mma business - december 2012

DECEMBER 2012 • $5.99

Equipmentyou need!Guide to Boosting Their Fitness & Your Business P.26

On The Mat:Bosu Madness Pedro Says:

Too Much MMA TV?Events:

Fight Summit Recap

<

<

<

CENTER RING: RAy SEFo WoRld SERIES oF FIGhTING

For a FREE Digital Subscription See Page 8!

W W W. M M A B U S I N E S S . C O M I DECEMBER 2012 3

CONTENTS

FEATURES

D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 2 • V O LU M E 3 N o . 6

31IA competitive mixed martial artist without a solid game plan will face a real challenge in the ring. So will an MMA school or gym owner without a good strategy to manage the risks of their business.

INSURANCE wITh A TwIST

26IFITNESS & CONDITIONINg EqUIPMENT

This products guide will help you determine the right product needs for your gym. We talk to the experts who use a variety of product, and some who make them.

DEPARTMENTS4 I MIXED ThOUghTS

Talk to Me

6 I BUSINESS PLANProfessional Communication

8 I gOINg DIgITALSubsribe to a FREE Digital Version of MMA Business

10 I ThE BEATMMA World Expo Rescheduled, Bellator Plans Reality TV for Spike, ASF Promotions, MMA in Florida

13 I EVENT REPORTFight Summit

36 I BUSINESS SOLUTIONSMaximize Membership Value

16 I PROFILECage Fitness

20 ICENTER RINgRay Sefo and the WSOF

38 I ThE FIghT BUSINESSFight Music, Women in UFC, Letter to Editor

40 IwIDE wORLD OF MMAUFC Gym Sydney, Canada Updates

24 IAwARDS OF EXCELLENCEMMA Business is preparing to honor industry leaders

42 I YOUR gYMGirl Fight Martial Arts, Tom’s River, N.J.

46 ION ThE MATBosu – Not What You Think

44 IPRO ShOPNew Products and Services

48 IOUTSIDE ThE OCTAgONToo Much is Not Enough

10 13

2016

4 DECEMBER 2012 I W W W. M M A B U S I N E S S . C O M

Talk To Me

MIXED THOUGHTS from the Editor

www.MMABusiness.comVol. 3, No. 6, December 2012

MAGAZINE STAFF

PublisherRichard Hendricks

[email protected]

EditorGlenn Hansen

[email protected]

Editorial ContributorsTed Czech, Kevin Kearns

Dale Shirley (Photographer)Nick Roach, Raphael Garcia

Art DirectorBrett Link, [email protected]

612-741-3048

Advertising Sales RepresentativesWhite Chocolate Management

[email protected]

Erick [email protected]

952-388-4191

Mike [email protected]

226-344-6MMA

MMA ADVISORY BOARDJohn Bostick, Amber Galvanosi,

Jamie Gudell, Jeff and Barry Meyer, Hans Molenkamp, Greg Nelson,

Pascal Pakter, Erik Paulson, Steve Pinado, Kekoa Quipotla

CIRCULATION FULFILLMENTKnowledge Marketing Publishing Services

MMA Business is published 6 times annually by MMA Business LLC, 9444 Deerwood Lane North, Maple Grove, MN 55369.

Postmaster: send address changes to MMA Business, 9444 Deerwood Lane N., Maple Grove, MN 55369.

MMA BUSINESS LLC800-989-8085

PresidentChuck Blanski

Vice President/Sales & MarketingJimmy Pedro

Subscription Information: Free to qualified members of the mixed martial arts industry. To subscribe or renew your free subscription, go to: MMABusiness.com, Customer Service: contact MMA Business, 9444 Deerwood Lane North, Maple Grove, MN 55369. Call 800-869-6882, Fax 866-658-6156, or e-mail [email protected]

Editorial Submissions: return postage must accompany all manuscripts and photographs submitted to MMA Business if they are to bereturned. MMA Business is not responsible for unsolicited materials. MMA Business makes no endorsements, representations, guaran-tees or warranties regarding products and services presented or advertised within the publication. © 2012 by MMA Business LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Printed in U.S.A.

Glenn GLENN [email protected]

I’m in the communication business. My phone, email and a variety of social media accounts are vital to me. I’ve found ways to connect with people through Twitter, text messaging, and more. Communication today is easy, and this ease helps build businesses. So why won’t you return my phone calls, emails, or LinkedIn messages?

Seriously, I’m Talking To You We’re completing our third year of producing and delivering MMA Business magazine. This is the 18th issue we’ve published. I’m proud of this work, and of the unique stories we’ve told about MMA professionals. Some people wonder, “Why haven’t you told my story? Why haven’t you written about my business?” Good question. Did you return my phone call or email? Of course, I have not tried to contact all of you. That’s true. But for all the stories we have told about MMA gyms, trainers, new products and busi-nesses, there are some we haven’t told because I couldn’t reach you. I know; I’m not perfect either. I haven’t returned every email. But if some-one tries to reach me a dozen or more times by phone or email, I’ll get back to them. And when someone hands me a business card, looks me in the eye and says “Gimme a call,” I expect them to return that call. So, return my call.

Media RelationsMaybe it’s because I’m in that hated group called “the media.” We’re despised today, like elected officials and replacement referees. But this ain’t “60 Minutes.” We’re here to tell business-building stories about Mixed Martial Arts professionals. We don’t have a massive audience, but this magazine is mailed to more than 7,000 readers, and we share stories online to thousands more professionals. So here are my two Media Relations tips: 1. Respond to the media. If a reporter contacts you – whether from MMA Business, a local radio station, an MMA fan blog, or ESPN – you have a chance to tell your story to a lot of people. You can either re-spond and take control of that story, or let the reporter write what he wants. Or worse, ignore you completely. 2. Beat the media to it and contact them first. Most reporters, me in-cluded, need stories, information and news. By providing that, you’ll build a communication relationship that is bound to help grow your business. If you don’t, your competition will.

Call Me, MaybeFrom my home office in Southern California, I can do almost every-thing I need to do. What I can’t do is tell your story unless you respond. Lucky for me, I continue to find great sources who do respond, telling me about their business, their expertise or their products. Gotta go now. My phone is ringing. 909.227.5918

18

• Great profit margins• Sell our wide range of products• Affiliate only specials

PROFIT

• Free CD on how to grow your school• Free promotional materials• Learn merchandising secrets

GROW

• World class customer service• Same day shipments• Large stock of inventory

SUPPORT

Products born on the mat

888-405-6056 WWW.GAMENESS.COM

Why Carry Gameness


Professional Communication – Listen Up

BUSINESS PLAN

Business communication has never been easier, nor more time-consuming than in today’s environment. How you deal with that contradiction can deter-mine your long-term success with professional relationships. And this business – like so many – is all about relationships. Today’s business leaders need to focus on four key relationships: • With customers and prospects• With other industry professionals• With your staff and co-workers• And with the media Yes, you can do it all. You have to. Here’s how.

Listen to CustomersYou may think you’re already doing this pretty well. You and your staff greet members when they come for training. Maybe you even know them all by name. And you use Facebook and email marketing to communicate schedule updates, announce special deals, and work to reach new customers. Fine. That’s enough about you. With existing custom-ers and prospects alike, the most valuable commu-nication comes from them, not you. This is true for MMA gym owners, for coaches and trainers, and for manufacturers and product marketers. The only way you can satisfy customers and attract new ones is to provide them what they need. To do this well, listen. If and when customers want to know about you, they have plenty of options to find what they need. They can look online. They can ask other mem-bers. And they may even ask you directly. That’s when you talk about you. Otherwise, ask about them. What do they need? What would make them more satisfied? What do they dislike about your business? They’ll talk, and they’ll be honest. And if you listen well, you’ll succeed.

Share with Industry ProfessionalsThis industry is small and it’s young. Yes, martial arts has been around a long time, and internation-ally that industry packs a punch. But MMA is a professional infant. MMA Business has been in the industry three years now; we’ve crawled and walked, and now we’re running. Along the way, we’ve done our best to share information. We ask questions and listen, then share what we learn. The

goal is that we’ll gain from this sharing as you do. The other option is to close our doors, stay inside, not answer the phone, and do what we can on our own to grow. Is that your model? Maybe not consciously, but many MMA professionals are doing just that. They keep to themselves because they’re busy, business is okay, and they have full schedules. Plus, some are chal-lenged to find professional sharing opportunities. It doesn’t take much looking, however, to find valuable opportunities to meet, interact with, and share with other MMA professionals. Events like Fight Summit (see page 13), the Member Solutions Boot Camp, Champions Way seminars, and more, are attended by hundreds of industry professionals every year. They should, however, be attended by thousands of industry professionals. All who go invest time and money, and leave with hugely valu-able information that boosts their business. You can also share valuable industry communi-cation close to home and frequently by attending training sessions organized by the leading trainers in your area. MMA Business is fortunate to have an office near Erik Paulson’s CSW training center, and when he has a weekend seminar scheduled, we go and listen and learn. Paulson and other training leaders travel the nation and world to share their experience. Take advantage of these opportuni-ties. Or produce your own such events if you have expertise to share.

with your Staff and Co-workersWe’ve all worked for managers and business owners who feel their power is strengthened by withholding information. That’s not only bad for business, it’s just bad humanity. We’re not talking about sharing every profes-sional decision or all corporate data. Some things need to be kept in the corner office. But many busi-ness leaders could find a hidden business boost if they simply said “thanks” more often. Business leaders need to develop the habit of thank-ful communication, acknowledging when employees succeed at work. To be fair, most managers aren’t intentionally cold hearted. It’s often simply human nature to focus on things that are not working well. Employees need more than a paycheck. Best of all, it’s easy to tell employees you appreciate


GlennGLENN HANSEN

their work, and to show them you’re thankful by granting a half-day vacation or giving a gift card to a local restaurant. You might even work with local restaurant owners to trade gift cards for free workouts – hey, there’s an idea. Back to communication; you need to share with em-ployees individually and as a group that their work is valued and important. Doing so – with specifics – will encourage more of that great behavior, and will build a trust that improves relationships for the long haul.

we’re from the Media. we’re here to help.Communication with the media is completely misunderstood by many MMA professionals. Busi-nesses can buy ads in magazines like this one or on websites. They can sponsor radio shows or support bloggers. That type of paid media communication can be an important part of an overall marketing plan. But it’s not what we’re talking about here. You need to communicate with the media be-cause they can help you tell your story. And you can help them with their job. This mutually beneficial relationship is at the heart of media relations today. How do I know? I am the media. MMA Business writers make countless phone calls working on

articles for each issue. We call a wide variety of industry experts – gym owners, trainers, coaches, product engineers, promoters, fighters, apparel makers – to discuss story ideas, to ask questions, and to get quotes for use in the magazine. Basi-cally, we want to talk about your business, and we often want to tell thousands of readers about your products or services. We’re too often surprised by your inability to communicate back. Lucky for us, we have a growing number of sources who embrace the ability to talk about their businesses in front of our readers. We’ve proved to many industry professionals that MMA Business is a professional communication piece, and that we’re here to help grow this industry. We won’t, however, leave countless voicemails, emails, or text messages for those of you who don’t understand the media. Most often, we want to help tell your story. Yes, it helps us produce our product. But that’s a fair trade – we can help each other. If you’re not interested in communicating with the media, your competitors might be, and we’ll find them instead.


Now You Can Subscribe to a FREE Digital Edition

After three years of growth, MMA Business is enter-ing the digital world. Starting with the February 2013 Issue, we will be offering Digital Editions of the magazine you have come to trust and count on.

If you would like MMA Business Digital sent directly to your computer Six Times each year (February, April, June, August, October, December), simply go to www.mmabusinessmag.com to register. It’s that easy!

MMA Business Digital will continue to provide you with the latest industry news as well as practical and useful articles to help you grow and become more profitable. But now, we can offer even more than the print version has delivered, including active links to

more information, video content and hot links to ad-vertiser web sites and exclusive deals JUST for MMA Business Digital readers!

This new digital magazine is designed to enhance the news and information-sharing experience for all readers. Get MMA Business Digital delivered right to your online mailbox every-other month! Read it at your convenience... forward it to co-workers or as-sociates... save it and refer back to it down the road.

Register NOW for your FREE digital subscription, starting with the February 2013 Issue, at: www.mmabusinessmag.com

Your Gym:

Renzo Gracie Brooklyn

On The Mat:

Wrestling for MMA

Business Plan:

Market Research

<

<

<

APRIL 2012 • $5.99

CENTER RING:

MARK MUNOZ

Selling the Experience

Give prospects what they want and need!

