Martial Arts Professional Magazine

Let’s start with two simple premises: First, there are wealthy people and families in your community and/or near by communities that are willing to pay 5,10 or 15 times your standard tuition for private lessons. Second, you ARE the equivalent of any other professional athlete, in terms of your dedication and commitment to your art and your skill level.

What you don’t have in common with professional football, baseball and basketball stars is their annual, multi million dollar incomes; yours is most likely a fraction of a fraction.

Sang Koo Kang, a Miami-area school owner and private lessons expert, thinks that because you don’t have a professional athlete’s mindset and image in your community, and you’ve severely under valuedy our self and over looked an opportunity to create massive wealth.

“If you believe you are a professional martial artist and you’ve been doing this for 20, 30 years, then you should be making millions and millions of dollars,” said Sang. “I was always thinking big. I don’t want to make $120,000; I want to make $5 million, $10 million, just like a professional athlete. I’m now making that kind of money because I raised my standards very high. That’s how you have to do it.”

Master Sang shared some of his insider’s secrets with attendees at the recent NAPMA Extreme Success Academy; and, now wants to reveal all of them to you—when you qualify for NAPMA’s Special Peak Performers/Master Sang TNT Membership. Visit NAPMA.com/TNT, today!

First, you’ll experience the life-changing opportunity of being a NAPMA Peak Performers member—meeting and interacting with a like-minded group of growing school owners who have decided to become successful businesspeople—plus all other NAPMA benefits.

During this limited offer, you’ll also become part of Master Sang’s TNT program—you’ll learn Master Sang’s proven systems to grow highly profitable schools and earn what can only be described as amazing, over-the-top profits from private lessons. Master Sang and his staff will guide through every step with comprehensive support materials, continuing education and professional consultation.

No doubt, your mind is overflowing with many questions and images of how dramatically your life could change if you started teaching private students. Your learning starts with this article, which will answer a few of the basic questions, and then visiting NAPMA.com/TNT for the opportunity to see “behind the curtain.” Then, you must work on yourself to change your image to that of a professional athlete and an excellent teacher who shouldn’t exclude “the elite” from receiving the benefits of your instruction—and paying handsomely for it.

Who are the people who will pay for private lessons and where do you find them? Master Sang’s private-lesson students tend to be professional people, CEOs, company presidents, physicians, attorneys, politicians and investors, who have the wealth to pay yearly tuitions of $10,000 to $20,000 (and more)—and pay it up front.

Master Sang readily admits that if your school is located in an upscale community, then you do have an advantage because the area is likely to have a fair share of
wealthy individuals and families. He quickly adds that your location is less of a factor, however, if you have an excellent product and service, which you should already have in place. Master Sang also advises that just because your school is in a moderate or even low-income area doesn’t mean there aren’t professional people and large business owners in the neighborhood who will pay for private lessons.

Identifying and penetrating the elite market is one of Master Sang’s secrets to his success. You can learn to profit from his methods when you ask to become a part of the NAPMA Peak Performers/Master Sang TNT Program. See Master Sang’s ad on page 59 and visit NAPMA.com/TNT for more information. According to Sang, another secret is to be observant. If you notice a walk-in prospect or someone who’s made an appointment for an intro arrive in an expensive car or wear expensive jewelry, watches or clothing, then think of them as a potential private student first.

“The difference between my martial arts school and most others is that my instructors and me are always looking for private lesson students, while the average school owner thinks every new prospect should be enrolled in regular classes,” added Sang.

“How do I market to potential private-lesson students?”

Aggressive publicity and self-promotion is another of Master’s Sang secrets to attract high-paying, private-lesson customers. He is constantly contacting local newspaper and magazine editors and radio and TV producers with story ideas about himself and his school, so he can maximize his exposure in the media.

“I strongly believe that publicity is the most important factor,” said Sang. “If you haven’t created a name for yourself as the best martial arts instructor in your community, then you can’t expect people to pay $16,500 or more for your private-lesson program. Youmust promote yourself every day and every single moment, with every opportunity presented to you.” All media outlets need stacks of materials to fill their publications and airtime; and, now, with the proliferation of 24-hour cable TV channels and radio talk shows, there are even more opportunities to create an image as THE martial arts celebrity in your community.

“That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years. I’ve been in every newspaper and magazine in South Florida and had many demonstrations on TV. That’s the key; you must build an image that you are the number one martial arts teacher in your community,” said Sang. “When you can do that, people will come to you and be willing to pay private-lesson tuitions.”

“You must create a unique story about yourself and present that to the media. They won’t do a story for you,” added Sang. “For example, maybe you teach a free senior citizen class on the weekends or provide scholarships to students whose parents can’t afford to pay your regular tuition. The mayor of your town or other local officials may train at your school. You can write a press release about how the mayor relieves stress with your conditioning program.

