100th episode of MTV’s Hit Show “Made” Features Martial Arts

Here is a letter sent from John Corcoran, editor of MA Success Magazine:

Dear Martial Artists:

Could I please recruit your help for a martial arts TV show that’s beneficial for our entire community?

For over 35 years now, I have helped other martial artists promote their films and TV shows, only a handful of which I was personally involved. This time I need your help, too.

On Saturday, June 17th, MTV aired an episode of its hit reality-TV show, “Made.” It was their prestigious 100th episode of the 9-season hit show and this time it presented a wannabe who sought to become a “karate kid” (see the recent media release below my signature line). Each episode of “Made” follows one willing candidate, a teenager, as they embark on a mission to transform their life through a chosen activity (sports, cheerleading, etc.).

The one-hour “Karate Kid” episode happens to be one of the best TV programs I’ve ever seen to date promoting the self-improvement, character development and life skills inherent to our industry. It’s a terrific promotion for all of us. The subject, Ryan Watkins, is a lazy, overweight, 18-year-old junkfood junkie and hardcore video gamer who seeks to change his life and chooses the martial arts as his pathway.

Chan Lee, a taekwondo master from Wisconsin who runs a chain of successful schools with his father, Grandmaster J.K. Lee, plays the Mr. Miyagi role. Only thing is, Chan Master Lee is an excellent mixture of old- and new-school instructor. Master Lee sets the 5-week goal of leading Ryan to pass his gold-belt test and then participating in his first tournament. Plus, Ryan’s a natural slob. He lives in the cellar of his parent’s home and keeps it like a pigsty! Master Lee sure has his work cut out for him to transform this kid. You really need to see what happens.

Here’s the problem we have and the way in which you can help. MTV didn’t give Master Lee enough lead-time to pre-promote the show. He was only given the actual broadcast date a few weeks before it aired. Therefore, I couldn’t get the word out in my magazine; nor could any other editor. Also, I didn’t have sufficient advance time until now to contact the 1,000-plus martial artists in my e-mail address book.

So here’s what all of us can do now to make an impact for our industry by helping this show. The one-hour segment is now on MTV’s Website at MTV’s Karate Kid Episode of Made

On that page, the video will automatically kick in for Part 1 of the show (the one-hour show is broken into 6 segments to accommodate commercial breaks. At the bottom of the video box, running horizontal, there are icons for all 6 segments. When each segments ends, hit the next one in line until you watch the entire show.

Here’s how just watching this particular show on this Website will help. Right now, of all their 9 years of “Made” shows, the episode featuring a young girl who wants to a hip-hop dancer got the highest number of post-show views, 39,000. As I’m composing this letter, the Website showing the “Karate Kid” episode has 20,908 views. According to Master Lee, this number grew from just 600 hits on the day of the show (just 8 days earlier)!

My aim is to influence enough martial arts colleagues to beat the 39,000-view record and put martial arts in the first position. We only need 19,000 more viewers to visit that Website. This will help our industry to influence MTV to put more martial arts content into future episodes of “Made” as well as in other MTV shows (two years ago, MTV aired an entire series based on martial arts contests, hosted by Ernie Reyes, Jr.).

I’m doing my part by sending this info to over 1,000 influential martial artists, masters, instructors, school owners and personal friends. Could I ask all of you to please forward this message to all of your martial arts contacts and urge them to view the show on the MTV Website? Ask them, too, to forward this message to all of their martial arts contacts. As we know, e-mails grow exponentially, and within two weeks we should be able to easily trounce the hip-hop episode.

Thank you very much for your help. You’re gonna enjoy the show, too!

John Corcoran

Managing Editor

“Martial Arts Success”

6824 Elm Creek Dr.

#201

Las Vegas, NV 89108

(702) 645-3331

E-mail: jcorco4234@aol.com

Typical Sedentary Teen Gets Transformed Into Hardcore Martial Arts Fighter for Hit MTV Show

Milwaukee, WI – May 15 2008 – Master Chan Lee, a martial arts trainer for college athletes and martial arts champions, has finished the filming for an upcoming episode of MADE – the extremely popular MTV show that is just beginning its ninth season and is embarking on its 100th episode. In this new episode, Mr. Lee is the local celebrity coach of a small-town Wisconsin teenager who is on a mission to be “MADE” into a martial artist.

Master Lee said, “After more than 30 years of martial arts training and coaching, working with this Wisconsin teenager (whose identity is secret until after the initial showing) has been one of my most rewarding experiences. I’m excited to see how the episode will turn out after over 100 hours of filming.

During past seasons, each episode of MADE followed one willing candidate as they embarked on a mission to transform their life. Whether it was becoming a varsity football player, the homecoming queen or a cheerleader, each teenager dreamed of breaking out of their shell and finding out what they were really made of and what they could achieve when given the tools and training. This is the first episode of MADE where the candidate wanted to be transformed into a hardcore martial arts fighter.

