Jon Bullock from 'The Institute of Krav Maga UK' talks about why he picked Nest

The Institute of Krav Maga UK has been operating for 6 years and provides tuition in the Israeli System of Self Defence and Fighting Skills, Krav Maga.

www.institute-kravmaga.co.uk

The club is owned by Joe Ambrosino, and myself Joe is the highest qualified instructor in the UK.

Our club works around our mission statement: We are a team of highly qualified instructors delivering responsible, professional and passionate Krav Maga training. We provide the optimum level of Krav Maga training through a structured approach, in safe and secure environments.By guiding our members to a fitter, more confident and safer lifestyle.

Our goal is to continue to offer quality training to anyone who would like to learn.  We are always focused on keeping the quality high even though we continue to expand.  Increases in quantity does not always mean a lack in quality, as long as you work with the ‘right people’ and have the correct systems and processes in place.

We currently operate classes in London, Essex, Kent, Hertfordshire & Cambridgeshire. We currently only provide training in adults, however, we are expanding into the juniors market next year as well as into corporate training too.

We are very much about not diluting what we teach.  We are part of Krav Maga Global (an organisation based in Israel) and follow a structured syllabus that aligns with the principles and origins of Krav Maga.

We operate with as much consistency as possible.  Our classes follow a structure, our instructors must complete 8 hours of instructor development training per month, submit lesson plans and track attendance using the NEST App on their IPAD.

We treat every member with respect and aim to meet the training goals of each and every one of them.  Remaining in contact with our members through newsletters, social media, fresh web content and asking for their feedback is a strong part of what we are about, after all, it’s not about us, it’s about them! 

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About Jon Bullock

I began in Martial Arts in my hometown of Suffolk and spent my younger years in Judo, then progressed onto Kickboxing where I gained my black belt.  I then joined the Army (Royal Military Police) and focused towards a goal of working in Close Protection, something I did for most of my Army career.  I then decided in 2003 that my time in the Military was up and ventured into the civilian world. 

By chance I was in the ‘right place at the right time’ and had the opportunity to apply for a role in private close protection working for an ultra high net worth individual.  I was successful in my application and spent 6 years travelling the world to some fantastic places.  During this time I decided to expand my martial arts experience and decided I wanted to train in a system that was reality based rather than an oriental martial art or sporting system, which is when I came across Krav Maga.

Since finding Krav Maga I have invested time and money into training and I am happy to say my hard work is reaping the rewards.  We opened the Institute of Krav Maga in 2006 and 2 years ago I left my private close protection role to focus on the club and some other business interests. I don’t teach regular classes much these days (Joe won’t let me!), I focus on building the club and teach our senior Graduate Elite Team and MasterClass events.

I am very much about following my passion.  Over the past few years there are a few things that I think have not been addressed in the Martial Arts World.  One of them is First Aid training.  As martial artists, the need to be proficient in first aid is extremely important, and in my mind, that first aid must be relevant to what we do, as most first aid courses are quite generic and are directed towards the ‘work place’.

With this in mind I have recently invested in a project called Martial Arts First Aid.Com.  Along with a partner company, we have developed a modular online course for first aid for martial artists.  We are making it accessible, affordable and more importantly relevant.

The idea is you get to learn the skills that you actually need.  We are very happy with the course and are launching this to the Martial Arts industry in the next couple of weeks. 

If anyone is interested in taking the course online (£29.99) then please do visit www.martialartsfirstaid.com and enter your details, and we’ll keep you updated for when we launch it.  The course follows the guidelines of the Resuscitation Council in the UK and Europe and we think it will be useful for everyone. I hope to make this the course that all Martial Artists recommend in the future!

Why did we pick NEST?

I was well aware of the services that NEST offered and their excellent reputation so there wasn’t really a choice to be made - I did not see the need to ‘shop around’ for alternative options.  Running a martial arts school without a structured way of billing was never an option for me. I would never operate on a cash basis as there are so many variables that you cannot control and you end up living day by day.  Working with NEST was the only option in my view to make my business as successful as it could be.

