MASuccess Magazine

By Cris Rodriguez

The 6 Key Stages

            If you’re struggling to get more students, if you’re confused with all of this social media mumbo-jumbo, if you’re frustrated by not being able to communicate to your leads why they should join your school – then this article was made for you.

            Sound like it’s too good to be true? Well, it’s not.

            Let me give you some context before we jump in.

            Every decision we make in our academy is based around the framework of our “Customer’s Journey.” There are 6 Key Stages that every martial arts student will go through on his/her customer journey in our schools:

            Key Stage...

By Terry L. Wilson

The Ultimate Challenge

Veteran ninja Hakim Isler had very little interest in becoming a celebrity when he submitted an application to the producers of the hit reality television series Naked and Afraid.

What started as a good-natured verbal sparring contest between a ninja and his Special Forces buddy evolved into one of the most exciting episodes in the history of the show. It also launched Isler onto a new career path as a TV celebrity, survival instructor, public speaker and survival-course creator.

“I contacted the show as a joke because a Special Forces friend of mine dared me to do it,” explains Isler. It was one Alpha male daring another Alpha male. So that night I went online and filled out an application form for the show.”

Predictably, the producers of Naked and Afraid jumped at the chance to have a real-life ninja who was also a Psychological Operations soldier and survival specialist on their survival series.

The show’s...

If you're reading this blog, chances are, you're familiar with MAIA, or the Martial Arts Industry Association. But just because you know MAIA as an organization, you may not be familiar with all the individual team members. They do an amazing job, and are just as passionate about the work they do as you are. We're making this series of blog posts to shine the light on our MAIA team members and the amazing work they do! 

This post features Roger Cowan. Many of you may have spoken with him on the phone, or seen him at SuperShow. Here, you'll get to know Roger a little better!

What is your job at MAIA?

My official title is Elite Coordinator.  My job involves a lot of research, reporting, data gathering, event organizing and any of a number of odd things that need to be done.

How long have you worked with MAIA?

For nine years now!

What is something unique about the work that you do?

In any given day I could be negotiating with hotels or restaurants for an...

By Karen Eden

We were having lunch with our good friend Tommy several years ago. Tommy, a plumber by trade, is a good-hearted guy with a simple life. We began discussing how quickly technology is changing, and how we are almost forced to keep up with all the changes that take place.

“I had a really hard time learning computers, but I eventually figured it out,” he told me.

“Figured it out?” I responded, quizzically.

I wondered how someone with no prior experience could just “figure out” how to initially operate a computer.

            Tommy explained: after much frustration, one weekend he simply went out and bought a used computer. He then shut the door to his workroom and tore the entire thing apart.

“If I can see how it works from the inside,” he told me, “then I can figure out how to operate it from the outside.”

I looked at Tommy and smiled from ear to ear....

By Kathy Olevsky

I've been operating a martial arts school full time for 45 years. I think I may have made every mistake that can be made in this business. The reason I'm still in business, I believe, is because I asked for help. I learned quickly that others before me had already found solutions. In this reality-based column, I'll point out key mistakes I made in my business career, which are common errors among school owners, both large and small, throughout our industry. Then I’ll share the solutions I applied to overcome them.

If you’re looking back on last summer and remembering that it was not a good business season, there is still time to make changes what will allow you to generate income during this upcoming summer season.

As school owners, we often look for new students and opportunities to find leads to those new students. In many schools, those leads dry up a bit over the course of the summer months. If this is the case for your school,...

By Philip E. Goss, Jr., Esq.

In the law, there is something referred to as a “rebuttable presumption.” A rebuttable presumption is an assumption or inference that is accepted as true, unless rebutted by adverse evidence. Two common examples of rebuttable presumptions are that, in a criminal trial, a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, or that a child born during a marriage is actually the progeny of the husband.

Each can be proven false, but the starting point is that each is true.

My mother wasn’t an attorney, but she taught me my first rebuttable presumption. As children are wont to do, I would frequently come home with some wild story told to me by another kid. Of course, these stories were usually false or greatly exaggerated.

My mother told me some 50-plus years ago to never believe what another kid told me until I could verify that it was true. This is a lesson adults need to remember, but with a twist:

Never believe anything said by...

By Dave Kovar

The first 10 years that I was in business, the concept of staff development was foreign to me. I did pretty much everything by myself, or got one of my advanced students to help out when necessary. That all changed in the late 80s when my older brother, Tim, came on as my business partner.

Out of the gate, the first thing he wanted us to do was to start grooming a team that could help us grow. To me, it seemed like a waste of time. But I was excited to have a partner and wanted to stay open-minded and receptive to his input.

I quickly found out what a valuable use of time this was. By the early ‘90s, we had a core group of team members that were committed to our vision and to growing our schools. As a matter of fact, I am proud to say that many of those same people are still a part of our organization today.

Although we don’t have everything figured out, when it comes to the area of developing a rock-solid team, we have made amazing progress over the...

By Herb Borkland

Born in Japan, Kazuo “Sonny” Onoo trained in karate and judo in school clubs before immigrating to Fairbanks, Alaska, at age 11, where he practiced goju-ryu karate. After moving to southern Minnesota, Onoo trained under full-contact Professional Karate Association (PKA) Champion Gordon Franks and goju-ryu legend Chuck Merriman. Onoo competed in Europe as a member of Merriman’s Trans-World Oil team between 1975 and 1987, and the PKA named him the best bantamweight in the world.

In the 1990s, Onoo became a professional wrestling “character.” Acting as liaison between World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), the “villain agent” Onoo negotiated the talent exchange programs which allowed numerous Japanese performers to appear with WCW.

Herb Borkland: How did you first hear about martial arts?

Sonny Onoo: As an immigrant from Japan, I was asked from day one, “Do you know...

By MAIA Executive Director Frank Silverman

As we approach April, it’s hard to believe that the year is nearly 25% over! A quarter of 2019 is done and in the history books! But despite the jarring reminder that we cannot stop time, and that it does indeed fly, this is a great time of year. We are getting closer to summer and to the annual Martial Arts SuperShow, scheduled in late June and early July in Las Vegas. Now is a good time to look back and see if your business plan is on track for 2019.

Goals come in different shapes and sizes. Maybe you set a goal for your school’s student count. Maybe you identified an income level to attain.

Perhaps your goals are less about the business of martial arts and more about training. For example, did you want to train more, compete in an event or earn a specific rank?

Maybe you set goals related to your business and passion, the martial arts, but are geared towards your personal life: for instance, being able to be at work...