GROW YOUR MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL
Since 1993, MATA has been the must-have membership for martial arts school owners. Get all the tools, connections, and answers you need to succeed.
The Martial Arts “Teacher of Teachers”
“On his path of inspiration, motivation, and unparalleled success, John Graden has had a profound impact on the manner in which thousands of martial arts are operated worldwide.” — Martial Arts World magazine
WHO ARE MATA MEMBERS?
Black belts working hard to create a great living for their families so they can focus on their passion for changing lives through their schools.
Earn more income
Learn how to create the revenue that you deserve for your hard work and the life-long benefits you provide your students.
Enroll more students
We’ll show you the programs to offer to move a stranger to a student and a student to a black belt and staff instructors.
Become the "go to" school
Learn how to become the school people think of and talk about when “martial arts” are mentioned in your town or area.
Recent MATA Certification Graduates
The MATA Instructor Certification Program provides teachers an effective process
to create and maintain a productive classroom environment.
“MATA is a professional and quality organization. I wanted my Instructors and myself to be certified by the best.”
— Sidney Burns, Blue Ridge Martial Arts
“I am continually looking for ways to improve my teaching knowledge and the MATA instructor’s Certification is one of the finest and most updated courses an instructor can take.
I was impressed by the honesty of the content and detailed explanations of the various issues surrounding the teaching of Martial Arts these days.
Sidney Burns, Blue Ridge Martial Arts Academy
Graduates
LATEST NEWS AND TRENDS
Using Text to Increase Enrollments in Your Martial Arts School
Texting is instant and is opened 97% of the time, so it’s a real-time communication that helps to confirm to the parents that they made the right decision to choose your program.
Texts work great and MATA/Empower Kickboxing members have a free dedicated SMS marketing platform in their GenerateMoreStudents.com account that allows them to text up to 100 people a month for free.
Self-Defense Lessons from Will Smith’s Slap Heard ‘Round the World
From my upcoming book, Choose Your Battles Wisely Will Smith’s slap heard ‘round the world was a clear lesson in not choosing your battles wisely. On the 27th of March, 2022, during the live television broadcast of the 94th Academy Awards, show co-host Chris Rock...
How To Pose For Martial Arts Images
How To Get The Best Images For Your Martial Arts School I was in Munich at the WAKO World Championships in 1987 as a coach and official. I had a slide from a photoshoot I just did. I showed it to the publisher of Banzai magazine from Italy. He said, "If you let me use...
MATA Certification: How to Give Clear Instructions
From the MATA Professional Martial Arts Instructor Certification Course Module 1-Lesson 1: Four Keys to Giving Clear Directions 1. Specific. Effective directions are specific. They focus on manageable and precisely describe actions that martial arts students can take....
First Lesson: Traditional vs Empower Kickboxing
Traditional Karate First Lesson This video is smaller because of the notes.Empower Kickboxing First Lesson [video_popup...
Martial Arts Instructor Certification: How Students Learn
The MATA Certification was authored by 18 different veteran black belts who are also experts in their respective fields such as law, psychology, pedagogy, movement science, motivation, and communication.
Sparring Skills-Counter Sweeps
This clip from my USA Karate TV show in the 1980s shows one of my all-time favorites counterattacks. These are super effective sweeps that are really easy to execute. Then we fast forward 30 years to a 2-on-1 drill in the COBRA-Defense Academy. MartialArtsWebsites.com...
How to Run Successful Martial Arts Summer Camp
Martial Arts Summer Camp Success with Jim King Jim King has been hosting some of the most successful martial arts summer camps in the USA for decades. He is a systems driven owner and he shares his system for summer camps in this exclusive interview.
Attention Martial Arts Instructors! How to Avoid this Common Defensive Gap in Sparring.
It's crucial to understand what habits you're teaching your students. Teaching them complex moves won't be as helpful if they need to defend themselves in the real world. What if you could do both? The idea of that is appealing to me, but it's not realistic. For...
The Most Neglected Move in Martial Arts
This Video Exposes One Of The Major Gaps Kata Creates In Striking In The Ring Or In The Street.When teaching martial arts students sparring, it's critical to understand the habits you're creating. When virtually every technique of traditional kata contradicts...
The Powerful Influence of Authority as a Martial Arts Instructor
The block that convinced me to stop teaching it.Please read this objectively as you can. Some martial artists are easily insulted, which is not the purpose of this article. The goal is to stimulate thought and discussion. As martial arts professionals, most of us...
Tony Robbins Martial Arts Interview
From about 1984 - to 1993, I had a cable TV show, USA Karate. In 1992, I drove over to Orlando to interview Tony Robbins, who had recently earned his black belt from Jhoon Rhee. Tony was conducting his Fear Into Power weekend seminar that concluded with everyone,...
2021 MATA Lifetime Achievement Award-Dr. Judy Flury
Dr. Judy Flury THE DOCTOR IN THE DOJANG!Reflecting on the remarkable career of Dr. Judy Flury of Grand Prairie, Texas, it quickly becomes clear that she is fearless and does not waste time. She was hooked on tae kwon do from her first class as a 12-year old, and...
How to Recruit Parents to Help with Your Martial Arts Student Retention
Today, we have a somewhat ominous combination of factors that relate to student retention. First, this generation of parents knows more about martial arts than ever, so what you teach and how you teach it is critical. Second, this generation of parents will pull their...
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Cancel anytime.- Read-only access to the MATA Certification Program.
- Email Consulting with John Graden
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- Social Media Marketing Courses
- Student Sales Funnel System
- MATA Life Skills Curriculum