Reality vs Viability owning a Martial Arts school 

It took me about 25 years to realize this. Two new knees, bad hips, bad shoulder, etc....LOL Much Respect!!

I worked with a guy, he said he was getting headaches. I asked if he was catchin a cold, he said him amd his buddies were practicing knocking eachother out......

You are telling the complete truth. Well said.

Extreme sparing has it's place. When a student is ready for that, I can find people willing to accommodate them. No problem.

You always have that idiot that tries to kill you in sparring.

As a fan since around '00 this is amazing. Can't believe this happened.

It's a tough business. I give you props for lasting and maintaining your enthusiasm. I agree about hurt students not staying around.

Good points. I recently heard Stephen Bonnar on Forrest Griffin's podcast and Stephen still spars hard on a weekly basis. And ofcourse, we all know that AKA spars hard on a regular basis. I know Cormier spars hard whenever he can. Dana has blamed this for Cain and Khabib and a lot of the injuries from AKA.

Thank you, that's a good video!

Love it!!!! Right on! As someone who trains UFC fighter's, it is extremely beneficial for people to hear this from you, as well as fighter's such as Johnny Hendricks who came out a few years ago and confessed that he doesn't spar in the gym. These are great messages to the gym/dojo/wu guan owner's, and to new and existing martial artists. Thanks for putting this out there! Awesome video. About 6 years ago, I took away all of my students helmets, elbow, and knee pads in our Mantis Boxing classes. Everyone's speed came WAAAAYYYYYY down, and they started getting better from sparring, instead of cleaning each other's clocks, and living in fear/anxiety mode the entire time.

Excellent gouge from a wise man, thank you!

Great Advice!!

Love your candour, Sir. Keep loading these videos, please.

Impressive! I thought the SLO school would be a tough fight school, but it’s a SMART fight school. Amazing info and wisdom being shared here.

This is so true. And too many injuries prevent the growth/ progress of students.

Awesome. Loved the video and points made. Just received my 3rd Dan in Hapkido and will be opening my own school soon. The school and training i had for years was very much balanced , so I agree completely. I'm always looking for more advice, teaching and wisdom from people more experienced than myself. I appreciate the video. Definitely subbed. Keep up the great work.

Osu!

I agree but at some point you have to go full contact. Of course this should be done with the proper equipment. I also came up in the old days of hard sparring but we would incorporate light sparring days as well.

Osu!