There’s an old story about crabs in a bucket.

Drop a single crab in and it’ll crawl out. Drop in a few more, and the second one starts climbing—the rest pull it back down. Not to help, not to warn—just to stop it from leaving.

Sound familiar?

If you’re running a martial arts studio, there’s a good chance you’ve felt it. That pull. That resistance. That voice whispering from inside the industry bucket:

“That won’t work in my town.”

“You’re charging how much for classes?”

“Why would you spend money on coaching?”

I heard all of those on my way to the top. And I ignored every one of them!

The Bucket Isn’t the Problem—It’s the Crabs Inside It

Too many studio owners live in a comfort-zone bubble. They hang around others doing just enough to survive, and anytime someone dares to do more—raise prices, rebrand, hire a coach—they get the same treatment as the crab reaching for the top: they get pulled down.

This kind of environment isn’t just frustrating. It’s dangerous....