Quite simply, NEST makes life easy!  We do not have to worry about the contractual issues that can surround payments for services.  The staff are always friendly and you quickly gain a personal rapport with each of them.  The recent introduction of the NEST APP (which enables you to track attendance on the move via your mobile) has completely changed our way of operating and has reduced our admin workload by at least 50%. This has also allowed us to introduce more ‘attrition busting’ methods to help keep students in the club as well as attracting new ones to join.

NEST offers a complete service, providing so much more than fee collection. Gerard is extremely knowledgeable in business and more specifically, business for Martial Arts, so whenever I have a decision to make regarding price changes, adding further value to our club or taking on new projects, I always consult NEST. 

There is not a situation that they haven’t experienced before so you can be guaranteed structured opinions that will help you make the most informed decision for the future of your school.  As an example, we wanted to go to one standard price across our school.  I had some concerns about this and Gerard gave me some great advice about how to carry out some market research to allow me to make the best decision, which I did. Another fantastic opportunity

NEST offers is the Network meetings.  I truly hope that all NEST members appreciate the hard work that goes into these meetings and the huge value that you get from them. 

 If you don’t attend them, you are missing out on some great advice!

Ask the Expert

“I’m keen to encourage more teens to take part in classes but find that recruiting this age group difficult. I also find that students often drop out on going up to secondary school at the age of 12. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can recruit young people aged 12–16, through schools?

Mike Bennett
MSD Evolution, Cheltenham

Chantelle Bell, Marketing Consultant for NEST Management says,

“This is a common problem most clubs experience across the UK and an issue that’s not unique to martial arts.

The Sport England Active People Survey consistently shows that many young people drop out of sport altogether as they move into Secondary Education, as they become increasingly independent and acquire responsibility for making decisions about the extra-curricular activities they like to be involved in.

Girls are a key target segment of young people that the Government is keen to get more involved with sport. Recent research conducted by both Girl Guiding UK and The Top Foundation identified that girls are often deterred from taking part in sports because of negative perceptions that ‘sport is unfeminine’ and makes girls feel self conscious at an age when most girls have concerns about their body image. Highly active female celebrity role models such as Jessica Ennis are often perceived by teens as having skills which are ‘out of their reach’ whilst more ‘down to earth’ female celebrity role models such as Cheryl Cole or Jessie J are perceived as not being active, even though one could argue that celebrities don’t get a good figure without being active!

Poor changing facilities and unflattering training kit are quoted as key factors that deter many girls from taking part in sport, as well as mixed sex training sessions.

So, how do we make ‘Active, Attractive’ to girls in particular? Well, here are a few suggestions you may want to consider if you’re keen to recruit more girls into your academy:

1.      Consider running single sex training sessions. Research confirms that both sexes, although girls in particular often feel uncomfortable attending mixed sex training sessions. Single sex classes remove potential barriers to feeling self conscious about body image and encourage groups of students to take part too.

2.      Target groups of girls, not just individuals. The least active girls want to do what their friends do and so if you can encourage groups of friends to come along to your academy, you’re onto a potentially winning formula. Take a look at your referral programme to see if you’re encouraging more than one student to attend at a time. Groups of students bring in more revenue and typically have lower attrition rates too, which is better for business.

3.      Focus on the benefits of training, rather than the features of your class. Research tells us that Competition is often a deterrent for girls. Encourage inclusivity by telling people about the benefits of taking part. Is the class fun? Are friends encouraged to come along? Does taking part help maintain a healthy weight, increase confidence or shape up your body for summer?

4.      And finally, take a look at your training kit. Does it make young people feel good? Teens are very body conscious and many dislike the feeling that their bodies are in effect, ‘on show’ in classes or at the gym. If students don’t feel good in their training kit, they’re more likely to feel self conscious and consequently feel less inclined to train. If students feel confident in their kit, they’ll be more likely to attend class, get fit, feel more attractive and consequently gain confidence as a result.

Full details of the NEST promotions can be found at the NEST promotional portal at

 

www.nestpromotionalportal.com

www.nestmanagement.co.uk

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NEST Summer Promotion Update

Whilst the weather has been less than warm for the time of year, NEST has launched a range of hot promotional offers to support clients in growing their schools this season.

Changes in school sports funding and the introduction of new advertising regulations surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games have provided new challenges for martial arts schools this year but NEST’s campaigns with Carphone Warehouse, ASDA, toothpaste brand Aquafresh and official Olympic Sponsor, Coca Cola are poised to support student recruitment, throughout the ‘Summer of Sport’.

