Zebra Blog

By Kaitlin Young When I first sat down to write this, it was about the joys and struggles of opening our new gym. I had to start over. Maybe I’ll return to that piece later.  We opened the Striking Institute on March 2nd, 2020. Our first week went great! We hadn’t...

By Elisabeth Clay  When you first start training, everyone is better than you, for the most part. The aspect to training that should receive the largest focus is having an exceptional professor to teach you correct technique. As you learn and grow in the sport, the...

By Kyle Fisher As the President of Zebra Athletics, one of the best parts of my job is working with my team. I can openly admit that throughout my management career I have struggled to adequately show my appreciation for my staff, but as we take time out this month to...

Social media can feel overwhelming (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and on and on). In 2020, however, social media is a necessity for any business, including martial arts gyms. Social media not only helps you gain new members, but it can help increase...

When it comes to designing your MMA or martial arts facility, the fun part is realizing that you get to decide where everything goes, and how it all looks. The space you make for your martial arts mats is a key part of the design of your entire facility. Each gym...

By Kaitlin Young My first job out of college was working as a strength and conditioning coach at a volleyball club. I trained 272 girls from ages 11-18. Being so close in age to them was both a help and a hinderance, but there were many lessons to be taken from my...

No matter which part of the country you live in, by the end of February, most of us will be tired of the colder weather and cloudy skies. Cooler temps and shorter days keep us inside more often during the winter and severely limit our activities. As a gym owner, you...

By Elisabeth Clay So, today’s thoughts… while I have always fought the idea of someday opening a school, and still have no real plans to, I am beginning to have an opinion on what is important for opening a school. I am sure that as time goes on, I will change some...

Couples that train together, stay together, right? Even if it’s not true, it’s great to have couples at your facility. Having couples at your gym also provides you with a unique opportunity to create extra events, programs, and promotions that can increase your...

Eight years ago, professional MMA star Casey Halstead began the dauting process of opening his own gym. On top of everything else he had to do to get his facility up and running, he also had to choose reliable martial arts mats that would take the punishment of daily...