your goals. 

5. Don’t take score too soon. Unless you hear the fat lady singing, 

don’t make the mistake of judging yourself negatively just because 

you have taken action that has failed. We are all works in progress. 

6. Success is judged not on how quickly you succeed but how 

quickly you recover. So pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and 

keep going. The quicker you recover, the quicker you reach your 

goals. As Confucius said, “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, 

but in rising every time we fail.” With every failure you gain more 

knowledge and insight than you did before, as long as you learn 

from your mistakes. 

BEST, 

Lee Milteer 

Performance and Productivity Coach 

Millionaire Smarts Coach 

www.milteer.com 

MS. LEE MILTEER is an Intuitive Business Coach, award-winning professional speaker, and TV personality 

who has counseled and trained over a million people throughout her career. Lee is Stephen Oliver’s Martial Arts 

Wealth Mastery’s Millionaire Smarts Coach and is also a best-selling author of educational resources. 


Photograph by Gajus

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BUDO PHILOSOPHY 

“Educare” Pt. 1 

by Shidoshi Alfredo Tucci 

Etymology tells us that to educate, from Latin “educare”, means “to guide from the 

outside”, as well as “to take out what you have inside.” Educating is the most noble 

and elevated profession; like being a doctor, it’s rather a priesthood than a simple job. 

My grandfather was a master, and he was it in more ways than 

one. He even helped me with Latin, which was then a matter that 

we all had to study, although at that time it was depreciated as 

being something useless; but strangely enough, it has been one of 

the few things that have really helped me later in life (of course, infinitely 

more than all that string of nonsense and uselessness that 

they made me memorize). Having information doesn’t 

mean to know; knowing how to use the data is 

what works, and using them wisely is what 

counts. 

In education, character is to be molded 

with painstaking care, like if you were cultivating 

a plant, trying to cut here and there 

every possible “wrong direction” with great 

care and affection, but mostly, irrigating and 

fertilizing the ground so that growth occurs. 

But “wrong direction”, respect to what? 

Every era, every culture has its taboo. Every 

Master will err if he is not able to perceive 

the confines of his ministry. A real good 

Master is not only aware of his own 

boundaries, but he also knows 

that his first achievement will be 

to not become, consciously or 

unconsciously and for the sake 

of his own defects, the castrator 

of what the student may have 

inside or give of himself. 

However, the final goal is 

not the accumulated data, not 

even its functionality, because 

in the end, it’s not only the 

results that counts in education; 

perhaps this could be so in a world that lived outwardly, 

however what usually happens is that we individuals live in both 

directions, toward the outside and toward the inside, and certainly 

you can reach a great social success while remaining an absolute 

idiot, unhappy and hopeless. A Master should never forget that he 

is treated to unforeseeable material. 

It’s obvious that for me, educating doesn’t mean teaching data; 

educating is teaching to live. The Master will part from the strands 

that the pupil has, and his task is that of making these strands visible, 

polishing them and leading them to the best of the proposals 

so they can give birth. If the student later builds with them a chair 

or a cruise ship, it’s up to him; and not only because freedom is a 

great thing, but especially because pretending to intervene otherwise 

will inevitably end in disaster. 

Transmitting our frustrations, pretending to cure ourselves in 

somebody else’s body, has always the same price: Our own and 

others’ misfortune. Therefore the Master, like a wise and loving 

father (or a mother), should get involved to the same extent in 

which he should practice detachment. Arduous task, indeed, but 

not without satisfaction, because there is no pleasure like seeing 

flourishing what you planted; and even in a selfish way for he who 

loves knowledge and wisdom; as his magisterium suggests, teaching 

is the best way to learn. 

Speaking about that, they say that nothing teaches more than 

personal examples. Well, this is false. Example doesn’t teach by 

itself, rather it’s something from which we can learn. The Master 

who believes this provision and tries to impose its reflection is 

wrong, because the students will notice what the Master kindly 

perceives, and they will interpret it according to their understanding 

and inclinations, 

and it’s well known that what for some people is great, for 

others can be horrific. The wise respect the difference, because 

evolution only arises from it. 