Carphone Warehouse contract customers were the first to enjoy free martial arts taster sessions with the launch of their ‘Phoniversary’ reward scheme back in April to over 20,000 contract customers across the UK. Performance of this offer to date is currently tracking at a 0.5% response rate for NEST’s martial arts schools, which is over 15 times the typical response rate of many traditional forms of advertising.

After re-positioning its Community Life strategy back in Spring, ASDA launched a new community event scheme called ASDA Active, designed to use protected Fields in Trust sites for community and youth related projects. ASDA Active, in collaboration with the Fitness Industry Association have now conducted a series of events across the UK, featuring demonstrations and free taster sessions to encourage families to try a new sport for the first time. NEST martial arts schools have been represented at all of these events to date, alongside demonstrations by a range of different activities from football and Kwik Cricket to Zumba for mums.

All of these events delivered or exceeded their target number of attendees, in spite of the generally poor weather but everyone taking part agrees it’s been a positive experience for generating new students and publicity.

Ibby Adem of East Finchley Combat Academy took part in The Southgate Circus event in London with a demonstration team of existing students. He said of the event,

“The day was truly amazing from start to finish. It was superbly organised and well structured and the ASDA staff were very hands on and helpful. We had a constant ‘conveyer belt of children’ who were really enthusiastic and keen to learn. They were put through their paces with some demanding drills and had fun working as a team, whilst we as a club relished the opportunity to showcase to the younger generation all of the fabulous benefits e.g. fitness, confidence, self awareness... that martial arts has to offer. The event was a great networking opportunity and we have already had great feedback following the event with kids attending their free trial lessons and us gaining a new business contact who we are now working with. 

Thanks NEST for getting me involved in the Scheme!”

Schools using the exclusive ASDA Active promotional items have achieved the greatest success in converting prospects into new students. NEST schools yet to take part in an ASDA Active event can now download a range of free promotional material artwork from the NEST Marketing Toolkit.

 

Full details of the NEST promotions can be found at the NEST promotional portal at

 

www.nestpromotionalportal.com
www.nestmanagement.co.uk
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Message from Gerard

The first half of this year has seen astonishing success in the Martial Arts Industry. Demand for tuition has remained high although the weather and holidays seem to have slowed demand in June. We remain optimistic for the second half of the year but much will depend on school owners having a firm commitment to planning and implementing all the strategies we have talked about in Pulse over the past few months.

The end of the academic year is now upon us with both Primary and Secondary Schools breaking for the summer holidays and there are two key areas which our industry has to make sure are under way: the arrangements for promotions for the return to school period and the urgent implementation of summer camp activities for potential students that have not tried Martial Arts before – the later should already be finalised and bookings taken but if you have not done this, it is absolutely in your interest to do it now.

Summer is also a time to ensure that you retain your students, and while I am delighted to report that the current year has seen higher levels of retention than ever before, all academies must deploy strategies to keep students engaged during the summer holiday period.

There will be great interest in the Olympics in the coming weeks and many reminders in the media and from the Government about the benefits of sporting activity. These will be beneficial for both retention and acquisition of new students as will our link with the Coca Cola promotion and the other NEST promotions which are all designed to help you during this period.

The development of tools to help you to achieve your objectives is also continuing at NEST. We are seeing constant increases in the use of the new Attendance App and additional functions for this are planned for release in the second half of the year. We will also be testing new systems that have been developed to assist with all of the sales outside tuition such as membership, grading, seminars and pro shop. More news on these developments will be released as the year progresses.

I wish you every success for a great summer and as always, if you need any help or guidance do not hesitate to contact our team of specialists.


Very best wishes

Full details of the NEST promotions can be found at the NEST promotional portal at www.nestpromotionalportal.com

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The NEST team have just returned from a weekend at the Martial Arts Show held at the NEC in Birmingham and we would like to thank all our clients who took time out to come and see us there on the NEST stand. It was great to have the opportunity to talk to clients about our new technological developments which we have designed to help school owners to run, manage and ultimately grow their operation.