AUGUST 2012 • $5.99

GetSponsorsA How-To for Promoters and Fighters P.30

Profile:Monster Rings & Cages Behind the Scenes:FanExpo & SuperShowBusiness Plan: The Cost of Free

<

<

<

OCTOBER 2012 • $5.99

Investin spaceEnvironmental Psychology

Means Business P.22

Feature:Injury Prevention 101

Profile:Revgear

Special: MMA Business Awards

of Excellence

<

<

<

CENTER RING: SAVANT YOUNG AND THE MMFU

2012BUYERS

GUIDE

JUNE 2012 • $5.99

10 Myths of Youth Marketing Talking Biz with OvereemSocial Coupons: Effective or Waste?

<

<

<

FEBRUARY 2012 • $5.99

PROFILE: TITLE MMA

TapouTWhat Happened to the Iconic MMA Brand?

For lead, how about just (and use that second capital T):

TapouT? What Happened to the Iconic MMA Brand?

Also:- Profile: Title MMA (use photo for Inset)- 10 Myths of Marketing- We Talk Biz with Overeem

AUGUST 2012 • $5.99

GetSponsorsA How-To for Promoters and Fighters P.30

Profile:Monster Rings & Cages Behind the Scenes:FanExpo & SuperShowBusiness Plan: The Cost of Free

<

<

<


TheBEATF I G H T S + N E W S + H A P P E N I N G S + E V E N T S + L E A D E R S

In the battle to legalize professional MMA fighting in New York state, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is trying two methods, at least, to break through the ongoing stalemate. On information that NY Governor Cuomo wanted to create a new sports division within the Empire State Development Corporation, UFC urged the Governor and ESDC in October to raise its combined voice to legalize pro MMA in New York. In a statement to the Governor made public, UFC’s Lorenzo Fertitta said, “There are hundreds of MMA schools and training facilities across the state. New Yorkers are helping to make MMA the fastest growing sport in history – both in fans and in participants. “It’s time to let New York MMA fans attend UFC events in New York City, on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley, in the Capital Region, in the North Coun-try, in the Mohawk Valley, in Central New York, in the Southern Tier, in the Finger Lakes Region, and in Western New York.” It’s not clear if the Governor has the legislative power to sign pro MMA into law. The state courts are hearing other arguments between Zuffa, UFC parent com-pany, and New York State. In August, the court dismissed Zuffa’s Equal Protection and Due Process claims. Zuffa amended its complaint against New York, leaving the NY Attorney General as the sole defendant in the lawsuit. Zuffa has also com-plained of First Amendment violations, noting that MMA is a form of expression. The state is likely to dismiss those claims, too, arguing that sports are not protect-ed by the First Amendment.

The Beyond The Cage MMA Expo, South Florida’s Premiere MMA Expo, was held Nov. 25 at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Founded by Jerry Gladstone, presi-dent of Beyond the Cage MMA, the Expo included training semi-nars, celebrity appearances, MMA product exhibitors, and a Brazil-ian Jiu Jitsu tournament. Alistair Overeem and Randy Couture were two of the most popular attractions at the show. Couture posed with Don Oriolo, artist of Felix the Cat fame (above), with artwork used in cancer-research fundraiser.

MMA in Fla.

UFC GETS CREATIVEIN NEW YORK

“It’s been difficult for everyone,” said Paul Paone, director and founder of the MMA world Expo, speaking of hurricane Sandy and its impact on New York City and the surrounding areas. “The major-ity of our audience comes from the five boroughs. Almost everyone involved had some damage done to their home or business.” Paone decided to reschedule the MMA world Expo from its original date in early December; the event will now take place on February 16 and 17, 2013 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. “The decision to move the event

dates was easy when you consider the fact that there are thou-sands of local resi-dents left homeless and striving to recover from the storm,” said Paul Paone. “It is incredibly difficult to move an event with as many tourna-ments, exhibits, and special events as the MMA world Expo, but all par-ties including vendors, attendees, and special guests have been excep-tionally understanding and coopera-tive which is reflective of the unique bond held within the Mixed Martial Arts community,” Paone continued.

The 4th edition of the MMA world Expo in February will continue to host the FILA North American Invitational Amateur MMA Tournament, which has already registered dozens of interna-tional and local fighters to compete. In addition, the expo will feature Jiu Jitsu tournaments, training semi-nars, special events, demonstrations, MMA celebrity signings, educational seminars, and product displays from leading industry companies.

Fourth Annual MMA World Expo Rescheduled for February 16 & 17, 2013 in NYC

+ The MMA World Expo brings together some of the world’s best trainers and coaches, such as Marcelo Garcia (shown here), Jimmy Pedro and others.

MMA in Fla.


F I G H T S + N E W S + H A P P E N I N G S + E V E N T S + L E A D E R S

TheBEAT

A new TV show, “WI MMA Today,” showcases the fighters and events that make up an increas-ingly popular MMA scene in southern Wisconsin. The show is a collaborative effort between fighter An-thony Pettis, Duke Roufus of the Roufusport training center, and the Wisconsin National Guard, lead sponsor of the show. The show debuted Saturday, November 10 on local channel WCGV TV My 24 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and surrounding coverage areas. Pettis recently became part owner of Roufusport, and the show is the gym’s latest promotional effort. “For me to become part owner of the gym that started my career in the UFC means the world to me,” exclaimed Pettis. “I get to give other fighters the opportunity that Duke’s gym gave me. I’m looking forward to new challenges, including the television show.” “WI MMA Today” will air 13 original episodes on Satur-day evenings, and will rebroadcast each episode on NAFC’s YouTube channel (NAFC.tv) set for the subsequent Monday following its television airing. The show focuses on the state’s amateur adult mixed martial arts and youth Pankration competitors and train-ing facilities. “Stagnant economy or not, we felt the timing couldn’t be more perfect than now to launch WI MMA Today,” continued Joffe. “Mixed martial arts participation and viewership continues to rise and ‘WI MMA Today’ plans on giving Wisconsin’s strong base of fighters and camps a chance to really shine in the limelight on television in Wis-consin and globally online.”

ASF International, a leading provider of billing and software services to martial arts schools and gyms, announces several promotions. Sean Kirby was promoted from National Sales Director to Vice Presi-dent of Client Relations. He will be working to ensure a cohesive client experience across all points of contact, and also working on new product development. Kirby is on the board of FISA and has chaired the FISA East and FISA West VIP Networking Events for the past eight years. ASF promoted Jason Abucejo to Senior Sales Executive. He’s worked at ASF for over 5 years, leading the company in sales and new client part-nerships. He is the highest ranking sales executive within the company and is responsible for business analysis and price setting of new clients. Abucejo studied Tae Kwon Do for nine years and achieved the level of 1st Degree Black Belt. Currently, he is an advocate of both functional and Kettlebell training, and is exploring new forms of Martial Arts with fitness training integration. Jason Weston joins the ASF teams as new Vice President of Sales and Business Development. Weston’s real passion and goals for ASF are related to innovations in the payments industry, and utilizing technology to add value and efficiency for our clients.

ASF International Announces Promotions

MMA CApItAl oF thE MIDwEst

Bellator Adds Reality Show with Move to Spike TVWhen Bellator moves from MTV2 to Spike TV in Janu-ary 2013, the promotion will add its own reality TV show, in the likes of “The Ultimate Fighter” (TUF). Spike TV was the original network host of UFC’s TUF, and Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney is confi-dent his new show can give Bellator a similar boost. “There are some wickedly good pros on this show,” said Rebney to MMAjunkie.com. “I think we have the greatest collection of talent that’s ever been on a real-ity show in this genre.” The new reality show will be produced by Bertram van Munster, the award-winning co-creator of CBS’s reality mega-hit “The Amazing Race.” Bellator has not yet announced the name of the show, nor its produc-tion locale. Rebney says the show will be built around good story-telling that lets viewers get to know the fighters while also enjoying MMA action. Bellator hosted open tryouts at American Top Team in Florida over the sum-mer for the show, which is expected to feature light-weight and welterweight fighters. To further build drama for Bellator’s move to Spike TV, the “Bellator: Vote For The Fight” contest is cur-rently running to let fans select the first fight to air on Spike in January. This election includes four fighter candidates: Paul Daley, Ben Saunders, Douglas Lima, and the infamous War Machine. Spike.com ran fighter-specific webisodes throughout November to let fans get to know the fighters. With some old and some new ideas, Bellator is working hard to promote its talent and entertainment against the much-larger UFC and its promotional sup-port from the Fox family of networks.

Sean Kirby

Jason Abucejo

Jason Weston

G o o D t h I n G s I n s M A l l pA C k A G E s

Fight Summit, the MMA industry’s lone trade gathering, is as important today as when it launched three years ago. The 2012 event, held November 3 and 4 in las Vegas, proved that. Too bad most of the industry wasn’t there to see it. Some companies were forced to skip the event due to damage caused by hurricane Sandy that hit the East Coast just days before. We can’t hon-estly judge why a company might skip a trade conference like this – any business or person can have good a reason. But we can say this: Those industry profes-sionals and companies who have consistently and actively participated in Fight Summit for three years have received a business-boosting re-

turn on investment. Whether through seminar attendance, active business networking, live training sessions, or post-event relationship building, Fight Summit attendees are better professionals for participating. Industry-specific events such as Fight Sum-mit are important to more than just your busi-ness – especially for a young industry like Mixed Martial Arts. your attendance will deliver re-wards immediately. And those rewards multiply exponentially when more professionals attend. So when a company chooses not to participate, it impacts the industry as a whole. We imagine some MMA professionals choose what we’ll call “quick retail” gains over the long-term

B y G l e n n h a n s e n



boost that can come from Fight Summit. That’s proven in part by the number of t-shirt companies that come and go from this industry. And because Fight Summit is not a consumer-oriented retail show, those seeking quick cash will skip it. That’s fine. But the rest of the industry should attend trade conferences like this. Mike hauben and the Fight Summit staff work hard to organize quality content and training shared throughout the weekend event. For example, the seminar by Bruce Buffer – “Branding and Mar-keting in the MMA Industry” – was packed with high-quality information that can’t be attained at

other events. Michael Mersch of the UFC took an hour to discuss MMA regulation and sponsorship, and those pros in the room got his undivided atten-tion. Jaco Clothing’s Ryan loco talked at length about social media marketing, presenting industry specific advice for MMA professionals. And that’s just a few of the seminars. The networking that took place outside the seminars was equally valu-able – for those who actively engaged. hauben is planning the 2013 Fight Summit, and MMA Business will be there again. We hope to see you there.

•AmericanCollegeof Sports Development•AffiliatedAcceptance Corporation•BondiBand•CletoReyes•DamageControl Mouthguards•Dollamur•Fighters,Inc.•FiveRoundFury

•FujiSports•KarateInsurance•KnockoutAthletics•ListerFightingSystems•MassSuit•Mindbody,Inc•MMABusinessMagazine•MonsterEnergy•MonsterRings&Cages•Moskova•Mt.Everclimb

•NeocellSport•NovoWatches•OneCoconutWater•PerformBetter•PowerSystems•ProtosFoods/Ostrim•Revgear•ShwagScreenprinting•TriumphUnited& Osiris Shoes•ZebraMats

2012 Fight Summit Exhibitors

+ Fight Summit can connect gym owners and trainers directly with product developers. Rodrigo Galvanosi (left) of Fearless Fighting in Greenville, N.C., talks with Pro Strike’s Paul Smith.

+ (left) Fight Summit 2012 concluded with an invite-only Jiu-Jitsu tournament. This win-by-submission event delivered incredible action.

+ (Bottom) How often would an industry pro get a chance to have a face-to-face meeting with Stitch Duran? Dan Greene of TufMed talks with the famous cutman and his wife Charlotte.

+ (Below) Knockout Athletics, an apparel and gear developer out of New York, attended Fight Summit for the first time, and made serious business connections throughout the weekend.

w w w . F u j i S p o r t s . c o m | 8 0 0 . 7 5 7 . 7 6 8 6

WEEKLY SPECIALS available on FujiSports.com

Enter to Win FREE Fuji Sports Gear. Like us on FB and Follow Us on Twitter

Kassen Back Packs

Fuji Pink Blossom GI

FUJI

All-Around GI

NEW

‘MUSASHI’ Rash Guard

IBJJF Ranked Rash Guards


The fitness industry is filled with stories of fads, trends and one-hit training wonders. From Billy Blank’s “Tae-Bo” craze to “P90X” to the new “Zumba” revolution, these trends appealed to a range of enthusiasts, and earned varying levels of respect. But they have one thing in common; they’ve continued the belief among many that fitness classes, in general, are more about marketing hype than about fitness gains. That may be true of some fitness programming. The MMA industry is fortunate to have class programming such as Cage Fitness to help break this trend. MMA Business spoke with Ste-ven Holliday, Cage Fitness Director of Operations, to learn more about the company behind the classes.

MMA Business: When did Cage Fit-ness launch? And where?