SHIDOSHI ALFREDO TUCCI is the CEO and General Manager of the Budo International Publishing 

Company, a leading publisher in the martial arts with over 35 years in the industry. He is also author of several 

books: The Immaterial Dimension, The Way of the Warrior, and The Spirit. He currently lives in Valencia, Spain. 


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Key 1 – The Right Set-up 

Your pro shop must have an appealing look to catch the eye 

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needs to be clean, well organized, and perfectly located. Each of 

these aspects presents a professional appearance and leads to 

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Sounds simple, right? But why are so 

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you’re really busy with many tasks, 

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your pro shop with these simple 

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In addition, if your pro shop is 

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Your website and online pro shop 

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Key 2 – The Right Supplies 

Your pro shop supplies should be moving in and out 

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to the door for earning an extra $250 to $500 every 

week is as simple as knowing what your students 

need and want. You just have to have the right supplies 

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You make the curriculum that requires uniforms 

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MASTER THE BASICS 

Master the Art of Operating 

Your School 

by Master Tina Bane 

Suppose you were in need of a serious surgical procedure, but an expert with a 

wrench instead of a scalpel was going to perform it. Would you knowingly subject 

yourself to the hands of an inappropriate expert or less than the best with so much at 

stake? Of course, not! You’d want the person with the right skills doing the job. How 

about the operation of your school? 

Surely you’ve heard the expression, “Jack of all trades, master 

of none.” As an experienced martial arts school owner or 

one just starting out, you know or are finding out 

how relevant that quote is in regard to running 

your school. You know that operating a martial 

arts school requires a multitude of tasks and 

many of them you’re not prepared for. 

First, you must get paid because you have 

chosen running a school as your profession. 

Pro’s get paid amateurs don’t. Collecting 

student tuition can be one of the most difficult 

tasks for a school owner because 

you go from being the teacher to a 

bill collector. In addition, tuition 

management requires keeping 

accurate records like 

an accountant. Are you 

prepared for either of 

these tasks? 

Second, you 

have to build up and 

maintain your student 

enrollment. Getting 

students into your school calls for 

good advertising and promotion. 

You have to come up with ideas 

that work each month. Do you know 

how to design and write a simple flyer so it looks professional 

and makes your school look better than your competitors? It’s 

likely, you don’t do graphic design or write ad copy on a professional 

level. 

To keep up with your competition, you should also have an internet 

presence. This means you need to have an attractive school 

website that draws your community to your school. Do you know 

how to design a website? 

Third, you have to manage all aspects of the school professionally. 

Handling telephone calls and visitors in a way that leads 

them to enroll is very important. Are you equipped with sales 

skills? Scheduling, training staff, and building maintenance are also 

necessities and require management skills. Have you managed 

others or a business before? 

Think about it, if you just had to do the tasks mentioned on your 

own it would require bill collecting, accounting, graphic design, 

writing, advertising, promotion, web design, sales, and management 

skills. This is just the tip of the iceberg and we haven’t even 

talked about the reason you opened your school which is to 

instruct in the martial arts. To do all of this on your own is professional 

suicide. 

Maybe you’re thinking, “I can hire individuals to do each of 

those tasks.” Unless you’re already wealthy that may end up being 

financial suicide. Just imagine the cost for an accountant or a web 

designer alone. Even though this is true, the idea of getting some 

help is the right track for mastering the operation of your school if it 

could be done inexpensively. 

MASTER TINA BANE is a 6th degree master instructor and owner of a Top Ten martial arts school 

with successful after school and summer camp programs. 


Photograph by SerhiiBobyk

Lee Milteer is an Internationally known and celebrated 

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INSTRUCTIONAL EXCELLENCE 

The Value of Stress Training 

by Grandmaster Tim McCarthy 

Human beings behave differently in a hot state and a cold state. 

