McHenry County’s martial arts industry continues growing

CARY – Local martial arts businesses are fighting back and taking new ground after being squeezed during the recession.

Signs of increasing growth in the $3 billion U.S. martial arts industry are popping up throughout McHenry County as established businesses expand, new schools open, franchisees bring new training opportunities and dojos attract younger, underserved populations to their mats.

Lee’s Martial Arts Academy, which has locations in Cary and Marengo, recently opened a third school in Crystal Lake. Ha’s Taekwondo Academy, which has locations in Loves Park and Algonquin, also recently opened a school in Crystal Lake. And franchisees Leslie and Tim Edstrom opened a Pro Martial Arts business in Lake in the Hills in January. Other local schools have expanded facilities or added classes.

In the U.S., martial arts studios employ more than 56,000 people, according to market research firm IBISWorld. The company’s December 2014 report said the industry is expected to grow at a faster pace through 2019. From 2009 to 2014, the industry annual growth rate was 1.2 percent, but IBISWorld expects the popularity of mixed martial arts and the ongoing economic recovery to fuel more rapid growth in the coming years.

Jeff Curran, owner of Crystal Lake-based Team Curran MMA, said he started his business as a club 18 years ago to find sparring partners to train with. The professional UFC fighter and mixed martial arts coach, who is a 3rd Degree Black Belt Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, started teaching adults but has grown the business to include two programs for children. Students younger than 18 make up about 35 percent of Team Curran MMA's students.

Since the recession, Curran said, he has worked to keep prices flat and has started to notice more students returning who had cut back during difficult economic times.

Martial arts training appeals to a wide variety of people of all ages. Some are drawn to sport for self defense, others for fitness or discipline. A much smaller percentage of Team Curran MMA’s students come to train to be professional fighters, Curran said.

“With martial arts, you start training because you want to better yourself,” Curran said. “Once you start to enjoy it, you become more goal-oriented, and for many, it becomes a lifestyle.”

Grand Master Tae Eun Ha of Ha's Taekwondo Academy opened his first school in Loves Park in 2001. He opened a second school in Algonquin in 2007 and last month started offering classes at a new school at 5581 Route 14 in the Crystal Court Shopping Center near Mega Trampoline. When Ha started the business, most of his students were teenagers or adults. In the past decade, he has expanded offerings for students ages 6 to 12 and developed his own programs designed to help children with special needs such as ADHD, autism and Asperger's syndrome. Ha, a former professor in the Korean Military Academy, published a book on how Taekwondo can be used to help children with personal development.

“Physical development is going to come naturally, but the way we teach focuses on cognitive development and emotional stability,” said Ha’s son, Tony, who is head master of the Crystal Lake facility.

Tae Eun Ha’s TCS program is customized for students with special needs, and it is a growing segment of the academy’s business. But Tae Eun Ha said he doesn’t see his work as a business.

“I like money, but that’s secondary,” he said. “I want to help educate children. Helping children is No. 1.”

Grand Master Chul Lee, owner of Lee's Martial Arts Academy Inc., also sees his operations more as a school than a business.

“I see it as education,” Lee said. “We are here to teach.”

Lee, a 9th degree Black belt in Tae Kwon Do who served on the World Tae Kwon Do Headquarters’ Research & Development Committee in 2010, opened a third location in the Crystal Lake Plaza shopping center late last year in response to increased demand for classes. He opened his first location in Cary in 1995 and later opened a facility in Marengo.

While the recession tightened many family budgets, Lee said he was able to retain many of his students because their parents saw positive results such as increased attention spans and better grades in school.

“We teach a lot of courtesy and respect,” Lee’s son, Master John Lee, said. “Parents love it, and they invest in it for their child.”

While some martial arts studio owners say they enjoy the teaching aspect of the work more than running a business, others are making inroads with franchise models.

“Many of the larger industry establishments are franchises, which means the operator pays an ongoing fee or royalty payment to the corporation to use the brand’s name,” IBISWorld reported.

One such franchise is Pro Martial Arts Corp., a Pennsylvania-based company founded by Grand Master Ed Samane. Samane, the company’s CEO, said he saw significant potential in the martial arts industry.

“There were no franchises in martial arts space,” he said. “It’s a great industry, but it was behind the times.”

While some have been critical of martial arts franchises – calling them “McDojos” – Samane said he thinks “the franchise system will help the industry.”

Samane, an 8th Degree black belt in Tang Soo Do and an 8th degree black belt in Sin Moo Hapkido, designed Pro Martial Arts for business-savvy owners, not martial arts masters. So far, the company has sold 187 franchises since 2009. Sixty have opened, including one at 9525 Ackman Road in Lake in the Hill's Prairie Shops.

Local franchisees Leslie and Tim Edstrom spent seven years looking at businesses and franchises before opening the Pro Martial Arts facility, said Leslie Edstrom. With five children at home, she didn’t want to work 60 hours a week.

“I wanted to do something where I could have a positive impact on the community,” she said. “This was a good fit.”

She was drawn the Pro Martial Arts model by its focus on character education, bullying and predator prevention lessons and building self-confidence. The Edstroms hired professional instructors to teach classes at the facility.

Faced with competition throughout the area, she said, the business will need to “provide value to keep students because there is always some place else to go.”