1) Make sure that everyone who enters your fitness classes is properly screened to ensure that they are physically capable of handling the class. 2) Students need to be brought slowly into the program with some type of introductory class, so the instructor can get to know students and evaluate their fitness level. This is ...

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the difference between the relationships I’ve established with my current students and how I previously interacted with my traditional martial arts students. The biggest difference, of course, is that my current students are adults. In a short period of time, I realized that for me to be successful teaching fitness ...

The secret about fitness that no diet guru or so-called “weight-loss expert” wants you to know is that there is no one answer to fitness. You must understand this important factor when developing your martial arts fitness course because it’s the key to a successful fitness program for your students. Many of you are probably ...

I’ve recently been reflecting on the impact my programming has had on people and the difference between what I hear my students say today as opposed to when I taught only a traditional martial arts program. In the past, the compliments were mostly about how a child improved in school or how much more confident ...

In last month’s column, I addressed the importance of teaching a kickboxing introductory class and why the introductory instructor should focus on three primary objectives: safety, building rapport and making sure students have fun. These three objectives are most important, but don’t treat your fitness kickboxing student like second-class martial arts students. Take the time ...

Staying focused on fitness for a long period of time is difficult. The fact is most people stop working out consistently because they are easily distracted or bored. Most people are drawn to fitness because they want to look better. Unfortunately, that kind of motivation is usually short-lived. It lasts long enough to convince people ...

Which do you think more adults are looking for, shedding unwanted pounds or after-school programming for their children? The fact that many adults don’t have after-school age children is one clue that fitness is a much bigger market. There has never been more interest in fitness and weight loss than there is today. Everybody wants ...

One of the marketing techniques I borrowed from the fitness industry is the 5-for-1-referral theory. The theory is that each new student you enroll in your fitness program will tell at least five other people about it. You probably have heard similar ideas in martial arts marketing, but I think it works especially well in ...

How many hours a day is your school busy generating revenue? Is it four hours, or maybe six, if you offer an after-school program? Fitness kickboxing can add hours of revenue-generating time to your facility without having to cut or move any of your conventional martial arts classes.  Martial arts schools have a limited amount ...

The biggest misconception about martial arts fitness programming is that it’s not possible to retain students or to upgrade them to higher priced programs. The reason is that students’ needs are not being served-and those needs are very different than a martial arts student’s. You must convince fitness students that your program provides many long-term ...