COVID-19 and MARTIAL ARTS
Hello Everyone,
We have spent countless hours over these past weeks trying to find a way to keep martial arts alive in the current environment, and post-pandemic. We are located in one of the major hot spots in the United States, and additionally, the county within the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases by almost double the 2nd place county.
Re-opening under Phase III requires us to entirely change what we do and how we do it in order to keep not only you our members safe, but your family, friends and associates who may be in at-risk categories. Even if we want to train, it does not mean that those same people we care about and come into contact with, agreed to train. Nor did they by proxy agree to the risks associated with it. By choosing to ignore this factor we put our loved ones at risk with our leisure, sport, hobby called martial arts. I realize that for some of us, especially myself, it is a necessity, a lifestyle, and incredibly important to us as individuals, but less so to others around us.
After much thought and deliberation, the logistics of trying to coordinate a safe, controlled, and completely disinfected environment even for 'solo training in groups' is not feasible for us as a small business. We cannot guarantee the safety of all of you who attend classes in our facility, nor can we rely on training in the parking lot even when that phase is allowed. Keeping a facility with high overhead that we cannot use, is unwise and will prevent us from staying in operation so we can return when able.
However, for all of us here it is of the utmost importance to keep all of you able to train. So you can stay healthy mentally and physically, and continue to advance your skills and be a martial arts specialist.
Our approach from day one has been to empower you our members to be able to train on your own, or within your family units through this crisis. This has seen resounding success thus far and we are very proud of all of you. Our online training program is going strong and is producing results. We are 10 weeks in and have seen a very limited number of cancellations (thank you!). We know a few of you had to leave, but we are grateful for your time with us, and your support while you were here. You are always welcome back.
An amazing percentage of you continue to impress us with your training at home, your equipment you’ve rigged up, your training spaces you have set aside. All amazing and inspiring. It is also a joy to see you using and benefiting from the online tools we have built for you in conjunction with the online coaching sessions we see you at weekly.
Regarding the physical location…it is obvious to me at this time that we will not be able to resume our previous type of training (close contact grappling, sparring, rolling with non-household members) until there is a vaccine available. We could attempt to re-open when we are allowed in Phase III, offering you 'solo training in groups', but as I stated, this is futile and not worth the risks associated when we have better ways to train all of you and keep you advancing your skills, staying fit, and living the martial arts lifestyle until said time that we can resume classes and training safely as before.
What's Next
Phase I
We are still obligated by the State to stay closed at this time. We will remain in compliance with the State directives throughout this phase. Yesterday, June 1st, was our final rent payment on the facility until said time when we can re-open.
Phase II
In ‘phase II’ I will resume private training lessons with those individuals/families who are interested in resuming your prior 1:1 training, or wish to add this beneficial experience to augment your current routine. These sessions will be outdoors as much as possible, or in a mid-size space that is well ventilated. I have such a facility available for this purpose nearby to our current location; or I can travel to you. All protocols and precautions are a priority to us and I ask that you respect these for you, your family, and us as well so that we may keep our other members safe, as well as our own family who we still see routinely.
Phase III
During phase three, other instructors will be available for private training as well. We will also see the addition of larger group training for outdoor events (parks/fields/backyards), or in large well ventilated spaces where family units can train together while maintaining recommended distancing guidelines during these sessions.
Phase IV
Phase IV is the development of a vaccine or treatment. This is when we can safely resume our live in-person training as we did before without jeopardizing our loved ones. Our re-opening will be determined by many factors between now and then, mainly survival and success through our next chapter (see below). As the year progresses we will closely monitor changes and adjust our plans accordingly based on the developing landscape. If things go better than expected, we will consider re-opening the facility as quickly as possible and welcoming you back onto our mats.
In the meantime…
Live the life. Stay fit physically and mentally. Keep training with us.
We will continue training and empowering you and your children to train along with us through the tools and resources you’ve been successfully implementing these past weeks. Within the coming days, we will be opening up our online training to the general public. You can join us from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection.
At the time of this announcement we have almost completed the upload of my entire basic curriculum for mantis boxing, and jiu-jitsu for you. This is complete with video lessons, training missions, supporting articles, and weekly coaching sessions where we can all connect with one another and learn from one another’s questions and experience.
My entire strength and conditioning program has been modified for home use allowing us all to stay fit to fight; a crucial component right now. These are uploaded daily at 5am and are designed to use limited equipment. The original workouts are sent in tandem for those with home gym equipment.
Lastly, our active recovery programs are well underway with the qi gong portion complete, and tai chi in progress to help us keep healthy in between hard training days. The advanced curriculum for mantis boxing and jiu-jitsu will be our next project in the coming weeks and months.
Some of you reading this are already waiting to join. If you are not currently a member, you can learn more about this amazing program we’ve been using for adults, and kids by heading over to our COMING SOON page; and/or join our mailing list to be notified as soon as I begin accepting virtual students. Hint: this is very soon…
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our current members not only for your support through/since this shutdown, but your dedication to your training and commitment to the betterment of yourselves and your children. We look forward to continuing to empower you in any way we can as we enter this new and exciting phase of martial arts training that will not only get us through this pandemic, but out the other side stronger, happier, healthier, and ‘levelled up’ so we're ready for success when we once again hit the mats.
Cheers!
Randy
