Black Belt Banter: Martial Arts Business Podcast
Welcome to Black Belt Banter, the best martial arts business podcast for instructors, school owners, and entrepreneurs who want to increase their profits and generate substantial revenue. Whether you're running a single studio or scaling a multi-location empire, we break down the strategies, stories, and systems behind profitable martial arts businesses. From student retention and marketing hacks to leadership, curriculum, and community building, we cover it all. Tune in for weekly insights from Master Chan and Master Jimmy Hong, who’s been in the trenches and come out kicking.
Email us at jimmyhong@blackbeltbanter.com
Black Belt Banter: Martial Arts Business Podcast
#7 | Why Martial Art Schools Are Dying: A Blunt Wake Up Call to Reality Check
ASA Martial Arts Business Summit 2025
✅ Register now at https://theblackbeltbanter.com/
🗓️ Mark your calendars for October 3–4, 2025—because the ASA Martial Arts Summit is throwing down in Las Vegas at the iconic Paris Hotel & Casino, and you don’t want to miss it. This is the business event for martial arts entrepreneurs ready to evolve, scale, and sharpen their competitive edge.
🔥 It’s a full-throttle experience designed for passionate martial arts professionals who refuse to settle. Only a few weeks left to lock in the $399 early access rate—offer ends August 15th.
There's a crisis affecting martial arts schools nationwide, but it's not what you might think. The pandemic tested our industry's resilience—we taught through Zoom, improvised training equipment, and found ways to survive against impossible odds. Yet now, with that immediate threat behind us, many schools face a deeper challenge: finding purpose beyond mere survival.
This episode delivers a passionate wake-up call for school owners and instructors in this thought-provoking episode. "If your purpose is to make money, you need to find a better purpose."
For schools currently struggling, Tony shares practical strategies—including his recent experience helping stunt performers start a school by renting a neighborhood clubhouse for just $900 monthly. This incremental approach allowed them to build to 50 students before considering a permanent location, demonstrating how starting small can create sustainable growth.
Block Insurance – Providing specialized coverage for martial arts studios nationwide, with over 30 years of expertise in protecting what matters most.
Dynamics World – A one‑stop martial arts supplier offering uniforms, belts, gear, mats, and custom designs, delivering great products, great prices, and great service to martial arts school owners.
https://store.dynamicsworld.com/
Contact Black Belt Banter
- Email us at jimmyhong@blackbeltbanter.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ASAmartialarts
Please rate and review our podcast! Thanks for listening!
In our seventh episode, we'll dive into why martial arts schools are dying and how to save it. A blunt wake-up call to reality check. Welcome to Black Belt Banter. The best podcast to help your martial arts school increase profits and generate substantial revenue. I'm Jimmy Hong and my co-host is Master Tony Chung. Revenue I'm Jimmy Hong and my co-host is Master Tony Chung. Master Tony is an accomplished school owner, generating over $2 million annually with multiple locations. He also works in the film and television industry as an actor, stunt double and fight trainer. His more recent works include Cobra, kai Will Trent, the Tulsa King, the Naked Gun Movie and so many more. Master Tony, welcome back and very excited to talk about this topic with you today. Why martial arts schools are dying, how can we, how can they save it?
Speaker 2:I don't know. It's a tough question. It's the same question I asked myself, because we all have to create perpetual value all the time. It's just like having a successful marriage You've got to continue dating your wife. I think that the statistics will say that legacy businesses they have some peak years and then they start tailing off. And I think that it was interesting because so many schools survived COVID. I know that there was some really hard situations depending on where you were in your market, but all in all, that really was where people really cut their teeth.
Speaker 2:For there's all these times as a school operator, especially if you're a grandmaster's kid, your father's grandmaster you know how it is, boy, when I was your age or this or that dude, our dads would call us and be like, are you okay? And I was like I'm hanging in there. Dad and my uncles had asked me and so many of the second generation, third generation, whatever grandmaster kids, we'd go through this thing. All instructors, american instructors, brazilian jujitsu guys. People were teaching jujitsu virtually through Zoom and people were grappling a couch cushion stuffed into a hoodie. How inventive everybody was and we're just figuring it out and we worked really hard, but it was awesome. That moment for the industry was a shining moment that we, every school that survived COVID some schools started in COVID. I can't even imagine that, but all of us if you're listening to this, chances are you're a school owner we survived COVID. That was five years ago, but that should let you know that you have what it takes. It's really. I have a tendency to be negative, so I don't want you to get the wrong idea of my tone. I was listening back to some of the episodes and I was like, oh, and then this one's called reality check. So, oh, no, this guy's going to be real doom and gloom. So please, I tell my kids I'm brutal with my kids. I'm like put your seatbelt on, you'll die. That's what it's for. That's why daddy puts a seatbelt on, because I don't want to die. It's important to be honest with yourself, but having said that, we went through COVID, you could do anything. The problem is COVID is five years let's say three years removed. We're through COVID. So now what? Now it's time to not just survive, it's time to thrive.
