After launching Cardio Karate during 1996, I realized that it attracted students with completely different needs. They didn’t come to class to learn martial arts, but to lose weight and become healthier.
If those students continued to eat junk food, however, then they wouldn’t have received the results they wanted, regardless of how good the workout might have been. They would have blamed the workout, not their diets. They would claim that cardio karate didn’t work for them and move to another option.
This was very frustrating to me. As a martial arts instructor, my goal was to fulfill people’s needs. I taught self-defense to those students who wanted to learn those skills. If a parent wanted her child’s grades to improve, then I would help them reach that goal.
With cardio karate, Students who participated in cardio karate classes were expecting to improve their health; however, we taught them fitness kickboxing. We were not fulfilling their need. This is why schools that offered cardio karate, Tae Bo or some other type of fitness kickboxing would enroll 50 students during one month and lose 40 the following month.
Everyone tried fitness kickboxing because it was the new, hot workout. Once they tried it and didn’t receive the results they wanted-because they were focused on only one element of fitness-they would be attracted by the next hot workout. The results they wanted could only be achieved through a combination of all elements of fitness.
In response to this situation, I created the Ultimate Bodyshaping Course (UBC) during 2000. The UBC Challenge includes all elements of fitness by combining fitness kickboxing, resistance training, nutrition and flexibility. I have come to the realization that motivation is people’s biggest challenge when their goal is to be in shape. That’s why, when students enroll in UBC, we set fitness goals for them. We put them on teams and we assign them coaches. There’s even a body-shaping contest, with Caribbean cruises as prizes.
The market was ready for it. There was, and still is, a great opportunity in the fitness market for programs that fall between the no-guidance gym membership and the overpriced personal trainer.
Another organization that seems to understand this is CurvesTM. Curves is a company that operates small, women-only facilities that offer a circuit-training program. There are more than 9,000 Curves franchises worldwide. I believe the reason Curves is so successful is not because they are “women-only” facilities, but because they give clients consistent information that works, and a sense of belonging.
During a short period of time, my UBC program started to out-gross my traditional martial arts program. I also find it much easier to run. Adults attend classes, train and go home. No parental problems.
The classes are also much easier to teach. A traditional martial arts instructor takes years to train. Plus, he or she is usually looking for full-time employment.
After finishing the 10-week UBC course, students can become fitness-kickboxing instructors and teach fun and effective kickboxing classes just one month later. These instructors are usually stay-at-home moms or people who already have careers. They like the prestige of being a kickboxing instructor and the extra income, but they’re not looking to me to provide them with lifetime careers.
I sold my traditional martial arts program and cut my overhead in half. I currently have hundreds of active members and have licensed my UBC program to hundreds of studios worldwide.
A good fitness-kickboxing program can generate more income than any other program in martial arts. If it is structured and promoted correctly, then it will make your phone ring off the hook.
The reason is that a large segment of the population wants to improve their health quickly. The fitness market is begging for the same attention that you give your martial arts students. The difference is that fitness students want to learn how to fight fat, not each other.