In a cold state, you have full control of your mind – your 

heart rhythms are consistent and you can think clearly and 

logically. In a hot state your body has released hormones, 

your heart rhythms are inconsistent, and your brain does not 

function so logically. Perhaps you have experienced someone 

insulting you, you got angry but couldn’t think of anything to 

say, and then five minutes later you thought of a couple of 

great comebacks that you could have said. Under stress, you 

did not react at your best. 

Self-defense situations usually happen in a hot state. When 

someone threatens you or your family, it’s natural for your 

adrenaline to start flowing. Although the adrenaline 

sharpens your reactions and increases your 

strength, it probably clouds your mind, so you 

may become indecisive or even paralyzed with 

fear. You may not react at your best. 

When we teach self-defense in our 

classes, if we always allow our students to 

practice in a cold state, they may not react at 

their best when confronted with real trouble. 

We need to get them into a hot state during 

class, so that they have practice reacting 

under stress. We don’t want to take them 

out to get into bar fights, so we have 

to do our best to create different 

levels of stress in class. Here 

are some ideas: 

1. Yelling. Simply ki-haping 

in class can help raise the heat 

during practice. 

2. Strikes. Use a fun noodle 

or a paddle pad to strike 

students during basics or 

forms practice to help them 

stay focused on the techniques 

and to create an 

emotional reaction. 

3. Attention. Ask one or two students to stand up and demonstrate 

a technique while everyone else sits and watches. 

It builds their confidence as they learn to perform under 

emotional stress. 

4. Tests. Tip tests and belt tests create stress, especially if the 

student knows his family and friends are in the audience watching. 

They build confidence and provide practice at performing 

under stress. 

5. Demo. Allowing students to perform in demos adds the 

possibility of public embarrassment if they make a mistake 

on stage. They learn to perform under stress and to recover 

from mistakes. 

6. Contact. Occasionally, under strict supervision, allow a 

little heavier contact (to safe areas) during one step or free 

sparring so that the students feel a little fear and/or release 

adrenaline, and learn how to act and react in the hot state. 

If you have a grappling school, allow a little more pain in the 

joint locks and throws, but obviously don’t allow them to hurt 

each other. 

7. Aggression. During self-defense training, let students 

practice slowly and gently while learning the technique, then increase 

the speed and strength of the attack as the student gets 

better at the technique. Toward the end, let partners practice 

aggressive attacks with shouts, menacing faces, and aggressive 

grabs or strikes to approximate a street attack. 

8. Verbal Self-Defense. Teach students positive ways to 

handle verbal aggression like insults and then practice insulting 

each other. At first the insults may create a hot state of embarrassment 

or anger, but with practice, students will learn not to 

get upset over words. 

Being able to remain calm during a stressful situation is a 

powerful life skill you can teach your students. Being able to 

react quickly and decisively in a violently aggressive situation 

is a possibly life-saving skill you can teach your students in the 

safety of your classroom. Help them develop the confidence 

to handle any situation that comes up by training under controlled 

stress. 

GRANDMASTER TIM MCCARTHY is a 9th degree black belt and is a martial arts educator 

with a master’s degree in education. He has been instrumental in developing two industry-changing 

programs, plus has directed and been featured in hundreds of martial arts videos and webinars. 


Photograph by NeilLockhart

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9 Keys of Black Belt 

Leadership Charisma 

1. To be believed, you have to be believable. Say what you 

mean and mean what you say. Your behavior must be consistent 

with what values you would like everyone to believe you live by. 

Black Belt Excellence has to be on display in your school. No piles 

of whatever behind the front desk, or in the corners of the room. 

2. To be interesting, you must be interested. Talking is okay, but 

listening is better. Create lasting relationships by asking questions. 

Listen to their answers and ask questions about their answers. 

You’ve heard the old saying, “You have two ears and one mouth 

for a reason”, learn to use them in proportion. 

3. Give respect in order to receive it. Respect 

is reflected. Giving respect to another person is 

like opening a door to new opportunities. Be 

first to bow, shake hands, smile, and speak. 

4. Only real compliments are sincere. 

Recognize the good in others and make it 

personal. Be a good finder. “Any fool can 

find something wrong and point it out,….and 

most do”. Stop using phrases like “Good Job” 

or “Awesome” and instead, tell them exactly 

what you noticed and are complimenting 

them on. 

