MASuccess Magazine

by Dave Kovar

To say that the past year and a half has been interesting would be an understatement. Most of us never saw 2020 coming — at least, I didn’t. I’m not going to lie: It’s been a challenging time for my school and me. But I’m proud to say that we’re coming out of it in pretty good shape. Thanks to the hard work of our amazing team, our loyal student body and a little help from the PPP, we’re coming back stronger than ever. In this column, I will share the nine steps we used to keep our momentum going in case your business needs a boost.

1          Acknowledge and accept where you are.

You can love your current situation or you can hate it, but that doesn’t change the fact that you are where you are. It’s a waste of time to try to wish it away. The sooner you acknowledge and accept where you are, the sooner you can start taking steps to get where you want to go.

by Karen Eden

My favorite Chinese eatery in the world happens to be located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It’s a very unassuming place, the kind of restaurant you would refer to as a “hole in the wall.” I’ve frequented this location for decades now and go there every time I’m in town. The flavor of the sauce, the texture of the rice — everything you would be extra picky about is accommodated. And I, my friends, am very picky about my Asian food!

During one visit, I noticed that somebody had opened a Chinese buffet next door to my favorite spot. The buffet was cheaper and, of course, featured an all-you-can-eat style of dining. There were bright balloons and banners placed across the entrance. But nope — no buffet for me. I know what’s good, and I stick with what I know.

As my family and I walked in to be seated, we noticed that the restaurant was emptier than normal. No doubt locals were giving the ballooned and bannered...

by Kathy Olevsky

I’ve written this column for 10 years now, telling the world how I’ve survived 45 years in the martial arts business despite having made many mistakes. In fact, I have not even begun to cover them all. I share my stories to help you learn from them — and because it’s important to know that you, too, may blunder along the way but that your school can survive.

After the major changes and constant unpredictability of 2020, the martial arts industry started to come back strong in 2021. During this time, we had to get experimental — sometimes successfully and sometimes not. At this time, I would like to share some of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in my years of running a school (not just 2020) in the hope that the solutions I found can help you as our industry continues to revive.

Pay and Charge Your Black Belts. In our early years, we followed the tradition that holds that when students reach black belt,...

by Frank Silverman

I start this column with a bit of sorrow because usually I’d be giving one last push for the Martial Arts SuperShow. I’d talk about all the great topics to be covered. I’d bring up all the fantastic speakers and seminars and training ops. I would, of course, give a few reasons why all Martial Arts Industry Association members should attend — not just to further their own education for the benefit of the industry as a whole but also to show support for all the hard work that MAIA and Century put into the event.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 got the best of the SuperShow again this year. As I type this, Las Vegas is on its way back to normalcy, but many venues still are not fully open. In some ways, the success of the Show is what doomed it: Caesars Forum, which was supposed to be our venue this year, has maximum occupancy rates that are far lower than the numbers we draw. The social distancing requirements that will be in place in Vegas for...

by Eric P. Fleishman

As martial arts schools reopen, school owners everywhere are seeing new sign-ups. Enrollment is rising because people are once again free to congregate safely, and the numbers are being boosted by the popularity of TV shows like Cobra Kai.

With all these new students trying out their new moves, keeping everyone safe and healthy becomes the priority. Nothing puts a damper on enlightenment-through-training like the pain of an unexpected injury. However, by implementing a proper warmup along with a comprehensive stretching regimen, you can dramatically decrease the chance of injury. With that in mind, I offer this list of the five most important yoga-based stretches to include in your program.

For the Hamstring

Located along the back of the leg, the hamstring is a critical muscle to keep flexible. Maintaining supple hamstrings can ensure higher, more powerful kicks and explosive capabilities that will propel the body forward when it’s time to...

by Melissa Torres, MAIA Division Manager

As you read this issue of MASuccess, our team is hard at work preparing for our second virtual show, which also happens to be our 20^th anniversary! Virtual or in-person, the Martial Arts SuperShow is still the largest industry event on the planet, and we’re honored to host it. We could not be more excited to be able to deliver this valuable content to your living room or dojo — or wherever you choose to watch — despite the unfortunate circumstances brought on by COVID.

As you may know, in March, we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the live show in Las Vegas. Our team spends a full year working up to the event, and unfortunately, with the myriad details that go into the planning and execution, we realized that we couldn’t make the decisions we needed to make without knowing what the situation in Vegas would be in July. Instead, we opted for a virtual show and immediately focused our efforts on that.

We take...

by Philip E. Goss Jr., Esq.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a stark reminder of a simple fact: We all will die. No one has ever made it out the other side. Although we cannot control when or how we die, we can plan for it, to some degree, from a legal perspective. To ensure you’ve made all possible preparations before you leave this rock, keep the following rules in mind.

Rule 1: Make your body-disposal desires crystal clear.

Interestingly, it was more than a decade after the wedding when my wife and I had the “burial versus cremation” discussion. If nothing else, a cancer diagnosis certainly fosters a real-world prospective. As a 19-year cancer survivor, my dear wife and I went on to discuss this issue to death. (Sorry for the gallows humor.)

My advice to you is to articulate your wishes for what will become of your body well in advance. Typically, this is accomplished through instructions stipulated in your last will and testament. Be as precise as...

by Tu Le

In May 2018, my team at InCourage Martial Arts and I were preparing to open a brand-new martial arts studio in Fairfax, Virginia.

This studio was going to be in a new location, starting completely from scratch with no existing students. On top of that, as the owner, I would be off-site. We would need someone to handle the onsite operations.

Considering all these factors, I concluded that resources were limited and costs needed to be kept as low as possible.

The existing business model in most martial arts studios requires both a program director and an instructor to keep things running smoothly. For this new studio, however, our goal was to do it with just one full-time staff member.

Of course, running anything with just one person (at least, one full-time person) is challenging because there are so many things that need to be done: marketing for new students, keeping current students, coming up with fun and engaging class plans, recruiting and hiring part-time...

by Justin Lee Ford

Back in 2019, George Smiley, an IT executive, wanted to do something new, so he decided to invest in a franchise. Having coached his son’s soccer team in his younger years, he knew that athletic activities can be great for communities and families, as well as worthy endeavors in which to invest money. Although he’d never trained in the martial arts, his search for a franchise and his interest in improving the community through athletic activity eventually took him to Premier Martial Arts.

If case you haven’t heard, Premier Martial Arts is a franchise with more than 100 locations. Founded in 1998 by Black Belt Hall of Famer Barry Van Over, Premier has grown rapidly in recent years and now spans the United States and Canada and extends into England.

When Smiley met with Premier Martial Arts, he saw it as an opportunity not only to invest in a successful franchise but also to spread the benefits of enhanced focus, improved self-confidence...

by Cris Rodriguez

As I was thinking of a title for this article, I tried not to be overly dramatic, but I’m standing by my statement that “Facebook is changing forever.” It’s certainly a big deal, but it shouldn’t come as a shocker — with any technology, the one thing you can count on is that nothing is going to stay the same for long.

My goal in writing this is that by the end of the article, you’ll understand what’s taking place, why it’s happening, how it will impact your advertising and, most important, why you need to prepare for this.

As I write this in late March 2021, there are still many unknowns surrounding Apple’s next iOS 14 update for the iPhone and iPad, so much so that even Facebook is unsure of the impact it will have. With that being said, I’ll be transparent about what I’m unsure of, as well. Until the “ATT prompt” goes live, there will be much speculation.

Although Facebook...