Owning A Tricking Gym, with Rory Bratter

Rory Bratter is a machine, having roots in tricking, martial arts, dance, fitness, basketball, and more, as well as running the Red Bull Throwdown in Atlanta last year. In addition to all of this he’s recently opened his own gym, and has been kind enough to share some wisdom and help anyone else looking to do the same.

Hey whats going on guys? I hope everybody is training hard and safety.

It was personally a dream of mine to open a Martial Arts school from when I was young. As I grew older my vocabulary of movement grew as well. Having the experiences to be around some of the best performance artists in the world I was quickly inspired to have much more then just a martial arts school. I am constantly inspired by movement, ranging from hip hop dance, to tricking, to even basketball. Having a place to inspire the next generation of athletes was always a dream to me.

I began Powerhouse Movement in October of 2013, so it’s still very young. I decided to start my gym because I wanted to have a place where all elements of movement can come teach and train their crafts together.

Powerhouse Movement is a “Movement” gym that offers classes, supports and endorses all types of movement (Martial Arts, Tricking, Tumbling, Breakdancing, Cheerleading, Circus Acro, All types of dance, Etc). We have classes offered daily as well as open gym sessions. It is located @ 20 Spencer St. Stoneham MA, 01280 USA.

The best part about running a movement gym is by far the experiences you have teaching the youth or training with peers. Watching athletes progress is fascinating to me, and I’m able to provide a place for athletes to progress. Theres is always such a cool vibe when people are training what they love to do. Learning new styles, giving and receiving inspiration is something that I cannot put a value on. Friendships are made and skills are traded every day, which in my mind is the way to promote the evolution of Tricking/Movement.

The hardest part of it for me is to take my time and make wise business decisions. Because I’m usually on the go, performing for the Celtics or Phunk Phenomenon, stunt work, training, teaching or organizing an event it becomes easy to make quick decisions that may bite you later. As a person who takes on a lot of challenges and projects at once, its important to take the time to really think about the decisions you make business wise. At the end of the day it is a business and you need to eat.

I would absolutely recommend trickers to open gyms. Its the way we are going to grow as a sport. The more people that are educated about tricking, the bigger the landscape of tricking, the level of tricking grows as well.

My advice to anyone opening a gym is to be financially prepared. You are not going to become a monster gym in a week. Have money to use for rainy days, there will be plenty. Do every performance and event you can!!!! Your retention is more important then your sign up, so you need to have a unique and quality product that people will get addicted to. You want to keep peoples interest for the long run and not just the 3 month phase. Create a positive culture. Remember why you started it, but don’t forget that it’s a business.

I hope this helps anyone who is looking to start a program or gym. Feel free to email me with any questions rory@powerhouse-movement.com. Thanks to everybody at Invincible Tricking for some of the remarkable things you guys are doing for the sport. You guys are amazing!

Check out more from Powerhouse Movement on their Facebook Page and website!

As well as all of this, Rory’s also just released his fantastic new sampler, check it out below!