Can You Make Money In Martial Arts? All Styles Ranked

September 12, 2022 admin

It goes without saying that if you are an expert in almost any martial art – you can make money by teaching and competing. However, not all martial arts are equal in terms of dollars earned. You will find that some martial arts pay A LOT more money than others. This is largely due to culture and popularity, but there are some other lesser-known factors too.

Martial arts can be a lucrative career, or it can be a low-level job that you are doing just to scrape by. This depends on individual effort but is also greatly affected by which martial art you are monetizing. This article will outline which martial arts are the best to make money, as well as the various ways you can make money within the specific martial art.

Martial Arts Money Making Capabilities

#1 BJJ – The Best And Safest Way To Make Money In Martial Arts

BJJ is by far the best way to make money in martial arts. You aren’t taking blows to the head, which is a real bonus compared to striking arts and really increases the longevity of your earning potential. Not only this, but you don’t have to be the best in the world in order to make a good living from BJJ – in fact, you can be very enthusiastic and very average.

Owning a school – Being a school owner is obviously the most simple way to make money in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Granted, it is hard work, but if you’re a solid black belt who runs a good operation, there is no reason you can’t earn a mid-5-figure income.
Putting on seminars – If you’re a high-level BJJ practitioner or have a niche skillset in a particular guard or passing method. People will pay to attend your seminars. The income from this is heavily dependent on turnout but can earn you $1000-$2000 in a single weekend.
Grappling competitions – At the high level of BJJ, grappling competitions will pay competitors for a single match. Internet subscription-based companies such as FloGrappling will pay athletes to compete as they broadcast it to their subscribers.

Making instructional videos and courses – BJJ instructionals sell very well online in MP4 format. Generally, they sell for around $50 for a video that is a few hours long. This is pretty much a video-based seminar instructional that can be sold to thousands of people after it is produced.
Hosting Competitions – Unlike many other martial arts, creating a BJJ competition can be very lucrative. Hobbyist competitors are willing to pay $50+ for a weekend competition against people of a similar skill set. If you can provide this service, people will be more than happy to pay for it.

#2 Boxing – High Risk, High Reward

One of the most traditional martial arts there is. Western boxing is a sport where people don’t earn much money at the amateur level. In fact, most professional boxers do not earn a lot of money at all. However, if you become an elite boxer, you will be wealthier than any other martial artist. The reason for this is almost exclusively pay-per-view fights. As boxing is a heavily monetized sport that is broadcasted internationally, people from all around the world will pay to watch fights. This money filters into the hands of elite fighters, as well as their managers and training camps.

Owning a gym – Owning a boxing gym is not the best way to make money. People who attend a boxing gym are typically from blue-collar backgrounds and do not have a lot of disposable income. Boxing is a brutal sport and the people who train it are there for the love of fighting, rather than credentials or to make a lot of money. With that being said, you can make a living running a top boxing gym, but it is a lot harder than many other martial arts.
Becoming a professional boxer – As previously mentioned, dedicating the time to become a professional boxer is high risk, yet high reward. On the one hand, you may be left with nothing but injuries as a middle-aged man. However, if you do make it to the top level, the money is truly life-changing. 7-figure paydays are certainly not out of the question if you headline a big fight.
Training other professional boxers – Boxing is a sport where good trainers are very highly respected. If you make a name for yourself as a top-level boxing coach, money will not be a problem. The likes of Freddie Roach, Sugar Hill Steward, and Teddy Atlas have all been well paid for being in the corner of high-level fights.

#3 MMA – On The Rise

Mixed martial arts was a very poorly paid sport just a couple of decades ago. Almost nobody would make a living from MMA and renowned champions such as Frank Mir worked as a mechanic, whilst fighting main events at the same time. Whilst this still happens towards the lower end of MMA, almost all of the UFC fighters are now professionals. As MMA has grown in popularity, so has the ability to make income from it. Whilst it is nowhere near the level of pro-boxing just yet, it has already surpassed recreational sports such as judo in terms of earning power.

