Hi, I'm George Fourie, founder of Martial Arts Media™
We help passionate martial arts school owners who have been let down and frustrated by overpromising marketing agencies and inexperienced coaches.
We empower them with knowledge, proven lead generation strategies, and time-saving tools, backed by a global community, so they can attract all the students they need to grow and scale their schools.
Check out Partners for the $1 trialThe change we want to make
Our purpose
To help every school owner simplify their marketing and attract new students on demand, so they can focus on their training and teaching while freeing up time to take care of their families.
How we know we have won
When martial arts school owners from all cultures and countries use our methods, strategies, and platform to build their dream martial arts business and make a global impact through the power of martial arts.
My Story
My life in martial arts started out very different to yours. But my guess is we chose the martial arts life for similar reasons. Here is how it all evolved.
Computer servicing and retail business
I started a computer servicing and retail business from a friend's garage in my home country, South Africa. After studying computer programming and systems analysis, I decided sitting in front of a screen all day was not for me. I loved the tech, but business excited me more. We built it from nothing but devoted door knocking. Six months later we hit momentum and became the talk of the town. We grew and succeeded, until...
Ego destroyed, and up to my eyeballs in debt
Y2K. Remember when all the computers in the world were going to die? Of course nothing ended, although our business surely did. We blamed Y2K, but truthfully a lack of salesmanship and marketing skills is what cost us our baby. Early 20s, ego destroyed, and up to my eyeballs in debt. I grew to hate computers and did not touch one for almost a decade.
Defaulting to a sales career
After many failed job applications, I defaulted into the one profession I knew nothing about: sales. The one skill I lacked that caused my company's failure. It was confronting, intimidating, and pushed every belief I had about asking for money. Learning how to sell transformed my life financially and emotionally. My confidence soared.
A life defining close call
Out one night with friends, we were in a major car accident. I woke up in hospital two days later. I had broken my C5 and C7 vertebrae and suffered a severe hemorrhage. A doctor on his routine check suddenly laughed and said anyone with my head injuries they typically do not operate on, because they are dead in two weeks. My body went cold. It hit me that I had escaped death. In that moment I changed. It was time to live life.
The immigration plan to the U.S.A.
I decided to leave South Africa and experience the world. My ticket out was a sales executive role aboard a famous cruise line, with staff from 64 nationalities and 3,500 new guests every week. For two years I travelled from Washington D.C. to New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Diego, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, and most of the Caribbean.
The life changing news
Midway through 2005 I learned I was going to be a dad for the first time. That journey took me to the other side of the world, Perth, Australia. What was supposed to be a holiday turned into permanent immigration. My son was born, and I committed my life to being a great dad.
$300 from calling it quits
I stumbled upon a book that changed the course of my life: Perry Marshall's Definitive Guide to Google AdWords. With no coach or community, I jumped into the deep end, losing money every day. I scraped together my last $300. When it was spent, I was done. But then...
The best $37 ever earned
Down to $32, I received the best email notification of my life: my first online sale, $37. Sitting at home in Australia, paid by someone I had never met. The next day, another $37. I had learned the power of internet arbitrage, the simple maths of spending $1 to make $4. Life would never be the same.
Passion deteriorating
With my income not quite enough to provide for my family, I continued as a sales executive. Clients were happy and I was making money, but I was losing my passion fast, and questioning the ethics of the industry I worked in. As my home business grew, I started planning my departure.
The Plan B that stole my sleep
I took the leap into full time entrepreneurship. Money was rolling in, but slower than anticipated, and I had yet to find my true passion. To subsidise my income I took a part-time job I would never admit to in public: delivering milk in office buildings during the night. I figured I only had to give up half my sleep to keep building my dream by day.
My first introduction to martial arts
I enrolled my son into martial arts. I had never trained as a kid but was always fascinated by it. I was so impressed by how well the instructors were educating my son that I shared a few marketing ideas with them, tactics that worked for me with Google and selling online. One thing led to another and I started helping them grow their physical business with online strategies.
My martial arts journey begins
One of the instructors asked, Why don't you train martial arts? I had every excuse: too old, not fit enough, no time. Then I took a class. First class, I was hooked. For me this was personal development in physical form. My energy increased and, for the first time in a long time, I was inspired in mind, body, and soul.
