GROW YOUR MARTIAL ARTS SCHOOL
Since 1993, MATA has been the must-have martial arts school organization for martial arts instructors. Get all the tools, connections, and answers you need to succeed.
Martial Arts School Organization
John Graden’s Martial Arts Teachers’ Association (MATA) has been the professional martial arts school association and instructor education resource since 1993
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
Premier Martial Arts Franchise Cost vs Licensing Empower Kickboxing Fee
Why risk your life savings in a franchise when you can license a successful system for less than 1% of the cost? How does that make any sense?Premier Martial Arts Franchise cost ranges from: $183,650 – $421,800 Source: premiermartialartsfranchise.com/investment VS...
Premier Martial Arts Sued by Over 30 of Their Franchise Owners
Dozens of new franchise owners are suing Knoxville-based Premier Martial Arts in federal court, claiming the company defrauded them for years. "Our school opened right in the middle of COVID," one owner said. "Everyone told us it would be easy to get started and make...
Martial Arts Instructors: How to Introduce a New Skill
What Two Words the Japanese Say are Ruining American Culture?
Setting Expectations for Martial Arts Students Upfront
Does Teaching Martial Arts Like This Make Any Sense?
HOW TO TEACH A MARTIAL ARTS CLASS THAT MAKES SENSE. Martial arts does not encourage free-thinking, but the pursuit of success requires it. Most classes contradict everything they taught in the first half of class.Which half of a martial arts class makes sense?First...
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...
Martial Arts Instructor 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 Video: Traditional Martial Arts 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.
Read the Lawsuit Against Premier Martial Arts
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE DIVISION WILLIAM ANTHONY, PBA MARTIAL ) ARTS, INC., KATIE BAKER, WILLIAM ) BAKER, S&RW LEGACY, LLC, MORGAN ) BARTH, ECM HOLDINGS, LLC, CALE ) BEARDEN, AIMEE BEARDEN, BEARDEN ) PMA ONE,...
The Six Levels of Intervention
Excerpt from the MATA Certification Program. A common misperception is that ignoring misbehavior—or addressing it by praising students who are behaving (proximity influence)—is the least invasive form of intervention. But ignoring misbehavior is the most invasive...
How to Give the “What” and the “Why” When Teaching Martial Arts
If you teach martial arts for a living, read this carefully. As a parent, if you saw your child clearly underperforming in class yet the instructor proclaims he is doing “awesome!” would you trust that instructors’ feedback on how your child is doing? I wouldn’t....
How to Improve Your Martial Arts School’s Local SEO Results
How to Increase Your Martial Arts Schools' SEO by Increasing Your Level of Expertise for Google Here is a simple test. In an incognito window, type site:yourwebsite.com What you should see looks like this. The 632 is the number of pages that our site has. It actually...
Mike Tyson in Your Martial Arts Classroom
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...
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MATA-Pro Certification Membership
Cancel anytime.- Full access to the MATA Certification Program.
- Beautiful 11 x 17 Graduation Certificate. Perfect for framing.
- Digital Graduation Certificate. Perfect for your website.
- GenerateMoreStudents.com Membership
- FREE Website for your school hosted on Google Cloud with SSL included.
- BestMartialArtsSchool.com Premium Listing.
- Email Consulting with John Graden
- 100+ Video Drills and Skills
- Social Media Marketing Courses
- Student Sales Funnel System
- MATA Life Skills Curriculum
MATA-Pro
Cancel anytime.- Read-only access to the MATA Certification Program.
- GenerateMoreStudents.com Membership
- FREE Website for your school hosted on Google Cloud with SSL included.
- BestMartialArtsSchool.com Premium Listing.
- Email Consulting with John Graden
- 100+ Video Drills and Skills
- Social Media Marketing Courses
- Student Sales Funnel System
- MATA Life Skills Curriculum
MATA-Pro Annual
Cancel anytime.- Read-only access to the MATA Certification Program.
- GenerateMoreStudents.com Membership
- FREE Website for your school hosted on Google Cloud with SSL included.
- BestMartialArtsSchool.com Premium Listing.
- Email Consulting with John Graden
- 100+ Video Drills and Skills
- Social Media Marketing Courses
- Student Sales Funnel System
- MATA Life Skills Curriculum