“It’s been a great journey opening my own business,” says Kinetic Martial Arts franchisee James Fisher. “It has been a path of continual growth and fulfilment.”

Kinetic Martial Arts is a group of family-focused martial arts clubs. It emphasises the development of students’ strength, fitness and flexibility of mind and body.

While technical skills are shared in adult classes, for the youngest students, a Kinetic Martial Arts class has a simple goal: listening to instructions.

Of course this is mixed up with plenty of action based on easy moves used in martial arts.

“We do something in every class where they have to cross the centre of their body to do a movement,” says James. “They also do something bi-pedal, they have to move their arms and legs in unison. From there we teach them how to open and close their hands properly.”

The basic principle of learning how to move your body properly is fundamental to every class, at every age. And James runs sessions from pre-school through primary school to teens and adults, for men and women.

“We get adults coming for lots of different reasons. A lot of students return to martial arts as adults, or they are fulfilling a long-held desire to learn martial arts, or perhaps want to get fit without going to the gym.

“Our perfect customer is someone who wants to be fitter, more flexible and stronger. You’re not going to get what you get here from any other fitness brand. Gym instructors will teach you how to hit but not the elements that make up the movement,” says James.

Kinetic Martial Arts’ premium training is invaluable

The franchisor provides premium training opportunities all year for franchisees to maintain their competitive edge. There are regular ongoing martial arts skills training sessions, and three times a year an intensive club head course.

“It’s all about keeping our skills up to date, making sure we are aligned with anything new, and polishing what we know about running our businesses. I’m always improving my skills.”

The structure at Kinetic Martial Arts enables franchisees to focus on their training and build strong relationships with customers.

“Head office set up all our processes, our customer relationship management system; we just enter the details, and that’s it. It’s all streamlined, and payments are on direct debit. There is some admin but not a big overhead.

“The big overhead is your relationships, and that’s the most enjoyable element of the whole business. I know all the franchisees, and all my customers, so I can ring any of my peers if someone is visiting a different area and arrange for them to train there. It’s all very personal. We are all pursuing something together.

“Our personal approach is huge for our families. We provide a very welcoming environment; we are not competitive.”

This authentic approach is in the brand’s DNA, and it’s a fundamental part of James’ business success.

“My focus is my family. So when someone brings along their child, my focus is their kid and how they are engaged.

“Kindy is the most fun class on the planet,” he says. “You have to be the most energetic you can be for 30 minutes. And the kids are so literal; if you want them to move to the other side of the room and say, ‘let’s jump over here’, they start jumping!”

James learned very quickly to be attentive to the wording he uses as a martial arts instructor. It was easy with Kinetic’s premium training which teaches franchisees how to provide the right cues and how to effectively structure a class.

‘It’s also important to me how parents engage with other parents. I make sure they all know each other, and there is an environment that keeps them involved in class.

“My favourite moment is when a parent jumps on the mat with their kids. Sometimes that’s how we get the parents doing adult classes – they’ve followed their children’s lead!”

James began training as a student himself

A college friend introduced James to Kinetic Martial Arts while he was studying at the University of Wollongong and he has never looked back – and never stopped training.

“I trained every day of the week and I’ve experienced every club on the New South Wales south coast,” he says.

The catalyst for James to move from student to franchisee and head instructor was a sea-change.

“My wife accepted a job on the Central Coast. There was no club in the area, so I bought a franchise. It was the first Kinetic Martial Arts club north of Sydney.

That was five years ago. The business started in a community hall; today the club operates from its own unit in a light industrial area.

“Our club is growing and will continue to grow but I’m happy with just one centre. This is a perfect work-life balance for me, and I love that.

“I work in finance full time and commute to Sydney some days. But on the days I teach I work from home. I start and finish early so I can begin kids’ lessons at 4.30pm and then move on to the adult classes.

“I’m very fortunate to love my day job, and to be able to run this amazing business. It is absolutely the best of both worlds.”