Steven Holliday: We launched Cage Fitness in 2009 at a Martial Arts In-dustry Association event in Orlando. That weekend, we signed up several martial arts schools to licensing deals right away. The first to sign up in-cluded Mike Chat at XMA Headquar-ters in Los Angeles, the Malakoffs of Kang’s Black Belt Academy in Massa-chusetts and several others. We now have close to 350 licensed facilities worldwide. This licens-ing agreement gives these gym and school owners the rights to use the system and programming, and the rights to use the likeness of Matt Hughes in promotions. It’s not a franchise deal; those set up far more detailed structures and rules about business operation.

MMA: Are most of these licensors martial arts-type businesses? Or have general fitness businesses signed on?

Holliday: Right now, it’s predomi-nantly martial arts and MMA school owners. But we are now breaking into the gym and health club market. We’re going to offer instructor certifi-cations, and that will help us get into the larger fitness market. It’s not martial arts. It’s fitness that incorporates martial arts. The fitness market is huge; it dwarfs the martial arts market, and that martial arts market is still much bigger than the MMA market. So for MMA and martial arts businesses, Cage Fitness gives owners a chance to invite po-tential clients who may not want to do martial arts but do want the fitness benefits. All the while, they’re train-ing in a kind of martial arts program-

ming, and in the same school and on the mats as mixed martial artists. A Cage Fitness instructor can in-corporate as much or as little martial arts as they want. The instructor has the creativity to fit the class exercises to the people on the mat. Focus it on fitness, or focus it more on martial arts techniques. The versatility is there.

MMA: You launched a Cage Fitness home version, how is that working? And does that take away from your licensees business potential?

Holliday: Here’s what I explain to licensees or potential licensees: the home kit allows us to spread the brand further, especially near cities

Cage FitnessPROFILE:

+ Matt Hughes is still the lead fighter-spokesperson for the Cage Fitness brand. Here, he helps lead a class at Leading Edge Martial Arts in Pennsylvania.


where we don’t have a licensee pres-ence. We have people out there who run successful programs while we continue selling home kits. The in-school group classes will always be superior. How many people do you know who bought Tae-Bo vid-eos back in the day, and never even unwrapped the plastic? Working out at home is just not the same. Plus, there is nobody there to push you, to motivate you, to watch and cor-rect movements. And the workouts in group classes change all the time – driven by the instructor’s energy. Still, the home product is good for people who can’t easily access a group class, or who might be intimi-dated by group classes. And the home

kit can help people get start-ed, and then they may join a group class. Our primary goal is to have more licensees, and home kits can help us do that.

MMA: How do you help li-censees once they’ve signed on?

Holliday: We do our best to stay con-nected with our licensees. We make recommendations, and try to steer schools in the right direction. We of-fer advice on programming schedules, class frequency, and more, to help the make the most of Cage Fitness. We have an instructor group page on Facebook; it’s like a forum and it gives these professionals a chance to network with each other on a variety of ideas, from marketing to class rou-tines. We get some good interaction here and people share ideas and ask questions.

MMA: You use Matt Hughes in most

of your promotional material. He’s a big part of Cage Fitness. But how does a non-MMA crowd respond to that marketing?

Holliday: It gets a response. Even in the fitness world, many people do know who Matt is, or they recognize that he is a nine-time world cham-pion. That gives credibility to the program. Still, the best credibility is, go out there and take a class. It’s like the cliché of “a picture is worth a thousand words.” A Cage Fitness class is worth more than a thousand words. It helps broaden the appeal to what some mistakenly consider a women’s class. Cage Fitness is more like a “group training” class and less like a “group fitness” class. It’s not like Zumba (group fitness), which is popu-lar but appeals mostly to women in a dance environment. Guys can be very comfortable getting a great workout in Cage Fitness.

Cage Fitness

+ Matt Hughes and Cage Fitness trainer Jessy Norton sign autographs after a class.


MMA: What’s the new relationship with Chael Sonnen and Tyron Woodley?

Holliday: Woodley has a license and runs the program in his American Top Team school in St. Louis. Son-nen is a spokesperson, and is involved with us from a promotional stand-point. And Chael – many people either love him or hate him, but ev-erybody listens to him and wants to watch him.

MMA: Tell us about your plans for international expansion.

Holliday: We have a master licenser in Australia and New Zealand. They’re already certifying instruc-tors there through the Australian College of Sports Development. In Australia, all fitness professionals must be certified; it’s regulated by the government there. We have a master licenser in Germany as well. Germany is very traditional with its martial arts, and MMA is not quite as popular. They know about UFC, but aren’t as recep-

tive to MMA yet. They understand Cage Fitness, but it’s quite new to this traditional market.

MMA: You mentioned certification of instructors. What’s the plan for that in the U.S.?

Holliday: In the fitness world, everything is based on certi-fication credentials for instructors. We’ve developed a Cage Fitness Spe-cialist Certification with the Interna-tional Fitness Professionals Associa-tion (IFPA). The new certification will allow us to develop further into the fitness world, and deliver benefits to martial arts instructors as well. The IFPA has created other certifica-tion programs. The group will also help promote Cage Fitness to fitness professionals nationwide.

MMA: How has Cage Fitness as a busi-ness grown since the launch in 2009?

Holliday: We are definitely growing,

though we won’t share exact num-bers. Plus, we look at 350 licensed facilities worldwide, and we haven’t even scratched the surface of martial arts schools. We want to help indi-vidual martial arts schools grow, too. The fitness aspects will help schools expand and retain students. MMA and martial arts schools have their core business. But for many there is down time in the schedule. Cage Fitness will allow you to add classes into those down times and make mon-ey. They could run a Jiu-Jitsu class at 9 am, but they might not get much par-ticipation. Cage Fitness lets them tap into the bigger fitness market, bringing in new clients, and generating good word-of-mouth promotion.

PROFILE: Cage Fitness

+ Jessy Norton (left) and Matt Hughes lead a Cage Fitness instructor training seminar.

Other Products include:Bag RacksTrolley RacksGym EquipmentCustom Projects

Boxing Rings

U N L E A S H T H E M O N S T E R !

We manufacture the World famous Monster Wrestling Rings, Monster Boxing Rings, and Monster MMA Cages & Rings. We manufacture over 400 rings and cages per year. We also manufacturer related equipment, and build custom projects for promoters, individuals, movie companies, television studios, video game companies, schools and gyms. When only the very best will do, it's time to:

WWW.MONSTERRINGSANDCAGES.COM(502) 839 6335

MMA Cages


MMA Business talked with Ray Sefo fol-lowing the WSOF’s inaugural fight held Nov. 3 at Planet Hollywood’s PH Live theater in Las Vegas.

MMA Business: You’re a fighter, with success in Kickboxing, Boxing and MMA. You’ve spoken about the impor-tance of understanding the fighters’ side of the business. But why is that so im-portant from a business perspective?

Ray Sefo: I guess the most important part is understanding their sacrifices, being away from family during training, and realizing what they do to help make this business successful. A network like NBC Sports understands that we have assembled a group of people who have been in the business for many years, with a lot of experience. All our staff has a martial arts background to differ-ent degrees. Our matchmaker Ali Abdel Aziz was a judo Olympian.

MMA: What other experience do you have that qualifies you to be head of the WSOF?

Sefo: With a business partner, I put on a show called Kings of New Zea-

land; it was a huge show of kickboxing compe-tition against athletes from all over the world. We ran that show with minimal staff. It taught me a great deal about this business. Running that was a good start. Then we were able take the rights to promote K1 in New Zealand. And it was on prime-time TV; a hit show. That was back in 2003 and 2004, and we ran that for about six years. With all this experience, plus a full op-erations staff, we can make this a success.

MMA: Tell us about the beginnings of the World Series Of Fighting. Where did the idea come from? How did NBC Sports get involved?

Sefo: It’s a funny story. I was getting in-terviewed on Tapout Radio and we were talking about K1 and who might take over that business. I knew this was some-thing I could do. After that interview, on a Friday night, and I was planning on making a phone call the next morning

to a friend to discuss that business. That friend beat me to it, calling me, but to discuss starting this new league. He’s a silent investor, a huge martial arts and MMA fan. We had event production support from a company called Tupelo Honey. They have years of experience in sports event production. And with their expe-rience, we got together with John Miller (head of the NBC Sports Agency, and chief marketing officer for NBC Univer-sal). And by the end of our first meeting with NBC, we had a good agreement. When we were in there, we were told that there were two other fight leagues with proposals into NBC.

CENTERRINgFANSOFKICKBOxINgAREFAMILIARWIThRAY “SUgARFOOT” SEFO AND hIS DISTINgUIShED CAREERINK1COMPETITION.ThE41-yEAR-OLDFIghTEREARNED56KICKBOxINgvICTORIES,38ByTKO,ANDhEFOUghT A hANDFUL OF PRO BOXINg AND MMA FIghTS AS wELL. IF NOT FOR hIS NEw JOB AS PRESIDENT OF ThE wORLD SERIES OF FIghTINg (WSOF), ThE NEW ZEALANDER NOWLIVINg IN LAS VEgAS wOULD MOST LIKELy BE TRAININg FOR hIS NExTFIghT. BY gLENN hANSEN

Q&A WITH

RAY SEFO

+ Ray Sefo, left, opens the World Series of Fighting televised on NBC Sports, with host Todd Harris.


CENTERRINg MMA: How did you get fighters for this first event? You promoted “tryouts” on your website? Were those successful?

Sefo: We advertised the tryouts on our website and on Facebook. And we got a lot of response in a short amount of time. We had about 30 people try out, and we had five people in that group who are go-ing to be stars someday soon. Another five of those fighters will need some work but are going to help get them there. Of course, signing all the fighters, Ali, our matchmaker, did an amazing job. We went back and forth with recruiting. But as soon as we had the news and official schedule out, our phones were ringing like crazy. Now that we’ve had the first event, it’s even more busy with fighters reaching out to us.

MMA: MMA Business attended the first event in Las Vegas, and we were im-pressed overall with the quality of the production, though we never did see the TV version. Still, you were unable to fill even that relatively small (7,000 seat) arena. Did that surprise you?

Sefo: No, it didn’t surprise me at all. We probably sold a little over 3,000 tickets. And we gave away about 3,000. It didn’t surprise me. We’re a new company. Still, I was impressed with the crowd. I looked out into the audience after the first fight, and I was quite pleased. I thought the theater – nearly full – looked incredible, with the cage in front. I can’t thank my team enough. They put in long hours.

MINDBODY IS AS VERSATILE AS OUR FIGHTERS

Co-Owners | American Kickboxing Academy

MINDBODY Clients Since 2009

SOFTWARE FOR YOUR MMA GYM888.212.0024 | MINDBODYONLINE.COM/AKA

Javier and Joanna train champions across multiple disciplines. MINDBODY gets the logistics out of the way, so they can save

their blood, sweat, and tears for the cage.

Check out

Joanna and Javier’s

business advice!AKA’s

SLICE

OF

ADVIC

E

®

+ Sefo and fighters at the inaugural event’s weigh-ins.


CENTERRINg

MMA: Though there appeared to be some mismatches (aren’t there always?) you had to be pleased with the quality of the action. How important is that in setting up the next few fights?

Sefo: You never know, from a fighter speaking, how good the fighting is go-ing to be. When the night was over, I was so pleased and thankful that all the action was so good. We had knockouts, submissions, controversial finishes. It was a great night of action. People talked about how Tyrone’s fight was mismatched, but that was his first MMA fight. So obviously now we need to find a guy who can step up the game with Tyrone. Many people thought Rony Torres should have won that split decision fight, but Brian Cobb won it. Another fight that was an upset was Tyson Steele beat-ing Gregor Gracie. All of this is good for the first night out. Of course, there are things that need to be tightened up here and there, but that always happens. If you don’t make mistakes you don’t learn.

MMA: You’ve said – and so have oth-ers in the organization – that you’re not competing with UFC. So how do you

get the best fighters, who all want to be in the UFC?

Sefo: Absolutely, we’re not in compe-tition with UFC. We’re in competition with ourselves at this point. One day, we want to be as good as UFC. But still, our biggest challenge is ourselves. We have nothing but love and respect for the UFC; it’s paved the road for all of us to do what we do. The more leagues there are, it can only be great for the sport.

MMA: The TV con-tract is vital to success, not just to air the fights but to promote them. At the start, it appears that NBC Sports is not doing a lot to help promote the WSOF. How involved is NBC Sports as a partner to promote and build this?

Sefo: Right now, all I can tell you is that, after the first outing, they are 100 percent with us and want to work

together. We’re having those discussions now, and we’ll have schedules for the next events, and more answers in the next few weeks.

MMA: Will women fight in the World Series of Fighting?

Sefo: Right now, I don’t think there is enough fe-male talent out there. In-victa has done a good job of securing a lot of fight-ers. And we may do one-off female fights here and there, but I don’t think there is a division yet.

MMA: What’s next?

