Free 18-Page Blueprint

Stop Running a Practice Group. Start Building a Real School.

I started teaching a small club in an outdoor skating rink. Today I run a 7,500 sq ft centre. Here's exactly how, distilled into 18 pages.

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20 years 70,000+ students through the door 300+ instructors trained

In 2004, I started teaching sword fighting to a small club in an outdoor skating rink.

No proper space. No gear budget. Training through rain, cold, and the occasional confused onlooker. I didn't have a business plan. I had a collection of historical fencing manuals and a stubborn belief that these arts deserved a real home.

The next year, I signed a lease on a space I couldn't quite afford. Twenty years later, Academie Duello is a 7,500 sq ft centre in downtown Vancouver with a full staff, an in-house cafe, and more than 70,000 students through the door. Along the way, I've trained more than 300 instructors through our certification programs. Some have started their own schools, others teach at schools around the world, and many teach here alongside me.

I've made most of the mistakes you're probably making right now. This blueprint is the short version of how I fixed them.

- Devon Boorman, Founder of Academie Duello

You Already Know the Problems

A promising new student walks in, trains hard for three weeks, then disappears. They couldn't see what they were supposed to learn next.
Your entire recruitment strategy is the "hope" method: hoping someone finds your Facebook page, or stumbles across your outdated website, or happens to walk past your park practice.
The "I-do-everything" trap: you're the head instructor, the equipment manager, the bookkeeper, the social media person, and the only one who knows where the spare masks are.
The 2am question: will this always be a hobby you pay for out of pocket, or could it become the thing that pays you?

None of this means you're not cut out for it. It means you've taken a club about as far as instinct alone can take it.

Here's what most instructors never hear: a niche martial arts school can be a real business. One that pays for itself if that's as far as you want to take it, or one that pays you a full-time living doing what you love, without watering down the art or your standards. This work is my living, and the living for a dozen people at Academie Duello. The blueprint is how I'd build it again from the start.

What the Blueprint Covers

Five areas that matter most when you're moving from informal club to professional school.

Choose Your Stakes

Side-hustle, non-profit, or full-time career? The answer changes every decision that follows: space, pricing, scheduling, everything. The blueprint walks you through the trade-offs so you choose with your eyes open.

Find Your Tribe

A "historical fencer" is not a "BJJ athlete." They find you differently, they stay for different reasons, and they need to hear different things. Learn to identify who actually wants what you teach, and how to talk to them in a way that lands.

Build the Syllabus

Give your students a reason to stay for three years, not three weeks. A visible path from first class to advanced practitioner changes everything about retention. It's the single biggest thing most niche schools are missing.

The First Contact

How to turn a curious email or a walk-in into a student on the mat. This isn't about ad budgets. It's about being findable, removing friction, and giving people a low-risk way to try.

Keep Your Promises

Retention isn't a hack. It's what happens when you make the right promises and consistently deliver on them. The blueprint covers the specific promises that matter most for niche martial arts schools.

From a Park to a Professional School

"Through Devon's guidance and mentorship I was able to take my small club of 5 people meeting in a park to becoming a professional school with our own space and more than 60 members in just over a year."

Andy Plymate Bridge City Blades, Portland OR

Before

5 in a park

After

60+ members

Timeline

~1 year

Get the Blueprint

18 pages. No fluff. The specific decisions and steps that matter when you're building a niche martial arts school.

What you'll get:

All 18 pages — no fluff, every page built to act on
Worksheets to turn the ideas into your own plan as you read
Written specifically for niche, weapons-based martial arts