Why One Live Meeting Is Worth Six Months of Zoom Calls

“It was probably equivalent to about six months of the Zoom meetings that we have weekly.”

That is how one Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member summed up the live members’ meeting in Colorado this fall, on the first coaching call after he got home. He had been on the weekly calls for months. Two days in the room, he said, moved him further than half a year of them.

Where the Value Actually Comes From

It is not the presentations. I have always believed most of the value of a live meeting is in three places the agenda never lists:

• The hallway conversations. Between sessions, members ask each other the questions they would never ask on a group call.
• The lunches and dinners. Owners compare real numbers, real problems and real fixes with people who have already solved them.
• The behind-the-scenes school visit. Members walk into a working Mile High Karate school and watch the systems run.

The Elevator Tip

Here is a small example of what happens in the hallways. That same newer member found himself in an elevator with one of the group’s most successful operators and asked for one tip:

“He said, raise your prices sooner than later. He says he regrets that he did not raise his prices sooner. So when I came back, I immediately raised the prices up to the $397 amount for the memberships.”

— Martial Arts Wealth Mastery member

Within days he was enrolling new families at the higher rate. One sentence, from someone who had lived the mistake, did what a slide never would.

Seeing It Run

A lot of what we teach is hard to picture until you see it moving effortlessly through a school. Pulling your entire student body up to assist and instruct, at any age. Building a Leadership program that most advanced students choose. Rotating curriculum. People hear about these on a call and cannot imagine how they work. Then they watch them run for an evening, and they cannot imagine going back.

Another member who was there summed up what he went home to change: the kids program, starting with the price, then the sales presentation, then the intro lesson.

“But I’d Have to Close the School”

This is the objection I hear most, and it is the weakest one. Tell your families you are going to a staff training event. Either your B team or C team runs classes, or you close for a couple of days.

“I’ve not only never had a student or a parent mad about it, as long as there was adequate notice, but they’re always impressed that we’re spending time, effort and money to train our staff.”

— Stephen Oliver

The Next Live Meeting Is in February

Make your plans now. If you are not a member yet, the call below is how to find out what membership includes.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the next Martial Arts Wealth Mastery live meeting?

February. Live meetings run alongside the weekly coaching calls.

Do members visit a real martial arts school?

Yes. Members can visit a working Mile High Karate school, part of the organization Grand Master Stephen Oliver founded in Denver in 1983, and watch its systems run.

Should I close my school to attend a training event?

With adequate notice, yes, or have your senior staff run classes. Families tend to be impressed that you are investing in staff training.

Related: Unscripted Real Results from the September 15, 2026 Mastery call.

Individual results vary.

About the Author

Grand Master Stephen Oliver, MBA, is a 10th Degree Black Belt and the Founder and CEO of Mile High Karate and Martial Arts Wealth Mastery, one of the martial arts industry’s leading coaching and consulting organizations for professional martial arts school owners, BJJ academies, and MMA gyms. A martial arts school owner since 1975 and business coach since 1985, Oliver has spent more than five decades building, operating, and advising successful martial arts schools. He also serves as CEO and Chairman of NAPMA (the National Association of Professional Martial Artists) and Publisher of Martial Arts Professional magazine. A Georgetown University cum laude graduate, he earned his Executive MBA through the Executive Program at the Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver. He was promoted to 10th Degree Black Belt in April 2026 and inducted into the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame in August 2026. Learn more at MartialArtsWealth.com and StephenCOliver.com.