David Jenkinson reveals how his BJJ school automated 50% of lead follow-up while improving conversions. The system that handles price objections.

IN THIS EPISODE:

1. Why David was "worried about bothering people" (and how it was secretly killing conversions)
2. The automation breakthrough that handles price shoppers better than humans
3. How BJJ leads actually prefer talking to a bot first (the psychology behind it)
4. The two types of prospects every BJJ school gets (and how to automate for both)
5. Why 50% of leads now book trials without any human intervention
6. The follow-up sequence that works while you're teaching classes
7. How to balance automation with personal touches that close enrollments
8. From manual follow-up burnout to systematic conversion: What changed
9. The "guinea pig" experiment now transforming BJJ lead management

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George.

Welcome to the Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

Today, I've got David Jenkinson from Hawkesbury BJJ.

How are you doing, David?

David: I'm good, mate.

How are you?

George: Good, good.

So we talk a lot in the Partner’s call.

I wanted to bring you on.

You've been in the group for quite a long time.

I like these calls to sort of capture where progress is at, but also really get to know you better and have a conversation.

See where the martial arts came up and take it where it comes.

David: Sounds good.

George: Cool, cool.

Fill us in.

Fill in the gaps, I guess.

Where did martial arts all start for you?

And what's the journey?

How did the journey evolve to where you are today?

David: I started later in life, I guess you could say.

I started training at 22.

I've always been interested in martial arts.

Growing up in the 90s, you watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers and all this sort of thing.

Mum actually went to sign me up for karate when I was younger, but I chickened out.

So it wasn't until a little bit later when I started to get interested in mixed martial arts.

I discovered the UFC through a Smashing Machine documentary.

Not the Rock one, the original one.

I was just super interested in watching these fights.

And one thing that really interested me was whenever Joe Rogan was talking about a specific style, he'd always bring up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

That was the black belt that he held up really highly.

I was sort of curious about what it was.

I learned a lot from his commentary.

I learned about how you could win a fight from the ground.

And not just from the ground, but off your back from what would normally be considered an inferior position.

And it would just seem like in 2005, just a crazy strategy to take the fight to the ground and strangle somebody.

This is mainstream ideas now, kids doing martial arts.

But back then, it was quite a wild concept, right?

So I decided to take a class.

I took my first class at a gym in Liverpool, Sinosic Perosh Martial Arts.

And

Craig Harmer discusses operating multiple martial arts programs in a small town while balancing a full-time law enforcement career and competing at world championship level.

IN THIS EPISODE:

1. How to successfully operate Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, MMA, and 4 other programs simultaneously
2. From 50 struggling members to 150+ profitable students
3. Why world championship success matters for small-town business credibility
4. The challenge of competing with rugby, cricket, soccer, and every other local sport
5. How law enforcement skills create better martial arts instruction
6. Doubling revenue without doubling membership — the exact strategy

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George Fourie.

Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

So today I'm with Craig Harmer and I almost want to say you're probably the busiest guy on the planet, right?

Craig: It seems like it sometimes.

As we were talking offline, I went to the world championships recently and some of the competitors were talking about how busy they were.

One of the other coaches said, busy?

You don't know what busy is.

Talk to this guy.

So I went through my timetable during the week and they were like, yeah, I'm going to shut up now.

So everyone's busy.

Everyone's got stuff to do.

Just get it done.

George: A hundred percent.

So let's, well, let's dive into that, right?

You're a lifelong martial artist.

You are still running a full-time job.

Craig: Yes.

George: And you're running a super successful dojo.

Do you refer to it as a dojo, school, academy?

Craig: We call it, because I guess we have a number of different programs, I like to call it an academy.

George: Academy, cool.

Craig: I stole that from our head coach, John Will, as well.

It's a place of learning.

It was designed to be called Goulburn Martial Arts Academy.

I want it to be ownership for everyone that walks through the academy.

I didn't want it just to be Craig Harmer's or whatever.

I want everyone that walks in to feel as though it's their place to be able to come and learn.

So yeah, it's an academy, I guess.

Frank Cirillo teaches both Kyokushin Karate and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a town of 26,000 people. Here's how he built 250 students and achieved financial freedom by combining traditional and modern martial arts.

IN THIS EPISODE:

1. How Frank started teaching BJJ as a white belt because no instructor was available
2. Why combining hard-style karate with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu created unstoppable programs
3. The pricing mindset that transformed Frank's business after 18 years
4. How small-town dynamics actually work in favor of premium martial arts programs
5. Why parents said "it's about time" when Frank finally valued his expertise properly
6. The business advantage of being a multi-disciplinary martial arts expert

TRANSCRIPTION

George: Hey, it's George Fourie.

Welcome to another Martial Arts Media™ Business Podcast.

So this episode is one of my favorite episodes to do, which is a bit of a blend of a case study, but then also a deep dive and getting to know some of our Partner members a bit better.

So, welcome to the call, Frank Cirillo.

How are you, Frank?

Frank: How are you, George?

Great to be here.

George: Awesome.

Cool.

So, I was just looking, we started working together back in October, and I wanted to bring you on.

You've had some great success and achieved some great milestones in your business, but I want to, I guess, have the conversation that we don't typically have on the calls and get to know the entire journey, how this all began and so forth.

So we can just kick it off right at the beginning.

Who is Frank Cirillo?

Frank: The deep question.

George: The deep one.

Frank: Well, mostly Frank is a family-orientated person.

Everything I do is for my family.

And now we've got a granddaughter in the mix who's a week old as well.

George: Congratulations.

Frank: Thank you.

Thank you.

That's a bit of a life changer right there.

When it comes to martial arts, I've been doing it.

I started kind of late because I started in my teens, and I've been doing it ever since: judo, karate, and then much, much later into my adult life, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

We are from an isolated area in country New South Wales.

So, it had its challenges as well.

The information that we sort of were taught from my past instructors was, I won't say limited, but it took a long time to get any updated information, which I was hell-bent on fixing when I took over; I was hell-bent on fixing that.

So lots and lots of travel and trying to work with some of the best in the country and overseas so I could bring, to become more well-rounded for myself and to be able to offer much better services, much better martial arts here in Griffith and surrounds.

And it's been a really long journey, but it's finally starting to pay dividends.

We didn't have any Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu anywhere near our area.

So that's a crazy story in itself.

Well, I don't know how many people out there, I'm sure there are, but there are instructors.

I went through two or three instructors till we found coach Anthony Perosh through a mutual...