I am also delighted to say that at the show we noted a great sense of optimism for continued growth in our industry. This view is also backed up by the numbers we have seen as we have recorded a 6.2% increase in annualised gross billing registered by clients in the period January to April.
If you are to benefit from yet another great year, and the first four months indicate you can, it will be vital that you maintain momentum in the acquisition of students alongside your summer retention strategies.

Getting and keeping students remains the key element of success in any Martial Arts business and during this summer we will have the sporting frenzy that is the 2012 Olympics. This will heighten the value of sporting activities in everyone’s mind; and whilst I know that there are many restrictions on advertising which prevent association with the games, the public consciousness will be alerted to the opportunities you can offer to all age groups and children in particular.


I hope that you will take advantage of every opportunity and resource available to you – check out the NEST promotions with Coca Cola, Carphone Warehouse, Aquafresh, ASDA Active and The Youth Sport Trust. Also have a look at the video footage from the last Network meeting - this is packed with tips to help you this summer.


I wish you every success for the coming months and as always, if you need any help or guidance do not hesitate to contact our team of specialists.


Very best wishes

Full details of the NEST promotions can be found at the NEST promotional portal at www.nestpromotionalportal.com

www.nestmanagement.co.uk

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About Kuk Sool Won TM of Oxshott & Great Bookham

In 2007, when I was working as a PE teacher at a Sports College, I took the bold step of opening a club 80 miles from home as I wanted to bring our martial art to an area where it was completely unknown. 

I ran the weekly classes primarily to increase my motivation to train; the school grew much faster than expected.

 Following inspirational conversations with my family, girlfriend Vix (now wife) and fellow instructor and friend Kim Francis, I decided to leave my career and follow my dream. 

The untimely passing of Kim in February 2008 motivated me even more so; the last thing she ever said to me was to make sure that I followed my dream.

And now, still under 5 years from the first class, we have over 180 students with a 70 year age range.  Many students have achieved National and International Titles in the UK, USA, Holland and Spain, including 11 Grand Champions in 2011.  We placed 4th and 3rd in the 2010 and 2011 European Championships respectively and 4th in the UK Championships 2011.  We have over 20 actively training Black Belts who are all taking on more leadership responsibilities during their regular training.

Now Vix and I work in partnership to provide an extensive service that would not have been possible on my own.  Following on from our Undergraduate Sports Leadership Degree, we now offer courses in Junior Leadership for 9-16 year olds. Many of the teenagers in the club have benefited hugely from taking on roles of responsibility.  We also run kids’ camps during the holidays and have secured links with other local sports clubs to offer multi-activity sessions including running and acrobatics.

This summer we are running our first residential ‘Away Days’ Camp exclusively for teenagers.
Special themed classes are planned such as ‘pancake pandemonium’, where our students can be seen flipping and kicking pancakes, together with special ‘Christmas’ classes and ‘Bring your mum/dad to class’ weeks, which all help to increase the motivation of our students and subsequently secure member retention. 


Our Stars Scheme programme for juniors is now an integral part of our assessment procedure. Students work towards skills patches every month and focus on a ‘word of the month’ which helps to develop them into citizens with good morals and values.  These life skills and patches help us to monitor individual progress from both a physical and social perspective. Students are also assessed through regular quarterly gradings where they undergo a physical/psychological test to earn stripes towards their next belt.

As a growing club, we are able to offer a more specialised service for our students.  They attend classes appropriate to their age and belt level but can also take part in extra-curricular activities suitable for their ability. We have recently developed ‘Team Mantis’ a new elite demonstration team. Our offshoots of the martial arts classes are often what helps bring different groups of the community together and add substance and meaning to our club. 

We also visit local primary schools and help children to develop their grammatical skills and punctuation using a variety of martial arts movements. Many teachers have agreed that it helps to promote the importance of an active lifestyle, not to mention exploring the benefits of kinesthetic learning.

We aim to provide high quality martial arts instruction and believe that our background in education founds the basis of this. We believe our club is unique; striving to develop skillful martial artists with honourable characters. We are now seeking a full time location.  We could not have developed over the past five years without the fantastic support of our students and parents. Thank you.

About James

I attended my first Kuk Sool WonTM class in April 1992 and have been enthralled ever since.  I still remember practicing after my first class to see if I could remember what I had been taught.  I started training under the instruction and leadership of Master Steve Whiting and Master Mike Gooderham and owe them everything; I would not be who I am or where I am without the outstanding foundations they laid down for me.

