Things You Must Do To Grow Your Martial Arts School

There are 3 things you must do every week – and sometimes every day in every class – to make sure your martial arts school thrives. Those 3 things are:

Bring in new students
Retain the students you have
Get more from your students

It is critical to the survival of your school that you block off time every week to focus on these 3 things. This might be 1 hour or 1 day. It might be to create a new class, new marketing program or for education in martial arts management to make sure you are growing as a martial arts school owner.

Marketing
You should be setting aside time every week to work on growing your school. This does not mean you have to create a brand new marketing plan every week. One week each month you can focus on education. Just like learning martial arts – you are constantly learning new things, right?

The same applies to marketing. Pick up a book, read a blog, read the business section of the newspaper. You have to learn the basics and continue to learn and grow in marketing as well.

Student Retention
Student retention is vital to any martial arts school. If you get 3 new students but 4 leave then you have not just gone back by a count of 1 youve actually gone back by 4 because had you retained those students you would now have a total of 7 students.

Each week you should be doing things to ensure your students are going to stay in your program as long as possible. This could be sending out birthday cards, writing a school newsletter, offering special workshops, learning more about the student and their family to build a stronger relationship, the list is almost endless.

Internal Marketing
The last item, internal marketing, is one that is often forgotten. Yet it is critically important.

What most small business owners, and most martial arts school owners, fail to understand is that it takes a whole lot more effort and money to find a new client then it does to sell again to an existing client.

To get a new student you must spend a lot of time and money finding them and convincing them that your school is what they are looking for and need.

It takes much less time and money to sell your current students on a Saturday workshop, or sell them a T-shirt, or get them to take private lessons.

You Are Not Alone
You do not have to take on these tasks all by yourself. There are many places you can get information to cut down your learning curve or save time and money by using existing materials.

You can get books on marketing, you can ask other martial arts school owners what they do, you can join online forums in places like LinkedIn, or fan pages on FaceBook, you can purchase materials from martial arts business or management companies.

International Martial Arts Management Systems, (IMAMS) is one such place. We offer a system that is created of training modules that consistently brings in 4, 5, maybe 10 students every month. We have modules for student retention and many many ways to help you with internal marketing.

KC Performing Arts Hotel – Accommodations in the Cultural Center

Kansas City is a great place to visit, whether you are in town for a business trip, vacation, or other special event. When you want to be at the center of all the activity and excitement that the city has to offer, reserve your accommodations at one of the well known hotels near the Kauffman Center, which provides some of the most celebrated cultural events in the region. Famous symphony orchestras, dance companies and vocalists, and theater companies all perform at the center.

When you stay at one of the upscale, boutique hotels in proximity to the Kauffman Center, you can expect amenities including tastefully decorated suites and rooms, a hotel restaurant that serves excellent regional cuisine and has an extensive wine list, and a fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment to keep you fit during your stay. Banquet and meeting facilities make it convenient for you to attend corporate meetings, conventions, or conferences while enjoying the comfort of a luxurious, Kansas City hotel. The professional staff at the hotel can also assist you in planning special events for your church or civic group, or special family events including anniversary or graduation parties, and wedding receptions.

Business guests who are staying at one of the hotels in the elegant Country Club Plaza region, will find that they will not only be able to work productively while staying in a boardroom or business suite, but will find the atmosphere conducive to relaxing after a busy day. Suites for corporate guests include oversized desks, making it easy to keep all your important documents at your fingertips. Data ports are included as amenities. Many suites provide 2 telephones with voice mail service so you do not miss important messages. Wireless, high-speed internet is complimentary in suites, so you can work uninterrupted.

Among the additional amenities which are included at boutique hotels near the performing arts center are flat screen TVs with cable, combination radio/alarm clocks with docking stations for an iPod, along with a CD player, and climate controlled thermostats in rooms and suites. Hairdryers and complimentary toiletries are provided in bathrooms. In most hotels, coffeemakers are provided with gourmet tea and coffee. Many rooms feature mini refrigerators, and in some cases, microwaves. Some hotels will provide microwaves for guests if requested. For guests who do not want to carry valuables or excess money with them, hotel safes are available. Additional guests may be accommodated on sofa beds in the rooms and suites.

Learn Martial Arts Moves To Win A Street Fight Easily!

Want to learn some of the best kept secrets of martial arts moves that work great? I want to explore and share with you a collection of street self defense fighting techniques that will make you a better fighter. I have been a martial artist my whole life, and have fought in many dangerous situations outside of the dojo. From what I can tell you, these are the following best kept secrets of reality based self defense training:

Learn martial arts moves #1 – The kick to the groin. You can use the kick, or a knee strike to cause and inflict damage and mostly pain to a male opponent. This move is not just limited with kicks and knee strikes, you can elbow the groin, stomp, bite, squeeze, rip. It is a very painful and sensitive area on every male opponent and if you need to fight for your life everything is fair on the street. Remember that and use this move.

Learn martial arts moves #2 – Stab your fingers into their eyes. When I did years of training in Jeetkunedo Concepts I quickly learned that one of the best reality based self defense techniques I could ever use was none other then the eye gouge. It is a simple move and has devastating consequences to the person who is attacking you. It causes temporary or permanent blindness and extreme pain. If you need to protect yourself, try using this self defense move!