5. Graciously accept 

compliments. Never 

refuse them. Deflecting 

a compliment often 

draws unwanted 

attention and 

belittles both you 

and the person 

who has offered 

it. Just say, 

“Thank you.” 

6. Say what you are for, not what you are against. Once you 

voice your opposition, you become part of the problem. Once you 

say how you can help, you become part of the solution. 

7. Dress to impress, and always look your best. It is human 

nature to judge appearances. You can be perceived positively or 

negatively: the choice is yours. 

8. Words are indelible-use them wisely. What you say, you can’t 

take back. Bad 

words are like bad attitudes. They simply work against you. 

9. Avoid “charisma crushers” by using proper tone of voice and 

body language. 

What you say and how you say it always tells what you 

really mean. 

GRANDMASTER LAWRENCE ARTHUR has been a martial artist, specializing 

in Karate, Kung Fu, Kenpo, Shotokan, and Goju Ryu, since 1968. He owns 40 Super Kick Karate 

locations and is founder of the American Freestyle Karate Association (AFKA). A world champion 

and hall of famer, Lawrence also runs the Black Belt Success Systems consulting firm, which trains 

martial arts instructors on proper business practices and is used by schools all over the country. 


Do You Serve Martial Arts Professionals? 

Share Your Message in 

For Sponsorship Options & Packages 

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

MAmuseum.com

MARTIAL ARTS PHILOSOPHY 

A Diary of a Black Belt, Part 6 

By Sensei Gary Lee 

One year later 

2nd Brown 

This test I was in charge of setting everything up. I spent the 

night in the Dojo and helped bring in and host the special guest 

Sensei Tanaka. I went to the lumber company and got the bricks 

and boards for the Test, set the chairs, tables and made all the refreshments. 

I had to get all the paperwork together, which was like 

preparing for a huge storm that you know is coming. Can’t believe 

I’m testing for second Kyu Brown, what a ride it has been!! 

Gotta go, Black Belts are arriving, I will write later if I survived!! 

Well, I am at the hospital with four of us that got banged up today. 

My finger is broken and I am the lucky one, the other guys got 

knocked out by our special guest today at the Test and one guy is 

not waking up. Everything was OK, until we got this guy in a corner, 

bad mistake, he hit Charlie first, round kicked Bobby, did a picture 

perfect jump spin back kick in the face on Kea and kicked my hand 

when I grabbed him. He smiled as if he knew he had hurt me. We 

were all going for second Kyu except Kea, he was going for Black, 

maybe that’s why he knocked him out. 

Update ***I was in the back room and heard the 

Black Belts talking, they said Kea was running his 

mouth about the test and he was not going to be 

stopped. Well I hope Kea wakes up. Heck I hope 

we passed, so many people were hurt when we 

left for the Hospital. I don’t know, brutal test!! 

Learned a lesson, never talk out loud before 

a High Dan test and say your thoughts if you do 

expect a world of hurt!, oss 

Kea finally woke up. I didn’t leave his side 

though the night, scary night, man 

that was a heck of a test, it wasn’t 

the toughest test, but it was 

the one that made me the 

most nervous. 

Real Karate is a scary 

adventure like a bad, 

bad storm!, oss. 

Passed. 

Three years later 

1st Kyu Brown 

Bull in the ring, pure self defense and street application, kata, application 

of kata, Bunkai precision movement of the Kata applied to 

uki’s attacking, this is what I have learned and I want my Black Belt. 

I know I am a Black Belt now in my mind, heart, and body. I just 

have to go through the hardest part of my life the next five hours 

or so and show I am ready 

to be a white belt all over 

again and realize making 

Black, if I do, is a whole 

new beginning , just like 

starting over with good 

strong basics, oss. 

