http://www.tringmartialarts.co.uk/index.php/about-us/the-academy

http://www.corporatemartialarts.com

Laurence Sandum

Q. Tell us a little bit about your martial arts style and curriculum.

A. At our academy, we teach the following arts: Jun Fan Martial Arts, Filipino Martial Arts (also known as Kali), Maphilindo Silat, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Judo, Sombo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am privileged to hold instructor certificates from Guro Dan Inosanto in Jun Fan Gung Fu and JKD, Filipino Martial Arts and Maphilindo Silat. I have black belts and coaching qualifications in Judo and Sombo under Grandmaster Martin Clarke, Sensei John Clarke and Sensei John McCarthy. I have black belts and instructor certificates in Kickboxing and Muay Thai. My academy is affiliated with Pedro Sauer Jiu Jitsu Association for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I am aiming next year to work towards Wing Chun certification with the amazing Sifu Francis Fong. I have been training and studying in martial arts continuously for 30 years and it is what I have done ever since I chose martial arts as both my career and love.

Q. Can you give us a background about your school.

A. It’s called Laurence Sandum’s Black Belt Martial Arts Academy. It is based in Essex. In March 1999, I bought a post office, newsagent and bungalow after I had obtained planning permission to join them all together to create a martial arts academy. I have done numerous improvements to the academy over the years, including extensions. In 2005, I purchased the next-door property to enlarge my training space.

Before I purchased my academy, I taught full time for three years in sports halls, village halls and community centres, creating a good student base. I then put together a 30-page detailed business plan stating my projections for the next year, as well as for the next three years and five years. I submitted this to the bank and obtained a mortgage to purchase the property needed for my academy.

I like to keep a white belt mentality, realizing that I always have lots to learn and I can always improve. I surround myself with people I consider to be the best martial artists in the world. I am fortunate that for the past 16 years, I have been able to concentrate full time on training and studying martial arts and passing my knowledge on to my students and a great team of UK Martial Arts Self Defence Association (UK MA SDA) instructors.

Q. What are your most important teaching methods? And what are the most important qualities for a student to become proficient?

A. There are so many great teaching methods and being with an organisation like EFC has taught me a lot of great drills and skills and methods of teaching, which we use at our UK MA SDA-recognized instructor training program. Really great teaching is not just about teaching methods, but about observation of what is really going on in front of you, a genuine interest in the student, love of your students and love of the arts. I believe I have seen this with Guro Dan Inosanto in the last 15 years I have spent with him, and also for the last 15 years with my Judo and Sombo instructor Sensei John McCarthy, and more recently with my exposure to some other great masters such as Sifu Francis Fong and Professor Pedro Sauer. These masters have so much love and passion for the art and helping students and such great observational skills that how could one not be inspired to be the best that they can be?

For a student to become really proficient, they need to search out an instructor who is not in it for the money but in it for the love of the arts and the improvement of their students. Students themselves have to have a white belt mentality, even if they have some previous experience, and must be invested in self development and love of the art and not interested in competing against others. Students will grow and become proficient if they realize that it is a never-ending journey to be enjoyed everyday and not a single destination to be reached.

Q. You travel to the US frequently. What is the purpose behind this?

A. That’s correct. At the EFC Summit, I always learn massive amounts on topics such as teaching skills, student service and retention and many other areas. I booked the September 2013 Washington Summit as soon as the date was announced. I make sure that the staff I take attend all of the sessions, including the ones starting at 7 a.m.! They are inspired and learn new drills and skills to share with students. For the past two years, I have especially enjoyed Nubreed Academy’s sessions, though they are all great and worthwhile. I would encourage everyone to attend the next EFC Summit and to get fully involved while you are there.

The main purpose of my trips abroad is to train with masters of martial arts. In LA and New York I studied with the amazing Guro Dan Inosanto. I have also booked to go to Sifu Francis Fong’s “Train with the Masters” seminar in Atlanta this September, where over a long weekend I will get to train with Sifu Fong, Guro Inosanto, Professor Sauer and Ajarn Chai Sirisute. I can’t wait. I train for the love of the arts and to pass the knowledge on to my dedicated team of instructors and students. The primary purpose of the trips is not business, but it has a positive knock on effect on the business in that I always return energized and inspired from training with such amazing people. My students feel this increased positive energy, enjoy their training more and hence refer more people.

