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Inside the wild west of martial arts — exposing the frauds, the cults, and the business systems that separate real schools from McDojos.
For 13 years, Rob Ingram has run McDojo Life — the most followed and most feared page in martial arts. He's exposed hundreds of frauds, written a book, helped run Academy Safe, and is now filming a feature documentary with Jocko Willink as executive producer.
In this episode, Nick Cownie sits down with Rob to break down what 28 years in martial arts has taught him about culty instructors, the legal mess of an unregulated industry, and — most importantly — how to actually run a successful martial arts school.
This isn't a fluff conversation. It's a rare, honest look at the dark side of the industry and the operational systems separating real schools from the frauds.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE
- Why martial arts is the most unregulated industry on earth
- The five rules every legitimate school must follow
- The psychology behind why people believe in "no-touch knockouts"
- How Rob enrolled 250 students in a single month at a consulting client
- Why "Field of Dreams" marketing is the #1 reason schools fail
- Pre-launch marketing 4 months before opening
- The three-contract pricing model that locks in revenue without locking out students
- The 2-4-6 phone call system that saves students from canceling
- Why collections will destroy your school's reputation (and what to do instead)
- How to use equity, positive reviews, and personal touch to beat negativity
- How Rob turned McDojo Life from a hobby into a business
- The one martial artist Rob would love to spar
🕒 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
02:51 The McDojo Life documentary with Jocko Willink
04:27 The five rules every school must follow
07:01 Why fraud instructors actually believe their own lies
09:03 Martial arts is completely unregulated in the US
12:51 Chi, Hermetics, and the deep rabbit hole of martial arts cults
17:02 Why Australia and the rest of the world isn't immune
19:25 13 years of McDojo Life
24:11 The investigative journalism behind every story
27:53 Did Rob start good at social — or get better?
35:24 The big three: leads, conversions, retention
35:54 Pre-launch marketing 4 months before grand opening
43:06 Three contracts: month-to-month, six-month, yearly
46:22 The retention secret most owners miss
49:08 The 8-month to 18-month martial arts drop-off cliff
49:57 The 2-4-6 phone call retention system
56:48 Why collections destroys your school's reputation
58:35 Equity, positive reviews, and the personal touch
01:01:23 The Joe Rogan bump and turning McDojo Life into a business
01:04:21 The one martial artist Rob would love to spar
01:09:35 Where to find Rob
🎯 Most martial arts school owners are one system away from consistent growth. Install the same systems used by real academies around the world:
🤖 Enroll 365™ — https://enroll365.ai
The school that replies first gets the student. Enroll365.ai replies instantly, books the trial in chat, and follows up until the student steps on your mat.
⚙️ Dojo Toolbox CRM™ — https://dojotoolboxcrm.com
The AI-powered operating system for martial arts schools.
🌏 The Dojo Map™ — https://thedojomap.com
Connecting the global martial arts community.
🥋 DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — https://dojoceo.com
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
💬 GET THE TOOLS — COMMENT TO UNLOCK
Find me on Instagram @dojoceo and comment one of the keywords below on any reel to get sent the resource:
👉 Comment STUDENTS — Get a 30-day free trial of Enroll 365™ to stop losing money by automating your trial class bookings.
👉 Comment CEO — Get details on the DOJOCEO™ Mastermind to learn how we turn school owners into millionaires.
👉 Comment MAP — Get your martial arts school listed on the Dojo Map™.
👉 Comment POD — Get the latest DOJO CEO podcast episode sent directly to you.
👇 CONNECT WITH ROB INGRAM
Rob Ingram is the founder of McDojo Life, vice president of Academy Safe, and an author with over 28 years in the martial arts industry. A 3rd Degree Black Belt in American Freestyle Karate, 3rd Degree in Lima Lama, and BJJ purple belt, Rob is currently filming a feature documentary with Jocko Willink as executive producer.
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/mcdojolife
📘 Facebook: https://facebook.com/themcdojolife
🌐 Website: https://mcdojolife.com
🛡️ Academy Safe: https://academysafe.org
📖 Book: Sensei's Bars and Scars — on Amazon
⚔️ ABOUT THE SHOW
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
Hosted by Nick Cownie — founder of Enroll 365™, Dojo Toolbox CRM™, The Dojo Map™, and DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — each episode goes "behind the belt" to break down the business, battles, and breakthroughs behind successful martial arts schools.
👉 FOLLOW NICK
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/dojoceo
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She Fixes UFC Fighters’ Minds — Here’s What She Sees Behind the Scenes
What if the thing holding your athletes — and your business — back isn't strategy, talent, or training volume… but their nervous system?
In this episode, Nick Cownie sits down with Briana Bowley, the nervous-system specialist trusted by UFC fighters, world-class athletes, and high-pressure professionals around the world.