Exploring the roots of Muay Thai in Thailand
With a late start to my martial arts life, I wanted to learn from as many sources as I could. I travelled to Thailand with my son to train Muay Thai with the pros, and was further humbled by how little I knew and how much I had to learn.
Time to burn the bridges
Almost three years on, with the school getting consistent results from my marketing and coaching, martial arts had completely taken over my life. It was time to burn the bridges. This was the life I always wanted: lived with passion, meaning, and driven by purpose. If I could help more schools impact lives the way martial arts had impacted mine, that would be my contribution to the world.
No more headshots, time for BJJ
After a conversation with my neurologist about my prior head injury, I was advised that being punched in the head was clearly not a good idea. I continued Karate and Muay Thai, but asked sparring partners not to hit my head, which became unmanageable fast. So I changed styles and started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
MartialArtsMedia.com was born
Four years into working with martial arts school owners, we became official. I bought the premium domain MartialArtsMedia.com, and Martial Arts Media™ was born.
Stepping out of my comfort zone
I participated in my first BJJ tournament. Driving to the venue, I had a quick trip down memory lane, grateful for how far I had come. The mix of nerves, uncertainty, and excitement was profound. In case you are wondering, I came third, in a three man division.
The Martial Arts Marketing Plan
We released our first free downloadable resource, The Martial Arts Marketing Plan. It challenged conventional wisdom about attracting students online and is still the foundation of how we help owners own their online assets. I still get emails requesting that PDF.
The Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast begins
On my quest to learn as much as possible, I launched The Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast. It is still one of my favourite things to do, having great conversations with great people and learning while doing so.
Packaging my knowledge for the industry
I created version 1.0 of the Martial Arts Media™ Academy course, an eight week program that was a brain dump of everything I knew about digital marketing: websites that convert, email, content, and running Facebook and Google ads.
First time on stage
I spoke at my first industry event, Fred DePalma's The MAIN Event in Sydney, Australia. It was great to get my ideas on stage and meet many of my clients and podcast listeners in the flesh for the first time.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt
On November 26 I received my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. A small victory for many, but for me it felt like my first worthy achievement in martial arts. The journey continues.
First international speech in San Diego
I flew to the U.S.A. to speak at Fred De Palma's The MAIN Event in San Diego. Speaking to school owners from the U.S.A. was great proof that our strategies and frameworks work no matter which part of the globe you are in.
Partners is created
We created our now flagship program, Partners, where we become Partners in Purpose. This is our global community of school owners where we help you generate more income, create more impact through martial arts, and live the lifestyle you choose, through attracting the right students, increasing sign ups, and retaining more members.
Hosting and attending events
A busy mix of speaking and attending events, while creating dozens of tools and products to help our martial arts business Partner members get results faster.
Hosted the Martial Arts Media™ Intensive
Went on tour to host the first ever Martial Arts Media™ Intensive event in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. A huge success that all attendees got great value from. Great to meet up with old friends, meet existing members face to face for the first time, and welcome new members to the group.
Speaking at The MPOWER Summit on the Gold Coast
Spoke at the MPOWER Summit on the Gold Coast. An epic event with martial arts school owners and coaches from around the world.
The world changed
When uncertainty struck the world and the industry faced lockdowns, I released the Martial Arts Pivot Plan, a front to back tutorial on running a school online while strengthening the community without a physical location. It was accessed by thousands of school owners.
100 podcast episodes
We did it: 100 Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast episodes. More than 30 hours of interviews with martial arts experts, top school owners, and coaches from around the globe, with actionable marketing tips in between.
Members breaking records
We launched our first six week cycle and challenge for Partner members, now a bi-monthly occurrence. With our integrated goal achievement dashboard and friendly competition within the community, our top three participants saw revenue increase from 43 to 68 percent.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt
I was honoured to receive my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt. The martial arts journey continues.
Ready to build your dream martial arts business?
Try the complete Partners system for $1. Get the community, the playbooks, the CRM, and the coaching, and see it work in your school before you commit to anything.
Check out Partners for the $1 trial