Speaker 2:I've sat in the coach's chair for dozens of athletes at all levels and sometimes you got a fighter on the other side of the ring. It just smacking the crap out of your student. And your student, your student, comes to you in between rounds and they're like what do I do, sir? And I'm like, oh man, just survive. That guy's kicking your ass and I'm like it's hard to sit here. But just, dude, I get it. That's tough, so get back in there and do your best. And then in between round two and three, you find out that guy's human because he got tired or maybe the girl loses some steam and my girl starts scoring. And so in between round two and three I'm like dang, we survived, let's try to win this thing, let's go.
Speaker 2:And I think that's where you see a view of championship material Survival. Dude, in grappling, if you have someone, take your back and you get into a bad position and you can somehow survive the submission and you just work your way through. There is something huge that happens and it's a big confidence boost. And the thing is that in COVID we had purpose Before COVID. After COVID it's gotten back to the. It's gotten back.
Speaker 2:It's when husbands and wives date in the engagement phase. It's and I'm guilty too, I was doing laundry, I'm cooking, I'm like really trying to date. Nice, my wife and I our first date. I took her flying, and I don't fly. I had a friend that was a pilot trainer, so it was our first date and it was literally downhill from there that our dates have been much less than that, but we still go dates and I think that it's important that during COVID, nobody counted their hours Nobody. It was just it's survival. I'm just trying to, I'm trying not to get knocked out.
Speaker 2:And now that you survived COVID, what do you do? And here's the reality check, the reality check you had purpose in COVID, we all did. Now, what's your purpose? Is your purpose to make money? Because if your purpose is to make money, you need to find a better purpose. Money will make you more of what you already are. So if you're not very much of a person, then you're just going to be more of that. If you're an amazing person and you have a giving heart and you add value to others, truly you'll be more of that.
Speaker 2:So I think that, when it comes down to it, don't get back into the rhythm of how do I say this Filling bags with sand is just filling bags with sand, and if I'm doing it for money, I'll do it, and then you pay more and I can't afford to pay you more money. Guys, we're filling bags of sand and it's just a job. It's just a job. And then they'll start cutting corners and the sandbags are going to be less effective and smaller. But if we're filling bags of sand because there's a flood coming and it's going to kill people and we have to save the town, Then it's oh, you don't even have to pay me, I'm on mission. I am going to fill these bags of sand till my hands bleed. I'll stay up. I will not. I don't need to sleep, I don't need to get paid. I'm just trying to save the town.
Speaker 2:And I think that if we really saw how valuable martial arts is, martial arts is we would metaphorically put people in headlocks and drag them to black belt. We would tell them I know it's expensive, but this is going to change your kid's life, and I can say that without being a dirt bag. Charge a fair price. And a fair price doesn't mean cheap. It means equal to the value that you're giving them. But if you're a master and I hate to say this, so please don't take this the wrong way If you're overweight and you're not trained and you're not eloquent and you're not educated on what matters to your students and you're hiding in your office and you are not showing up.
Speaker 2:Or if it's just about money and it's about what car you're driving, or it's about what? Oh? Our black belts have nice uniforms. Nobody gives a crap about what uniform they wear. Yes, it needs to be decent, but it shouldn't be everything. The reality check is this All of the accoutrement, the plating, the ambiance of their restaurant, it matters less than the meat and potatoes of what you're serving and that is something a true chef is super proud of of the customer's dining experience. And you don't want the ambiance, you don't want the accoutrement to detract from the taste of the food, but the food has to taste good.
