Win Back Former Martial Arts Students This Holiday

Updated November 13, 2026

The best way to win back former martial arts students is to keep treating them like members. Invite them to every event, send a personal school update full of student recognition, and offer an amnesty: clear the old balance and give them a free month or two. November and December are the best time to do it. People are already in a spending mood, and an alumni party gets them back through the door.

Key takeaways

• Expensive, professionally written reactivation letters have flopped for me. What works is being included: invite inactive students to everything.
• A student newsletter has one real use: reminding former students what they’re missing. It has to be personal and full of names.
• At the end of your collections sequence, send an amnesty offer: balance cleared, a month or two free, maybe a new uniform.
• Don’t put a time limit on your list. Recent dropouts come back most often, but black belts from decades ago are now enrolling their own children.
• In November and December, focus on renewals and cash, generate leads for January, and hold an alumni event over the holidays.

Why do reactivation letters usually fail?

Years ago, working with some of the best direct-response copywriters around and some of the best minds in the martial arts industry, we commissioned a long-form reactivation letter. It was well written and expensive. We mailed thousands of them. It didn’t work very well.

Clever copy is the wrong approach. A former student doesn’t come back because a letter made a good argument. They come back because they miss the people, the routine and the feeling of belonging. So your job is to keep reminding them of those things.

One principle to keep in mind: prevention beats cure. Getting someone back after three months away is much harder than stopping them leaving. Watch attendance closely (see The Attendance Card Box System). Everything below is for the students who left anyway.

How do you reactivate inactive martial arts students?

Here’s what has worked in my schools and in Grand Master Jeff Smith’s over the years, roughly in order of importance.

1. Invite them to everything, as if they never left

This is the most important step. Keep inactive students on the same invitation list as current students and prospects, so they hear from you two or three times a month. Invite them to the belt graduation, the tournament, the extravaganza, the Halloween party, the holiday party, board-breaking day, parents’ night out, ninja night and women’s self-defense day.

Picture a 12-year-old who dropped out turning up at your Halloween party and seeing three of his friends. He’s more likely to come back than he would be for almost any offer you could make. You can still attach a free offer to any of these invitations.

2. Send a personal school newsletter

Years ago the industry went through a phase of printed student newsletters. Some were glossy ten-page color productions, and others were a single page done every week. I did something in between. I never found the student newsletter much use for current students. It was very good at reminding inactive students what they were missing.

That only works if it’s personal and full of recognition. “Congratulations to Billy, who made the honor roll. Congratulations to Susie, who qualified for the national soccer championships.” Cover upcoming events, belt promotions and new black belts. Leave out the generic, ready-made articles; they don’t work.

Grand Master Smith has seen it bring people back. A former brown belt reads that someone who started as a beginner while he was training has just earned a black belt, and that’s what gets him to come back.

3. Make an amnesty offer

The only other thing I’ve seen work consistently is an amnesty. Someone stops attending and stops paying, and your collections sequence runs for a couple of months. The last message in that sequence changes tone completely:

“We’ve cleared your balance. We’d love to have you back. Come back in and your next two months are free, and we’ll give you a new uniform, because your old one is probably too small by now.”

The exact offer matters less than getting them back through the door. Grand Master Smith always made sure returning students could start again where they left off, with no back payments, plus a free month or two linked to an event.

4. Hold an alumni party

Grand Master Smith ran an annual alumni party, usually around the holidays, and personally invited every former member. Calling it an alumni party makes it clear it’s for people who aren’t training at the moment, so they don’t feel awkward about coming. You can run a welcome-back event early in January and again in early September, when families are planning new routines.

5. Keep the drip going for years

How far back should you go? Grand Master Smith’s answer: as far back as you have contact details. Recent dropouts are the most likely to return. Someone from this year is a better bet than someone from three or five years ago. But we’ve just had people at our black belt test who earned their black belt at 16, 17 or 18 and are now back in their 40s with their own children.

If I still have an email address for someone who left ten years ago, I’ll keep emailing them and send the occasional text. They can always opt out. Spend more on mail for recent dropouts and less for older ones.

6. Use direct mail where it matters most

Two groups are a high priority for direct mail: former students, and people who came in for an intro but didn’t enroll. Mail is the one channel that ends up on the fridge or in someone’s bag, so it stays in the house. A member asked me about spending around $500 a month on mail. If that brings in even one extra student a month, it pays for itself.