Going Pro – Sharing a similarity with boxing, MMA is a sport where the top 1% of fighters earn 99% of the money. It is extremely difficult to make a living fighting on local cards or even national events at the mid-high level. You’re almost never going to earn more than a 4-figure payday unless you are a huge personality with a large following. However, once fighters reach the elite level, it is not unusual to see 6-figure fights if they reach the main card of the UFC.
Owning An MMA Gym – Running and owning an MMA gym is not easy. It is considerably more difficult than owning any other martial arts gym since there is no doubt that you will need to employ other coaches. MMA is a sport where you need at the very least – 3 different coaches in various martial arts. This only adds to the expense of running a gym.

Training MMA Fighters – At the moment, this is not something that is very profitable. Even the coaches of high-level UFC fighters are not paid that well compared to top boxing coaches. The reason for this is due to the fights attracting less money overall. This could be something that increases in the future as MMA grows in popularity.

#4 Krav Maga & Self Defense – Good If Marketed Correctly

Krav Maga is already a reasonably well-promoted and marketed self-defense system. Unlike other martial arts, there are no real hard and fast rules to Krav Maga, so instructors are able to teach whatever they want. This also has its drawbacks as there is no sport setting for Krav Maga, therefore you cannot make a living as a professional Krav Maga fighter. However, there are other ways to make money with Krav Maga, but you must be a lot more creative and original.

Gym & Seminars – Owning a Krav Maga gym and teaching students is the most simple way to make money. One key benefit of teaching self-defense for money is that you will attract female customers. For some reason, martial arts is almost exclusively male, with only around 10% of practitioners being women. However, Krav Maga attracts people from all walks of life who want to learn self-defense. This increases the number of customers in your gym.

Videos & Instructionals – Unfortunately there are quite a lot of charlatans teaching “krav maga”. This is not a good thing in general, however, if you do show that your way of self-defense is superior, people will be willing to watch your videos and pay for online courses.

#5 Muay Thai – Brutal But Getting Better

The national sport of Thailand, Muay Thai provides a way out of poverty for many young men of the nation. However, Muay Thai is not just popular in Thailand and is practiced all over the world. Of course, Muay Thai has nowhere near the popularity of traditional boxing in the west, but in parts of Asia, this is not true. Now more than ever, you can make money as a Muay Thai pro, as well as making a lot more money coaching than you could in the past.

Owning A Gym In Thailand – Running a Muay Thai gym in Thailand is not like owning a gym in your own country. Of course, there will be regular students who come and train, but there are a lot of tourists and drop-ins. Making a Muay Thai gym in Thailand is almost like running a small hotel or bed and breakfast. Tourists are willing to pay for things such as training, meals, accommodation, and other luxuries that you can provide. Therefore you have 2 streams of income, rather than just one.

Owning A Muay Thai Gym In The West – Very similar to owning a traditional boxing gym. Running a Muay Thai gym in the west can make you a decent living off a 5-figure income, but will not bring in the tourists like a gym in Thailand.
Fighting Professional Muay Thai – Once again, fighting Muay Thai professionally is extremely tough and is generally not done just for the money. You will earn significantly less than both boxing and high-level MMA fighters. However, you can pick up a mid-5-figure sum if you are a main event fighter on a decent card.

#6 Wrestling – Average

Wrestling is a fighting art that is not really like any other style in terms of making money. Particularly in America, wrestling is high school and college sport with high acclaim and coaching positions. In other parts of the world such as western Europe, not many people care about wrestling and it will be extremely difficult to make a living this way. However, countries such as Iran and Russia also have a rich history of wrestling too.

