The Art of the KO

A few years ago, a competing school opened up right near mine.  This was no big deal until he started attempting to poach students through a variety of means.  None of this worked and he was out of business 6 months to the day of his "grand" opening. His idea of marketing was above the front door and some flyers.  While this could be a good start...there is much more to this and an art unto itself. I myself did not put him out of business.  His business was doomed from the start because he was missing one crucial skill...marketing and/or the foresight to hire someone to help him with this.  Whether you like marketing or not, it is a crucial strategic skill that is necessary to survive the treacherous waters of business.  Just like having grappling and striking skills as a part of your martial arts arsenal...marketing skills and strategies are equally if not more important. These are skills that must be honed and sharpened, the same way the physical skills we

Years ago I was reading a martial arts magazine and looking through the advertising section, I noticed an ad for a video series that was using as the main reason to purchase their videos was the 423 techniques that he taught. I personally have trouble remembering what I had for dinner the night before so I remembered this advert.  Some things just stick out in my mind:-)  As I was putting together my signature Kyusho Program...the PinPoint™ Method...I was asked to boil it all down and make it as simple as possible for people to learn quickly. So last week I talked about Kyusho Clutter and I wanted to follow up on that by expanding on how many techniques do you really need? I was also sent a great testimonial by one of my instructors in the UK which also reminded me of this: I just wanted to say a few works of thanks to Mark Kline and his online work.  When I first started out I was chasing the new shiny toy (Kyusho Points) thinking that hte more points I knew the

It's Spring time in the US, New Jersey specifically, and it is that time of year for Spring Cleaning...to open the windows, let the good air in and the stuffy air out.  I started going through things in closets and rooms that I generally do not use for anything other than storage. Well...the amount of stuff I had brought with me to this house 10 years ago in May + the amount of stuff I have collected over the same time period from my travels around the world and just every day living...WOW!  I have a lot of CRAP ( C oncealed R elocated, A ctual P ossessions). It has been very freeing to get rid of my CRAP.  I have learned from a little bird that if you buy something....you must get rid of something.  I have started to follow this now so that the clutter will not build up. So why am I telling you about my CRAP? As a longtime Kyusho Practitioner (I started Kyusho in 1989) I have seen much in my career as both a student and instructor.  I still consider myself a student beca

Here are some questions for you? When you teach...Are you teaching to show your audience how to do the techniques so they can learn them...or are you just showing them what you know? Who are the classes for? If the class is about the student...then practice time IMO should be maximized.  There is always time for a story or a joke to break this up, but when the majority of the time is spent watching what the teacher can do rather than actually teaching the student how to do the techniques...wouldn't you feel that the time has not been used wisely? Another Kyusho instructor was going to be teaching in a area overseas that I have a lot of students in.  They asked me about should they go?  I said yes.  Since you have access to the Martial Arts Resource Center (http://www.MARC.global), you can see if his style of teaching will work for you. A friend contacted me to let me know that this instructor would be in the area and he let him know that a group of guys who