Let’s cut through the noise…

Most martial arts studio owners believe that more students equals more success.

They spend countless hours and thousands of dollars on Facebook ads, flyers, trial classes, and free uniforms—all to get people in the door.

And sure, new students are important.

But if you’re leaking students out the back faster than you’re bringing them in the front… you're not building a business. You're bailing water from a sinking ship.

The Real Lifeblood of Your Studio?

RETENTION.

Every entrepreneur makes mistakes (I’ve made plenty myself), but this is one of the biggest:

Thinking more customers = more success.

Nope.

A successful martial arts business doesn’t just enroll students—it keeps them. It nurtures them. It creates community. It turns students into families, and families into raving fans.

Let me break it down with martial arts math:

✅ A new student might cost you $100–$300 to acquire through ads, intro specials, or labor.

✅ A retained student? Costs al...

Are You Fighting in the Wrong Ocean?

Imagine this: you’re spending $30 a day on Facebook ads. That’s $900 a month. After three months, you’ve spent $2,700.

What do you have to show for it? A few leads, maybe one or two students.

Sound familiar?

Here’s the hard truth: Facebook ads are a “red ocean.” Everyone’s doing it, and they’re all fighting for the same eyeballs. In this hyper-competitive space, you’re paying more and getting less.

The Problem with Facebook Ads

Think about it: people don’t go to Facebook to search for martial arts classes. They go to check on friends, scroll memes, and see what’s trending.

When your ad shows up, you’re interrupting their experience. They weren’t looking for you—they were just scrolling.

This is why your cost per lead is high, and your conversions are low. You’re fishing in a crowded ocean where your bait doesn’t even match what people are hungry for.

The Blue Ocean: Advertising Where People Are Searching

If Facebook is a “red ocean,...

Being OPEN......Now, this sounds like a no brainer.

But we have talked to so many martial arts business owners and asked them about their hours of operation and far too many just decide to go in “when they feel like it,” or maybe it's an hour before classes start.

There's a big problem with that.

There's no other professional business in the country that I can think of. That does that, except martial artists, this is something that needs to stop.

Here's a quick story about  a young martial arts school owner,

I owned my first martial art studio when I was 21. And I had two problems.

I was 21.

and

It was my first business.

And.

Because I was, young and (business) dumb, I would come in whenever I felt like. I would go out and party and have a great time on the weekends (and ok on the weekdays too). Did I mention that I was 21?…

But what I did know was that I wasn't being as successful as I thought I could be.

Fortunately for me, my dad, who's the founder of our style and at...