Sefo: We’re preparing and making ne-gotiations for the next event. For us as a league, we want to put on the best shows we can. Our biggest goal is to

put on entertaining fights. When I was away at UFC 154 in Montreal, every reporter came up to me and congratu-lated me on our first fight. We know we’re on the right track. And we’re only at the beginning.

+ Ray Sefo addresses his first WSOF fighters following the weigh-ins at Planet Hollywood Live in Las Vegas.


You still have time – but consider this the “last call” – to nominate and vote for the MMA industry’s leading companies and people to be acknowledged with an MMA Business Award of Excellence. This new award program will congratulate and celebrate a variety of industry leaders. These are the people driving this industry to growth. These are the businesses delivering state-of-the-art products and providing industry-leading service. look at the categories below. We’ve received a number of new nominations, and voting is easy. We give you several ways to vote:

1. Email us with your nominations to – [email protected]

2. Share your thoughts with us on Facebook: facebook.com/MMABusi-nessMagazine

3. Join our LinkedIn Group – MMA Busi-ness magazine – and comment there.

4. Visit www.MMABusinessMag.com, and use the link to vote online.

Emerging Enterprise: This award will go to the most innovative “new” MMA enterprise, an emerging company leading with unique products and services, making its mark with original marketing, driving the MMA industry to future success. Current nominees include: Torque, World Series of Fighting, Invicta Fighting Championships, Cage Fitness, MindBody, Ring To Cage, RyU, Gameness, TufGear Solu-tions, 4Q2 Fightwear, MassSuit

Product Innovation: Creative and effective train-ing has been a big part of this industry’s growth, but good products are always behind that training. This award will recognize the company that has created the best new product or products that MMA professionals must have. Current nominees include: Jaco Clothing, TRX Train-ing, RevGear, Triumph United, Fuji Sports, Zebra Mats, hayabusa, Throwdown Industries, do or die Apparel

Event Marketing: While fight events like UFC con-tests get the most consumer attention, an increasingly full calendar of events exists for both consumers and profession-als. Which of these events is doing the most to build success in your business and the industry as a whole? Current nominees include: Grapplers Quest, Member Solutions Bootcamp, Fight Summit, NAGA, IBJJF, MMA World Expo, Xyience, Burn With Kearns World Tour

Celebrating MMA’sFinest


Celebrating MMA’sFinest

Branding: defining a brand is one thing. Growing that brand is another completely. We’re looking for the com-pany that has best defined and built its brand into a trusted and reputable MMA powerhouse, helping it and the entire industry grow. Current nominees include: Xyience, Everlast, UFC, MindBody, Zebra Mats, Title MMA, Century Martial Arts, Xtreme Couture, Monster Rings & Cages, Triumph United, VersaClimber, MMAWarehouse.com

Business Services: This award will recognize the com-pany that often gets no recognition, the one that is behind the scenes helping your business manage day to day, and doing so in a way that you can’t do without. Current nominees include: Markel Insurance, Member Solutions, MindBody, Affiliated Acceptance Corp., ASF In-ternational, Champions Way, Premier Management Group, Paradigm Sports Management

Executive of the Year: Every company needs a good leader. The best companies have leaders that support each department, every employee, and the larger industry. Which corporate leader would you most like to work with? Current nominees include: Shannon Knapp, Invicta FC; Steve Pinado, Member Solutions; Sarah Fields, Cen-tury Martial Arts; Craig Clement, hayabusa; Paul Reavlin, Revgear; John lennon, Xyience; Adam Sedlack, UFC Gyms; Paul Paone, MMA World Expo

Most Social: Social-media marketing and communica-tion isn’t the only way to promote a business. But those who do it well are creating super-fans that will help build their business and the entire industry through today’s word-of-mouth marketing practices. This award will go to the busi-ness or personality that is best using online promotions and social media. Current nominees include: Champions Way, Ariel helwani, dana White, Bellator MMA, Urijah Faber, Zebra Mats, Member Solutions, Tapout.

Once you’ve reduced the device shape to the required size, including 3mm bleed left or right,then make up the any deficit to 3mm bleed at the top, before making the clipping mask.

martialartsinsurance.com 800-900-1155

Our policies constantly respond to changes in your industry because the most dangerous risk is the one you never saw coming.

Specialty insurance for martial arts schools

We know your risks.

facebook.com/markelhealthfitness

GROWGROW

S t a f f R e p o r t

you have two options for growing your busi-ness. Number one is to find all the people who might be interested in martial arts-style training. The growing exposure of MMA is increasingly positive (though not always) and does encourage some people to seek out this alternative training option. Get these people to come train with you. Number two? Market to the far-larger audience of people just interested in getting in shape. Far more people are interested in fitness in the U.S., and perhaps they might be interested in the training expertise you of-fer. No, you don’t need to change your busi-ness philosophy. But you do need to look at the facts, and then check your equipment. 2 51.4 million. That’s the number of health club members in the U.S. (according to a January 2012 study by IhRSA, the In-ternational health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association). 2 Certified Personal Trainers. That’s the No. 1 Fitness Trend (as reported in a study by the American College of Sports Medi-cine, or ACSM).

The opportunity is clear. your MMA train-ing business is a far better place for those 51.4 million people to work closely with a qualified trainer. Few of the national-chain health clubs offer the same quality of per-sonal training service that most MMA gyms provide. But these health clubs have a lot of equipment, and people like that. Now you need to make sure you have the equipment and tools needed and desired by this group of 51.4 million. MMA Business spoke with a wide variety of trainers, coaches and equipment makers to find out what is hot today.

Hot Equipment CategoriesSuspension TrainingEquipment like the TRX Training tools helped ignite this product category. While these are popular for home training, home us-ers may quickly run out of training ideas and will need advice from a professional. Equip-ment like this is inexpensive; for $250 or less you can get a TRX trainer or similar equip-ment from Purmotion, CrossCore and others.

you can suspend these units individually from a fully supported bag rack, and they’re easy to move out of the way when not in use. you can incorporate them into group classes, too. If you have the space and the money, step up to a complete rack system like the Purmotion Functional Training System.

Resistance TrainingAs old as exercise itself, resistance train-ing continues to evolve and is made more functional by tools like KettleBells, ropes and items like the Stroops resistance trainer that combine tension with body-weight re-sistance. Sure, dumbbells and weight plates are still popular in the general fitness and “weight lifting” crowd. But the more dy-namic demands of martial arts conditioning require trainers to think outside the barbell. of course, CrossFit training makes the most of barbells and plates, but in a much more dynamic way than traditional weight lifting. This increasingly popular training method is most often done in curriculum-specific centers. But many MMA coaches

FITNESS EQUIPMENT TRENdS & PRodUCT GUIdE



[

[ [

[

[

are acquiring the basic CrossFit credentials so they can take advantage of the marketing popularity of the program, and incorporate the simple equipment used, like weights, plyometric boxes and pull-up bars. For KettleBell workouts, trainers should have at least a set of 20-pound bells for women, and 35-pound bells for men. Some KettleBells use metric measures, so multiply the kilogram weight by 2.2 to convert to U.S. pounds. Conditioning ropes encourage trainers to get creative and combine strength train-ing with aerobic conditioning. The ropes are available through a variety of sources like Rage Fitness, Power Systems and more. you buy either 1.5-inch or two-inch diameter ropes in lengths from 50 feet and up.

Traditional Combat TrainingWhat’s “traditional?” For martial arts and combat training, that means heavy bags, dummies, gloves and training pads. And these are essential products, of course, for any MMA school. Coaches and train-ers must make sure their students are well equipped with the right gear. you can work with product providers like Revgear and Ring-To-Cage to make sure your pro shop is stocked. you should also consider giving new members training gear pack-ages, with the cost built into the price of a new membership. Companies like Zebra and Century have a range of training dummies that can be used for grappling work and for striking. These versatile tools can last years, they’re portable, and they’re great for sparring when people don’t want to get hit back. “Traditional” means something else in the world of fitness equipment. The category can include everything from jump ropes and resistance bands to plyometric boxes and fit-ness balls. having this equipment in your gym can make new members feel comfort-able with equipment they’ve seen and used before. Much of this equipment is also sur-prisingly affordable and encourages creative training that can energize routines that might get too routine (pun intended).

Expert Advice from TrainersMMA Business asked a wide range of train-ing experts for advice on fitness and con-ditioning products. And at the end of this guide, you can find the names and contact information for dozens of companies that can provide what you need.

Kevin Kearns, strength and conditioning coach, owner of Burn with Kearns, Boston, Massachusetts:

one of my favorite training products is a Bosu ball. This is mistakenly considered the aerobic chick toy. But I’ve been using this tool to train fighters and other athletes for years. The Bosu ball trains you in an unsta-ble environment, and when you do that you become more stable. It lends itself to the ex-plosive environment of MMA. People don’t see the value in this right away; they think it’s just for up-and-down training. But the Bosu ball is amazing for a variety of strength and conditioning work. I’m also using a Purmotion body-weight trainer; it blows away other suspension train-ers. This is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment there is, for everyone from fight-ers to weekend athletes. I also like resistance bands for versatility and ease of use. They’re perfect for travel.

Ace Ramirez, Head Instructor at Kru Muay Thai, Tenafly, New Jersey:In general, because I’m in Muay Thai,

my Thai pads are my best training tools. I use them all the time, as a focus trainer, a resistance trainer, for agility work and more. I could take a Thai pad and use it to replace a lot of other equipment. I travel to a lot of different gyms and schools for training, and I can’t always rely on each gym having the same pieces of equipment. So I rely on my Thai pads to help me lead training and pre-pare fighters. It’s my essential coaching aid. My second favorite would be the heavy bag. I train a lot of fighters, some bigger than me, of course, and I need the bag to take some of the abuse. I can’t always use my Thai pads!

David Dunn, Fight Academy MMA and Int’ l Federation of Mixed Martial Artists, Santa Clarita, California:

I use a lot of Stroops resistance products – the change-and-shoot stuff, the explosive bands, the long ropes. As far as conditioning, I can accomplish most of what I need with these products, and through the training tips on the Stroops website. I have a fairly small facil-ity, and these are great for my smaller space.

Kevin Dungee, War Athletics, Los Angeles, California:My favorite training equipment is

the extra heavy bag – one that’s about 300 pounds. Anytime that thing moves, it’s an accomplishment.

And for this work, you need the right gloves. As a trainer, your clients and fight-ers are going to have different needs. A client just looking to workout and get in shape – no sparring or any contact – can get by with a pair of 16-ounce boxing gloves. But a fighter – once he has some money to spend – should have one pair of gloves just for using on the bag or with hand pads, plus another pair for sparring. on top of those two pairs, if the client is into MMA, they’ll need a pair of MMA-specific gloves, plus shin pads, head-gear, hand wraps, tape, and a mouthpiece.

AJ “Ajax” Bulchandani, certified personal trainer, KettleBell instructor and MMA conditioning coach, Owner

Ajax Fitness, San Francisco, California:KettleBells are my favorite training tools. With this single, compact piece, you can get strength, mass, power and metabolic condi-tioning training. As a trainer and fitness busi-ness owner who has passed the Russian Ket-tleBell Challenge instructor training course, I’ve built part of my business around these simple little hunks of iron. The benefits are endless and your creativity is truly the limit; you can put together some crazy routines. on top of all these benefits, KettleBells are portable; you can bring them virtually anywhere (parks and beaches are my favor-ites). here’s a “fun” pattern my clients love:


Find a large staircase, and place the Kettle-Bell at the top. Sprint up the stairs, then knock out 20 swings or snatches, for an al-lotted time or as many rounds as you’d like.

Anthony Eisenhower, Owner/Head Instructor, Brood 9 Martial Arts, Los Angeles, California:

The MostFit Suspension Strap is one of my favorites; it not only adds balance, strength, and dynamic movement to your workouts, but it makes every exercise a fully body workout. you can hook it up almost any-where – a doorway, at a park over a tree, or in your gym – and you can add even more resistance using a partner. It’s helped me in-crease agility, speed, and conditioning in all of my fighters – and myself.

Expert Advice from Product Manufacturers and SuppliersMMA Business also spoke with several com-panies that make and supply training equip-ment to industry pros. here is a sample of their advice and input, plus some leaks on new product.

Jamie Gudell, Century MMA, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:Century has a new line of products

coming out in January called “Creed.” This is going to be the best line of training gear we’ve ever produced. This is still a young sport, but athletes are getting stronger every day. Some of the best athletes in the world are now involved in this sport, and the gear needs to evolve and improve to match these improved abilities. We’ve worked with some of the best train-ers out there to create this new line. head gear, MMA gloves, sparring gloves, Thai pads, focus mitts, etc. All of this stuff exists in the market today, but we went through extensive development to make the Creed line, producing products with a new level of performance to match a stronger market.

