Black Belt Banter

About Black Belt Banter

Welcome to Black Belt Banter, the best martial arts business podcast for instructors, school owners, and entrepreneurs who want to increase their profits and generate substantial revenue. Whether you're running a single studio or scaling a multi-location empire, we break down the strategies, stories, and systems behind profitable martial arts businesses. From student retention and marketing hacks to leadership, curriculum, and community building, we cover it all. Tune in for weekly insights from Master Chan and Master Jimmy Hong, who’s been in the trenches and come out kicking. Email us at jimmyhong@blackbeltbanter.com

Publisher

Jimmy Hong

Category

business · business · sports

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Apr 2025

Latest episode

18 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

37 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Aug 2026

   #37 | The Retention Event That Pays You to Run It

   Send us Fan Mail Most schools try to fix retention after a student is already halfway out the door. Sensei Solomon Brenner does it 90 days in advance — with an in-house tournament. Solomon runs 36 Action Karate locations and hosts two in-house tournaments a year: 1,100 to 1,400 competitors, 19 rings, start to finish in one day. But the real lesson isn't the size. It's that the event drives retention, marketing, and revenue at the same time — and it works just as well with 30 students in your ...

2. 

   4 Aug 2026

   #36 | The Fastest Growing Schools Have One Thing In Common

   Send us Fan Mail The schools growing the fastest aren't doing anything you couldn't do. They're just surrounded by people who already figured it out. In this episode, we get into why your network is the single biggest predictor of how fast your school grows — and why so many owners stay stuck trying to figure it out alone. We cover how to find people actually worth learning from, why the same owners show up at seminars year after year and never change, and what it really costs you to stop lea...

3. 

   21 Jul 2026

   #35 | Staff Development - The Key to Creating The Life and School You Want.

   Send us Fan Mail Staff Development: The Key to Creating the Life and Dojang You Want Episode Summary: Master Pamela Sroka, co-owner of World Class Taekwondo in San Jose (two locations, 1,100+ students), breaks down how she built a leadership pipeline that runs her schools without her doing everything herself. If you've ever felt like your school can't run without you, this one will change that. Key Takeaways: Spot leadership potential at white belt, not black belt — instructors track attitu...

Who has been a guest on Black Belt Banter

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Master Jay Lee
• Master Liam Guttmacher
• Beth Block
• Master Bronson Ko
• Master Lee

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 31 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

49

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32