Sensei has me fighting 

and doing kata every 

weekend at any event he 

can put me in. Normally I 

run Sepai or Ni Gi Shi Ho 

or Teiki Kata. If I tie, I run Supra Empi, a Goju form I learned from 

a Goju Student visiting Sensei Tanaka two years ago. It normally 

wins Grand, but I don’t use it except under extreme situations, oss. 

This Test I am ready, I want Black Belt really bad!, oss. 

It was what I expected and also learned a great lesson, never 

quit. Always do the best you can and always help a friend in need. 

Today, I sacrificed a situation and saved a friend, but I got stuck 

pretty good for the decision. Afterwards, a couple of Black Belts 

came up to me and said they would have done the same thing. 

That made me feel pretty good, even though I got a bruised rib 

and black eye, take care of your bras. 

Passed. 

Three Years Later 

Shodan Black Belt 

Protecting the History, One Warrior at a Time 

www.sportkaratemuseumarchives.com 

SENSEI GARY LEE, the American Samurai, is a 9th Dan black belt, a USA Karate 

Federation gold medalist, winner of five Super Grand National Titles, a featured actor in 

the movie Sidekicks, and is the founder of the National Sport Karate Museum. 


Photograph by Miljan Živković (top right)

Protecting the History, One Warrior at a Time 

The History of 

Traditional Karate Pioneers, 

Legends and Champions 

in the 20th Century. 

www.SportKarateMuseumArchives.com

MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE 

Why Struggle, When ATLAS Can 

Make Your School Management 

Effortless? 

by Kirk Pelt 

Do you NEED a new software system customized for martial 

arts schools, but are too confused with all of the different choices? 

Or maybe you are old fashioned and think the new systems will 

be too complicated? But, ‘High Technology’ usually proves to be 

easy in performance. That’s what ATLAS Martial Arts Software 

is all about! ATLAS makes it so easy for you to run your Martial 

Arts school. It is so incredible it can even do things while you are 

teaching classes or even spending time with your family! Doesn’t 

that sound simply amazing? The software management system is 

one of the best martial arts school management systems that you 

can have. By utilizing the set it and forget it marketing system with 

its automated features you could increase your income by 

1000% with very little or virtually no extra effort! 

ATLAS is an internet based system. There are 

no discs to install or to order and wait to receive 

in the mail. Simply go online and sign up, and 

get started with a FREE Demo! Our system will 

safely and securely keep your information free from 

crashing, getting hacked into, or from the trouble of 

synchronizing and reloading everything when you 

upgrade your own computer system. We have it all safe 

and sound for you, worry free! 

The ATLAS system also gives you a 

FREE Lead Generating Website to use 

as your school’s martial arts website. 

You may integrate it with many other 

applications that service ATLAS. The 

website that you use with your school 

has many features to use with other 

system applications on the Internet. 

You might want to put links to 

other sites you may have such as 

your Facebook or other social 

media pages, or a blog page, and especially YouTube. One of the 

best features of the website is it brings new leads into your school 

through special offers and a contact generator. From that point on 

you will have the contact information necessary to Turn Leads Into 

Conversions! You don’t have to do a thing! It is that easy! 

The ATLAS technology may sound complicated, but this 

High Tech makes it easy for you! It will even take your students’ attendance 

for you to make your life that much smoother! If a student 

misses a class, the ATLAS management system will automatically 

send an email to the student stating, “We missed you!” How 

convenient is that? This helps with retention so much! It will also 

help with keeping track with the belt testing and who is ready for 

the next level. Everything is automated within the system as the 

system is designed with Martial Arts schools in mind, yet diverse 

enough to be used with any martial art style and your school. 

ATLAS Software is your absolute one stop shop when it 

comes to running your martial arts school to its ultimate level. It 

can do your accounting for you. It can do your emailing for you. It 

can evaluate and run your reports for you for whatever you need 

to know. ATLAS gives you curricular ideas for your classrooms so 

there is never a dull moment. Promotions that will increase your 

profits and the software will give you so much more time to teach 

all of those new students you will have! You will keep the students 

you already have since you will always be doing so many more 

fun and exciting things instead of sitting in your office counting 

nickels. Now you will be collecting dollars and the software will be 

computing it all to the exact penny for you! No more worries at all 

and more time for you! Doesn’t that sound like the best thing ever 

made for a Martial Arts school owner? Save time and money and 

make more money than you ever thought possible with the latest 

and greatest martial arts software management system available! 