Speaker 2:So, to answer your question largely and specifically, we have to get back to the basics. We have to teach martial arts because it's about survival. One in three kids may be physically attacked at some point in their life. There's that self-defense aspect, but it's more than that. It's the rise of AI, the rise of machine learning, the rise of the internet, making the world more competitive and smaller. So creative, problem solving, learning to communicate effectively, understanding purpose, unlocking your skill.
Speaker 2:When I look at a class of 10 kids. At our schools we have small classes on purpose and there's 10 kids that show up. When my instructors and this is my purpose, when I get to teach my instructors that in turn teach their students, I have to relay that when you're working with that student for those moments or seconds, you have to motivate them. They don't want to come to class. And if you're bribing them with tickets or some contest to win a PS5 or whatever, that's cute and that's awesome and that's gimmicky, but that is just pay. You're paying to play. But if you're driven on purpose and you have the fear of failure but you also have the pull of success, of true success, of unlocking some child's potential, then you're going to make sure that instructor's prepared for class.
Speaker 2:I don't know what that looks exactly. I don't know what curriculum you teach, it doesn't matter. I don't care what style it is, it doesn't matter if it's in a warehouse or if it's in your freestanding 20,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility. When, all is said and done and you're working out, they have to sweat mentally, they have to sweat physically. But when there's that moment where you connect with the student and you're like, hey, survive, and they listen to you and it works. And then you get to check back in with them, whether it's a testing or a private conversation after class, and you're like, let's win now. And you have that moment. Those moments, strung together in a consistent pattern, culminated at achieving their black belt and maybe beyond, will affect their life forever, not just as a line item on a resume, but as something that will mark them so much. It will change the way they think, the way they react, the way they survive and the way they thrive and it will give the way they survive and the way they thrive and it will give their life purpose, because, at the end of the day, we're not just teaching kicking and punching and passing guard and doing a pattern. We're teaching people how to unlock their potential and I think that there's a lot of now more than ever.
Speaker 2:There's people and your mat chats cannot be like. They don't have to be long, but they can't be corny. Keep your room clean, kids and listen to your mom and dad. No, I tell the kids, I tell the instructors, and when I occasionally step on the mat, I tell the kids the truth. I'm like listen, kids. And I have to read the room. The parents have to give me permission. I can feel it. A good teacher can feel it and I'm like listen, kids, your parents will die for you. Okay, and I know this because I have kids. I have four kids and I love them so much. I don't like them all the time, they don't like me all the time, but make no mistake, I would lay down and die for my kids. I could have the best day in the world, but if I come home and I find out my kid is struggling, a parent is only as happy as their least happy child. So I want you to know the power that you have and I know that you're tired and I know you don't want to do this pattern. Or I know it's hard to pass that guy's guard, or I understand it's hard to spar and it's scary, but it's not about sparring, it's not about grappling, it's not about doing this pattern, it's about unlocking your potential.
Speaker 2:Johnny, what do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a doctor. I know what do you really want to be Like if you could snap your fingers and a genie could give you a wish. Out of all things, what do you want to be? I want to be a gamer Awesome. Who's your favorite gamer? It's Kai Sanat. Oh, awesome. If you want to be Kai Sanat, you're going to have to work your tail off. I don't know who that is. I hope he's a nice guy. But if you want to be a professional gamer, it's very competitive. It requires discipline. I'm sure gamers like that guy they probably do 24-hour streams and that requires discipline. And if you're going to do that, you're going to have to do a lot of work.
Speaker 2:So imagine learning this form. It goes into that and it leads up to that. When you go to school tomorrow, all of that busy work that you don't like, it's all part of that, because if you can't do the things you don't like to do, you'll never and I'm serious I will stop an entire class and I will ignore the other nine kids and recommend my masters to do the same and say, johnny, if you can't do that, you're never going to make it, but if you can, you're going to have the most awesome journey and we just want to be a part of it. I think BlackBit will help you get there. Let's learn this form and if people cannot deliver, that I don't know. People need a personal call to action. They don't need a blanket advertisement.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry, but I get really passionate and angry because I don't want my instructors saying corny little slogans. That's what if you watch Cobra Kai and I know I keep saying it, but we love Cobra Kai. That's what the silver dojo does. The bad guys they have all the nice equipment and the fancy school. But the Johnny Lawrence guy he may be rough around the edges, he may be a mess himself, but he genuinely cared about the students he taught and he had his redemption.
