Inside The Martial Arts Bubble

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Not everyone is inside the martial arts bubble. A recent self-defence class at Durham College/Ontario Tech University drove this home. I was teaching a basic ground defence to the participants to a group of 5 to 6 students. I explained to the participants that, after falling, the importance of getting up into a standing position as soon as possible.

“Otherwise, the bad guy will attempt to mount and attack you. I will teach basic escapes from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.“

They looked at me blankly.

Me: “Uh. Have you guys heard of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu?“

Every participant shook their head and said, “No.“

This is not the first time I’ve run into this phenomenon. We, in the martial arts community, know that BJJ is quite popular due to MMA and UFC. However, this episode is a reminder that many folks have no freaking idea what Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is about. Or any other martial art…say, for example, Filipino Martial Arts.

Let’s face it. Once we step out of the martial arts bubble, we realize that most folks have little to no idea about martial arts. Many may not have heard of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Fewer have heard of Filipino Martial Arts.

Don’t believe me? See the beginning of the “Bladed Hand” documentary, where producers interviewed folks on the streets of Cebu, Philippines. The producers asked the subject if they had heard of “arnis or eskrima.” They were all unaware of Filipino Martial Arts.

So, the lack of knowledge of martial arts is common. Some of us inside the martial arts bubble may have difficulty believing it. But there it is.

Below is a Google Trends chart for Canada in 2023. As one can see, Karate is the most popular search term, with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in second place.

I assume that most of my self-defence students have heard of Karate. But you know what they say about assumptions. It’s possible that some have never heard of Karate.

To put this in perspective, I substituted “ice hockey” instead of “Arnis.” Not surprisingly, “ice hockey” blew martial arts out of the water in Canadian Google searches. See the screenshot below.

Many of us are in a martial arts bubble. It is erroneous to assume that most of the public is educated about the martial arts. That is just not the case.

I’ve run into this phenomenon many times over the past 35 years. Pick any martial arts topic with a friend or neighbor. The odds are that they will have no idea what you are talking about. Ask if they’ve heard of Helio Gracie or Remy Presas. I guarantee you that 99% of folks outside of martial arts will not know who those two gentlemen are.

Why does this all matter? Being in a bubble can lead to massively bad marketing decisions.

Let’s take Filipino Martial Arts, for example. Obviously, if you assume folks outside the martial arts bubble are familiar with “FMA, Filipino Martial Arts, eskrima, arnis,” you are in for a rude awakening. Even worse is using “kali.” While this word is often used to refer to Filipino Martial Arts, that term will not do anything for you. Why? That word is a reference to a Hindu goddess named Kali. Go ahead and google it.

It stands to reason that using the above terms probably will not generate all that many inquiries from potential customers.

What can you do? I argue that you should liberally use “self-defence” or any variation of this term. Again, let’s return to Google Trends and see what folks are searching for.

As one can see, “self-defence” blew all FMA-related terms out of the water. It is not a close call at all.

Confession: I learned this from a talented Australian martial artist who moved here in 2013. His wife was from nearby Whitby, and they decided to move back to Canada. He had experience in sales and marketing. Hell, he was much more savvy in branding and marketing than I was. He told me that he had researched the martial arts industry in my area.

He discovered that no martial arts school in the area used “Self Defense/Self Defence” in the school name or their branding. Not one. He used that term for his school.

Guess what? He generated a lot of interest, and his school grew quickly. Here’s the funny part: the students didn’t know that the self-defence techniques they were practicing came from Kung Fu until he told them. As I said, the guy was savvy.

He is a good example of one who stood outside of the martial arts bubble and understood what a typical customer might be looking for. His marketing spoke to them.

What does this all mean? It pays to step outside of a bubble and view different perspectives. I’m not necessarily talking about martial arts here, am I? Unfortunately, many seem to have lost perspective and cannot see things from a different lens.

We all need to step outside of our bubbles, be it martial arts or otherwise. It’s hard, but it can be done.

On another note, it’s been a while since I’ve posted an inspirational video. Here’s a short one for you.

Have a great week!

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I need your help defraying the increasing expenses of the blog/website.

A huge thank you in advance!