I wasn’t very successful in my first few tournaments but have since practiced hard and represented the UK six times at the World Championships.  My first title was 1st Dahn Youth UK Grand Champion 1999 and I won the Overall 1st Dahn Grand Champion at the World Championships later that year, a division reserved only for Grand Champions from that year from each practicing country.  More recently, I won 3rd Dahn European Grand Champion 2009 and 4th Dahn UK Grand Champion 2010 and 2011.  I am very proud of my tournament success over the past 20 years but I feel much greater pride when I hear my students’ names being called out over the PA system when they win medals. 

I love teaching martial arts and seeing my students progress and develop is the most fulfilling and satisfying feeling imaginable.
I travel around the country (and world) to receive instruction from as many Masters as possible, including Senior Masters Sung Jin Suh, Alex Suh and John Ives and Masters Darren Brown and Nick Reeve.  I am now training towards 5th Dahn Master but I have to await my invitation from the Grandmaster before I can start testing.

I believe that my zest for life is attributed to the choices I have made to follow my dream, namely running a martial arts business with my wife; I would advise everybody to do the same and follow your dream too!

Why NEST?

After less than a year of running once weekly classes I decided to go full time and every professional instructor said that I would have to use a billing company.  I was apprehensive at first because of the fees involved, but the process had been tried and tested and I thought I should not waste any time weighing up the pro’s and con’s.  I would be crazy not to use one.

NEST were recommended to me many times, even from instructors who were not with NEST at the time and have since seen the light.  Louisa from NEST put my mind at ease over numerous telephone calls and I thought it was nonsensical not to at least go ahead with a meeting with Gerard.  Gerard went through the whole process with me and created a projection for where our club could go; this resolved any anxious feelings I had, considering we had a mortgage etc… to cover and I would be giving up my teaching career.


There are many benefits we receive from NEST, the main one being fee collection.  I could not imagine trying to collect cash every class and then chasing unpaid fees every day; the flexibility to suspend/increase/decrease payments by email is also fantastic.  I have used the budget and marketing planners and had many of the promotional materials printed; having the tools available to decrease time spent on these tasks is vital as I am a martial arts instructor after all!  I also intend to make use of other NEST services very soon, such as the online grading and attendance systems as well as communication and new prospect tools.


On a personal level, Gerard has offered lots of advice as we have developed as a club, providing imperative taxation and VAT information and support in our search for our first fulltime premises.  NEST have been instrumental in helping our club achieve such great success in under 5 years and we are very excited about how NEST can help us develop in the future.

Full details of the NEST promotions can be found at the NEST promotional portal at www.nestpromotionalportal.com

www.nestmanagement.co.uk

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NEST Network meeting a big hit!

The recent NEST Network meeting held at the Thistle Hotel near East Midlands airport proved to be a massive success.

Around 100 attended the day and enjoyed presentations from Marketing Consultant Chantelle Bell on NEST Summer Promotions; Digital Media Specialist Celia Lacy on Effective Social Media and Lisa McHendry, Head of Participation and Engagement at the Youth Sport Trust.

Guinness world record holder and International Grandmaster of Memory David Thomas really wowed the audience with some fantastic insights into how to unlock the full power of our memory.

After lunch, clients were treated to a presentation from our U.S. visitors, Professor Robert Austin and Kyoshi Allie Alberigo who spoke about maximising the success of Summer Club Activities.

Facebook comments about the meeting:-

Dave Holland – “Excellent - great to be invited to the NEST event - thanks Gerard and the Team...”

Colin Payne TKO - “Good meeting, enjoyed it very much thanks.”

NEST would like to thank all of their Clients, the speakers and all who attended for making the day such a successful and enjoyable one.

Clients can go to the Network Meeting section of the Marketing toolkit and see details of the speakers’ presentations and view online video highlights from the day.  Check out the additional free downloads in the toolkit including a Social Media Toolkit and a ‘Twitter Terminology’ reference sheet.

Full details of the NEST promotions can be found at the NEST promotional portal at
www.nestpromotionalportal.com

www.nestmanagement.co.uk
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