Speaker 2:And I believe that many of you on this podcast, you were like me. You're not a perfect person. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes all the time, but I'm pursuing to unlock my potential and I want to change lives of others through martial arts and mine in the process. And I would implore and beg and insist that my masters and instructors do the same every day. When you teach class, it's not about memorizing some dance moves we call forms or moving around. Some schools have these light graphite staffs. You couldn't battle with that thing. It's a joke, it's a nice trick and it looks like a cool little dance. But at the end of the day, can they throw a decent punch? Can they throw a solid kick and are they a good human? And, most importantly, are they going to do something with their life? And is martial arts going to play a role in that? Because if you just teach karate or taekwondo or jujitsu, that's worth $99 a month when they feel like it, and you're going to go out of business.
Speaker 1:What's fascinating is that I've known high competitive performers, whether they're gold, silver, bronze medalists, olympics or world champions, and after their career was over they opened up a school and a couple of years later they closed down. They couldn't operate, they couldn't succeed as they did in their competitive years. And I know, on the other end of the spectrum there are average, maybe above average, physically, technique-wise, in terms of martial arts. But they run the best, highly successful martial arts schools and it's just fascinating to see the change in the career in that point. And it just goes to say, it just goes to show that you don't need to be a highly competitive, accomplished fighter to succeed in martial arts training.
Speaker 1:But having said that, you can't. If you don't, if you're not good at techniques and you don't know how to teach and you can't communicate to the students, you're in the wrong industry. It's a guaranteed fail, no matter what systems you have, no matter what staffing you have. If you are the master instructor of that school and you don't have what it takes to open up and operate a martial arts school, you're going to fail as well and operate a martial arts school, you're going to fail as well. So just fascinating how, knowing the industry what goes, what succeeds?
Speaker 2:and what doesn't. There's different levels of success and there's different aspects of success. So success could be financial, it could be a number of students, but it could also be quality. So there's coaches and masters that they have a decent size school and their business is profitable, but they have a decent size school and their business is profitable, but they have high level athletes and it's amazing and I think that I love. I have quite a few friends that do that and I admire them and that motivates me to try to. You know, be better. You could do both. There's. There's people like grandmaster Ryan Andrzejczyk. He runs a great martial art program and he has high competitive athletes as well and he has multiple locations way more successful than I've ever been. He's the man. So there's all different types and success is it's whatever you want it to be.
Speaker 2:The goal is not for us to describe success and you have to conform to that. The goal is to listen and know that you could. What is your life to look like and be happy with that and find a way. Personally, I just wanted to create quality black belts. Most schools have one black belt class a week. I wanted to teach black belt class every day. I felt that was my specialty and I wanted a red belt and above class. And then I wanted a certified first degree class and above and I wanted to offer it every day and to this day, every one of my schools they have that every day there's a class. Some schools have a third Don and above class only in addition to the first Don and above, and then the Red Belt and above, and that would take half the schedule for the day. But to just to reiterate, success is whatever you target, and then comparison kills joy. So if you have a level of success, be happy with that, always continue to try to improve. But the reality check is I don't want you to chase something that you think is better and then you end up getting there and you're like man, I messed up. The grass is not greener on the other side, it's just different. It's usually greener where you water it when it comes to what you believe in.
Speaker 2:You don't get to a point where you have a bunch of students but you're not happy with the quality. Or you have a group of students and you're super proud of them, but then they have to leave, or they leave and you don't like how they leave and where some other athlete coach scalps them and then they leave your school and you're like dang, no loyalty, that's crazy. And then you're like, just be happy. Just be happy with whatever happens. And I think that it's an important value exchange. That's why you should charge what you're worth and that's why you should also believe in what you teach. And somebody was asking me the other day they're like man, I see these programs and they have these things and is that what you need to do? And I'm like is that what you want to do? And they're like no, I don't want to teach a bunch of little kids. And I'm like then, don't teach little kids. And he goes yeah, but it's an important part of the business, I hear, and there business, I hear, and there's benefits to it. I said then you got to do it. I don't know what to tell you.
