MASuccess Magazine

by Melissa Torres, MAIA Division Manager

There’s an old saying about coaching from the late, great UCLA basketball coach John Wooden that I think about a lot when it comes to MAIA: “A good coach can change the game; a great coach can change a life.”

That quote strikes a chord with me every time I think about it. A good coach can help you become better within a skill, career or hobby, but a great coach can instill something deeper, something life changing, something that alters the course of your life forever and opens your mind to possibilities never before seen.

We truly believe that here at MAIA. We believe that great coaching and mentoring can be a catalyst for unexpected growth and unprecedented discovery. We understand that no man or woman is an island, and even we did not get to the place we are today by going it alone. We all need some help from time to time.

That’s why I want to remind you of a feature on the MAIA website that allows us to better connect you to coaching....

A Successful Business Requires a Talented Person at the Helm!

by Kelly Murray-Grys

I started training in the martial arts in 1986 when I was just 4 years old. I was the only girl in my class and, even more notable, one of very few girls I knew who did karate. The dojo didn’t have air conditioning to deal with the summer heat, and we all did our pushups on our knuckles on the hardwood floor. On more than a few occasions, I was hit in the abdomen to the point of having the wind knocked out of me while being told that if I’d kept my guard up, I wouldn’t have gotten hit. Needless to say, it was a different time to be a martial artist.

A couple of other observations from that time: Our instructors didn’t give much thought to our feelings, nobody cared if we were under the weather on a given day, chest protectors hadn’t become the norm, and it was considered a privilege to mop the dojo floor at the end of the day. The staff of the school was composed of loyal black-belt volunteers, die...

There is no shortage of knowledge in our industry.

There are great coaches and consultants out there (and some not so great ones too) that will give you all of their knowledge.

Information is plentiful thanks to Google and YouTube (I joke all the time that I built a 7 figure business off of using those two platforms as resources).

So the issue isn’t information and knowledge. The information is WHERE DO I START?

All of us are in unique places in our martial arts schools.

Some of us are just getting started.  Some of us have been at this for decades.
Some of us are struggling with recruiting, others with retention.

So where do you START?

I think why most coaching and consulting programs fail is because they word vomit all of their knowledge onto a school owner without providing them with a timeline of what they should implement based on where they are in their business.

This is why MAIA is a step above the rest. Our model provides a Pathway to Success , and our programs are craft...

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.

2          Cultivate the belief that your best years are still ahead of you.

Too often, when things ar...

They say you are the culmination of the people you spend the most time with.

Well what kind of outcome do you think would occur if you hung out with these all-stars:

Chatri Sityodtong
Brent Gleeson
Robert Teschner
Frank Silverman
Cris Rodriguez
Mike Metzger
Shane Tassoul
Kelly Murray Gry
Eric Santamaria
Abid Benwali
Nick Peterman

Leveling up your inner circle is a sure-fire game plan to leveling up your life.
And the above list of all-stars are coming straight to your computer with the Martial Arts Industry’s biggest training and education event: The 2021 Martial Arts Super Show.

While in-person events are my personal favorite, with the pandemic and Nevada’s
restrictions, we had to go virtual for one more year.

What does this mean for you?

A super affordable Martial Arts Super Show with an amazing speaker line up!

After a year of running online classes, most of you are Zoom Wizards, but I wanted to share some tips to get the most out of our 2021 Super Show and break down what you should do ...

When looking back on 2020, there were so many lessons that were learned.

My mantra during Covid was pretty simple:

After every recession - there is a rebound.
After every recession - there IS a rebound.
After every recession - there IS a REBOUND.

And that’s where we are today. Many of you have your schools opened — some of
you with restrictions — and then there are places like Florida where we have absolutely no restrictions in our academy.

And it’s time to rebuild.
It’s time to RECRUIT.

Which means it’s time to go pedal to the metal with getting your school back to pre-COVID numbers and beyond. Which is what brings me to this blog today.

One of the things I missed most during 2020 was live events.  While virtual events like the Super Show and my 8-Hour Marketing Mastermind Course were amazing, there is nothing like being there in person.

Now that the pandemic is slowing down here in the states, we are seeing more live
events taking place.

And I am PUMPED to announce that we are h...

by Cris Rodriguez

There are two aspects of owning a martial arts business in which we, as an industry, need to focus on, level up and improve our skill set: marketing strategies and sales systems.

After all, sales are the lifeblood of our businesses. Our schools live and die by the number of new members we can attract.

Here’s a fact: People are always going to quit.

And I don’t mean to sound harsh, but the reasons they quit doesn’t matter. Your school needs to bring in new people. Without leads walking through your doors, those doors will soon close and your opportunity to have an impact on your community will fade.

It seems silly to see posts in martial arts–related Facebook groups that treat “sales” like a dirty word. Or that martial arts training should be free. Or that if you charge for your classes, you’re a sellout. Give me a break!

The word “salesman” presents a negative image for a lot of people in our industry. If it truly bothers you, just replace the notion of sel...

Attending the Martial Arts SuperShow is a one of a kind experience. Last year was my first time going and I loved it, so I decided to write down my thoughts. If you haven't already locked in your tickets, do it today! https://www.masupershow.com/

By: Cris Rodriguez, MAIA Digital Marketing Specialist

February 2019.

Mike Metzger. Melody Johnson. Bill Clark. Shane Tassoul. Chuck Norris.

Those were the Speaker names that I read.

Those were the legends in our Industry that I would be sharing the stage with.

And man was I PUMPED!

Having the opportunity to share my love of Digital Marketing at the industry’s
largest and most established conference gave me chills.  It was an absolute honor.

My mentor, Mike Metzger (who sometimes has more faith in me than I do) was
the one that signed me up.  And I was super nervous!

This was going to be my VERY FIRST SuperShow…
And he had me speaking 4 times!

I knew the most important question I had to answer was…
What suit jacket was I going to wear?...

Look, we get it.  Not everyone is comfortable being a “salesperson.”  But in order for you to grow your school, you’re going to have to step outside your comfort zone and do something different. 

If you find yourself frustrated with a lack of growth or profitability, it’s because you’ve reached the maximum potential of your current mindset.  It’s that simple.  To go farther, you’re going to have to change something. 

Here’s the good news, though:  You don’t have to start with a huge, radical change to see an impact.

And that’s where this Square Hand Target system comes into play.  Think of it as a baby step into a brave, new world.

• You don’t have to make a big sales pitch
• You don’t have to invest a ton of money
• You don’t have to attempt a mass intro

All you have to do is bring in your own students for a seminar on a subject matter you should already be comfortable with.

And by starting here, you can begin to develop an ease and understanding of a much larger concept to real...

Zen Planner is the leading software suite for martial arts businesses. The company’s Annual Martial Arts Benchmark Report is the most comprehensive collection and analysis of business data in the martial arts industry. 

The purpose of the report is simple: to provide valuable insights to martial arts school owners, so that they can master their businesses and transform more lives. The data from this report is backed by 465 survey respondents, and helps school owners make better business decisions — whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for decades! 

How does Zen Planner determine what questions to include in its survey?

When we first launched the Benchmark Report, we formed our questions based on conversations that we had had been having with school owners for a decade. We have a good understanding of what martial arts schools are thinking about, from sales to customer support, what their pain points are, and what things matter most to their businesses.

We pair...