Q. Please share your thoughts on EFC.

A. I think the EFC is great. “Dependability, Trustworthiness, Rock Solid Integrity.” This is what the EFC is about. This is what my academy and association are about, and I am so glad I found EFC. Because everything EFC does is honourable and with integrity, I am not afraid to use all their systems. If you love martial arts, train with the best of the best, follow the EFC systems and do it all with integrity and love of the arts, you will be successful and happy and so will your students.

EFC is great for networking with the best of the best in whatever arts you study. In particular, EFC has introduced me to Sifu Luigi Cuellar and Sifu Alex Chan. These two are not only great martial arts, but also really know how to look after their students, and they follow EFC systems closely. Sifu Francis Fong is also another great Kali, Jun Fan and Wing Chun Master within EFC. In December I flew Sifu Francis Fong and Sifu Luigi Cuellar to my academy to conduct a seminar and I have already booked Sifu Francis Fong to return in February 2013. I consider them friends as well as mentors and instructors.

If you are with EFC and are not yet regularly networking and training with the best of the best in whatever art you study, you are missing out on improving both your life and the quality of training at your school.

As an EFC member, we will handle all of your collections, contacting late payers, sending welcome letters and dealing with any paperwork and banking matters for you. This allows you to focus all of your energies on running a first-class School rather than sitting in an office dealing with paperwork.

Our highly trained staff are on call to handle any membership queries from your students via telephone, e-mail or letter. Because we are specialists in Martial Arts schools and leisure clubs, we know the best way to handle issues and provide a service tailor made to the industry.

Advice on running your School

We have been in the Martial Arts business globally for over forty years, and have a huge amount of information to offer you on growing your School into a thriving business. You can avoid making the common mistakes when building up your School. Joining the us allows you to tap into the vast network of EFC Schools, and exchange advice and new ideas. At the EFC we believe “the rising tide lifts all boats,” and the sharing of knowledge between schools helps everybody.

Your own personal Account Manager

Upon joining us, you will be assigned your own Account Executive who will be your first point of call when contacting us. They will track your progress, and pre-emptively handle any potential problems with your memberships, provide tailor made advice and information for you depending on your situation. We are always pleased to hear from you, and often arrange weekly catch up telephone meetings to keep ourselves appraised of your current situation.

This is just a brief summary of the advantages we can offer you as a member, please explore the rest of the site to find out more about our company, and tap into the information freely available on the site to get a taster of what else we can do for you.

Francis Fong

Talent is not everything. If people have negative energy and a negative attitude, they never will succeed, no matter what they do in life. They blame other people for their failures, or blame it on something instead of taking responsibility for their actions. Your enemy is your own self. Control your temper, selfishness, attitude, and discipline. Martial arts will help to ground you and understand who you are. You have to keep your balance.

It is very important to have positive energy. Attitude will determine your behavior. I always tell my students, “trying doesn’t work.” “Trying” never works, because when people try, their mind is set on trying and not doing. When you try, you don’t put 100 percent effort into what you do. When someone asks you if you can do a job, do you say you’ll “try the best” or do you say you will “do the best”?

All you have to do:

As an EFC client all you have to do is arrange for your students to complete and sign a Direct Debit Mandate and an agreement form which we will provide to you and on receipt of these we will do the rest.

Agreements are entered on our database on the day they are received and you will be able to track all of your student accounts on our real time client web site ‘Aquila Connect’, using your IPhone, Blackberry or PC at any time 24/7/365.

Payment to you:

At month end we will issue a comprehensive report to you detailing the fees we have collected during the month and the full amount collected less our commission will be paid directly to your account. This will ensure that you have a consistent monthly income, which is essential for any business to operate profitably.

Your Account Executive:

As an EFC Client you will be assigned an AE (Account Executive) who will monitor your account, effectively becoming part of your team. Your AE will rapidly follow up on a default payments, keeping you advised of progress. Whilst communicating with students your AE will always work in the best interests of your school, reminding students of the values and benefits of your programs.

Meetings and Seminars:

We hold regular meetings where you can learn cutting edge business development ideas from top school owners. Our Annual International EFC Summit is attended by nearly a thousand school owners every year and it is an essential opportunity to learn from the best business people and school owners in the martial arts field.

Support materials:

Your AE will notify and remind you about EFC events and meetings, as well as helping you to use the EFC on-line services and support material, which includes Audio CD’s, Graphic CD’s, Eagle Express magazines and a library of on-line materials.

EFC Connect:

Your AE will also connect you with any resource, networking relationship, or martial arts support materials you may need, either directly or via our email help service EFC Connect.

Elite Consulting Group:

Being an EFC client will allow you to join our elite consulting group MAUI (Martial Arts University International) led by top EFC client Kyoshi Steve LaVallee.