Speaker 2:I think a lot of people have indecision and in emergency times like COVID, we didn't have time to think. We had no choice, we had to go. And now we don't have the pressure of survival, but it's very much the same If you have the intensity that you need to survive and you use that to pursue a higher level of optimization and focus. I think for some of the people that are listening, it happens to me. We get distracted. It's so easy to do well that when it's good enough, you get complacent, you get lazy and then you have some friend that's oh, let's do this, let's do that, and then you're pursuing another business or you're doing this and you lose your focus. Some of the most successful people I think I can get in trouble for this, but I don't know anything in film. But sometimes, if you're like right now in film, there's a guy named Taylor Sheridan and he is a monster. He is so successful, he's an incredible writer and this and that I know. He started off as an actorsa King and a lot of hit shows.
Speaker 2:And the thing is that sometimes if you're so successful in something, it doesn't allow you to be successful in other ways. So if you're too successful at coaching and being elite level athletes that you're going to just go down that pipeline of training elite level athletes and traveling 14, 16 tournaments a year, sometimes internationally, there's no way your school can work. You're never there. And for those that have good competitors but they don't go to a lot of those tournaments, they have the priority to stay and work on their business so their business will be better.
Speaker 2:In martial arts we need Olympians, we need world champions, we need people doing ADCC, but we also need regular people teaching great quality programs, like Bronson Coe, for example, that he's doing in Oklahoma in Olathe and stuff. He has an amazing program that some of these local people are so fortunate to have these great teachers that if they focused on competition they might've been very high level. But they chose For me. I wasn't good enough If I was a little better of a competitor. I don't know if I'd have a thousand students, I'll be honest with you. Maybe you know it would have been different students. I'll be honest with you.
Speaker 1:Maybe you know it would have been different. Practically speaking, a martial arts school is dying because they just don't have the income to make rent, payroll wages for themselves, for yourself. But they got to that point. It's not because of one thing, it's not because, oh, they didn't have enough students. It could be a various thing. They might have had leads, but their enrollment system was not great, so those leads didn't turn into an active student. They could have had an active student, but their classroom teaching wasn't great, so they quit after a few months. You have to diagnose how you got to that. Take a hard look at yourself. You got diagnosed how you got there, why you got there, and use metrics and stats to figure out what is your weak point and how to improve and plug that hole.
Speaker 2:Sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know this sounds really crazy but to answer your question, I'm opening up a new location and the location that I'm opening up I'm trying to help some stunt people out. So most stunt people they work sometimes only 20 days a year. They have very high wages but they don't work the year round. The rest of the year they're hustling to get work, they're training, they're working on passion projects. I met a couple of stunt people that I want to help. So I said, hey, I'll open another school, I'd like to make some more money and I'll help you. So I decided to open the school, but instead of I created it with nothing. So basically, I found a neighborhood. There was a clubhouse. We rented the clubhouse for $900 a month. It's first started for 600 a month for once a week and then I got part of a second day to rent it.
Speaker 2:And these stunt people have done martial arts before. Obviously, I taught them my system, but basically they started teaching classes. They're up to 50 students and the monthly reoccurring revenue is enough for us to open the location. So they had enough profits obviously from month one. From month one it was profitable because your overhead is not very much. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes stunt people. They have to do a gig economy so they can't get a regular job because they'll get a phone call to be hired on a movie. They're like you need to jump on an airplane and be in Texas tomorrow and they're like, yes, sir, so they can't hold the job. They either have to own a business or they have to do side hustle jobs that usually are gig economy based and they don't pay well. So I want to help these guys out. And then obviously, I'm in the business of opening more schools. So we started from nothing, literally, and they rent this clubhouse out, so they load the car up, they set up temporary martial arts paddles and kickbags. Not even kickbags, they're too heavy, it's upstairs at this neighborhood and they just word of mouth. I think it was $500 to sponsor some events and they did some small. You got to do some local events. You go to a fair day or a soccer day and then you're having kids break a board. There's some external marketing events that you do, but these guys are basically had built this program up and I helped them do it. And, long story short, the monthly reoccurring revenue, with the money generated from that and the monthly reoccurring revenue they're going to be opening. At that new location that I was talking about with the publics. The rent is just about what they're grossing now, but that started from nothing. Obviously there are going to be some startup costs, but the expenses at a location are going to be $15,000 to $20,000 very easily a month.
Speaker 2:And if you start from zero that's very difficult. But if you start from 50, you could literally build it up fast. So if you don't, let's say you want to start a school. Or let's say you don't have very much money. Or let's say you have a staff member that you believe in but you don't have the money to start it. Start a small program, go to a daycare, rent out a clubhouse, do that. I literally just did it where these guys did it and I'm somebody that obviously have resources.
