MASuccess Magazine

by Melissa Torres

It was February in Oklahoma City when I was listening to news reports of an ice storm heading my way. I had a flight scheduled to take me to my first MAIA Elite event in sunny Orlando, Florida. And, fortunately, I was able to escape the city just before the storm hit.

It was perfect weather in Florida. But I wasn’t there for vacation, I was there to work. I had the opportunity to hear the MAIA consultants speak and I realized why I’m so thankful I took this job. Each day, I left the sessions inspired and motivated, along with a number of school owners in  attendance to focus on their growth and financial future. One thing that really hit home for me was the importance of setting goals for myself.

I got home and decided to dig deeper into goal-setting and the concept of positive thinking to achieve those goals. I started reading a book by success coach and...

by Kathy Olevsky

I‘ve been operating a martial arts school full time for 39 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.

Summer is approaching, and some schools see a considerable drop in new business during these summer months. If it happened last year, they assume it will happen this year, too. 

In reality, this is a great time to make sure you drive new business to your door. There are families that stay home during the summer months and enjoy...

by Christopher Rappold

Trust is a feeling, but, at times, it may be a bit hard to define. Kyoshi Dave Kovar, at a recent seminar, discussed the “5 C’s of Trust.”

After being reminded of this important lesson, I thought it would be of value to share with you. 

What are the 5 C’s? They are: Consistency, Competence, Confidence, Credibility and Character.

Consistency. Students want to feel a degree of “sameness” when they come to class. Providing enough repetition over time allows them to wire in the muscle memory to make the movement effective for their intended purposes.

Competence. Students want to know the techniques work and have been battle-tested for their intended purposes, be it competition, street survival, combat, etc. They want to know that the instructors teaching them have been correctly trained to transfer the correct information to get...

by Frank Silverman

As we approach the Martial Arts SuperShow, scheduled for July 1-3 at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, I want to give one last push for everyone to sign up. As you have heard before regarding not only this but events similar to it, you only need one great idea to make the trip both worthwhile and affordable. Think about it. If you enroll just two students at a rate of $100 a month, and your average member stays only eight months, that amounts to $1,600. 

My guess is you can pay for your SuperShow ticket, two hotel nights and airfare for less than $1,200. And any good idea will surely generate more than two new members.

That said, I have a way to guarantee that you get far more than just a few members and return home with the other big “problem” — having too many ideas! (I’ve heard that before and I think it’s the world’s worst...

by Beth Block

Many of us believe in the value of tournament participation for our students.

Tournaments can enhance our students’ competitive spirit. This assists them outside the martial arts world as well as within. It also helps our students learn to both win and lose. Additionally, we learn that challenging work is often rewarded.

So, for all those valuable reasons, we utilize the tournament platform within our studio. It provides all the character development we’ve just mentioned. It has the added advantage of helping with our student attendance and retention, as they work toward their goals in preparing for the tournament.

We spend time informing the students and their parents about the date, venue and rules for the tournament. We devote our time to working with the tournament hosts on planning, coaching and judging at the tournament. We have a lot invested in...

Want to grow your school, improve your teaching, excite your staff, and train with some of the best martial artists and business people in the industry? Attend the Martial Arts SuperShow in Las Vegas this July!  We asked two instructors and business owners from last year's convention to weigh in on their thoughts. Here's what they said.

By: David Barnett

Each year, the Martial Arts Industry  Association (MAIA) stages the premier training and networking event for martial arts instructors and school owners, the Martial Arts SuperShow.

Is your school growing the way you want it to, or are you struggling with your business? Are you excited every day when you head to your school, or are you missing the enthusiasm you used to have?

Whether you’re happy or not, maybe you aren’t entirely satisfied. You know there’s always room for growth and improvement, the same lesson we try to instill in our students every day.

Are you asking yourself questions...

He is perhaps the most celebrated traditional sensei in America today, and for good reason. Master Fumio Demura was the first professional martial arts showman. He wrote the first best-selling books on Okinawan weapons. He was the inspiration (and stunt double!) for Mr. Miyagi in the original Karate Kid films. And he was a champion fighter back in his native Japan. This year, we’ll celebrate this living legend’s legacy at the 2018 Martial Arts SuperShow.

As a youth, Master Fumio Demura was so shy he couldn‘t speak without stuttering. He was so frail that he flunked his first white belt test. When he immigrated to the United States in 1965 to introduce shito-ryu karate to Americans, he so struggled with learning English that it brought him to tears. Yet Master Demura, 79, overcame all of these obstacles and rose to astonishing heights in our industry. For decades, and all over the Western world, he’s been universally heralded as a superb technician, a dynamic...

So, you’re running a part-time school and thinking of taking the leap to full time. I never ran a part-time school. But I applied 5 Laws of Success to launch a new school and build a sensible plan to grow to 100 students. Following these same laws can help you move forward into a professional career as a school owner.

If you’re running a part-time school today and pondering the jump to full-time ownership, you will want to pay strict attention to this article. I’m going to share with you what I call the “5 Laws of Success.” I faithfully applied these laws in 2012 to change careers and open a full-time martial arts school, Durham Modern Martial Arts in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. 

Further, those laws were part of my reasonable plan to reach 100 active students over a period of years. Today, in our sixth year of operation, we have exceeded my original goal of 100 students.

These laws worked for me, and I believe they can work for you, too. Admittedly, I...

The Flow is a dynamic new weapons training system designed by World Champion Jackson Rudolph. The program is designed to provide up to a year of bo staff training and push your students to learn new techniques and be more creative. In his article, Jackson reveals why he created the program and details how it can improve your curriculum.

Jackson Rudolph has taught seminars for owners of small schools with less than 50 students and no staff members, to owners that have a chain of 10 or more schools and thousands of students. The common theme, regardless of school size, is that the most successful instructors train students that have positive role models and a drive to improve their art.

These experiences inspired Rudolph to partner with MAIA and create “The Flow.” The Flow is an innovative, modern weapons curriculum designed to motivate your students to train harder and think more creatively. Starting with a bo staff program, schools that purchase The Flow will benefit...