The Epic Saga of Martial Arts Incorporated – by Robert Devane

My school’s guidance counselor sat me down after the results of my aptitude test came in. I interrupted his career suggestions (accountancy or teaching!) and told him I was going to be a professional martial artist. He was a bit taken aback and he told me he had no information regarding how I go about it and therefore couldn’t help. I knew exactly what I wanted to do but knowing and making it work are 2 different things! I had started martial arts at a young age and I had started competing from the age of 13. At age 17 I had achieved a black belt in Karate as well as a couple of Irish and British trophies. 

Upon leaving school I traveled and competed internationally and continued to train even harder. I taught martial arts on a part-time basis for 6 years but it was impossible to make a full time living without a full time studio. At the very start I didn’t believe in charging for martial arts classes. I thought that martial arts and money didn’t mix. It was a common viewpoint back then but I frequently had to pay the hall rental out of my own pocket. I quickly learnt that without profit we couldn’t afford equipment or decent facilities. Also, some of my students weren’t too dedicated because they placed no value on the training as it was free. I had to work a job and spend most of my time doing something else instead of what I really wanted to do. I worked as a security guard and as a doorman to raise the capital needed to open the first club. It was great experience too though and sometimes not unrelated to my martial arts training! Raising enough money was no easy feat because travelling to international competitions would always put a dent in my savings. I was helped out a little bit when my car was totalled while sitting at a red light! I received some money because I had 2 torn trapezious (shoulder) muscles from the accident. I turned that bad luck money into a good luck venture.

Before securing a location, I had attended a FAS business course that helped me to develop the business plan. The business never turned out to be like the business plan but at least the course made me think about every eventuality. The people who ran the course had never encountered a martial arts business before and they didn’t believe it could be a viable business. I was used to people doubting my goals and it just served to make me more determined.

The hardest part I encountered when trying to set up a full time martial arts studio was the actual acquiring of the property. Nobody wanted to rent their property to a martial arts club. Perhaps they were afraid that we were going to kick and punch down the walls and wreck their building! I never wanted to set up and run M.A.I. on my own. I had a couple of business partners but they got frustrated with the property hunt and eventually pulled out of it. I was so close to completing on several different units before being let down at the last second. I believe I was used to help increase the rental price from the other interested parties. This was during the dot com boom when computer companies were growing at a very fast rate. Landlords preferred to rent to computer companies instead of martial arts companies and it was a letting agents dream time.

From starting to look for a property to actually getting the first M.A.I. studio took nearly 4 years! I viewed a small unit in Clontarf. It was no more than a small garage and it wasn’t what I had in my mind. I was actually quite upset that this was my only option but I felt that it had become make or break time. The landlord was willing and I was anxious to get started especially after the years of searching. My brother and I worked hard during the Christmas of 2000 to get the unit ready and we officially opened.

I never for a moment doubted that it would be a success because I had no plan B but I did keep the doorman job going for a while. This guaranteed me some income but working nights and then long days wasn’t easy. Falling asleep while driving woke me up to the obvious decision. 

I modelled our studio after the American dojos I had researched and visited but I did have to make a few changes to tailor it to Ireland’s needs. There were virtually no full time clubs in Ireland at the time whereas professional clubs had existed in the USA for several decades. One of my disadvantages at the time was my age. People arriving at my club would have a perception that they were going to meet an older man, like Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid! Even though I already had 9 years teaching experience behind me, as well as a couple of World titles, some people simply didn’t want to train with someone younger than them. Thankfully I looked a bit older than I was and I didn’t let it hold me back.

Now, here is probably the most important tip for success. Don’t be greedy. When you make a profit, you must reinvest back into your company. This is where so many people fail. Should you buy new clothes, a new car, a new house or a holiday with the profit or should you grow your business? For me it was an easy one. As soon as that little club started to make money, we moved to a bigger and more expensive studio in Dublin 7. The overheads and cost of business were so much lower in that first studio that I could have made a bigger wage and been more profitable if I had stayed there. However, that was never my goal. Sure it’s nice to have money but M.A.I. means more to me than money because it includes my friends, my hobby, my sport and my life.