Speaker 2:But you know it's strange, money doesn't make money by itself. Money requires ingenuity and creativity and execution. So I think that, yes, it is a real problem. You're like I don't have any money or I'm underfunded. Just take a step back, take a deep breath. Your problems will be there. That's what I tell my instructors to tell the students.
Speaker 2:I know you may be stressed. Leave your stress at the door. It'll be there after class. If you had a bad day, I could see it on you. Sir, leave it at the door, let's take class and pick it up on your way out. I understand that you're in emergency mode. I understand there's too much month, not enough money. Maybe your bank account is negative. Maybe you're up to your eyeballs in debt. And then let's put the phone down to get off of Facebook and Instagram and seeing all the sometimes fake lives of all of these people that are just their life looks like it's just a movie, when it's more of a tragedy. I think that you need to, because everybody's everybody, at different levels, is struggling. Come on, I mean, look at this market. It's tough right now.
Speaker 1:Well, I go to this barber I've been going to for years and then just recently there was this right next door. I want to say 1,500, maybe 1,400 square foot Taekwondo school opened up Heck, yeah, I forgot the name. And then I'm like, oh, that's so interesting. And then six months passes now it's been about six months and he's barely teaching. There's not enough. Yeah, it's very tough. There's not enough students there ongoing.
Speaker 1:I know that rent is low because the shopping center is not in a high rent area, but there's also not a lot of foot traffic visibility either, and I could just see the writing on the wall. It maybe lasts a year or two if that. And it's just. I don't know how his classes are. I don't know. I never went in. But these are the type of schools that are just gonna open and shut. That we're talking about and it's. I wish him all the luck, but he's gotta know, and these schools gotta have to know. You can't just open a school, not do anything, no marketing, and then expect to have 200 students paying average student value. What's your number one advice, master Tony? If you're in a situation like that, what do they need to do immediately?
Speaker 2:Okay, there was a point where I was so down and out and we were financially strapped that my date night was. We were on the back porch of our apartment at the time and I was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with my wife and I'm like dinner is served and my wife she's awesome, and you got a little candle and stuff and we've had nice dinners. We had that first date of ours on it where I went flying and then, years and years into our marriage, I'm broke and I'm not broken, but I'm broke and you're on rock bottom and it's okay. This is crazy and you know what? That's fine. Hey, you know what? I'm really struggling right now and I have no students.
Speaker 2:But if you have this attitude where you're doom and gloom and you have this victim mindset of, oh, like Eeyore, I met school owners like that and I visited them and sometimes I meet them I don't know them well enough, but I'm like dude, you look like you look like bad and it's sad to see, but you need to stay positive. Oh my gosh, dude, sometimes you have to laugh. You have to just know that. Hey, man, this is just a shitty circumstance. I'm just struggling right now and you need to be put in a hard situation and you need to make light happen with positivity. And you have to be positive.
Speaker 2:And I know there's a story that I heard a long time ago and I know we're going long, but I would tell that guy the story. So there's two guys, or there's this guy, it's his dad, and he's got two kids, and one kid is an optimist and the other one is a pessimist. And the optimist is super positive, always happy, and the pessimist is super negative. And let's say, these kids are eight years old and then they go to school, they're in the second grade or so, and the dad decides to flip the script. So in the optimist son's room that's super positive he puts a bunch of horse manure, fertilizer from Home Depot or something, bags of it all the way. He rips the bags open and then in the other kid's room he fills it from floor to ceiling with toys. He literally maxes out the room with all these toys. And the kids come home from school they're like hi, dad, hey, and then they go to their rooms and they shut the door and then the dad is listening for a response because he hopes to hear the optimist son finally display some sadness and the pessimist son finally be happy, or a glimpse of happiness, and all of a sudden you hear the door shut and the pessimist I'm sorry the negative kid he comes out of his room and he's dad and he goes. Yeah, yes, son, and he goes. There's tons of toys in my room. And he goes aunt, aunt, and he goes.
Speaker 2:It's the worst day ever. It's all. The kids in the neighborhood are going to be so jealous of me and I don't even know what I'm going to do. Who needs all these toys? And then a lot of the packaging is so hard to open up and the packages I open, some of them need batteries. I have no batteries. It's the worst. And the dad's like got it, okay, son.