Take a FREE Demo of ATLAS today! 

Visit: TryAtlasSoftware.com 

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

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

the leading edge of martial arts curriculum and business innovation. 


ADVERTISER INDEX 

A Touch of Zen 

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Atlas Martial Arts Software 

AtlasMartialArtsSoftware.com ...............2, 38, 52 

Action Hero Photos 

ActionHeroPhotos.com ...........................97 

Adventures of Harry & Friends 

AdventuresOfHarryAndFriends.com ................17 

AFKA Martial Arts Retreat 

AFKAMartialArts.com .............................24 

Amazing Martial Arts Websites 

AmazingMartialArtsWebsites.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 79 

American Martial Arts Alliance 

WhosWhoInTheMartialArts.com ....................19 

AMS Billing 

OurAMS.com ................................ 68, 108 

AMSkids 

OurAMS.com/AfterSchool .........................75 

Black Belt Principles 

BlackBeltPrinciples.com ...........................93 

Break Like a Champ 

TeamChipTKD.com ............................... 77 

Budo International Magazine 

BudoInternational.com .............................81 

Extraordinary Marketing 

ExtraordinaryMarketing.com .......................73 

Master Karen Eden 

CenturyMartialArts.com ............................15 


ElitePublications.org ...............................51 

Kick Start Kids 

KickStartKids.org .................................63 

Kids Point MMA 

PointMMA.com ...................................85 

Kovar Systems 

KovarSystems.com ...............................57 

Learn the Sword 

LearnTheSword.com ..............................89 

Lee Milteer 

Milteer.com ........................................91 

MA Biz Academy 

MABizAcademy.com ..........................55, 101 


MaBusinessInstitute.com ..................... 43, 105 

Martial Arts History Museum 

MAMuseum.com .................................95 

Ninja Fighting Techniques 

tuttlepublishing.com ...............................31 

Otomix 

Otomix.com ......................................84 

Sport Karate Museum 

SportKarateMuseumArchives.com .................97 

An-Shu Stephen K. Hayes 

NinjaSelfDefense.com ............................45 


4d-2d.com ........................................13 


TomPatire.com ...................................32 

Vision 

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Warrior Defence Lab 

TheEvolutionOfKrav.com ..........................30 


YkKim.com ...................................67, 107 


Lulu.com ..........................................21 


THE WARRIOR WAY 

The Persistence Factor, Part 2 

by Grandmaster Bill Clark 

I recently watched some episodes of “Million Dollar Ideas”. Almost every single 

success story had its share of MASSIVE CHALLENGES… the idea didn’t sell at market, 

the first orders after prototype approval were flawed on delivery. 

Almost every one of the entrepreneurs had staked their life 

savings on their idea coming to fruition, often to the tune of 

hundreds of thousands of dollars… including their parent’s life 

savings. It was agonizing to watch! What did the successful have 

in common? They climbed the obstacle, solved the problems 

and... PERSISTED! 

Persistence is the ingredient that truly separates those at the 

top from the also-rans and wannabes. 

Like all the other ingredients, it can be easily 

learned, and all you have to do to put it into action 

is decide to just do it! BUT… your goal has to be 

important enough, or you will give up. 

Out of the greatest disasters come the greatest 

redemptions. As legendary radio commentator 

Paul Harvey so aptly put it, “In times like 

these, it pays to remember there have always 

been times like these.” The desire and 

determination to succeed must 

never waiver. 

If you’re not failing every 

now and again, it’s a 

sign you’re not doing 

anything very innovative. 

Woody Allen He 

makes movies about 

pessimistic introverts 

who never 

give up, and in the 

end get the girl. 

(Which obviously 

must be the goal!) 

