The Effect of Modern Marketing on Martial Arts and Traditional Martial Arts Culture‪.‬

Abstract This paper examines the effect of modern marketing strategies upon martial arts activity in the United States. The concentration of the inquiry is twofold. How has marketing effected the economic activity of the martial arts business industry? How has marketing effect the martial arts culture? This paper begins with a historical analysis of the evolution of martial arts as a business practice involving the use of marketing to gain customers. Martial arts marketing practices have proven most effective when they are personal due to the geographic location of specific schools or the instructor-client relationship. Internet marketing is a synthesis of personal and mass marketing, providing readily available information in a client's home while offering to the martial school the potential audience of a large mass marketing campaign. Marketing has generated sufficient commercial interest in the field, transforming martial arts into a thriving business.