We had only been in that little studio in Clontarf for 9 months before moving to the bigger location in Dublin 7. I didn’t know if we really would generate enough new business to pay for the extra costs. This time I didn’t do a business plan and I’m glad I didn’t because I may not have gone ahead with the move if I had known the real cost of it! The classes built up nicely and by this stage I was very lucky to have the help of Declan Kidd and several other people to back me up. Just when things were starting to go well, I had the opportunity to go to America again for training and competing. I tried to put systems in place to run M.A.I. in my absence as I was unsure when I would return. M.A.I. wasn’t ready to be run without me and after 6 months I returned to a business that was floundering badly. I wondered if I would be able to get things going again. My confidence was low and I didn’t know if I would have enough energy to resurrect the business. It felt like starting all over again.  Thankfully, within only 3 months we were back up to scratch and I had put a deposit down on a bigger rental unit within the same building! Again, I didn’t do up a business plan because I knew we probably couldn’t afford the new unit! M.A.I. continued to gather momentum and more instructors were needed. As we were still a young club, we had to employ martial artists from outside of our club. This did and didn’t work so it’s now our policy to only ever employ from within.

One of the secrets to M.A.I.s success is that all of our instructors are very committed. They are committed to helping the students get better and they are committed to continue to train hard themselves. Their energy and enthusiasm is very motivating plus they lead by example. Another secret is that we have never stopped striving to improve our service and our teaching methods.

We continued in that building in Dublin 7 for 4 years 9 months. The landlord refused to renew our lease beyond that because they were worried about tenants rights. They guaranteed us an alternative location but as time got closer to the end of the lease, it looked like we would be left high and dry and potentially without any club. We invested and bought a very cool industrial unit in Dublin 15. The plan was to rent it out and if we were left stuck for a unit at the end of our lease then we would use it. We ended up not renting it out and we gave it a go ourselves. It slowly built up but it was achingly clear that when we lost our club in D.7, most members would not travel to our D.15 location. It was back to the drawing board as the end of the lease neared.

By a stroke of luck, a brand new unit became available across the street from the old D.7 club and it was perfect. Even as a bare unit it felt like a martial arts studio from the first day we walked into it. I had to remortgage my house to fund the sale and acquiring the mortgage was very difficult. This all took place at the height of the Celtic tiger market and we paid the highest value just before the crash. We felt the recession start at the end of 2007 but we still pushed forward because even during a recession people need to keep fit and healthy as well as to feel secure and safe in the knowledge that they can defend themselves. We moved into the new unit on January 2008 after a hard slog over the Christmas period trying to get everything ready. The fact that we were handed the unit without any water supply or electricity added to our problems and costs but it didn’t stop us.

Martial Arts Incorporated is without doubt one of Ireland’s leading martial arts clubs. Since M.A.I. began we have had much competition and imitation. The amount of other clubs and gyms has dramatically increased. This doesn’t intimidate us because even though we may be one of the longest running, we are still striving to grow and improve. There’s absolutely no denying that M.A.I. has helped to develop and improve the whole martial arts industry in Ireland both directly and indirectly.

M.A.I. has achieved organic growth because of a few simple reasons:
•  Superb fully equipped facility 
•  Classes for everyone
•  Highly trained and dedicated instructors
•  Constant reinvestment back into the club

Another couple of points about the instructors. We have full time instructors and part time instructors. The full time instructors are true professionals and don’t moonlight at other jobs. All instructors take care of everything from teaching to cleaning. They all compete and continue to train hard and to improve. They are amazing motivators and they genuinely want to see and help their students to achieve their goals. Their work ethos goes beyond their job and M.A.I. is many things to them besides a job. Lastly, everyone is treated equally including brand new members who are always greeted like old friends. There is no hierarchy as the emphasis is always on building people up and not breaking people down.

Martial Arts Incorporated began in 2000 and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. There have been many people who have helped Martial Arts Incorporated to grow so a big thank you to all of them including all the behind the scenes people. Thank you to the instructors for their dedication and loyalty. Finally, a big thank you to all M.A.I. members for their constant support. If you’re not already training with us, we’d love to see you here.