Zebra Blog

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...

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...

Located in Kingsport, TN, Vida Hot Yoga seeks to provide a challenging, yet approachable, fitness experience and an environment that celebrates each individual for showing up and striving to improve their health and fitness. Owners Ashley and Nate Davis reached out to...

By Elisabeth Clay While I am not the biggest fan of watching wrestling, I do believe there are things they do and a mindset they have that is very beneficial to competitive BJJ. If you keep up with my other blog posts, then you already know how I believe having a...

Martial arts gyms are often considered the home of tough, unstoppable, hardcore athletes. And they absolutely are, but all too often, especially in gyms that may have a lot of MMA fighters or competitive jiu jitsu athletes, it may be difficult for the gym owner to...

By Kaitlin Young In the not so distant past, I split my time between training for fights and working as a personal trainer. It’s a profession that goes hand in hand with fighting very well. Sessions can be scheduled around practices easily.  We’re usually accustomed...

Gym owners have repeatedly heard the benefits of adding fitness programs and fitness space to their martial arts facilities. For those that have decided to move forward and have dedicated a portion of their mat space to fitness, deciding on what fitness equipment to...

By Elisabeth Clay Every sport has warm-ups — getting the muscles warm and more pliable, thereby reducing injury. Some of these warm-ups are sport specific and are used to learn basic movements utilized in each sport. Why Warm-Ups Are Important I'm sure a lot of you...

Yoga studio owners work hard at providing top notch yoga instruction to their students. However, many yoga studios and their owners would benefit from the addition of other fitness programming to provide more options to their students, bring in additional members, and...

Winter is almost here, and in most parts of the country, that can mean everything from snow to rain to freezing temperatures and months of mud. How do you prepare your gym for the upcoming months of challenging weather? Coat Hangers/Hooks Nothing is worse than piles...