What should a martial arts school do in November and December?

Many owners treat the holidays as a write-off. Grand Master Smith told me back in the early 1980s that he always took the month everyone else thought was the worst and made it his best. He did that with November and December, and I did the same with July and August. For more than 40 years, December has been my number one cash month and November my number two.

People think families are too busy over the holidays. In fact they’re used to spending, and they’re very open to commitments for the new year. Here’s how I’d plan the season:

Period	Main focus	What to do
Early to mid November	Enrollments and lead flow	Harvest festivals, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, Black Friday events, school PE days
November to the week before Christmas	Black belt goal-setting season	Renewal conferences, upgrades to Leadership, paid-in-full offers, inactive cleanup
Thanksgiving to Christmas	Lead generation for January	Mall kiosks, movie theater promotions, shopping-center holiday events, after-school enrichment sign-ups
Holiday weeks	Reactivation	Alumni party, invitations to the holiday party, amnesty offers
Christmas to early February	Turn leads into students	Mail, email and text follow-up so January and February are your biggest months

Renewals and cash

Treat November and December as black belt goal-setting season, with a renewal deadline the week before Christmas. That gives you about six to eight weeks. This is when you clear up your inactives, finish renewals and offer paid-in-full options. The full renewal process is covered in The Holiday Renewal Blitz.

Lead flow for January

Enrollments slow after Thanksgiving because many families would rather start in January. That’s fine as long as you have a pipeline. We’ve had schools generate 850 to 1,000 leads in November and December. One member in Dallas got 850 leads in two weekends with a holiday movie promotion. Years ago, on Black Friday weekend, I paid $750 for a kiosk next to the food court at a high-end mall and booked a large number of appointments. Outdoor holiday displays with skating and lights, where families gather all weekend, are great booth locations. In much of the South, large churches are a good way in too. See Holiday Mall Kiosks for the details.

December is also a good time to get into elementary schools for PE days and to promote after-school enrichment programs. One of my biggest enrichment programs ever was promoted entirely between Thanksgiving and winter break, with every registration done before Christmas. It started on the second day back in January. I didn’t expect it to work, and it was one of the best I ran.

You can still enroll 10 or 15 students in December. But the real aim is to go into January with plenty of leads, not start the year from nothing.

Reactivation checklist for this holiday season

1. Export every inactive and former student with contact details. Sort them by how recently they left.
2. Add them all to your event invitation list from today.
3. Write a one-page personal school update full of names and achievements, and mail it.
4. Add an amnesty message at the end of your collections sequence.
5. Set a date for an alumni party in December or early January and invite everyone personally.
6. Send the most recent dropouts a physical letter. Email and text the rest.
7. Keep a long-term drip running for everyone who doesn’t come back this season.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get former martial arts students to come back?

Invite them to every school event as if they were still members. Send a personal newsletter full of student recognition, and make an amnesty offer that clears any old balance and includes a free month or two. Being included brings people back far more often than clever copywriting does.

How far back should I contact inactive students?

As far back as you have contact details. Recent dropouts respond best, so spend more on mail for them. Keep emailing and texting older contacts too, because former students often come back years later with their own children.

What is an amnesty offer for a martial arts school?

It’s the last message in your collections sequence. It tells the former student their balance has been cleared, they can start again where they left off, and they get a free month or two, sometimes with a new uniform.

Is December a bad month for a martial arts school?

It doesn’t have to be. With a renewal and paid-in-full push through the week before Christmas, December has been my strongest cash month for over 40 years. New enrollments slow after Thanksgiving, so use December to build leads for January.

What is an alumni party for a martial arts school?

It’s an event, often held over the holidays, where you personally invite all your former members. Calling it an alumni party tells people it’s for those who aren’t currently training, so they feel comfortable coming back.

Start this week

Pull your inactive list today and add everyone to your next event invitation. If you want the whole growth system, get my free book Six Simple Steps to Add 100 Students. If you’d like to plan your holiday season with me, book a Most Valuable Hour call.

Grand Master Stephen Oliver, 10th Degree Black Belt, has owned martial arts schools since 1975 and coached school owners since 1985.