We were lucky to catch up with Alexander Clary recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexander, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

I started my Martial Arts school are the ripe old age of 33 years old. Even though Martial Arts was my first job at 15 years old, even though I was a Head Instructor at 16 years old. Even though I was on track to open a school by my early 20’s. 33.

How did that equation come to pass? Well, long story short when I was 17, (and a know-it-all) I got into a pretty serious situation that pitted me against my Master at the time (now Grandmaster) JC Choi which resulted in me leaving the school. Pretty silly really, but we’ve all been teenagers once!

Back then I didn’t realize that when they say Martial Arts is a way of life not just physical training, well they really mean that! It’s as focused on good character as it is the training. What seemed to a young hard-headed teen as my Master being too involved in my personal life, was actually valid concern and him attempting to teach me the right way.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that he was right and I was wrong. But, before I could apologize and continue my training with him, the school had closed down!

Though I continued to train at other schools, I swore to myself that I would never promote with another Master until I was able to find Grandmaster JC and make things right. Then, at 32 years old, and with over two decades of martial arts training, I FINALLY was promoted to a belt level where I was comfortable opening a school. I had finally tracked him down, and made things right.

I often wonder how it my have looked if I was able to begin sooner.

Alexander, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into Martial Arts, and specifically Taekwondo, after watching the movie ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’ in 2001 when I was 12 years old. I thought the martial arts were amazing and beautiful, and of COURSE I wanted to learn to fly about through the trees and the air!

I began looking at various Martial Art schools, and fortunately found an extremely traditional and very knowledgeable Instructor in Grandmaster JC Choi. Not just in Taekwondo but in all martial art styles! I do my very best to continue teaching as he taught me, preserving tradition and maximizing the martial arts knowledge of my students. This is what separates our school from other schools around.

Our training is not as easy as many schools. There are more subjects than most schools. I care about each individual student as if they are my own son or daughter. I am most proud of the community we have built together. We are here for each other both in Martial Arts, and outside of training.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Two books come to mind. ‘The Book Of Five Rings’ by Miyamoto Musashi, and ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu. These books are not only extremely applicable to my business type, but are studied to this day by high-level businessmen, politicians, and even the US Military Special Warfare groups.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the normal schedule for most Martial Arts schools! In the Reunion/Brighton area, there is an abnormal school schedule where the students have every Monday off and to four longer days instead of five shorter days. Well, this means that martial arts classes cannot be from 3pm onwards because most kids don’t get out of school until about 4! Which means less available time each day to train. Less available class times means less options for parents and students to attend, or I would have to inplement really late classes.

But, I believe I have made that work to the best of my ability, being very flexible with the customers and LISTENING to their feedback. A good business owner MUST be open to change, communicate clearly with customers, and be confident!

Contact Info:

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