Briana reveals how fight, flight, and freeze responses shape performance, sabotage competition results, and even impact how you run your gym. If you've ever wondered why great athletes crumble under pressure — or why you react the way you do in business — this conversation will change how you see yourself and your students.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE
- How Briana became the coach UFC fighters trust
- Fight / Flight / Freeze — how your biology sabotages performance
- The missing link between trauma, competition nerves, and self-sabotage
- Why martial artists break under pressure (and how to fix it)
- The crossover between BJJ training, business stress, and burnout
- How Briana built a global coaching business while travelling
- The "ascension model" she used to scale her work
- The biggest mistakes grappling coaches make with people management
- Why your business results are a reflection of your nervous system
🕒 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
00:55 Briana's work with fighters & high-pressure performers
02:25 Fight / Flight / Freeze explained
04:30 How Briana discovered nervous system regulation
09:48 Applying nervous system work to martial artists
14:07 Turning Briana's expertise into a business
20:29 Briana's scalable business model
24:10 The biggest mistakes she made early on
28:41 Structure, freedom & performance
31:56 Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai & pattern recognition
36:43 What business owners can learn from martial arts
41:37 Managing people, trauma & gym culture
46:57 Briana's #1 message for grappling business owners
48:06 Who she'd love to spar in history
50:50 How to contact Briana
🎯 Most martial arts school owners are one system away from consistent growth. Install the same systems used by real academies around the world:
🤖 Enroll 365™ — https://enroll365.ai
The school that replies first gets the student. Enroll365.ai replies instantly, books the trial in chat, and follows up until the student steps on your mat.
⚙️ Dojo Toolbox CRM™ — https://dojotoolboxcrm.com
The AI-powered operating system for martial arts schools.
🌏 The Dojo Map™ — https://thedojomap.com
Connecting the global martial arts community.
🥋 DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — https://dojoceo.com
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
💬 GET THE TOOLS — COMMENT TO UNLOCK
Find me on Instagram @dojoceo and comment one of the keywords below on any reel to get sent the resource:
👉 Comment STUDENTS — Get a 30-day free trial of Enroll 365™ to stop losing money by automating your trial class bookings.
👉 Comment CEO — Get details on the DOJOCEO™ Mastermind to learn how we turn school owners into millionaires.
👉 Comment MAP — Get your martial arts school listed on the Dojo Map™.
👉 Comment POD — Get the latest DOJO CEO podcast episode sent directly to you.
👇 CONNECT WITH BRIANA BOWLEY
Briana Bowley is an international speaker, nervous system regulation and performance coach, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu purple belt who helps high performers and athletes master pressure with precision.
With over a decade in the high performance and self-development space, she's supported world-class entrepreneurs and combat sports athletes to rewire their stress responses, build resilience, and perform from deep calm.
Through her signature framework, The Bowley Blueprint™, Briana bridges mindset and physiology, teaching people to access flow, lead with intention, and win without burning out.
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/brianabowley
🌐 Website: https://brianabowley.com
🔗 Free Trainings: https://brianabowley.com/links
⚔️ ABOUT THE SHOW
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
Hosted by Nick Cownie — founder of Enroll 365™, Dojo Toolbox CRM™, The Dojo Map™, and DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — each episode goes "behind the belt" to break down the business, battles, and breakthroughs behind successful martial arts schools.
👉 FOLLOW NICK
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/dojoceo
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Eksik bölüm mü var?
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The real story of how an unknown Sydney BJJ coach and his content partner went viral—proving real jiu-jitsu still wins online—and what your school can learn from it.
Two years ago, Chris "Bones" Burns was teaching small BJJ classes on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
Then Sheila from Jiu Jitsu Socials picked up her camera — and everything changed.
This episode breaks down the viral rise of a coach who ignored the rules, doubled down on real jiu-jitsu, and built a global audience by being himself.
You'll learn the system behind their content, how to make your school stand out online, and why "authenticity" isn't a buzzword — it's the new algorithm.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE
- How one viral video changed everything
- The 3 rules of authentic martial arts content
- Why group photos don't grow your gym
- Turning content into community (and students)
- The secret to posting without cringe
- The mindset behind going viral
- Mistakes most gyms make on social
- How to film content that actually converts
🕒 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 From unknown coach to viral brand
02:14 The first post that blew up
05:01 Why authenticity beats every algorithm trick
10:30 The BJJ Project and building community
14:20 Mistakes most gyms make on social
17:00 How to film content that converts
22:30 The mindset behind going viral
28:00 Turning attention into enrollments
🎯 Most martial arts school owners are one system away from consistent growth. Install the same systems used by real academies around the world:
🤖 Enroll 365™ — https://enroll365.ai
The school that replies first gets the student. Enroll365.ai replies instantly, books the trial in chat, and follows up until the student steps on your mat.
⚙️ Dojo Toolbox CRM™ — https://dojotoolboxcrm.com
The AI-powered operating system for martial arts schools.
🌏 The Dojo Map™ — https://thedojomap.com
Connecting the global martial arts community.
🥋 DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — https://dojoceo.com
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
💬 GET THE TOOLS — COMMENT TO UNLOCK
Find me on Instagram @dojoceo and comment one of the keywords below on any reel to get sent the resource:
👉 Comment STUDENTS — Get a 30-day free trial of Enroll 365™ to stop losing money by automating your trial class bookings.
👉 Comment CEO — Get details on the DOJOCEO™ Mastermind to learn how we turn school owners into millionaires.
