Month: October 2018
There are three key actions you must take to achieve a successful martial arts business. Being a master of the arts is an enormous and impressive accomplishment, but to run a thriving dojo you must also be a master of the business of running a dojo.
This doesn’t mean you have to get your MBA, but it does mean that you must focus the business details along with the details of your art. The keys to having a successful martial arts business can be summarized with three main points:
* Getting new students
* Retaining your existing students
* Selling new products or services to your students (often referred to as “up selling”)
Getting New Students in the Door
Attracting new students to your dojo is all about marketing. This is how any business attracts new customers and that is what your students are – customers. Your dojo may showcase your martial arts skills, but your business office better be figuring out where and how to most efficiently spend those scarce marketing dollars.
Your target customers, meaning students, may be children or adults or both. Focus in on where your potential customers receive their information on recreational or educational activities. Possibilities could include schools, libraries, and community centers.
Once you know “where” your potential customers are, you can then decide on the “how”. Mailers, print advertising, posted flyers, free demonstrations – these can all be effective ways to get the word out about your school.
Retaining Existing Students Month After Month
That first month of martial arts is exciting for a new student. But once that student gets over the initial rush of a new activity, the student may become distracted, bored, or overwhelmed by the immensity of what they want to accomplish in the martial arts.
A successful martial arts teacher will pay attention to how to keep the students inspired and engaged. This can involve both the personal touch of one-on-one attention and encouragement along with varying drills and activities specifically designed for new students.
Structuring attainable goals and making sure your new students not only reach them but are recognized for reaching them is another important component of a student retention plan.
Selling New Products or Services to Your Students
Developing new products and services does not mean just thinking up ways to make more money for your martial arts business. The creative dojo master will regularly review his products and services to determine if there is a need that is not being met.
Do some students need private lessons for a more personalized learning experience or to prepare for advancement? Would printed learning material assist some students? Would T-shirts, sweatshirts, and equipment bags printed with the name and logo of your school inspire your students and market your business?
Will students benefit from a more advanced program? Which students show signs of becoming leaders in the school and thus be good candidates for your leadership programs?
A Business Master
Someone who has mastered the martial arts already has proven their commitment and passion to their art. The master of successful dojo is proof of their commitment and passion to their school and their students.
This master will always pay attention to the business aspects of his or her martial arts business as well as the art, both for their own financial benefit and also for the sake of their students. You must successfully recruit, retain, and meet the needs of your students if you are to achieve a successful martial arts business.
Mixed martial arts is defined as a complete contact combat sport which involves a number of fighting skills and techniques, from a mixture of other fighting sports, used in competitions. Such training programs are great for the body and help one to improve stamina and strength.
It has been proved by a number of researches that individuals who practice any form of martial arts on a regular basis have high levels of fitness as compared to individuals who don’t. In addition to this, they also have a stronger immune system. These training programs are considered good for individuals suffering from innumerable health troubles like high cholesterol level, cardiac problems, high blood pressure, breathing difficulty, poor circulation and many others.
Some of the major benefits offered by MMA training programs are given below:
Increases flexibility and strength
This is one of the major benefits offered by such training programs. Regular training helps in the strengthening and toning of muscles thus increasing body flexibility. One becomes physical stronger and capable of defending himself from any kind of physical attack. Moreover, these training programs also help in muscle strengthening and stress release.
Weight loss programs
This is another major benefit associated with such training programs. Such programs are considered good for weight loss and help one to have a healthy and slim body.
Increases mind sharpness
Learning martial arts not only makes a person physically stronger but mentally sharper as well. The training involves good concentration and self control and thus improves coordination between the mind, body and soul.
Thus, mixed martial arts training provides innumerable health benefits to individuals and is becoming immensely popular worldwide. There are innumerable organizations which are offering MMA courses as per the needs of individuals.
Get into the best shape of your life while learning one of the coolest martial art techniques in the world. The art of Muay Thai fighting can make you a fit and formidable fighter, the envy of your training partners and feared by your opponents!
Are you frustrated because you are out of shape? Are traditional forms of exercise boring for you? Do you think you could protect yourself and your loved ones from a brutal attacker?
Get confident and get fit using martial arts workouts designed to teach you Muay Thai. Not only will you get stronger, leaner and more confident -but you will be learning the martial art techniques that will enable you to easily handle yourself in any self-defense situation.
Muay Thai fighters have always been respected and even feared by many of the more familiar fighting disciplines. Modern fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Cro Cop”, Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin and many others have dominated their opponents using their superior Muay Thai fighting skills.
Muay Thai training is one of the best martial arts workout you can do for cardiovascular fitness. It is physically demanding, athletically challenging and will build your conditioning to MMA fighting standards.
You can develop fantastic fitness, supreme confidence, deadly striking power and you will gain the security and respect that comes from practicing the dominant martial art of Muay Thai.
Through the power of Muay Thai training, you will learn how to overcome your fears, smash through personal barriers and take charge of your life.