Jeff Dilts, Star Trac, Sr. Director of Marketing and Product Development Irvine, California:

one of the foundational training methodolo-gies includes diverse cross training. Star Trac and its partnership with the UFC clubs offers a wide variety of strength and cardio products that provide MMA coaches the opportunity for both high intensity strength training and high intensity cardio interval training. Rou-

tines include high-intensity interval hill train-ing on a Star Trac treadmill; and explosive, compound, power lifting moves; strength or speed striking drills on the Star Trac BoxMas-ter. Star Trac provides the tools coaches need to offer a diverse training environment that challenges all the metabolic systems that will build a stronger fighter and athlete.

Jeremy Christofferson, Rage Fitness, Denver, Colorado:one of the best conditioning tools are the

conditioning ropes or battling ropes. Attached to a pole, a tree or even a heavy kettlebell, they are among the best conditioning tools available. Sand bag training is also big – using just dead weight lifted overhead. Slam balls are an-other great training tool; they’re designed not to bounce, and when used in a repeat motion they work the entire body. This is key for MMA fighters and athletes; they need to keep their whole body conditioned so it will work consis-tently during takedowns and stand-up fights. Medicine balls are also great for MMA. Use high-velocity throws, constantly throw-ing to a partner to create that explosiveness. Ranging from light to heavy with a vinyl cover and 14 inch diameter, these balls are all designed to be thrown and caught repeatedly.

Shannon Messer, Power Systems, Knoxville, Tennessee:Coaches need to think about func-

tional training; using every part of your body during each exercise is key for your MMA athletes. you can do this with ropes, medicine balls and body-weight training. These tools help you cover so many differ-ent body parts and muscles without isolate one particular muscle group. This kind of training focuses on cardio, quickness and strength – just like the quick bursts they’re doing in the cage or ring.

Jimmy Pedro, Pedro’s Judo Center, Wakefield, Massachusetts and Zebra Mats, Maple Grove, Minnesota:

The most important thing for me and my stu-dents is the mat. For Judo, it’s really the only equipment we use, along with gis. Regardless of the brand of mats, safety is paramount. With that in mind, the safest mat is the 1m x 2m tatami-textured mat made in Europe. It’s the quality standard, with its open-cell foam that absorbs impact for safety and durability. For MMA training, the Zebra l bag rack uses a trolley system to give a gym multi-pur-pose space. All the bags can be moved easily,

bringing them in for stand-up training and moving them out for Jiu Jitsu. When you can increase training versatility all in one place, you create a better training environment.

Mohsin Mughal, Ring-To-Cage, East Rutherford, New Jersey:The proper training gear – hand

wraps, boxing gloves, shin guards, and shorts, to start – is essential to good training. This package works well, especially when in-cluded in a membership price. As they go to the next level, add MMA gloves, head gear, and maybe a protective cup. Coaches and trainers need to be equipped with gear like punching mitts and Thai pads for striking. Ring-To-Cage makes an all-in-one Pro Belly-and-Thigh pad combo for trainers. It offers complete body protection and can help a coach give a more intense striking workout.

Jorge Bonnet, founder of Purmotion, Pelham, Alabama:The Purmotion equipment and system

lets users – not the equipment – define the training. We combine different condition-ing systems and filter out the risky move-ments that lead to injuries. A lot of the sys-tems we’ve created are based on combat and martial arts, because that’s where I come from. you don’t need the entire rack to start. Coaches can use the Airfit Pro body-weight training system and take movement patterns to a whole new level.

[

[

[

[

[

[[

[

FITNESS & TRAINING EQUIPMENT GUIdE

FACILITIES EQUIPMENT

(Cages & Rings)Century Martial ArtsCombat Sports Int’l. EverlastKontact SportsMonster Rings & CagesRival BoxingThe Mat WarehouseThrowdown IndustriesTitle Boxing/MMAZebra

(Mats, Pads & Flooring)Century Martial ArtsChampion Sports Equip.DollamurEZ Flex Sports MatsFairtexGet RungGreat MatsKontact SportsMancino MatsNorbertsProma USARage FitnessResiliteRevgearSwainThe Mat WarehouseTitle Boxing/MMAZebra

(Bag Racks)Combat Sports Int’l. Everlast FairtexGopher PerformanceMonster Rings & CagesRage FitnessThrowdown IndustriesZebra

Training/Strength/Fitness Equipment

(Equipment)Century Martial ArtsEverlast Function FirstGopher PerformanceHyperwearKontact Sports

Mass SuitPower SystemsRage FitnessRepMaxxRival BoxingStar TracVersa Climber (Bags & Dummies) Aries Fight GearBY GroupCage FitnessCentury Martial ArtsCombat Sports Int’l. EverlastFairtexFocusmaster FitnessGopher PerformanceI&I SportsKontact SportsProma USARevgearRing-to-CageRioFightWearRival BoxingShock DoctorThrowdown IndustriesTitle Boxing/MMAUp-RevZebra

(Weights, Kettlebells & Bars)Atomic AthleticsBurn MachineCentury Martial ArtsCombat Sports Int’l. Dragon DoorEverlastGopher PerformanceHyperwearKamagon FitnessKettleBell ConceptsKontact SportsPower SystemsProma USARage FitnessRepMaxx, Inc. Star Trac

(Miscellaneous) BY GroupCross CoreFitness Anywhere-TRX Gopher PerformanceGrapple GripGym Boss Power Punch GlovesPower SystemsRival BoxingStroopsUp-Rev

[

[

2

2

2

2

2

2

2


COMPANY DIRECTORY

Aries Fight Gear1838 Route 7A, PO Box 195Shaftsbury, VT 05262www.ariesfightgear.com

Atomic Athletic500 Lehman Ave., #21Bowling Green, OH 43402www.atomicathletic.com

Burn Machine, LLC 26305 Glendale Redford, MI 48239 www.theburnmachine.com

B.Y. Group Ltd85 Scarsdale Rd. #104 Toronto ON Canada M3B2R2www.bygroup.com

Cage Fitness3662 Avalon Park East Blvd, Suite 201Orlando, FL 32828877-650-2243www.cagefitness.com

Century Martial Arts 1000 Century Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK 73110 800-626-2787www.CenturyMartialArts.com

Champion Sports Equipment 109-21 117th Street, Suite 2F South Ozone Park, NY 11420 www.championsports.com

Combat Sports International 14865 W. 105th Street Lenexa, KS 66215www.combatsports.com

CrossCore, Inc.1191 Huntington Drive, #16Duarte, CA 91010www.crosscore-usa.com

Dollamur4709 South Edgewood TerraceFort Worth, TX 7119www.dollamur.com

Dragon Door – Russian KettlebellsPO Box 4381St. Paul, MN 55104www.dragondoor.com/kettlebell/

Everlast Worldwide183 Madison Avenue, Suite 1701New York, NY 10016www.everlast.com

EZ Flex Sport Mats7450 Whitehall StreetRichland, TX 76118www.ezflexmats.com

Fairtex 2044 Old Middlefield WayMountain View, CA 94043www.fairtex.com

Fitness Anywhere, Inc – TRX1660 Pacific AvenueSan Francisco, CA 94109www.trxtraining.com

Function First3974 Dove St. San Diego, CA 92103www.functionfirst.com

Focusmaster Fitness44 Biscayne Blvd.Troy NY 12182 USAwww.focusmaster.com

Get Rung 2251 N. 32nd St. #14 Mesa, AZ 85213 www.getrung.com

Gopher Performance2525 Lemond St. SWOwatonna, MN 55060www.gopherperformance.com

Grapple GripPO Box 6417San Pedro, CA 90734www.grapplegrip.com

Great Mats117 Industrial AvenueMilltown, WI 54858www.greatmats.com

Gymboss P.O. Box 303 St. Clair, MI 48079 www.gymboss.com

Hyperwear2210 Denton Dr., Ste. 103Austin, TX 78758www.hyperwear.com

I&I Sports Supply (Bubba II dummy)19751 S. Figueroa Street Carson, CA 90745 www.iisports.com

Kamagon Fitness7715 E. 111th St., #119Tulsa, OK 74133www.kamagonball.com

KettleBell Concepts349 5th Ave., 7th FloorNew York, NY 10016www.kettlebellconcepts.com

Kontact Sports1545 Le CorbusierLaval, Quebec Canada H7S2K6www.kontactsports.com

Mancino Mats 4700 Wissahickon Ave. Building E, Suite 109 Philadelphia, PA 19144 www.mancinomats.com

Mass Suit28025 Dorothy Drive, Ste. 102Agoura Hills, CA 91301www.masssuit.com Monster Rings & Cages1020 Cable CourtP. O. Box 728Lawrenceburg, KY 40342www.monsterringsand-cages.com

Norberts Athletic Products P.O. Box 1890 San Pedro, CA 90733-1890 www.norberts.net

Power Punch Gloves2400 E. Main Street, Suite 103-304St. Charles, IL 60174www.powerpunchgloves.com

Power Systems5700 Casey DriveKnoxville, TN 37909www.power-systems.com

Proma USA1000 Main Avenue, #2FClifton, NJ 07011www.promausa.com

Rage Fitness4995 Lima StreetDenver, CO 80239www.ragefitness.com

RepMaxx9255 Creekside LaneModesto, CA 95357www.repmaxx.com

Resilite Sports Products 200 Point Township Drive Northumberland, PA 17857 www.resilite.com

REVGear Sports15073 Keswick StreetVan Nuys, CA 91405www.revgear.com

Ring-To-Cage27A Poplar StreetEast Rutherford, NJ 07073www.ringtocage.com

RioFightWear8987 E. Tanque Verde, #309-301Tucson, AZ 85749www.riofightwear.com

Rival Boxing 9810 Rue Saint UrbainMontreal, QC Canada H3L2T2www.rivalboxing.com

Star Trac14410 Myford Rd. Irvine, CA 92606www.startrac.com

StroopsBldg. A15 Freeport CenterPO Box 160327Clearfield, UT 84016www.stroopsperformance.net

Swain Sports International 138 W. Campbell Ave. Campbell, CA 95008 www.swainmats.com

The Mat Warehouse21340 Lancaster Run, #1311, Estero, FL 33928www.TheMatWarehouse.com

Throwdown Industries92 Argonaut, Ste. 100Aliso Viejo, CA 92656www.throwdown.com

Title Boxing/Title MMA14711 W. 112th StreetLenexa, KS 66215www.titlemma.com

Ultimate Sandbag TrainingHenkin Fitness Systems735 Gelding Drive, Suite 4Scottsdale, AZ 85260www.ultimatesandbag-training.com

Up-Rev, Inc2885 Electronics Drive, Suite D13Melbourne, FL 32935www.stri-king.com

Versa ClimberHeart Rate, Inc. 1411 E. Wilshire Ave.Santa Ana, CA 92705www.versaclimber.com

ViprPTontheNet3528 Tejon Street, Suite #110Denver, CO 80211www.viprfit.com

Weight Vest2108 West Highway 33 Rexburg, ID 83440 www.weightvest.com

Zebra9444 Deerwood Lane NorthMaple Grove, MN 55369www.zebramats.com

FITNESS & TRAINING EQUIPMENT GUIdE

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

D

E

G

H

I

K

M

N

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Z

2

2

2

A

B

C

2

F[


S t o r y B y

M i c h a e l A . S w a i n , A R M , S C l A

SAFETYM A R T I A L A R T S

IN URANCE TWI T

$with an

SIn the october issue of MMA Business, editor Glenn hansen wrote about Injury Prevention and safety precautions coaches and trainers can take to protect members. That’s a good start, and there is much more to the “safety” of your business.

A competitive mixed martial artist without a solid game plan will be facing a real challenge when he or she steps in the ring. So will an MMA school or gym owner without a good strategy to manage the risks of their business.


Practicing martial arts safety is part of an effective training program. Unfortunately, accidents occur regardless of how well you manage your safety efforts. These accidents usually involve unexpected occurrences re-sulting in unplanned injuries to students, parents, or guests. Unintentional injuries and accidents are not limited to the practice area – they’re silent menaces that can strike a business anywhere, at anytime. Typically, it takes a monetary settlement to resolve these kinds of accidents. If you have insurance, these accidents usually involve your insur-ance carrier. Whether or not you have insur-ance, these accidents ultimately impact your cost of doing business. having insurance is a personal choice. It depends on what level of loss you’re willing to bear or that you feel your business can tolerate. Injuries that result from negligent behavior can cost hundreds, thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars to resolve. The insurance coverage you choose should be based on an educated decision pro-cess. discuss all aspects of what you teach and sell at your school or gym. To find and establish insurance coverage that is right for your business, you need to provide your in-surance agent with a clear understanding of what your art involves and your overall phi-losophy toward safety.

AVOIDINg LOSS OF CONTROLMany claims involve martial arts teachers or coaches misjudging or failing to control their strikes, resulting in an unintentional injury to a student. how this occurs depends on a number of factors: executing a maneuver without sufficient training; aggressive hands-on training; and failing to maintain control of an individual’s discipline; and others.

