BMAC in an Elevator

​Have you heard of the elevator speech? 
 
It’s a term often used in business meaning a short description of an idea, product, or company that explains the concept in a way such that any listener can understand it in a short period of time.   The name reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.

Questions Questions

Over the years we have had a lot of enquiries from prospective members through our Contact Us page.  These usually encompass one or more of these questions.

1. Am I too young / old to start training?
2. I’m not very fit, is that a problem?
3. I’m not very big, is that a problem?
4. What does your club train in?
5. Will I get hurt?

​With those in mind, what would an elevator speech for BMAC look like?  I’ve always felt it’s important that we have a such a message for anybody interested in our club.  They may have no prior knowledge of martial arts so that first conversation cannot be an in-depth exploration of what we do.  This is for two reasons – 1) it is unlikely to provide the right information and 2) we only have an elevator ride to say it.

What's Your Pitch?

I asked the club for their 30 second pitches and a big thank you to everyone who contributed their speech.  Let's start with my own,

Scott: Our martial art is like a hybrid of many others.  We focus on self-defence and use kicks, punches, throws and locks to do this.  We practise standing and ground skills such as sparring and wrestling.  You can start at any age; we have male and female members, from teens up to 60s and size is not important.  Regardless of your starting level, training will improve your fitness.  I can’t promise you won’t get hurt but injuries are exceedingly rare, and you will be looked after by our members.  

Now that 30 seconds or so focuses on a very high-level description of what we do and answering some of the typical questions.  How does my speech compare with other members of the club?  
 
Kate:  It's really good to have self-defence skills.  BMAC helps to keep you physically and mentally fit and is a total endorphin rush so you feel great after a session!  Get yourself to a session if you can, you won't regret it!
 
Emma: It's like a mixed martial art but without the bloody nose! It's based on self-defence. We take all the best bits from loads of different martial arts like karate and judo and taekwondo and combine them to make it really fun.  And it's great for anger management.
 
Jamie: The art I do is based on self-defence, not violence. We take all the really useful bits of many arts and combine them into one super-duper art. We train with folk from all walks of life and everyone is a valuable asset to further develop ourselves as practitioners. We work within everyone’s limitations and support everyone to achieve whatever goal they have their mind on. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of.
 
Ross: It’s a mixed martial art, but not the octagon UFC stuff you see on TV, we take all the useful and interesting bits of other martial arts like judo, taekwondo etc. And mix them together.  The focus is on self-defence and we have practitioners of from all walks of life, with different heights, weights and body types. It’s a great way to enjoy learning new skills, keep fit, boost confidence and meet fun people.  Come and give it a try on Tuesdays at 8pm, we are a friendly bunch and always welcome new people with all levels of experience and fitness.
 
John: It is one of the best decisions you will ever make a lot of the members came along for a one of session and are still going strong 15/20 years later how time flies great club great members:
 
Eric: I love it, fitness, camaraderie, discipline, stress relief it’s all there, come and try it on Tuesday 8pm, a free tester session and well give you 1 to 1 tuition.

Post Lockdown, Come and Join Us

You can see that we all have a different way to describe our club.  Some focus on the “what” we do.  Others highlight the “who” we are and the “why” someone should join.   I really like these different perspectives and there are no right or wrong answers here.   We can see what people personally take from training and want to share with others.
 
My own experience reflects this.  Looking back to 2007, I didn’t join because of a particular technique.  I came along to try it out, enjoyed myself and kept coming back.   Almost 14 years later and I’m still enjoying it, albeit we’ve been limited to virtual training for the last year due to COVID.   
 
So, if you are thinking about a new way to get fit once the lockdown ends (our fingers are crossed) then come along and try BMAC.  We’ll look after you, you will have fun, learn a lot of self-defence techniques, improve your fitness and make new friends along the way.  As you get more comfortable, the details will be filled in, the technicalities learned and the understanding of our martial art developed.
 
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We're sure they're singing BMAC in an Elevator...