Imagine how happy you will feel when you tell your friends that you have lost 3 inches from your waist and developed a bone shattering Thai kick in the process! Now that is something to be proud of.
Muay Thai training will give you a leaner, more muscular body and some fantastic self-defense skills too.
Best of all, this kind of MMA workout doesn’t take years of practice before seeing any improvements. You can begin making positive changes to your body and your self-defense skills right away.
*Learn excellent self-defense skills
*Get fantastic MMA conditioning
*Become more flexible, coordinated and disciplined
*Get leaner while building muscle
*Improve your health and look younger
*Build your self-confidence
*Earn respect from opponents and sparring partners
Muay Thai Training Has The Power To Change Your Life!
For more information about how you can get fit enough to fight, visit our website at Thai-Clinch.com. Watch FREE MMA conditioning videos and martial arts workouts.
About the Author Paul D’Arcy, NSCA, CPT is a Poliquin certified BioSignature practitioner and is the owner of Sport Fitness & Physique, LLC
After hundreds of movies, thousands of eye-popping fight scenes and millions of punches thrown…which ones are the best? Which ones have I been missing out on my whole life? Which ones must I have in my collection in order to not bring shame upon my family name?
We’ve scoured the internet. Reviews. Forums. Amazon. Postings. Bulletins. And this list is what we’ve come up with as the greatest Kung-Fu movies of all time and why you should watch each one. Pay attention to movies involving Yuen Wo-Ping as either director or action director, there’s a reason why half this list is movies where he was involved!
If you want to watch trailers of these movies, go to: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html
(you can also get directly to these movies in http://Amazon.com from this website)
#1 – Way of the Dragon (1979)
This is the only finished film to be written and directed by Bruce Lee. (Game of Death is the other one but is unfinished) We could write a lot about the plot, characters or fight scenes…but all you really care about is watching Bruce Lee fight Chuck Norris in the final battle.
Martial Artists: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris
Director: Bruce Lee
#2 – Shaolin Temple (1982)
Depicts the amazing history of the Shaolin Temple, the focal point for Chinese Martial Arts. Think of the Shaolin Monks as Jedi Knights (an elite group of fighters) and the rest of China as the messed-up universe that Star Wars takes place in (people who are afraid of the elite fighters and want to take them out of power). Much work to do, you have, young Jet Li. *picture Yoda’s accent on that one* Define Irony: A movie shot at the site of the Shaolin Temple, telling a story about the fall of the Shaolin Temple, sparks so much public interest that the temple was re-opened shortly after the movie released.
Martial Artist: Jet Li (His debut movie)
Director: Chang Hsin-Yen
#3 – Ong Bak (2003)
Raw action without wires, Tony Jaa brings a new martial arts style to the big screen and does so in style. Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) is stronger and more direct than the Chinese styles you’re used to seeing with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, giving a new look to how a martial arts movie can be done. You’ll be seeing more of him…guaranteed.
Martial Artist: Tony Jaa
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
#4 – Iron Monkey (1993)
Doctor by day, thief by night…Iron Monkey is your classic Robin-hood meets Kung Fu. It’s an action packed flick that can’t go 5 minutes without an excellent fight scene. It all comes down to a battle between Iron Monkey (ie Robin Hood) and an ex Shaolin Monk (remember, these guys are like the Jedi Knights of Chinese martial arts…they’re elite). Remember that guy Yuen Wo-Ping I mentioned? Well he’s the director in this one, so you know it’s good!
Martial Artists: Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
Action Directors: Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Shun-yi
#5 – 5 Deadly Venoms (1978)
No room form “martial arts beauties” in this one, there’s so much blood and action that they only cast male actors. Exit the traditional elaborate costumes and enter the muscular, skin-bearing, bloody martial arts style that would become a trademark for director Chang Cheh. Each cast member is trained in an art resembling one of 5 venemous creatures (Scorpion, Snake, Centipede, Gecko, Toad) with the 6th cast member being trained in all 5. Six main martial arts actors = LOTS O’ ACTION
Martial Artists: 6 Martial Artists (yes, 6 main characters)
Director: Chang Cheh
#6 – The Seven Samurai (1954)
One of the greatest classic kung-fu movies of all time and arguable Kurosawa’s best work. Some Samurai of the time were down on their luck (homeless) and willing to do anything for a meal. A village under attack by bandits recruits a group of seven such Samurai warriors and asks them to help defend their village. The movie is about the Samurai teaching the village how to fight and culminates in a massive battle between a village and almost 50 attacking bandits. The acting is superb, the emotions run high and Kurosawa keeps you hooked from beginning to end.
Martial Artists: 7 Martial Artists (all names you won’t know since this movie is so old)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
#7 – Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
Some will say this is the greatest martial arts movie of all time because of it’s balance between plot-line, comedy, drama and amazing kung fu sequences. Probably Jackie Chan’s best martial arts performance. You’re going to love the final scene where you learn what Drunken Master really means. We’re talking box-splitting, fire-spitting craziness!