Learn martial arts moves #3 – Smash your attacker into his kneecaps. You can cause permanent damage or more specifically break his knee cap. It is an easy strike and what you want to do is smash through it with your foot and breaking his knee joint. If anything this will cause pain and hold back an attacker being able to chase you as fast and quickly as he could if not for you using this move.

Be sure that you memorize and use all these techniques and incorporate them into your street self defense and martial arts moves. They work in street based scenarios so be sure to practice and improve your training. Be sure to do daily physical activity and training to be prepared for violence! Continue improving your education and skill levels of martial arts. Be sure to eat properly and maintain your physical health. I hope you have learned something from this article.

Martial Arts Management And The Dojo Store

If you aren’t selling equipment, supplies, and apparel at your martial arts school, you are definitely missing out on a significant source of revenue. As a practitioner of good martial arts management, a dojo master should always be looking for ways to further serve the students and sustain the school. The sale of services and products in addition to the core school lessons is an important aspect of any successful school. The dojo store can become a very active and profitable part of your school.

Additional Sources of Revenue

In most businesses, it is important to have a few different revenue streams. This way, if the sales of the main product or service falter in any way and for any reason, the other revenue sources can carry the business, at least for a while. Having a peripheral sales generator for your school is a good insurance policy.

It may seem to you as if setting up the dojo store is a big investment of time and money up front, and it can be if it is done too quickly or too expansively. But having the basic equipment on hand, in popular sizes, can be a quick sale to new or advancing students. You may want to display some of the most popular items, but most items for sale can simply be listed on an order form.

What You Should Stock From the Beginning

Here is some of the equipment you might want to have on hand to sell to your students:

Sparring Gear – depending on the particular martial art you are teaching, this can include head protection, mouth guards, hand and foot pads, and chest and groin protectors. Shin and arm protectors are common as well.

Uniforms – especially if you are teaching children, new uniforms will be in constant demand as they grow. Children can grow into a new uniform size every year.

Dojo Logo Equipment – offer a selection of t-shirts, sweatshirts, baseball hats, bandanas, and equipment bags, all displaying the name and logo of your school. Remember that anyone wearing your logo is advertising your school.

Training Gear – you can offer the basic training gear, such as paddles or even punching bags, along with printed training cards and educational information such as books or DVDs. You should use caution with the quantity of some of these as they can be expensive to stock up front.

Keep the Stream Flowing

You should remind your students regularly about the equipment and supplies you offer for sale. Remind them with a statement in class, post flyers at your school about the sale of equipment, send email notices once in a while to all of your students, and offer periodic sales and discounts. You could even offer coupons for a certain percentage off merchandise as a birthday present and encourage people to purchase gift certificates.

If you advertise your sale of martial arts equipment in the local media, such as the yellow pages, it may even result in an increase in enrollments by getting the name of your school in front of people.

Your students will need to purchase their martial arts equipment from someone; some company down the street or on the Internet. Why shouldn’t it be you? Your dojo store can provide the equipment and supplies that your students need, and provide you with a new and profitable source of revenue, an important part of your martial arts management plan.

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Jason Mecier Mixed Media Art

Jason Mecier is a mixed media artist that has spent over 10 years making three dimensional mosaics of pop icons. Every portrait is created from discarded items that come directly from the celebrities themselves. Working and living in San Francisco, Jason Mecier wishes ultimately to trade his art with Jane Seymour, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Marilyn Manson whose watercolors are available for sale on his website.

Among the mixed media art that he creates, Jason Mecier offers his rendition of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Created on a panel, the wide array of Elviras refuse has been put together to create not only a very close likeness, but a piece of art that any Elvira fan would enjoy. The background is created from the line of Halloween makeup that has the Elvira likeness and name attached. Made up of false nails, spiders, comics, bracelets, tubes and even a remote control, Elvira stands striking the pose so many fans know her for.

Willie Nelson is another of Jason Meciers mixed media art portraits. Made of objects such as paperclips, buttons, a feather, leaves, a die and even a plug, this portrait resembles the star whose trademark black shirt is made of roofing tiles. With wood as a backdrop, this piece could be hung on the walls of any fan or collector of Jason or Willies pieces.

Jason creates a likeness of Donald Trump in the next piece, whose background is made up of the likeness of one hundred dollar bills. A bow tie made from hair clipper guards, jacket including a remote control and a shoe, even discarded bow ties from Mr. Trump make up this fantastic image. An old cordless home phone, a hairspray can, Colgate can and an H. Urmann cigar tube are all included in this masterpiece. Cell phones, plug wires, shells and circuit boards along with the artistic touch of Jason Mecier, is all it takes to create the Trump in your home.

Phyllis Diller, the comedienne of days gone by is recreated in this stunning likeness by Jason Mecier. O a 70s inspired flowered panel, Phyllis Diller is in life a creation of mixed media art. This piece is made from many items including a Tabasco sauce bottle, doll torso, lipstick applicator, toothbrush, beads and baubles as well as perfume bottles and a matchbox from the St. Francis and scotch tape dispensers. Mecier outdone himself on this piece, as it is hard to pin down the woman in life, and depicting her in art is rarely done correctly. This piece is not only a tribute to the woman, but to Jasons hard work and determination in perfection.

When it comes to depicting the life of the rich and famous in mixed media art, it seems as though this artist has all the bases covered. From reclaimed materials and personal items to arrangement for creation of his pieces, Jason Mecier has created his own personal niche in the art world in the form of sunglasses and gum wrappers.