7 Proven Ways to Grow Your Kids’ Martial Arts Program (Without Burning Out Your Staff)

Want to know a secret hack among Jiu-Jitsu academy owners? Your kids’ martial arts program is one of the most impactful tools for the growth of revenue generated by the adults.

The truth is, families can be one of your most loyal demographics. When a parent enrolls their children, and then those kids actually see results, they won’t leave. When kids learn better focus, gain confidence, and even stop melting down when things don’t go their way, parents can become your biggest advocate. They’ll refer their friends and post about it on social media, encouraging others to enroll.

However, you can’t just scale your adults’ training and throw on some cartoons between classes. The key is building a kids’ martial arts program that runs well, retains students, and actually grows. Today, we’re looking at seven actionable ways to get started.

7 Strategies to Grow Your Kids’ Martial Arts Program

From training to events to staffing, the strategies listed below are designed to help your Jiu-Jitsu academy run smarter and grow faster by through kids’ programs.

1. Build a Curriculum Based on Progress, Not Just Belt Promotions

For most martial arts academies, it can sometimes be 12-18 months in between belt promotions. To kids, that feels like a lifetime. And parents who want to see growth—and are footing the bill—might start asking, “Is this actually working?”

Instead of only focusing on belt promotions, create a structured stripe or patch system with smaller, more frequent milestones. For example, every 4-6 weeks, you could ask kids to demonstrate something new, like a sweep, escape or a takedown. When they do it successfully, they get recognition. Not only will this keep them motivated, but shows parents that the kids’ martial arts program is delivering on its promises.

A couple other ideas used by successful academies are skill cards or an “achievement board” in the lobby. When kids get to show of their name on the wall or the stars on their card, chances are both the children and their parents are going to be advocates of your academy.

2. Make Trial Classes the Best Hour of Each Kids’ Week

Trial classes should have two main goals. First, convincing kids that martial arts is fun. And second, convincing the parents that it’s worth the money. If your trials are currently falling flat, it might because they’re just a regular class with a new kid standing awkwardly at the edge of the mat.

Here are some key things to focus on in order to separate the trial experience from your regular classes:

• Bring the energy. Include games, relays, or something they’ve never done in their gym class at school. If it’s during a regular class, trying something like, “Hey everyone, since we have a special guest today, we’re going to do something really fun…”
• Make it social. Pair a brand new student with a super-friendly upper-belt kid so that they feel included and recognized.
• Give ‘em a double helping of confidence. End the trial class with something you know they will be able to do, even if it’s a simple movement.

At the end of their class, your goal is for them to get in the car and say, “When are we going back?” That sentence will help you sell more memberships than a discounted offer ever could.

3. Sell to the Parent, Serve the Child

Making sure kids have fun is one thing. But marketing to the parents is how you get them in the door in the first place, and grow your academy.

For the most part, parents will look for a kids’ martial arts program for several reasons:

• Their kid is being bullied
• There’s a need for better focus or an outlet for energy
• There’s a lack of confidence in themselves or in social situations

No matter the reasoning, one thing’s for certain: parents aren’t just looking for the “best Jiu-Jitsu fundamentals in town.” They want someone who can help their kid. Think about that when you write your marketing messaging. Which lands better:

• “We teach kids to trust themselves and defend themselves”
• “Kids’ gi and no-gi classes available”

On the retention side, don’t let the communication end once kids are enrolled. Communicate with parents consistently through weekly emails, texts, progress check-ins, milestone celebrations, and more.

Pro Tip: Use Wodify Workflows to automate this communication, taking the work off your plate and saving you time to focus on what matters most: your students.

4. Run a Kids’ Martial Arts Summer Camp

A summer camp is just one of many options, and you could also look at natural breaks from school like spring or the holidays. Either way, planning an event with a bunch of mat time within a short time frame for kids accomplishes several things:

1. Bringing in new faces that might not already be enrolled in your academy
2. Deepening commitment from current students when daily training accelerates skill development
3. Creating a natural marketing event where you’ll get lots of photos and videos to fill your social content calendar for months to come

When looking at pricing, remember that the goal isn’t your margin on the event itself, so make it accessible. Ultimately, you want to use the event to turn one-time guests into year-round students, and give families a reason to talk about your academy.

5. Focus on Retention Before Acquisition

Successful Jiu-Jitsu academy owners know that keeping current students is less expensive than constantly having to acquire new ones. And that’s why retention is the real growth multiplier for your business.

Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for academies to lose students during the first 3-6 months. But with the right retention plan, you can fix it. Check out this quick checklist to audit in your academy this week:

• ​Is there a clear beginner plan for the first 30, 60 or 90 days?
• By the 90-day mark, do students know what progress looks like?
• Are you celebrating students’ wins?
• Are beginners protected during sparring, and do they feel safe?
• When someone takes their first class, are they introduced by name and connected to other students?
• Are you tracking attendance?
• If someone’s attendance falls off, are you reaching out to get them back in?

Pro Tip: For even more details in-depth info and action steps, check out this recent blog about improving retention in your academy!

6. Build Referral Into the Culture, Not Just the Marketing

Word of mouth is the king when it comes to marketing, but many academies overlook the potential from a strong referral program.

Especially with kids’ martial arts training, there’s a natural referral moment when a student has a visible win. That could mean a belt promotion, great day on the mat, or even a moment when they surprised themselves. Parents will be fired up and excited to share their kid’s win. Make it easy for them by sharing a referral link, or simply asking them for a quick mention.

“Hey Barbara, when you share that awesome video on social media, would you mind mentioning the academy and inviting other parents to come check us out?”

The timing for a request like this is surprisingly effective after celebration moments. And parents trust other parents, so one simple share could lead to a carpool for class.

7. Hire a Dedicated Kids’ Martial Arts Coach

You might have a rock star instructor for your adult classes, but that doesn’t always translate to being an effective leader for the kids’ martial arts program. Teaching kids requires a completely different skillset—patience, playfulness, enthusiasm, and more—and these things are not always teachable.

If your team of instructors don’t do well with kids—or worse, they see the kids’ program as babysitting duty—your program will likely decline. On the other hand, if you find an instructor who absolutely lights up when working with kids, you’ve got some serious growth potential.

When you’ve got that person on your staff and can build a program around them, be sure to pay them competitively and invest in what they need for the long-term growth of your business.

Growing Your Kids’ Martial Arts Program For the Long Run

A thriving kids’ martial arts program isn’t guesswork. It happens when you build a structured, intentional experience that’s fun for kids and valuable for parents.

As we always suggest, don’t try to overhaul your whole business at once. Simply pick one thing on this list that you feel will have the most impact, and start there. Fix your trial class, build out your onboarding experience, or find the perfect instructor to lead your program. Then work your way through each part of the list as you’re able.

Your mats and potential are already there. So the only thing standing between you and a fun, profitable kids’ martial arts program are a few simple, actionable changes.

Need help? We’ve helped hundreds of martial arts academies run smarter and grow faster. Book a demo with the Wodify team today to find out more!