We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Dong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

Social media is absolutely necessary as a business owner. I joke around that if I didn’t own a business, I would not be on social media. I used to have a company that did my social media, but then got rid of them as they were not making content that was relevant to my business. I have taken some social media classes and now I do my own videos, reels and stories for my business. One thing I did learn is that I need to make posts/reels that are funny and educational.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. I grew up and currently reside in Katy, Texas. I used to work in the Civil Engineering field designing roads and bridges for 15 years. I am a lifelong martial artist and I am continually learning different martial arts.

I have Black Belts in Kajukenbo Karate, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Praying Mantis Kung Fu. I am also a high level Krav Maga Expert Instructor. I am currently training in Krav Maga, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In May 2023, I received my 7th Dan Masters Black Belt From GM April Cunningham, recognizing my lifetime achievements in martial arts for the last 30+ years.

I currently own my Krav Maga, Kickboxing, & Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school, called Dragon’s Den. Dragon’s Den proudly serve Katy, Richmond and Fulshear.

I am also a stunt actor and started stunt training in 2017 and have been busy with stunt acting and fight choreography. I am happily married for over 25 years to my lovely wife and we have two boys that have graduated college and are now starting their own lives.

My school, Dragon’s Den Self Defense Academy, started in 2011 and has been proudly serving the Houston, West Houston, Katy, Memorial, Fulshear and Energy Corridor areas.

Our Vision is to be the premier school for self defense and fitness for the next century!

Our Mission is to provide the best self defense classes to everyone while having fun and burning calories in a safe and family oriented environment.

Dragon’s Den Self Defense Academy has also donated time and money to several charity organizations such as Susan G. Komen, Texas Children’s Hospital, Mission 22 and the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. This is just one way we love to give back to our community.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When COVID hit in 2020, I had already started making Youtube videos of classes ahead of the shut down. I was interviewed on Fox 26 by Maria Salazar about what I am doing to keep the business alive. Then, shortly after, Zoom blew up and we started to do classes virtual. My kickboxing classes were fine doing virtual, but the Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes were a little more difficult because now the students don’t have partners, and it is harder to see what the students were doing in that little small box on the screen. We were able to manage and make it through. As we were coming out of the pandemic, I started to do self defense classes mobile, where I would travel to students homes or offices and teach. This then lead me to do self defense workshops for realtors and later I became a Licensed Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) CE Provider. I am still doing those and glad that this pivot in my business is working out.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I was working as a CAD Designer designing roads and bridges. I hated it and wanted to follow my passion teaching martial arts. Yes, I made good money but just wasn’t happy. I know whenever I train martial arts, I feel so much happier, so I wanted to share that feeling with the community I live in. I had saved up about $10K and that is how I got started.   

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dragonsdensda.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragonsdensda/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dragonsdensda
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/krav-fit-now/?viewAsMember=true
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@markdong3289/featured