👉 Comment MAP — Get your martial arts school listed on the Dojo Map™.
👉 Comment POD — Get the latest DOJO CEO podcast episode sent directly to you.
👇 GUEST LINKS
Chris "Bones" Burns
2nd Degree Black Belt under Master Rickson Gracie and Professor Jason Roebig
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/chrisbonesjj
🥋 Academy: https://instagram.com/zeropointsydney
🎓 Learn from Chris: https://instagram.com/the.bjjproject
Sheila — Jiu Jitsu Socials
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/jiujitsusocials
⚔️ ABOUT THE SHOW
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
Hosted by Nick Cownie — founder of Enroll 365™, Dojo Toolbox CRM™, The Dojo Map™, and DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — each episode goes "behind the belt" to break down the business, battles, and breakthroughs behind successful martial arts schools.
👉 FOLLOW NICK
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/dojoceo
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Why do most BJJ gyms lose kids?
The kids program that's quietly killing your retention — and the simple shifts that turn it into your biggest growth engine.
Most martial arts schools treat their kids program like a side hustle.
The result? Burned-out coaches, frustrated parents, and kids who quit by 13.
In this episode, Nick Cownie sits down with Ellee Beckman — founder of The Arte of Coaching, former early childhood educator of 13+ years, and head kids coach at Nova Art Brazilian Jiu Jitsu — to expose the gap that exists in almost every kids martial arts program in the world.
Ellee combined a decade in early childhood education with five years of BJJ to build a coaching business that's now teaching coaches across the globe how to actually understand kids — not just teach them technique.
This conversation is the blueprint every academy owner with kids classes needs to hear.
🔥 IN THIS EPISODE
- Why "technique first" is the wrong approach for under-12s
- How teaching through play multiplies engagement and retention
- The communication mistakes 99% of coaches make with kids
- Why early specialisation destroys long-term students
- The pressure trap that's burning out coaches, kids, and parents
- How Ellee built The Arte of Coaching from a single WhatsApp post
- The content shift that took her from "trying to go viral" to real authority
- Why authenticity beats every algorithm trick
- How BJJ training makes her a sharper business owner
- Her vision for a standardised kids coaching curriculum
🕒 TIMESTAMPS
00:00 — Intro
01:26 — Ellee's background: 13 years in early childhood education
04:01 — How a Muay Thai voucher (she never used) led to BJJ
07:45 — The "angry octopus" first BJJ class
08:40 — The #1 mistake schools make teaching kids
10:14 — What teacher training brings to martial arts
14:44 — The truth about early specialisation
18:36 — Why 70% of kids drop sport by 13
20:30 — Building The Arte of Coaching from scratch
26:30 — The biggest content mistake (and the fix)
28:46 — Why authenticity beats every viral strategy
32:50 — What she'd do differently starting over
39:39 — A standardised kids coaching curriculum
45:25 — How BJJ makes her a better business owner
49:43 — The one person she'd love to roll with
54:04 — Ellee's #1 message for martial arts entrepreneurs
59:35 — Where to find Ellee
🎯 Most martial arts school owners are one system away from consistent growth. Install the same systems used by real academies around the world:
🤖 Enroll 365™ — https://enroll365.ai
The school that replies first gets the student. Enroll365.ai replies instantly, books the trial in chat, and follows up until the student steps on your mat.
⚙️ Dojo Toolbox CRM™ — https://dojotoolboxcrm.com
The AI-powered operating system for martial arts schools.
🌏 The Dojo Map™ — https://thedojomap.com
Connecting the global martial arts community.
🥋 DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — https://dojoceo.com
Most martial artists open a school. The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
💬 GET THE TOOLS — COMMENT TO UNLOCK
Find me on Instagram @dojoceo and comment one of the keywords below on any reel to get sent the resource:
👉 Comment STUDENTS — Get a 30-day free trial of Enroll 365™ to stop losing money by automating your trial class bookings.
👉 Comment CEO — Get details on the DOJOCEO™ Mastermind to learn how we turn school owners into millionaires.
👉 Comment MAP — Get your martial arts school listed on the Dojo Map™.
👉 Comment POD — Get the latest DOJO CEO podcast episode sent directly to you.
👇 CONNECT WITH ELLEE BECKMAN
Ellee Beckman is the founder of The Arte of Coaching — a global platform helping martial arts coaches understand how kids actually learn. A former early childhood and primary school teacher with 13+ years of classroom experience, Ellee combines developmental psychology with game-based BJJ instruction at Nova Art Brazilian Jiu Jitsu on the Sunshine Coast.
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/thearteofcoaching
▶️ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thearteofcoaching
🛒 Store: https://stan.store/thearteofcoaching
⚔️ ABOUT THE SHOW
Most martial artists open a school.
The best operators become DOJOCEOs™.
Hosted by Nick Cownie — founder of Enroll 365™, Dojo Toolbox CRM™, The Dojo Map™, and DOJOCEO™ Mastermind — each episode goes "behind the belt" to break down the business, battles, and breakthroughs behind successful martial arts schools.
👉 FOLLOW NICK
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/dojoceo