Martial Artist: Jackie Chan
Director: Lau Kar-leung
#8 – Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
Based on a Pentalogy (yes, that’s 5 books) written by Wang Dulu, this movie covers mostly the 4th book. Critically acclaimed to cross international borders with it’s amazing character development, intricate plot, martial arts ideals, stunning special effects and quicker-than-the-eye fighting scenes, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon set a new standard for martial arts movies. Telling Zhang Ziyi (the lead female character and an amazing martial artist) to get back in the kitchen would likely cost you 50 punches to the bags. Be ready for subtitles, cuz turning on the English track is like watching…uh…like watching a kung fu movie in English.
Main Martial Artist: Chow Yun-fat
Other Martial Artists: Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, Cheng Pei-pei
Director: Ang Lee
Action Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
#9 – Kill Bill vol. 1 (2003)
You’re going to want your home theatre room for this one. It’s tough to beat beautiful women beating the crap out of each other in fast-paced, action-packed, make you cringe, bloody, gory, cut-’em-up (more buzz words go here) movie jam packed with as much martial arts death as possible. Tarantino expertly uses every camera angle and a plethora of special effects to deliver a better-than-real visual experience that gives this blood-and-guts thriller an artistic feel you’ll appreciate at the end. Did I mention is has Uma Thurman in it?
(Kill bill vol. 2 brings closure to the set, but hey…we had to choose one movie. Say Five-Point-Palm Exploding Heart Technique 5 times fast.)
Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Action Director: Yuen Wo-ping
#10 – Fist of Legend (1994)
A classic story of Chinese vs. Japanese martial arts, Fist of Legend is actually a remake of the original Bruce Lee movie, Fist of Fury. If Bruce Lee is like the original James Bond, Jet Li is the Pierce Brosnan. He’ll never be the original, but the modern film-making and larger budget bring the entertainment value just a hair above the original Fist of Fury. (The ghost of Bruce Lee is probably going to strike me down for writing that) The Yuen Brothers are known for amazing action choreography, and they totally deliver on this one. (Casting Jet Li may have helped them a little too.)
Martial Artist: Jet Li
Director: Gordon Chan
Action Directors: The Yuen Brothers
The fun doesn’t stop there.
We tried to stop at only 10…really, we did. But we just couldn’t control ourselves.
“Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!” – Will Ferrell in “Old School”
To see the movies that deserve “Honorable Mention”, go to http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html
Whether you enjoyed this list or think we snuffed your favorite movie, we’d love to hear what you think. Post your comments at: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/blog/archives/16
From the beginning, there was going to be some establishment resistance to mixed martial arts. The sport, with its absence of structured rules, did not fit into the regulations that were laid out by the athletic commissions across the country. In fact, most of the regulatory people didnt understand it, and therefore had no idea how to classify it. It certainly wasnt boxing, which used hands only, or kick boxing, which allowed for kicks and which was sanctioned in some states. And it most definitely was not a “worked” sport like professional wrestling, which also fell under the jurisdiction of some of the athletic commissions.
Plus, there was not really enough mixed martial arts activity going on for the states to take the time out to draft rules and regulations for it. If there was the possibility of only a couple of events per year, why would they go through the process of engaging commission attorneys to draw up a new set of rules, or approach the state legislature with a bill to be passed, in order to accommodate it?
Besides, there was a growing – and influential – constituency of people who looked upon mixed martial arts as “barbarism” and “bloodsport.” Many of these people used an expression that became a standard for cheap shots as time progressed – “human cock fighting.”
When you have pervading mainstream attitudes like this, the atmosphere is ripe for political opportunity. And sure enough, out of the rubble emerged one of the great political opportunists of recent years.
John McCain, a United States Senator from Arizona, had gotten a lot of mileage out of his five-year internment in a Vietnamese prisoner of war (POW) camp; rather than the more realistic portrayal of him as a pure victim, the slick public relations machine he had cultivated was able to spin him into a full-blown hero. More often than not, McCain was successful in co-opting the press in what was a somewhat blind pursuit of political glory. His critics opined that he never met a camera he didnt like or headline-grabbing issue he was not willing to sell himself out to. But he had a following, particularly among the media, that was willing to ignore the fact that despite his public stance for campaign finance reform, McCain was one of the great abusers of the process; in fact, he was one of the disgraced members of the “Keating Five,” which doled out political influence in exchange for hefty contributions and financial favors.
Though he had been labeled a “maverick” by most of the press corps, McCain was hardly that; rather, he was he was a very calculating political animal who often saw which way the wind was blowing and hurled himself – with sycophantic media grasping on to his boots – in that direction.
McCain purported to be a lifelong boxing fan, and claimed to be a boxer of some note at the Naval Academy, where he gained admission as a “legacy” (his father was an alumnus) and graduated near the bottom of his class. He favored legislation to bring about some federal control of boxing and would later spearhead efforts to pass more extensive bills in that quest. He was quite fond of accepting free tickets from the very promoters his legislation would have regulatory authority over. Coincidentally, these gifts and gratuities often landed him ringside, right in camera view, during an HBO or Showtime telecast.