Experience is what you get when you are looking for something 

else. That’s a quote by Mark Twain that was on the back of a 

matchbox. I thought of it a lot – when anyone told me what a great 

experience 

something was, no matter how challenging, it never felt great! In 

a nutshell, gaining experience is often very disappointing. 

Just as Thomas Edison did in his thousands of failed attempts 

to design a light bulb, they successfully demonstrated what 

didn’t work.AND…By eliminating ideas that didn’t work, the path 

to success became clearer. This is a classic example of positive 

re-framing. 

Almost all life’s journeys – personal, family, professional - involve 

a painful process of fixing problems. By eliminating problems 

you finally find something that works. 

So here’s the BIG THING: 

Do you know that most people give up not knowing how close 

they actually were to success? 

If you can learn to treat a setback as another way not to reach 

your goals you’ll never have to waste time doing things that way 

again! Re-group and try a different approach, and know that by 

doing this you are actually closer to your goal. 

By genuinely learning from your experiences, you will start to 

see how your setbacks are actually necessary steps on the path 

to success. 

I’ve helped thousands of people who are afraid they might 

make a mistake with their training. And I tell them – Well, get over it 

because you ARE going to make lots of mistakes! But they are not 

really mistakes. 

I have a saying: A mistake is only something you make when 

you know better. Otherwise, it’s a learning experience. 

GRANDMASTER BILL CLARK is a 9th degree black belt and a former PKA Fighter of 

the Year. He is widely considered one of the top experts in martial arts business with over 50 years 

of leadership and innovation, having been inducted into almost every Hall of Fame in the industry. He 

is one of the largest multi-school owners in the world. 


EVERYTHING You’ll EVER Need 

to Market Your Martial Arts School! 

ONLINE AND OFFLINE 

MaBizAcademy.com

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. 

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. 

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. 


Photograph by Ljupco

TOOL 

OF THE MONTH 

School Supply Drive 

The School Supply Drive is a 

great way to partner with public 

and private schools to promote 

local education. 

If you are looking for a way to 

establish a relationship with your 

local school system, this is it! 

Get this FREE sample of the 

creative events MA Biz Academy 

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lock in student retention and 

bring dozens of new students 

into your school! Members 

also receive a fully developed 

promotion outline and other 

support materials. 

To receive this Special Gift, visit 

MaBizAcademy.com/Gift

Tools & Tactics 

Remove Any Doubt That You’re 

Only In It For The Money 

by Chris Lee 

Most of the martial arts masters I speak with on a daily basis became professional 

instructors because they wanted to share with others the benefits they had received 

from practicing the martial arts. 

They remember the close bond they had with their own master, 

and the impact he had on their lives. They hope they can earn that 

kind of respect from their own students and have a similar effect 

on their lives. 

They did not open a martial arts school so that 

they could chase after people for money. That 

just wasn’t part of the game plan. 

Unfortunately, things happen. The 

primary income of a martial arts school is 

the tuition students pay for instruction, 

and that tuition is usually paid over time, 

in monthly payments. Not everyone will 

remember to pay on time. Some people 

will have accidents and other unforeseen 

expenses, and will not want to 

pay for a month or two. At that point, 

what can you do? 

Here’s a little secret: the 

right answer is NOT to become 

the bill collector and ask the 

students for the money they 

owe you. The right answer is 

also NOT to ask your wife or 

a staff member to ask the student 

for money. Both of these 

solutions create more problems 

than they solve because 

they set up an adversarial 

relationship between the 

student and the school. 

Fortunately, the right 

answer is also just one easy step: hire a 

professional tuition billing service 

from the beginning to take all 

those headaches away. You 

can then take all the time 

you and your staff currently 

spend on sending late notices, 

calling students on the phone, and 

dealing with frustrated parents in 

person, and use that time to 

recruit new students. Every 

hour you spend collecting 

current tuition could 

be invested in recruiting 

new students who are worth 

thousands in additional income. 

When you try to handle your billing 

in-house, you save a nickel and miss out 

on making dollars. It’s just not worth it. 

Professional companies also provide additional professional 

services, like accounting. Whenever you want to know who has 

paid and who is late, you can get up-to-date reports online anytime. 