ThE “CLOSED FIST” CLAIMIn one recent claim, an instructor and a stu-dent were engaged in a non-contact sparring event. The student threw a punch with a closed fist and the instructor ducked to avoid being struck. The instructor then punched back and landed a blow with a closed fist to the student’s rib cage. The student incurred more than $50,000 in medical expenses, and the claim ultimately cost more than $100,000 to resolve.

SETTINg A STANDARD OF CAREMaintaining control and exercising a profes-sional standard of care would have prevented this claim from happening. “The duty owed is to protect the student or athlete from the foreseeable risk of unreasonable harm,” is

how linda Jean Carpenter defines “stan-dard of care” in Legal Concepts in Sports: A Primer. In the closed fist claim, the teacher failed to maintain a proper standard of care when he punched the student. Thus, a costly error occurred. how a standard of care is applied in a situation can vary. Much depends on the hazardous nature of the activity. Also, how a standard of care is interpreted may be in-fluenced by several factors: each participant’s age or maturity; skill level; health and condi-tioning; amount and quality of supervision; and class size. Anyone running a workout or teaching a class needs to set and maintain a high stan-dard of professionalism and accountability to make the supervisory activity effective. Allow for quick-reaction time in the event of an emergency and allow for no distractions while an activity is being supervised. have a plan and a backup plan. don’t place inexperi-enced and unskilled supervisors in situations beyond their experience and expertise. In the event of a lawsuit, plaintiff’s counsel, other-wise known as the attorney of the person su-ing you, will closely scrutinize this aspect. If possible, match different teaching styles with

A FEw RECURRINg LIABILITY INSURANCE LOSSES:

• Failureofinstructorsand experienced students to maintain control during sparring events and practice sessions.

• Failuretouseappropriate protective equipment.

• Slipandfallaccidents.

ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN


similar learning and training situations. A standard of care can also be determined by your state’s legal environment. As a martial arts professional, you’re held to a higher stan-dard of accountability when providing a stan-dard of care owed your students. If you don’t, you too may commit a costly error that can result in loss of students and possibly increase your insurance cost. Just imagine the personal and professional cost if a closed fist claim were to happen at your school, and you had no in-surance coverage to help pay the loss. your best opportunity to prevent this type of loss from occurring is to adhere to your discipline and training. you can also establish an accountability program that outlines pos-sible violations that may lead to termination, expulsion, and other forms of discipline for violating your safety program.

+ Left: Anyone running a workout or teaching a class needs to set and maintain a high standard of professionalism and accountability to make the supervisory activity effective.

+ Right: As a martial arts instructor, enforcing the use of proper protective gear must be a daily requirement, regardless of the student’s skill level. It’s a matter of establishing a standard of care and abiding by it.


Sparring rules are among the most impor-tant class-specific safety guidelines you should have in place. These rules may vary dependent on the styles you teach, but con-sider these common elements. Some may seem like common sense, but you can’t take anything for granted.

USINg PROPER EqUIPMENT Equipment-related claims usually occur due to improper use and placement of floor mats, students failing to wear proper equipment, and using worn and defective equipment. As a martial arts instructor, enforcing the use of proper protective gear must be a daily requirement, regardless of the student’s skill level. It’s a matter of establishing a standard of care and abiding by it. If equipment ap-pears worn or develops a tear, take it out of use, discard it, and replace it with new gear.

USE hEADgEARBecause of the frequency and severity of some head injuries associated with martial

arts programs, many insurers require the use of headgear for arts that involve head-shots. In fact, some policies may specifically exclude insurance coverage if a head injury occurs and the injured party was not wearing protective headgear. depending on the nature of the art you teach, striking contact to the head may or may not be permitted. Styles such as box-ing, Muay Thai and karate typically involve contact between participants that may result in various types of head injuries. These inju-

ries may be as minor as a bruise or as severe as death. While headgear is designed to de-crease the occurrence or severity of a head injury, no headgear can prevent all head in-juries. Nevertheless, not wearing appropriate headgear highly increases the likelihood of a major head injury or trauma. Make it a re-quirement for all ages and skill levels. Ultimately, it’s your obligation to protect your students from head injuries. If you fail to do so, you may have to pay the student’s medi-cal bills, as well as damages, if you’re sued.

SPARRINGRULES

SPARRINg RULES:

• Avoidputtingnovices in with fighters training for competition.

• Requireparticipantswear protective gear (including headgear, mouthpieces, groin protectors, and guards). • Clearlystatethattherewillbeno contact above the shoulders or to the groin and that only light contact to the headgear is permitted.

• Keepsparringrulesinlinewith sanctioning body regulations and review them annually for any necessary revisions.

• Havebothstudentsandparents (guardians) acknowledge they have received and read your sparring rules.

PROPER USE OF MATS:

• Thereshouldbeno movement in the mats.

• Matsshouldbeclean and free of bacteria. • Floormatsshouldprotect students in case they slip.

• Floormatsshouldbefirmenough to pivot for spinning kicks. • Floormatsshouldhaveenough cushioning to break falls.

FIT GEARTO THESTUDENTToday, many martial arts students are chil-dren. They come in different shapes, sizes, and levels of maturity. Keep this in mind when you provide equipment. Matching stu-dents with properly fitting gear is important to their safety, and reduces their potential to get hurt. Pain can deter a child’s desire to learn. If they lose the desire to learn your art because of a preventable injury, you may lose a student. you may also lose other students who witnessed or heard of the injury. A number of martial arts schools have inquired about liability concerns associated with the use of gender-related gear. Require students to wear gender-specific protective gear. While many may argue that there is a comfort issue, you may be held accountable for an injury if a student under your care wears inappropriate equipment.

PROPER USE OF MATSA recent analysis of claims data revealed a number of injuries relating to the im-proper use of mats. Improper maintenance can cause a mat to deteriorate sooner than manufacturer’s recommendations, creating a mat defect. Using defective mats can cause significant injuries. Strains, sprains and liga-ment damage to knees and ankles are com-mon injuries resulting from the use of defec-tive mats. other areas of concern regarding the proper use of mats include where mats are placed and how they are anchored. you should inspect and clean your equip-ment and mats each day. If you notice a de-fect, correct it by replacing the equipment before an injury occurs. your investment in your equipment is an obvious reflection on your investment in safety. In addition to reducing the potential for injury, keeping your mats clean and free of bacteria can also reduce the likely transmission of MRSA, Staph, and ringworm infections.

Michael A. Swain is Senior Loss Control Specialist for Markel Insurance Company, specializing in development of risk manage-ment strategies for martial arts, camp, youth

recreation programs, non-profit organizations, youth clubs, and other industry groups for Markel. With 25 years industry experience, he has a broad background in risk management. Michael, a 1984 graduate of Va. Tech, holds certifications as an Associate in Risk Manage-ment, a Senior Claim Law Associate and vari-ous other youth program related risk manage-ment and safety certifications.


how to Maximize Membership Value

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

What’s your biggest income generator? If you’re like many MMA businesses, it’s your monthly tu-ition from students. It’s imperative, therefore, you structure tuition agreements to maximize value. This article discusses four major membership structures. Each has its plusses and minuses, and each can be effectively implemented in certain situations. Pay as You Go (PAYG) isn’t really a member-ship type but rather a usage fee. PAYG enables consumers to walk into a facility, pay a flat fee, and participate in a session or class. The main ad-vantage to PAYG is that it’s an easy sell. The big downfall however is that there is little to no com-mitment from the student. PAYG can be a customer acquisition strategy to bring people into your business. Demonstrate your value by providing great service, and you’ll be able to move your memberships into a more valuable structure. Session, Visit, or Class Packages can enable members to buy a predetermined number of “uses” or sessions over time. You can put time limits on session packages by setting expirations to drive attendance. Pricing strategies can also be deployed to facilitate greater revenue per session, and stimu-late sales of packages with more sessions. This structure is often used with personal train-ers, in yoga studios, or other personalized fitness programs. Martial Arts businesses can use session packages for private lessons, promotion prepara-tion, or specialty training. The same goes for adult fitness; session packages are developed to keep members motivated and focused on meet-ing a fitness milestone. Ongoing or Open memberships, also called month-to-month, generally do not have a pre-determined expiration date, but require members to give notice in advance if they decide to cancel. Typically the advanced notice is 30 to 90 days prior to the cancel date. Open memberships don’t require long-term

commitment; that makes them easier to sell. This can be a viable alternative in today’s marketplace where many consumers are reluctant to sign long-term contracts. Term memberships are the opposite of Pay as You Go. Students sign on for a specific period of time, typically six months or longer. The clear advantage of a Term membership is that you now have a strong commitment from the student to attend class (and pay for the classes) over the set term. The result for you is a more stable, active membership base, consistent monthly revenue, and a strong accounts receivable balance. Term is often a good up-sell structure. Once someone has been in your school and has identified a goal, term membership can be used to demonstrate commitment to that goal and add predictable rev-enue to your business. Bottom line: Which membership structure you deploy won’t make any difference if you aren’t providing great customer service and deliv-ering value to your students every single day. You must deliver exceptional service in a facility that works for your students, and also remain focused on acquiring new students. With that done, us-ing membership structures that fit with the way you do business is a key operational tactic. By maximizing the value of your student member-ship structures, you can drive greater certainty and stable cash flow to your business, along with stronger customer commitment.

Steven Pinado is the CEO for Member Solutions, a lead-ing provider of billing, servicing, and business support for Martial Arts schools, fitness clubs, and health-related membership businesses. This article is a modified excerpt from the Member Solutions report: Membership Strategy for Martial Arts Schools. To download your own copy, visit MemberSolutions.com/FreeReport.

STEVEN PINADO Steven

Sp o n S o r e d b y M e M b e r So l u t i o n S


ThEFIghTB U S I N E S S

LETTER TO ThE EDITORI feel compelled to respond to the interview with Savant Young in your October issue (Center Ring, October, page 18). Mr. Young’s idea of creating a fighter’s union does have a potential benefit, but the benefit seems to be to Mr. Young’s bank account. If you read through the interview you will find a few key phrases that clue us into his vision. On page 20 in the middle of the page he states “...and then we’ll be able to offer more benefits for our fighters. Un-til then, our goal is to make money for ourselves...” Later on the same page Mr. Young adds “it will also help to keep our fighters fighting for us in our gyms. We need to make sure we get some benefit from this.” If these statements weren’t self-serving enough, he goes on to add “We want to get to a point where all the fighters are part of the MMFU (his union).” Hmmm, this sounds more like someone concerned with power, control and money than people’s interests. I will be the first to admit that there are a few bad apples in the promotion business, but that is the nature of any business and the bad apples will be weeded out through attrition. I am not criticizing Mr. Young for wanting to increase his income and make a living, that is the American way. But don’t criti-cize promoters for wanting to make a profit. If there wasn’t a profit, no one would be willing to put in the countless hours of work and stress required to run a successful show. Mr. Young did offer a number of justifications for his fighter’s union and I could go case by case pointing out the flaws in his reasoning, but I don’t think that is needed...per-haps for another issue? I will end with this thought: When you find a bad pro-moter, don’t fight for them. When you find a good promoter work with them and build a relationship. They have the same goal as you: to put on a great show, build careers and have everyone make money.

Chad Beatty, Owner, Spa City Brazilian Jiu-JitsuMatchmaker, Kaged Kombat

EDITOR’S NOTE: MMA Business asked savant Young of Mixed Martial Fighters Union if he’d like to respond to this letter. here is that response:

First of all, I can see how any matchmaker for a smaller un-known show would find himself compelled to dislike a group such as the MMFU because of the sheer fact that he is no

longer needed in the process of creating an MMA show from which he could profit. I have invested my life not only as a fighter but as a busi-ness man as well by opening a gym and continuing to build and cultivate fighters, many of whom don’t even pay me to train – as you should know if you’re a gym owner yourself. So the “Trying to fatten my pockets” argument is way off course. If you really read and understood what I’m working on you, would know that we are joining together gym-by-gym, owner-by-owner and collectively investing our money and in our ability to create revenue together for: (a) The own-ers of the gyms involved; and (b) the fighters who come out of the said gyms. There is no way that I’m trying to obtain some kind of power for myself. I have made a name for myself fighting, teaching, managing, and now promoting the great sport of MMA, with which I have been involved profession-ally for more than 13 years. I also see no harm in us working together to create a blanket insurance plan for the fighters who fight out of any MMFU-supported gym. I’m sure your Kage Kombat promotion does nothing along these lines. You also say not to criticize promoters for wanting to

18 OCTOBER 2012 I W W W. M M A B U S I N E S S . C O M

Somebody needs to change this. Savant Young may be that guy. Owner of Fight Academy MMA in Pasadena, Calif., Young coaches MMA enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels. He’s also a fighter, a manager, and has promoted several fights under the “Proving Grounds” name at his gym. Now, he’s launching a new plan.

MMA Business: What is the Mixed Martial Fighters Union?