Master Lee was selected as the celebrity coach of this episode following a selective interview process by MTV and was required to be away from his five martial arts schools in the metro Milwaukee area for most of the six weeks of filming.

“At our schools, martial arts is primarily about personal character development instead of just kicking and punching. That is what I emphasized during the training.”

A final airtime for this episode will be established within the next few days. For more information on MADE, Made Information

An Unexpected Surprise

I just opened a new retirement investment account with Charles Schwab. For a discount broker, they seem to have excellent support.

Two weeks ago I received my welcome package from them. They told me to expect this and that there would be some forms I would need to sign and return.

Well, the package was huge. Had to weigh 5 pounds. When I saw the size of it, I placed it off to the side. I am not exactly a wizard of finance. And I hate paperwork. So the fear of not knowing how to invest and the hatred of paperwork kept me from opening that darn thing.

Of course, cannot start saving until I get it done. So like pulling off a band-aid, I figured I’d just get it over with. Well, when I opened it, I found a very unexpected surprise inside of it.

There was a book. It was a book Charles Schwab wrote on investing. Now, they are not a full service broker and it is not like I am Donald Trump. I hadn’t even given them a dime yet and here they were giving me a gift.

That little unexpected token has separated them in my mind from every other investment broker out there before I had the chance to even talk to another. All from sending a $12 book- that probably really only cost them a few dollars anyway- that I was not expecting. A gift.

The kind of response they received from me before I had given them any money is what I want from my students. They probably made me a customer for life in the very first week while it was all new and fresh. As long as they do their job, they will have me as a client and advocate.

I wonder if they generated any referrals from me?  Hmm… Think about it. Here you are, many of you, reading this column. Of the hundreds who read this, I wouldn’t be surprised if they got a few people to open an account with them.

So they received true customer loyalty and future referrals for a couple of bucks. How can we do this in our schools? Every student who joins our school gets a thank you card. By doing this one simple act I know I am already ahead of over 80% of all businesses out there. (Not just martial arts business, ALL businesses.)

What if I add a $5 gift card into it? It is well worth a small investment to win their loyalty and generate conversation that will create referrals. An unexpected gift always brings a smile and always generates conversation. It generated this conversation, after all.

So what will you do for an unexpected surprise to your new students?

What is Success?

Ask 100 people this question and you will get 100 different answers. Success in business may be running a billion dollar company or it may be having a paper route. What one person’s definition of success may be, for another person, the definition of ultimate failure.

Everyone talks about being successful but most cannot agree exactly on what success is. Here is how I look at it. Success is simple. Success is achieving your goals.

Your goal is your own. No one can set it for you. Your goal is who you want to be, how much you want to make, the kind of home you want to live in, the size you want your waist to be. It is whatever you say it is. And success comes when you achieve those goals.

Decide what your goals are and you will know exactly what it will take to become successful. Your road to success is as simple as your plan of action.

So what is your vision of success? One of the strongest leverage tools to keep you on track towards your goals is to have someone to hold you accountable. There is no better way to create accountability than to make your goals public. So post your goals here. Hit the button to comment and tell us your goals.

One of the quickest ways to certain failure is to keep your goals a secret.  Tell the world.  Tell the people who can help you.  Tell the people who will push you when it gets tough.  Tell the world about your goal and the world will hep you become a success.

Kung Fu Panda and You (The Martial Arts School Owner)

So unless you’ve been living under a rock (or too much time on the floor teaching classes) you know that this is a particularly busy summer for martial arts movies. ‘Red Belt’, ‘Forbidden Kingdom’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda’ to name a few. Even if the movie isn’t exactly a martial arts movie, it seems to have it as a big part of it like ‘Don’t Mess with the Zohan’ and ‘Batman’.

If you can get into your local theater and setup a demo, you need to snatch that opportunity post haste. Do anything your theater will allow you to. If they would let me, I’d sleep there.

Of course, most people are faced with the same problem; most theaters are not ‘local’ in nature. They are owned by gigantic corporations that are only interested in selling ad space on the screen. So being aloud to hang out in the lobby and hand out free passes is just not going to happen.

Many school owners use this as an excuse to give up. I use this as an excuse to get revved up.

Instead of saying the same old refrain: ‘I can’t’. Ask yourself ‘How will I’?

There is a lot of power in this process. When we say that it can’t be done or that they won’t let us or not in my town, we are sending our brain a signal to stop trying. Instead, ask yourself how you will do it. Not how can you, but how WILL you. Assume you WILL.

Something amazing happens when you do this and really believe. Your brain begins to open itself up to the creative process. Then, all of the sudden, the golden nugget appears before you.

There are lots of ways you can benefit from these martial arts movies. Just ask yourself how you will benefit and the answer will come.