Speaker 2:And then he starts hearing all this hooping and hollering behind the door of the Optimus son and he's in there with all that fertilizer and he knocks on the door and he hears like all this hooping and hollering and all this noise. And he's in there with all that fertilizer and he knocks on the door and he hears all this hooping and hollering and all this noise and he opens the door. He could barely open the door and there is shit everywhere. There is all the fertilizer is spread all over the place and the son is diving through it. He's squirting in his hands, he's got it in his hair and he's son, what are you doing? And the son's dad? Look at all this horseshit. There's bound to be a pony in here somewhere and that's the end of the story.
Speaker 2:And the thing is that sometimes you could give people money, you could give them a thousand students, you could give him four locations, an elite staff of people, and some people are just going to be negative and sad, and usually those people are found in one school with no students. And you could take somebody with no students and one school in a bad location. And if they're, if they have the right attitude, they don't have to always be positive, but you got to put on your face and you got to find some renewable source of energy. I don't care if you get a self-help guru or you go to church or whatever makes you tick, anything and everything. I think it's important for you to have purpose, because if you're looking for something to be negative and sad about, if you're looking for something to be negative and sad about, you shouldn't be teaching people. People need hope, people need motivation, they need optimism, and you know what people need. People need to teach their kids that, because you know what, even though I'm a dad and I do this for thousands of people, I need people to do that for my kids, because nobody is a prophet in their own land. I need great teachers and soccer coaches and wrestling coaches to take interest in my kids, to hold my daughter's hand and bring her through hard times. I need my kids and you know what. I'll sell my house. I'll eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I will have less of a life. I'll go out to eat less if somebody can help my kid tick that way, and that's what we do in martial arts.
Speaker 2:It's not about what you teach, but it's how you teach. It's not about what you say, it's how you say when you say it. You know who you say it to at the right time. Timing is everything and I think that if you have this tragedy of a situation where you're this dying person on the ground off the Appalachian Trail and if you were to zoom out and see how close you were to survival, you would not give up, because it's not money that you need. You might need some money, but that's not the defining factor. The defining factor is you need to have purpose, and I don't know what that is for you. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:For me, I go to church and I read a lot and I stay motivated. I listen to podcasts and I like to have fun. I like to have fun. I want my students to have fun. I want my instructors to laugh, because I know there's too much month, not enough money.
Speaker 2:Sometimes, even if you have four schools, it's too much month. Sometimes, even if you gross hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Some months are tough and money it greases the wheels of life, but it doesn't solve all your problems. Actually, what solves your problems is purpose, and martial arts is not the best business in the world, but if purpose was a commodity like cash, we're in the most lucrative industry you'll find, because we can help people. It doesn't matter what their race is, it doesn't matter what their age is. It doesn't matter what their age is, it doesn't matter what their faith is. We can help anybody.
Speaker 2:I have a taekwondo school. It's literally kicking and punching. We have kids that have come in and trained with wheelchairs. You know how crazy that is. We have people with walkers and we say, just punch, and it is encouraging and it's awesome, and it's amazing. We have grandparents that train, we have people, and I'm not unique. There's jujitsu schools and karate schools that do way more impressive things.
Speaker 2:But having said that, I think that if I were to talk to that school owner, I would implore them and beg them to unlock their potential, because they have this cloud over their head and maybe they just have a victim mentality. It's not that bad and you're better than that. Maybe you should rip off the decals, the corny slogans off your walls and start living it, because it doesn't matter what the gift wrapping is. At the end of the day, your martial arts school will only thrive if, when you open up what your school offers, it is life-changing. And you can't just be super pessimistic. I feel you need to be realistic and this is the reality check. But the reality is you need to be an optimist. I think you need to be a dreamer, you need to be an encourager and you need to know that sometimes you just need one student to come through the door, over-deliver, and they'll bring their friend and they'll bring their friends and, foot over foot, step over step, you'll literally make your way out of the hole.
Speaker 1:Awesome Pastor, tony Awesome, just inspirational. I hope our listeners just got motivated by this episode and this podcast. Let's conclude here. If you are enjoying our show, go ahead and rate and review our podcast or YouTube channel. Our goal is to make our show as successful as possible and your review will help us achieve that. Have a great week, everyone, and I look forward to our next episode.