Most business coaches give new martial arts school owners the same advice: pick one thing and focus on it. Victor Young, who owns two schools in the Seattle area, went the other way. His school runs six distinct programs (tai chi, kids martial arts, Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Kali, submission wrestling, kickboxing and boxing) and serves students from about five years old to ninety. In one year, that single location came in just under a million dollars in revenue.
What makes Victor worth hearing out is how unlikely that outcome looked. He opened his first school in 2018 and struggled early, even after joining a business mastermind. Red Belt Podcast host Brian "Barn Cat" Debes recalls others predicting Victor wouldn't make it. Victor climbed from the bottom of the group to near the top. He has no world titles or celebrity reputation. He got there through systems, coaching and work, and his approach holds lessons for any owner running more than one program.
Rule One: A Program Isn't a Program Unless It Repeats
Victor works from a baseline rule: a class only counts as a real program if it meets at least twice a week, and he goes further than that. Most of his programs run three or four times a week, and kickboxing runs six days, split into beginner, open and intermediate/advanced sessions.
He has a reason for all that repetition. When ads bring in a prospect, the schedule has to fit that person's life. Running each program often enough means the school can almost always find a trial time that works. Adding a second mat space later let him run two programs at once.
Tiered Memberships Instead of Unlimited Everything
Victor warns that unlimited memberships cause trouble in a multi-program school. Early on, with plenty of room on the mat, they seem harmless. Once the school grows, unlimited members fill the mats long before they should, because attendance was never managed.
His pricing is tiered instead:
- ✓One program, twice a week, the entry tier and the most common
- ✓Two programs, four days a week
- ✓Unlimited, priced at the top
Roughly half his members are on a single program, about 30% are in the two-program range and around 20% are unlimited. In between there are add-ons: a member on the single-program tier can add a second program for a small monthly fee while keeping the same two days, or add extra days. A lot of revenue growth comes from upgrading members after they join, not from the first sale.
Market Benefits, Not Style Names
Brian pulled out what may be the most useful point in the conversation for any owner: prospects don't know which martial art they want. A caller says "kickboxing" because a friend does it, and few newcomers recognize champions' names.
Victor's mission is to train "regular everyday people" for sport, self-defense and fitness. Most of them have little or no experience, and many always wanted to train but never had the chance. Many of his arts, such as Jeet Kune Do and Kali, are unfamiliar even to people with some martial arts background, so his school has always taught people what it does after they arrive.
That's also why his tai chi program, whose students are mostly in their 60s and 70s, works as a business and not just a passion project. Brian argued the lesson isn't tai chi itself. A class built for an older demographic and sold on its benefits would probably get similar results under a different name, such as a mobility class. Victor agreed. Brian warned against the opposite mistake: adding style after style to catch every searcher usually produces weak programs. Victor's work because each comes from his own training and gets real effort.
A Marketing Calendar Built Around Rotation
Victor doesn't try to advertise all six programs at once. He picks two programs to promote for roughly six weeks, occasionally adds a third, and then rotates. That keeps the ad budget focused and the creative fresh.
For older students, he targets tai chi ads at ages 45 to 75. Many tai chi students also come in through grandchildren enrolled in kids class.
Organic content runs on a fixed calendar. Appointment setters must post videos for assigned programs on assigned days, two programs a day, six days a week, on Instagram, shared to Facebook and TikTok.
Students who leave a five-star review get a pair of movie tickets, which has helped his first location collect more than 160 reviews while nearby competitors have a few dozen at most.
A Sales Process That Digs for the Real Pain Point
Leads usually opt in online, and an appointment setter calls them. The ad they clicked doesn't decide the program they're placed in. Setters ask who the program is for, what experience the person has and, most importantly, why they want to train.
Victor says the first answer, usually "I want to lose weight," is superficial. Staff are trained to keep asking until the real reason comes out, whether that's a relationship, a health scare, or a moment at a bar when someone felt afraid and powerless. That deeper reason shapes the recommendation, along with injuries, schedule and comfort with physical contact. For undecided prospects, he often recommends two complementary arts, such as one striking and one grappling, so they become well-rounded.
He's equally firm that staff must narrow the options, not present all six. "You're the expert," he says, and the job is to give "a prescription." Too many choices lead to "I'll think about it."
Before the trial, the prospect gets a video confirmation explaining exactly what will happen, from who greets them to the free school shirt to the careful partner they'll work with. Many newcomers expect "cage fighting," so taking the fear out of the first visit is part of the sale.
Key Takeaways
- ✓Run every program at least twice a week, and ideally three or four, so trial students can always find a class that fits.
- ✓Avoid defaulting to unlimited memberships in a multi-program school; tiered plans with add-ons protect mat space and create upgrade revenue.
- ✓Sell benefits, not style names. Most prospects don't know what martial art they want, so qualify them and recommend a program.
- ✓Rotate ad spend across two programs at a time and back it with a fixed daily schedule of organic posts.
- ✓Dig past the first answer on sales calls to find the real reason someone wants to train, and give a clear recommendation instead of a menu.
- ✓If you charge premium prices, deliver a premium experience: a clean facility, small touches and, above all, quality instruction.
Listen to the Full Episode
Victor's last piece of advice is to get a business coach, treat the school as a business from day one, and follow the proven recipe before adapting it. Hear the whole conversation on Spotify or YouTube. If you want help keeping more students and growing your school, Red Belt Software builds tools that help gym owners improve retention and grow.