Savant Young: At first, when you hear “union,” you might think I’m trying to organize fighters to go against the es-tablishment, but this is different. Yes, it’s a union, but I’m taking a different approach. I’m getting some local gyms involved – you might call this a co-op – because we’re the ones who get this fight business started. We, as gym owners, need some-thing that we own. We need something that stands for our interests. It is time for the gym owners and fighters to take control of the amateur and pro-am fight promotion business. We’re not organiz-ing to go against the UFC; we’re not say-ing they’re doing something wrong. Our goal is to support the up-and-coming

fighters, especially those who will never make it to the UFC.

MMA: What problem will this union solve?

Young: First of all, we’re focus-ing on our region in Southern California. In this area – in-cluding Los Angeles, Orange County, and the San Bernardi-no area – there are too many amateur shows, with a lot of former pro-fight promoters doing amateur events now be-cause they don’t have to pay fighters. This is an unaccept-able exploitation of fighters and the gyms who support them. It takes money to do these shows. I know because we’ve done several at Fight Academy. And I take my fighters to other promoter’s fights. I could continue to do my own shows and try to make money on those. And so could a gym in L.A., or in Orange County, and it might present some opportunity for their fighters. Or we could come together and help each other. The most valuable part of this whole sport is the fighters

and the gyms who train them. Mean-while, some of these promoters want the fighters to do all the work promot-ing an event, while the event promoter makes the profit. If gyms and fighters work together, we can create fair, en-tertaining shows that will build oppor-tunity for even more fighters. The MMFU will promote amateur and pro-am fights. The fighters are the ones who make the show; they make the event happen; they draw in the crowd of fans.

CENTERRINGSOME OF THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT FIGHTING IN MMA RECENTLY HAPPENED NOT IN A CAGE OR A RING. IT HAPPENED ON TWITTER, FACEBOOK AND IN OTHER DIGITAL ARENAS. WHEN A WIDE VARIETY OF UFC FIGHTERS ATTACKED JON JONES, BLAMING HIM FOR THE UNDOING OF UFC 151, IT TURNED INTO AS BIG A BRAWL AS WE’VE SEEN IN THE CAGE. SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT JONES’ DECISION TO FOREGO A LAST-MINUTE CARD CHANGE, BUT THE RESPONSE FROM HIS FELLOW FIGHTERS SHOWED THAT – AT LEAST FOR NOW – FIGHTERS ARE JUST LIKE PROMOTERS. THEY ARE IN THIS FOR THEMSELVES. BY GLENN HANSEN

Q&A WITH

SAVANT YOUNG


ThEFIghTmake a profit. This is exactly the problem I have with most promoters. First, the fighters are what make your show a success. Second, the coaches of the gyms are the ones who provide these fighters that compete in “your show.” Third, we bring the audience, most of which are our gym members, and those are the people putting asses in the seats. Most lo-cal shows are filled with family members wanting to support a loved-one on his or her quest to be in the big show, and I’m almost certain your show is not there final destination. As we strengthen the MMFU, we will be able to at least pay a lot more and provide a lot more for our fighters than any single promoter trying to make his investment back along with some pocket change and the ability to feel like Dana White for a night. I could go on and on about some of the low-level promoter practices, but I’m too busy working on something that will be long term for us gym owners and for our fighters who may never make it to the UFC but will continue to love the sport of MMA.

Savant Young, OwnerFight Academy Mixed Martial Arts

FIghT MUSICCustom fight music producer Mikey Rukus, known for creat-ing theme music and walkout music for fighters and compa-nies worldwide, is joining forces with Addison Sports Man-agement to create customized theme songs for the fighters it represents on the upcoming Invicta FC 4 card in January. The alliance between Rukus and Addison Sports is a first, where a management company joins forces to have theme songs spe-cifically created for clients. MMA Business spoke with Mikey Rukus to learn more about the fight music business.

MMA Business: When working with promoters and fighters, do you set up long-term deals? Or is it more often one-time music creative?

Mikey Rukus: These are done on a case-by-case basis. May-be a fighter wants one song for a big fight, or a promotion wants theme music. Or they might want a library of music. Or maybe they just need short pieces, 30-second bumps, or instrumental music for weigh-ins.

MMA: How popular is this custom-music in MMA? And what does it cost?

Rukus: It’s starting to catch on, but it’s still a small percent-age of fighters. I’m among the first to make this a career. I’ve created more than 100 theme songs. Gradually, companies and fighters are learning they can use music to better connect with a demographic, and it can help draw more attention to a fighter. I do have a rate sheet, but it’s still on a case-by-case basis. I have complete production packages for theme music. And I have different cost structures depending on whether I own the music rights or not. I always have a library of music to which I have the rights, and then a fighter can lease a song for a period of time.

MMA: What’s the creative process like when you work with a fighter?

Rukus: It’s very interactive. I like to get with the client in per-son or over the phone, and I ask them what they want the world to know. Plus I want to know their favorite artists and songs. I want to know why they fight. Do they have favorite quotes? Then we work through samples of music. I can usually nail it down with just a couple changes. But I make sure they’re 100 percent satisfied before delivery.

You can hear some of his work at:www.soundclick.com/MikeyRukus.


wIDE wORLD of MMAN E W S F R O M A R O U N D T H E W O R L D

UFC gym Sydney Opening Soon

UFC Gym announced that its first non-U.S. facility will open in Sydney, Australia. Opening in February, 2013, the 32,000 square-foot facility will be located in the suburb of Alexandria, just south of Sydney’s central business district. “Australia has waited a long time for something like UFC GYM,” said Selena Short. With more than 30 years experience in the fitness industry, Short and Lusiano Afeaki are the local partners who will operate UFC Gym Sydney. “The club’s unique programming and premier training helps people of all ages and fitness levels realize their goals and enjoy the community that the brand develops,” said Short. The UFC Gym Sydney increases the company’s rapid expansion rate. The Long Island, New York location will open in the spring of 2013. Following on the opening of the BJ Penn-branded UFC Gym in Honolulu, the New York and Australia locations will be the sixth and seventh UFC Gyms. The Australia gym will be a member of the Green Building Council Australia, and will incorporate some of Sydney Cor-porate Park’s environmentally sound structures. It will feature solar power water and intelligent lighting systems, mak-ing Sydney one of UFC GYM’s most advanced facilities to date.

B.C. Registers Referees When the British Columbia, Canada, Legislature passed its Athletic Commis-sioner Act, it set in motion the plan “to ensure the safety of participants in combat sports such as mixed martial arts, and to implement consistent rules, policies and procedures across the province,” as stated in the act, also known as Bill 50. The province is also hoping to create a framework that makes it easier to major pro-motions like the UFC to bring events to B.C. After much-publicized difficulties between the UFC and Vancouver,

B.C., the UFC has held multiple events in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta, and hasn’t visited B.C. since June, 2011. Part of this plan also includes new rules to require anyone who wants to judge a professional mixed martial arts fight to get certified. Big John McCarthy’s California-based Certification of Officials

for Mixed Martial Arts National Development (COMMAND) program recently held a certification course in Vancouver. Referee candidates must pass several tests, including a techniques test, a written test, a practical application test and a situational test. Candidates must also know dozens of takedowns, submissions, positions, sweeps, kicks and strikes.


“I just wanted to get girls together to push each other toward better fitness,” said Prairie Rugilo. “I was hoping to start a class for about 20 girls and hold it twice a week. I had no intention of doing this full time and fighting, too.” On December 7, 2012, Rugilo, owner of

Girl Fight Martial Arts in Tom’s River, New Jersey, was inducted in the New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame as the Female Muay Thai Fighter of the Year. Like many school owners, Rugilo trained in martial arts as a child, spe-cifically taekwondo. “I lost touch with taekwondo for a number of reasons,” she said. As a young adult, Rugilo started doing boxing fitness workouts through a police athletic league. “I al-

ways thought I wanted to do kickbox-ing, but it was always cardio kickbox-ing and I thought it was so lame. Then I found a local Muay Thai program and I loved that. But it was so expen-sive. So I begged the trainer, ‘What can I do around here? Clean toilets?

Anything?’ Then I started teaching so I could keep training.” After that gym closed, Rugilo was pushed into action. “I was doing real estate, and was doing well, but was get-ting fatter and fatter. And I wanted to get in shape, and inspire some other girls. I wanted to do real martial arts and fitness, not cardio kickboxing.” Rugilo found a space where she could lead a part-time martial arts

class. “The first class, I had about nine girls,” she said. And it built from two days a week, to three days, always add-ing more and more girls. “Then I had to decide to cut this back, or to start my own business. At the same time, I was training for my first fight. Not a

good decision to open a new business and train for a fight at the same time. Still, I knew if I was going to be a good trainer I would have to fight, at least once.” She lost that first fight. “And that was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Rugilo said. Rugilo continued fight-ing, and also opened Girl Fight Martial Arts in 2009. “Now I have more than 100 girls training here, includ-ing three from that first class. All this superseded any goals I have had. I just wanted 20 girls, and to fit in my skinny jeans.” The curriculum includes yoga, and self defense along with the different levels of Muay Thai training. “Be-ginning sparring and the Kids classes teach the ba-

sics and fundamentals of the art,” said Rugilo. “The Advanced Sparring is all out war, for girls getting ready to fight.” Girl Fight Martial Arts is not just a fighter’s gym. In fact, it’s mostly non-fighters. The gym surprises most who come in, fighters or not. “The girls who first come in, they’re comparing it to kickboxing like at the health club,” said Rugilo. “Then they are shocked. It’s tough fitness and combat training with

NAME: Girl Fight Martial ArtsLOCATION: Seaside Heights, N.J.OwNER: Prairie RugiloYEARS IN BUSINESS: 3DISCIPLINES: Muay Thai for adults and kids, Self-Defense, MMA, Yoga, Fitness

YOURgYM


all the respect of martial arts tradition, but it’s not ‘tough guy’ serious.” “We’re a group, and a family, and we train that way. When one girl is getting ready for a fight, we all go through it together. And the girls really live for those moments.” The aptly named gym is created for women, but it’s not exclusionary. “We do have a co-ed class,” Rugilo said. “And I always say it’s for real men. Be-cause only a real man will proudly say, ‘Yes, I train at Girl Fight.’ The co-ed classes work well for dads who have young girls, according to Ru-gilo, or for husbands and boyfriends of Girl Fight members. “And it works for guys who don’t want to sign a contract or pay the high fees of other martial arts gyms.” Rugilo admits that other business owners have said to her, “we wish you would charge the rates we do so it would be more of an area standard pric-ing.” But the Girl Fight demographic is different. “It might be nice to consis-tently charge $150 per month, but it’s not like that for my members,” she said. “I have a two-times-per-week plan, and I have an unlimited plan. I have been doing the trial and error, and I know what works for my demographic.” The word is spreading about this business. Girl Fight has tried tradi-

tional marketing. But word-of-mouth attracts the most new members. Ru-gilo recommends the “simple things” as high-quality marketing tactics. Her website has always been No. 1 for recognition. “I do a lot of charity events,” she said, “where I donate a one-month membership. Traditional paid advertis-ing in local papers, or ads in shopping centers hasn’t worked for me. But when I print simple postcards and distribute them by hand around town, that works. And once somebody did an article on us in a local newspaper, and that expo-sure was big.” Probably not as big, however, as the exposure Rugilo is getting as a fighter. “I got to fight at Madison Square Gar-den,” she said. “My opponent and I were the first females to fight there, and I became the first title holder. That’s when I got the letter from the New Jer-sey Hall of Fame. I’ll be up there with true legends of the sport.” The same day MMA Business first spoke with Rugilo, a representative from Bellator visited Girl Fight, hearing about the gym’s and Rugilo’s creden-tials. “We going to talk about oppor-tunities,” she said. “We’re all amateurs here, and I’m the only one who could maybe go pro. But I’m not sure any-body’s first pro fight should be on TV.”

Rugilo will continue to develop growth opportunities for Girl Fight Martial Arts, too. “I would like to make this school as big as it can be, then maybe open a second school,” she said. “Then perhaps I’ll create a licensing program to help other females open similar businesses.” It’s that same attitude – wanting to help women – that created Girl Fight in the first place. And it’s what con-tinues to amaze and impress Rugilo about her business and its members. “The camaraderie among the women is inspiring,” she said. “I remember one time there was a class with a new girl who was falling behind, struggling to finish exercises, but all the other girls cheered her on to finish. I was emo-tional. The support in this group is different than I’ve ever experienced in a group of women anywhere.” “But I don’t ever want to say that I’m the one who did it. Girl Fight has raised the level of competition for women in the area. We’ve changed the industry here. I hope that we could inspire other women to start their own schools.”


