This month's Black Belt Marketing Report is the first of a "super-sized," three-part report that will appear in the June, July and August NAPMA Professional Package. "How to Use Lead Generation Methods to Grow Your School, Part 1" includes the first seven of 21 no-cost, low-cost tactics that every martial arts instructor needs to attract new students. Regardless of what size school you own or class you teach, you will lose students, so generating new students is always imperative. In fact, lead generation must be one of your primary Key Results Areas (KRAs), which are those tasks that require your active involvement everyday.

The eighth installment of NAPMA’s Edge Mixed Martial Arts Program, "Takedown Defense," complements last month's "Takedowns." Terry Riggs shows you how to teach your students to counter their opponents' takedowns with seven different drills. Once again, there is so much information in this one lesson that the complete curriculum outline can be found on the Media Master CD-ROM.

It's another interesting and informative journey into the mind of Tom Callos, with the June G.O.L.D Team Leadership Report, "Attitude, Kindness, Problems and Heroes: Learning to Be a Master Teacher/Leader." Once again, Mr. Callos, offers wise counsel and G.O.L.D. Team assignments, based on his 25 years of teaching. He also emphasizes that problems are only problems if you allow them to be; your goal is make them opportunities for personal and professional growth. Choosing and emulating your heroes is also an important element of growth. Mr. Callos shares some of his heroes and the lessons they've taught him. It's also a worthwhile learning experience for your G.O.L.D. Team members.

Few words are as misunderstood as “Failure,” the June Words of the Week. NAPMA member and author Solomon Brenner provides four outstanding lessons that will help your students recognize that failure can be a positive motivating force. Failure and success are so closely related that the two concepts are perfectly represented by the yin/yang symbol. It is not unusual for the most successful people to experience many failures; in fact, many of them say you can’t succeed until you fail. Mr. Brenner uses the example of Thomas Edison who never stopped trying because he was confident that all his failures would eventually lead to success. Throughout this report, it is clear that failure is a companion of all those who work hard, focus on their goals and achieve success. That is a lesson children should learn before they are adults; and a lesson that is never too late for adults.