Creating your “celebrity” image and developing media contacts do take time, but once you’re known in the rather small world of local media, you’ll be the first martial arts professional writers, editors and producers will call when they have a question or a story idea that needs the input of an expert.

What do you teach private students?

What is the curriculum?

Master Sang has developed a custom curriculum for his private students that he calls P and T, which is a combination of Taekwondo, boxing and Muay Thai. It’s a rather simple curriculum because he has learned what private students want.

“They’re not young kids and most are 35 and older; although, I also provide private lessons to entire families,” said Sang. “It’s not about traditional martial arts and uniforms and belts. These people want an exciting workout and conditioning that challenges them. They don’t want to become fighters. These people
want to lose weight, be in shape and decrease stress.

“I make the techniques very easy to learn,with simple movements. They like to hit something, so we do focus mitts, pads, kicking and punching combinations. When they are really good at it, we do some jumping kicks, spinning kicks, elbow, knee, front kick and roundhouse kick.”

Master Sang’s average private student trains three times a week, with each class 45minutes long.He said, however, that some students are really committed and will train five times a week and even twice a day if they are the super-wealthy, with the money and time.

Master Sang is quick to point out that although the curriculum of private lessons is rather easy on the instructor, you must be willing to make a long-term, even life-long, commitment to your students. As he said, “My private students seldom drop out because I’m on the phone with the mall the time. I go see them sometimes; there is a relationship with the students. Martial arts becomes their life, their routine; they cannot live without it. That’s how we develop a solid rapport with these students.”

“What tuition can I charge private students?”

During a recent year,Master Sang was teaching private lessons to approximately 50 students a week.He charged, on average, $115 per session, and most students trained three times a week, which is an annual tuition of $16,500.At twice a week, he was still making $11,600 annually.Most students sign for oneyear programs, others for six months or as much as two years.

“I provide incentives because I prefer up-front payments. Approximately 50% of my private students pay up front, another 25% make two or three payments and the other 25% pay every month,” explained Sang.

Upgrade programs are just as important for your private students as regular students who enroll in your Black Belt or Masters Club or Leadership Program.

Master Sang relates a story of one family that upgraded to a lifetime program for $250,000 (and that is not a misprint)! “I have one particular family that has been training with me for a number of years, paying $70,000 a year for the whole family: husband, wife and five kids,” said Sang. “After paying that amount for three years, I told the husband that I didn’t want to ask him for money every year. I just wanted to concentrate on teaching his family. I offered him a deal to pay me $60,000 a year for three years in advance, or $180,000. I happen to know money is no object for this guy.

“He didn’t take that offer because he paid me another $70,000 for the year. Then, I offered a lifetime contract. I told him that I want to teach him and his family everything I know, and that I will take care of him and the rest of the family as long as I’m running my martial arts school school. He agreed to a one-time payment of $250,000 for a lifetime, private lesson program for his family.”

What kind of revenues can private lessons generate?

In Master Sang’s case, he is generating more annual revenue than most large martial arts schools. In fact, in a recent year, the total was almost $600,000!

Master Sang has the same opinion as Stephen Oliver and many other leaders in the industry; and that is too many martial arts schools don’t charge enough tuition; their standards should be higher, so can they charge what they deserve for changing students’ lives.

“Many school owners are operating schools with 300, 500 and even 1,000 students, but they work very hard. They must hire instructors, a manager and a program director and pay many expenses,” said Sang.

“How much can you really make?

If 1,000 students pay $100.00 a month, then that’s only $100,000 month or $1.2 million a year. Private lessons are a much more economical way to generate that much revenue and more. You must enroll and retain approximately 15 regular students at $119 month to equal one private student. Fifty private students are the same as 750 regular students. Those 50 private students require much fewer staff members, overhead and an elaborate curriculum.”

“Can I implement a private-lesson program and produce similar results?”

As this article reveals, you already have many of the pieces in place; the most difficult piece for most martial arts school school owners, however, is dramatically modifying their self-image and self-worth. Unless you are willing to commit deeply to the idea that you deserve the income of a professional athlete, you are unlikely to become a highly paid, private-lesson instructor.

Fortunately, NAPMA has brought Master Sang Koo Kang and his story to your attention, so you don’t have to reinvent the private lesson system.He is ready to show you his insider secrets and help you start a private-lesson program that could fit your personality and teaching style much better than the 60, 70 or more hours a week you must commit to grow a typical, high-profit school. The first steps starts with you—becoming a NAPMA Peak Performers/Master Sang TNT member—visit NAPMA.com/TNT for this limited-time offer!