In addition, the best companies offer other valuable services 

like marketing materials, management assistance, and consulting. 

If you or any member of your staff is wasting time and ruining 

your reputation by chasing after students for money, I recommend 

that you trade in your headaches for extra time to enroll new 

students, and earn new income. Call the professionals at AMS at 

1-800-275-1600 to preserve your dignity and the good reputation 

of your school. AMS is your one-stop-shop for martial arts school 

owners. We do it all, so you don’t have to. 

MS. CHRIS LEE is a martial arts business development consultant with a background in online and 

social media marketing. 


Photograph by Liia Galimzianova (right)

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AFTER SCHOOL EXCELLENCE 

Use Summer Camp to Promote 

After School 

by Chief Master Mike Bugg 

For most of the year, we’re always discussing ways to promote for summer camp. Now 

that summer camp is up and running, why not use it to promote after school? 

I’m sure that’s common sense and probably already in 

your plans, but how are you executing it? Are you 

openly discussing it and asking students during the 

day? Do you plan on using promotional tools? 

Do you have an after school brochure? Do you mention 

it to any potential parent and student that 

comes your way, whether at an exhibition, 

demo, promotion, belt testing, etc.? 

Sometimes we only get what we ask 

for, and when it comes to martial arts 

enrollments, you have to ask! 

Some students are too shy to ask 

about your school or too timid to 

train in the way of the arts in front 

of other people. By making a simple 

gesture their way, you can create a 

whirlwind of lifetime benefits for that 

one person, including additional financial 

benefits it could provide for you and your 

school. 

What makes summer camp promoting 

for other programs an even 

stronger asset is that your summer 

camp likely has the largest group of 

students that your school ever has 

in one setting at any given time 

throughout the entire year. 

With this, your options are 

various and your words easily 

heard. On top of that, those 

students that are enjoying 

their time day in, day out at 

summer camp will jump at the 

chance to stay involved in your school into the school year, 

especially if their friends are and they continue to strive for 

higher ranks. 

It’s that kind of excitement that their parents won’t be able to 

deny when after school sign up opens. 

All of these promoting techniques create a cycle of success. The 

more you promote other programs during summer camp, the 

more those programs will flourish. 

Then you can promote other upcoming events and programs 

during those times and create even more business and attention. 

Each opportunity can help the next be even bigger. 

Before you know it, you have a top martial arts school, and your 

competition will be left in the dust. 

For more information regarding summer camp and after school 

programs, call a friendly AMSkids Marketing Consultant at 

1-800-275-1600. 

CHIEF MASTER MIKE BUGG is an 8th degree black belt and the owner of a $1.52 million-per-year 

location, with one of the largest after school and summer camp programs in the country. 

106 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 4 Photograph by JackF (Right)

Transform Your School 

Transform Your School 

with Grandmaster Y. K. Kim 

The most successful martial arts 

business leader in the world 

Y. K. Kim 

• Author of a best seller 

and 14 other books 

• Producer, writer, director, 

and star of the action 

film Miami Connection 

• Publisher of Martial Arts 

World Magazine 

• Motivational Speaker 

• Recipient of Y. K. Kim 

Day in Central Florida 

• Founder of Martial Arts 

World 

• Chairman of a consulting 

company on marketing 

and software 

Meet Modern Educator and 

Contemporary Philosopher 


Motivate Your Students 

• Unbreakable Student 

Loyalty 

• 100% Retention 

• Enduring Pride in Your 

School 

Boost Your School 

• Double your 

Enrollment 

• Double your Income 

• Build the #1 School 

in your town 

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

charge even one penny. It is a small token of my 

appreciation to the martial arts industry, and my 

honor to pay back the debt of gratitude I owe to the 

martial arts community. 

Book Y. K. Kim at www.ykkim.com 

1-800-275-1600

If Teaching Great Classes 

is Important to You, You’ll 

Appreciate AMS Billing 

AMSBILLING 

Tuition Management Services 

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VISIT OURAMS.COM CALL 1-800-275-1600

Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 4

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