Most martial arts schools are busy from about 4 to 8 p.m. and empty the rest of the day. Doug Rankin built a second business into those empty hours. He owns Apex Martial Arts, a taekwondo school in Warner Robins, Georgia, that has served its community for 21 years. He's also a speaker and author for school owners.
Doug is unusually open about his numbers, and that's what makes him worth hearing. In 2025, Apex averaged about 140 martial arts students a month, but its nine weeks of summer camp brought in more revenue than the martial arts program did over the full 52 weeks. His after-school program adds roughly another $100,000 a year. He explained his model to Red Belt Podcast host Brian "Barn Cat" Debes.
The Economics: Charging by the Week Instead of the Month
Picture a school with 100 students paying $200 a month, about $240,000 a year. A summer camp or after-school program charges roughly that $200 per week. A school needs far fewer kids in camp than on the mat to bring in the same money.
Apex's camp pricing rewards early commitment:
- ✓Registration opens in November with a paid-in-full Black Friday special.
- ✓Families who sign up in November or December lock in about $147 a week.
- ✓The price rises $10 each month after that, reaching about $197 a week for the all-summer option by May.
- ✓Families who want only selected weeks pay about $257 a week.
Add-ons count too. Apex sells snacks for $1.50 each to parents who would rather not pack them. Doug estimates snack sales alone brought in around $15,000 last summer.
He prefers summer camp to after school when an owner has to choose one. Camp doesn't need vans, gas or vehicle maintenance, and in his market after school is limited because many parents finish work around 4 p.m., soon after the school day ends.
Hiring and Running Camp Without Burning Out Your Team
The mistake Doug warns about first is using the martial arts instructors to staff camp. It burned them out. Camp gets its own director and coaches. "It's not babysitting," he says.
Apex hires year-round through a careers page on its website, using a three-step process:
- A Zoom interview, scheduled during the hours camp would run, to confirm availability. A prepared list of questions covers experience with kids and scenarios like a meltdown or a fight over a toy. Candidates are scored, and only those who score 8 or higher move on.
- A 30-minute live audition with a group of kids to see real classroom management, charisma and comfort with a room of about 20. Candidates must bring two copies of a resume, mainly to test whether they follow directions.
- A director's decision, then a 90-day probation, which is longer than camp itself. Strong hires move into after-school coaching.
Every staff member passes a Level 2 state background check, gets CPR certified and is subject to drug testing. Interview answers are scored against specific behaviors. For the toy dispute, a strong answer steps in quickly, kneels to the child's eye level and talks through good choices. Doug has also built a custom GPT coaches can use on their phones for ideas in the moment.
Group sizes are deliberately smaller than the law allows. Georgia permits 1 coach to 25 kids for a martial arts school. Apex aims for 1 to 20, and closer to 1 to 15 for younger children. Apex typically sends home five to ten kids in the first week of camp for bullying, hitting or abusive language.
Teach by Stage of Development, Not Just Age
Camp groups and martial arts classes at Apex are organized by stage of development. A six-year-old who can't yet write their name may do better with five-year-olds, while another six-year-old may be ready for the eight-year-old group. One coach stays with the same group all summer.
The martial arts program follows the same idea, with six curriculum levels:
- ✓Mini Skills: about 1.5 to 3
- ✓Early Skills: 3 to 4
- ✓Basic: 5 to 6
- ✓Core: 7 to 9
- ✓Extreme: 10 to 15
- ✓Elite: 16 and up
Doug notes that modern taekwondo was shaped in the 1950s for military men in their prime, not seven-year-olds. Curriculums that are too hard frustrate kids and parents.
Belt colors are the same at every level, grouped into beginner, intermediate and advanced tiers, while requirements scale with development. A white belt might earn a stripe with five front kicks and a yellow belt with ten. A child who finishes a younger program moves into the next program at the intermediate tier, because they've already learned the beginner material.
Upgrade Plans and Small Revenue Streams
Apex's membership tiers are built to spread out costs that would otherwise hit families all at once:
- ✓$149/month: tuition only; gear, testing and tournaments are extra.
- ✓$199/month: includes all gear. A full sparring set runs about $350 per child.
- ✓$249/month: includes the leadership program and covers testing, tournaments and everything else.
Another small stream is the cycle tee. Apex runs five 10-week curriculum cycles a year, each with a theme such as "accountable." Students can wear the full uniform or the uniform pants and belt with that cycle's $22 T-shirt, which costs Apex about $6 or $7. Doug figures that adds roughly $3,000 a year in profit.
Many Ways to Find Students
Doug doesn't believe one big idea will bring in 100 new students. Schools need a hundred ways to find one student each: camps, after school, birthday parties, referrals and steady follow-up. He uses a 50/50 rule for funnel planning. To sign 20 members a month, a school needs about 30 trials showing up, 60 appointments booked and 120 prospects.
His other two key numbers are revenue per student per month and revenue per square foot. If a floor sits empty 19 or 20 hours a day, money is being left on the table. He also wants owners to watch attrition and ask hard questions if attrition runs above 5%.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Price camp by the week. At roughly a monthly tuition rate per week, a modest camp can rival a full year of class revenue.
- ✓Reward early sign-ups with a low starting price that rises $10 a month, and charge more for families who pick only some weeks.
- ✓Hire a separate camp team through a scored interview and live audition instead of burning out your instructors.
- ✓Group kids by stage of development and build a curriculum for each stage, so classes stay challenging without being discouraging.
- ✓Design upgrade tiers that spread out big costs like sparring gear and testing fees.
- ✓Track revenue per student, revenue per square foot and attrition, and look for ways to use the floor during the day.
Listen to the Full Episode
Hear Doug walk through his numbers in detail on Spotify or YouTube. To keep the students your new programs bring in, Red Belt Software helps martial arts school owners improve retention and grow.