William Wong owns Lincoln Family Martial Arts in Lincoln, California. This is a coaching case study based on the owner’s own account, shared in a recorded conversation with Martial Arts Wealth Mastery. Individual results depend on market, pricing, and how completely you follow the system.

William opened his school in 2017 with a background in real estate and finance — useful for numbers, but no preparation at all for running a brick-and-mortar business. He first heard about Martial Arts Wealth Mastery in 2018 but didn’t join right away; a new baby and a sense of being overwhelmed pushed the decision off for two years.

He finally joined in 2020 — just as the pandemic hit. At the time the school was grossing between $12,000 and $18,000 a month, averaging around $14,000–$15,000. Rather than merely surviving the shutdowns like so many schools, William says the group is what let him thrive through them, using the disruption as a forcing function to rebuild his programs, pricing, and mindset.

1. A retention-first program structure. William reframed the entire business around keeping students, not just enrolling them. “If you’re bringing them in but they go out the door, then you’re kind of like a factory,” he says. “But I wanted to be a black belt factory — a Black Belt Leadership Academy.”

2. Restructured pricing and programs. The school’s offerings and pricing were rebuilt to match the value being delivered, replacing the ad-hoc structure William had been running on instinct.

3. A weekly management discipline. Weekly Zoom calls plus three to four live meetings a year gave William a standing structure for decision-making. “It’s really about learning how to manage, learning how to be able to control everything in the best way possible, making the best choices,” he says.

Five to six years into the group, William is closing in on a million-dollar school, and he’s hopeful that 2026 is the year he crosses that line. Looking back at where the decision to join left him, he’s blunt about the alternative: “I was either going to crash and burn or I was going to thrive.”

• No brick-and-mortar experience isn’t disqualifying. William came from real estate and finance, not martial arts business — the systems, not his background, built the school.
• Retention is the real product. Enrolling students without keeping them just makes you “a factory.” William built toward a Black Belt Leadership Academy instead.
• Don’t let overwhelm delay the decision too long. William waited two years between first hearing about the group and joining — time he now wishes he’d had back.
• A weekly cadence compounds over years. Standing Zoom calls and a handful of live meetings a year, sustained for five to six years, is what turned a $14,000-a-month school into a near-million-dollar one.

What was William’s background before opening his school?

Real estate and finance — he had no brick-and-mortar business experience when he opened Lincoln Family Martial Arts in 2017.

When did he join Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, and what was the school doing at the time?

He joined in 2020, during the pandemic, when the school was grossing between $12,000 and $18,000 a month. These figures are owner-reported.

Where is the school now?

Five to six years into the group, William is closing in on a million-dollar year, with 2026 as his target.

Stephen Oliver, MBA, 10th Degree Black Belt.