PRO ShOP

B Mt. EverClimb This revolutionary, continuous rope-climbing machine simulates actual rope climbing in a space that doesn’t require endless ceiling height. This one piece of equip-ment enables users to achieve a full-body strength and cardio workout. Numerous safety features allow individuals to exercise at their own pace with minimal stress, all in a controlled environment. It’s made using a welded tubular-steel frame and it runs off of 110-volt power. Its stable and portable design makes it versatile and safe. Visit mteverclimb.com.

A Damage Control Mouthguards Damage Control uses the latest technology to ensure the best mouthguard fit. The process increases breath-ability, communication and snaps on to a user’s upper teeth for security. Users can order custom graphics or create team designs. Custom mouthguards are made with state-of-the-art machinery to insure the highest comfort and highest protection. The guards are avail-able in three different thicknesses, and DC recommends the thickest ones for MMA use. Products come with a 100-percent guarantee. Visit dcmouthguards.com.

C Mass Suit Trainer The Mass Suit is a patented resistance-training suit for the entire body. It uses rubber resistance training bands that provide resistance during any type of ath-letic movement. The Mass Suit increases the resistance to your shoulders, arms, back, core, hip flex, quads, and hamstrings by attaching the MASS sleeves, straps and rubber cords to your body, elbows, hands, knees, and feet. The unique design of the Mass Suit allows any athlete to intensify a training routine. The Mass Suit is adjustable to increase or decrease resistance, and comes with a training book. Visit masssuit.com.

D NextGen Series Sparring GlovesThese sparring gloves from Knockout Athletics are made from genuine cowhide leather for comfortable and durable training. They’re constructed with multi-layer premium padding for long-lasting protection. A dual-strap wrist enclosure provides maximum wrist support, and the gloves are vented at the palm to keep your hands cool. They feature double-stitched seams, and are available in 14, 16, and 20-ounce sizes. Knockout Athletics can supply a variety of glove styles and create custom-logo training gear as well. Visit knockoutathletics.com.

N E W P R O D U C T S + S E R V I C E S

C

A

D

B

PRODUCTS SEEN AT FIGHT SUMMIT


Train In Chaos

ON THE MAT

The marriage of Mixed Martial Arts and functional strength training is an easy one. Or at least it should be. Still, many MMA fighters train like body-builders, instead of training like fight-ers, because they think that’s the right way to train. Fighting is not bodybuilding, and its training serves a completely differ-ent function. MMA is a combat sport with many different levels and com-ponents. The MMA athlete must have a knowledge of boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. There is no bench pressing, no lat pulldowns, no leg extensions. Bodybuilding is mostly ordered and structured. An MMA fight is organized chaos. In this chaos, MMA athletes find themselves in different and awkward positions, often with limited or no balance. Many traditional strength-training exercises, therefore, have limited or no place in the octagon. What does belong is stability-limited training. Coaches and trainers need to put MMA athletes in chaotic and unstable environments. One of my fa-vorite pieces of equipment to use to test MMA ath-letes this way is the Bosu. I use this simple tool in a variety of ways to challenge the central nervous system, and to recreate the instability of combat. I know, everyone thinks the Bosu is just for female aerobics instructors. Sorry, that is far from the truth. I have been using this tool in my coach-ing around the world, improving in MMA condi-tioning for top-level fighters and coaches. This de-vice is not just another plyometrics tool or aerobics step. The Bosu works because it:

> Is functional > Requires little space> Is portable> Can be unstable > Is multi-purpose

Specific Bosu TrainingThe Bosu can improve a fighter’s ability to sprawl, an essential skill for preventing takedowns. When you consider the sprawl, the athlete needs im-proved conditioning in several aspects:

> Level change> Push and pull> Timing > Explosiveness> Balance

Here’s how a coach can – using a Bosu – train a fighter to better execute the sprawl. This challeng-ing routine works well in a circuit-type routine. You can do this for a selected repetition count, or in timed rounds.

1. While standing, the athlete grabs the Bosu with round side out2. Then the athlete explosively drops to the ground – like a sprawl – landing with the Bosu bubble down.3. Then the athlete shoots his legs backward, dropping all his bodyweight.


4. His arms are locked out on the Bosu to mimic blocking the shoulders or head of the opponent.5. The athlete then pops back up to a standing position.

I’ve created an entire Bosu workout (below). Complete these exercises in three rounds, like this – Round 1: 30 seconds of work with 15 sec-onds of rest at each station; Round 2: 40 seconds of work and 15 seconds of rest; Round 3: 1 min-ute of work and 30 seconds of rest. By the time you finish the second round you will have a new-found respect for the Bosu. Give it a try, and tell me what you think.

1. Bosu Box jumps – Stand with the feet outside the Bosu, then spring up to the top and jump back down. There is no impact on your joints. 2. Float knees to the bosu (OnTheMat 1) – Lay prone over the bubble-side down Bosu, and hold it push-up style. Drive your knees as if you are knee-ing someone in the back. 3. Sprawls – Hold on to the bosu and drop into a sprawl, bubble-side down4. Knee in the belly with 2 hits (pic 674) – Place a knee on the Bosu and deliver two strikes. Then post and change sides. 5. Knee drop bunch down – Place the Bosu be-

tween your legs and drop a knee on it as you drop a punch as well 6. Alternating Sityodtong Muay Thai Knees – Stand on the Bosu bubble, and hit those Muay Thai knees 7. Slide outs – Grasp the Bosu bubble side down, and try to pass guard from side to side 8. Double step overs – Step onto the Bosu with both feet, then step off. 10. Curve knees – grab the bosu bubble side down and then bring your knee to the outside of your elbow.

The Bosu is also a great tool if the athlete has an injury that may prevent him from live sparring. Sprawls with the Bosu allow the combat athlete to practice an essential move for the octagon while

rehabbing an injured shoulder, wrist, or elbow. The Bosu has become one of my favorite tools for my training tool box. It’s versatile and func-tional. And its instability makes it perfect for the demands of Mixed Martial Arts.

Kevin Kearns (also known as “Coach K “ or “Dr. Evil”) has worked with more than 15 UFC, WEC, and Strike-force fighters over the past seven years, including Kenny Florian, Marcus Davis, Stephan Bonnar, Kurt Pellegrino, and more. His company Burn With Kearns has created an MMA Fitness Trainer Certification system that is in use worldwide. Kearns can be reached at [email protected], or check www.burnwithkearns.com for training dates and affiliate information.

www.burnwithkearns.com

Kevin KearnsKevin


here we go, Again

OUTSIDE THE OCTAGON

Back in the mid-90s, most people couldn’t wait for Thursday nights to watch “Seinfeld.” Using the “Must See TV” tagline, NBC created ap-pointment-television, gluing viewers to their sets for each season’s 20-some episode run. Then we couldn’t wait for the new season to begin. Today, you can watch multiple episodes of “Seinfeld” every day. But, of course, you don’t. For one thing, it’s old. For another, it’s just not special anymore. Is UFC going the way of syndicated “Seinfeld”? It seems like there are so many fights on TV that they’re just not as special anymore. Even for a huge fan like me. I can’t keep up with it. And I order less pay-per-view fights than I used to.

Oversaturated MarketingWorking on this column, I clicked on Fuel TV. Sure enough, there’s a fight on. It’s not a new fight, it’s just another fight. And I don’t care to watch it. The recent “UFC on Fuel TV 6” fight from Ma-cau, China, was replayed three times in the same day. This was most likely due to the event locale’s time difference from the U.S. Somebody must be watching these fights. And that is good for sponsors that get increased viewer impressions. That turns into increased TV revenue for the Fox family and UFC. But three airings in one day? And with UFC fights now on pay-per-view, Fox, FX or Fuel TV, the televised events have lost their significance. growth has A CostIf general sports fans are channel hopping, maybe they’ll bump into a UFC fight on TV, tune in for a bit and become fans. The more people see televised MMA, the more the sport might truly become a household word. More sponsors might get involved to reach this growing audience. That can be good for the sport and for many of our businesses. But if the quality of the action is diluted, that can be bad for all fans. Yes, it’s amazing that we’re up to UFC 150-something already. And it’s also a good sign that the industry is able to support pro leagues such as Bellator and possibly the new

World Series of Fighting, as well. Quantity, however, is not synonymous with quality. More of something is not always good. Starbucks learned that and had to close hundreds of outlets when it overbuilt. NASCAR learned that as its increased race schedules met declining atten-dance. And NBC TV executives learned that when they tried to engineer countless sitcoms that might recreate the “Seinfeld” buzz.

Solution? First of all, it’s not clear there is a problem, other than the glut of UFC fights as perceived and noted anecdotally by this fan. I know, however, I’m not alone in forecasting a slow decline in fight quality as fight quantity ramps up. One possible solution is Fight Seasons. Think “Seinfeld,” or better yet NFL, MLB, or any major-league sports franchise. They’ve all expanded and added teams, and they all try to increase TV contracts to maximize viewership. But they don’t mess with seasons. And that seasonality is what keeps fans excited. You miss football from March to October. You can’t wait for Sundays in the fall to watch football. The UFC and televised MMA has certainly boosted Jiu-Jitsu participation in the U.S. And as the incredible fitness of MMA athletes is broadcast to a mainstream audience, that can help grow all our businesses. But a good part of this comes from the buzz and excitement of high-quality fight ac-tion. Not from overdone fight cards and re-aired fights that might look like Seinfeld re-runs. We need fewer fights, and increased quality. Maybe we need Seasons. Or the UFC’s “Here We Go” tagline should be changed to “Here We Go, Again.”

Jimmy Pedro has earned two Olympic Bronze medals, and was Judo World Champion at 73 kg in 1999. He is active as a USA Judo national team coach and as owner of the Pedro Judo Cen-ter. Now as a vice president for Zebra, a leading provider of facil-ity equipment for martial arts and MMA businesses nationwide, Pedro has a wealth of experience in the industry.

JIMMY [email protected]

Jimmy


MARKETPLACE

For Information on Marketplace Advertising Rates contact Dick hendricks at 612-306-1707 or email [email protected]

(888) 405-6056WWW.GAMENESS.COM

Become a Gameness Authorized Dealer

Zebra Home MatsGet tWO fOr a perfect 10x10

traininG Surface

> Lightweight & Portable > Black or Blue> Easy to Set-Up and Store > Tatami Textured > 5 ft. x 10 ft. x 1 3/8 in.

Only $239 (Includes Delivery)

www.asfinternational.comCall now! 1-800-227-3859

Unique Payment Solutions

• EFT & Credit Card Processing• Recurring Payment Systems• Merchant Services

Cloud Based Software

• Intuitive Financial Reporting• Integrated POS Applications• Streamlined Scheduling

Unlock the full potential of your business

Do You Want More Students?“How to Make Your Classes Bigger”

Has over 150 proven strategies that have already helped hundreds of studio owners make 1000’s more per week!

NOW! on Amazon or go towww.BiggerClasses.com

WHITECHOCOLATEMANAGEMENT

WHITECHOCOLATEMANAGEMENT

specializing in marketing, promotions, management & development of multi-media

brands for athletes and celebrities.

Check us out at:

www.whiteCM.com

Full service sports management agency

ROLLES GRACIE•JOE STEVENSON•VINNY MAGALHAES•TJ WALDBURGERDIEGO SANCHEZ•TAKANORI GOMI•RUMINA SATO•CAOL UNO

RYAN HALL•BILL COOPER•ROBERTO ABREU•JEFF GLOVER•JOAO ASSIS FREDSON PAIXÃO•SHANE ROLLER•RAFAEL LOVATO JR.•PABLO POPOVITCH

AVAILABLE AT FIGHT STORES WORLDWIDE, BUDOVIDEOS.COM,SHOPSHERDOG.COM & GRAPPLERSQUEST.COM

AT

NOWONDVD

YOUR AD

hERE!Reach More Than

6,000 gym Owners,Trainers, Promoters,

Agents and DistributorsFor AS LITTLE AS$120 PER ISSUE

Call 612-306-1707 or E-mail:

[email protected]

The Evolution of Fight Gear

www.ringtocage.com

Apply for a wholesale account and enjoy 40-50% margins!

Contact us at:1-866-666-0074or email: [email protected]

Apply for a wholesale account and

[email protected]

Special Offer!Grip like a World champion – DVD

4-Time Olympian & World Judo ChampionJimmy Pedro provides detailed instructions on

how to grip like a world champion.If You Can’t Grip, You Can’t Throw!

To order your dVd go To:www.griplikeaworldchampion.com

ROGER GRACIE3 Time Absolute World Jiu-Jitsu Champion

Designer: [email protected] | Client: Zebra Mats | Pub: MMA Business | Project: Roger GRACIE/World Class Mat ad | Size: 8" x 10.75"

WORLD’S BEST GRAPPLING & JIU-JITSU MATS

ZEB_Roger-Gracie-World-MMAB_v1.indd 1 11/26/12 16:05:44

mma business - december 2012

Documents

mma tv

fight summit recap

bosu madness pedro

equipmentyou need