Getting A Job At High School Or A College – If you are a top-level wrestling coach, it will not be difficult getting a job in a college or high school wrestling team. This will not make you rich, but it does provide a living for you and your family. This is certainly not a glamorous way to make money and is somewhat capped once you reach the highest levels of college. However, wrestling coaches generally aren’t in the sport for their love of money.
Professional Grappling – Due to the rise of popularity within BJJ and general grappling, it is now possible to make a living as a professional wrestler after college. If you are an elite athlete, you can tour the country taking part in super fights and running seminars. These generally pay in the low 4-figures, but are not bad for a day or two of work.
Coaching Outside Of College – Wrestling has benefitted hugely from MMA becoming more mainstream. As wrestling is such a prestigious skill within MMA, gyms are willing to pay for wrestling coaches. Once again, this is not an incredibly well-paid job but can provide a living for those who want to make money within wrestling.

#7 Karate – Not The Best Way To Make Money

An extremely traditional martial art, karate is taught in many forms. Full contact, kata, and everything in between. You will find both serious and casual karate gyms, sometimes within a stone’s throw of one another. Funnily enough, whether karate is trained for MMA or in a casual setting, there is no real correlation between either of these and how much money you can make as a gym owner. It mostly all comes down to how you market yourself and how professional you are.

Kickboxing Career – Karate is a good martial art in that it lends itself to modern-day kickboxing. Elite karate fighters are able to earn a decent living on the K1 tour, as well as other smaller promotions. As you may have expected, kickboxing does not pay as well as high-level boxing or MMA but is still good for those with a karate background.
Opening A Gym – You may not like it, but the best way to make money from a karate gym is by teaching kids. For whatever reason, parents love to send their kids to karate more than any other martial art. This means that if your gym is marketed in a family-friendly way, you can be very financially successful running a karate gym.

#8 Judo – Not So Great

In general, judo is not a sport that has a lot of wealthy participants. Not only this, but the culture of judo is very inclusive and is a martial art that is generally taught in a non-profit way. This is great for kids and young adults who want to learn a budget martial art, as it brings a lot of new faces into the sport. However, from a financial perspective, this means that your earning potential is severely limited. If judo is compared to BJJ, in terms of finance they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Becoming An Olympic Judoka – By far the best way to make a living from judo is to do well in the Olympics, as well as international events. Depending on what country you are from, there are often financial incentives for athletes who make the Olympics and win medals. In the west, these incentives usually aren’t that large, but in Asia, governments are very generous to Judo competitors.

Owning A Judo Gym – Not the best way to make money and is often not a full-time job. You can make a living running a judo gym, but it is nowhere near as profitable as owning a BJJ or Muay Thai gym.

#9 Kung Fu – Mixed

As Kung Fu is such a broad range of martial arts, it is very difficult to say whether you can make good money by teaching it. Within the west, Kung Fu is really not too popular at all and has fallen out of favor compared to the likes of kickboxing and grappling. However, if you are a master of a particular skill within Kung Fu, it is possible to have a full-time job in the martial art.

Kung Fu School – Much like other martial arts schools, the monetary gain of opening a Kung-fu dojo is not going to earn you anywhere near as much as a Muay Thai or BJJ gym. However, if you run kids’ classes, it is still possible to make a decent living by teaching.

Video Instructional & Seminars – As there is very limited information about kung-fu within the west, it is possible to garner interest through seminars and instructionals. This is particularly true if you are a master of the bo staff or any other unusual format. Since nobody else really knows about these things in the Americas or Western Europe, it is possible to sell your knowledge for money.

#10 Aikido – Not Good

In full honesty, there is not a lot of demand for aikido schools. Whilst aikido still has a baseline of popularity, it is not a martial art that is increasing in popularity or population. For whatever reason this is, it does not translate well to the financial aspect of things either. Whilst there are many professionals earning a living from various other martial arts, in Aikido this is not really the case. In fact, it is somewhat rare to see a dedicated aikido school in the west, with most having to share space with other businesses.

Owning an Aikido school – pretty much the only way to make money with Aikido is to own your own school. Even then, an aikido school will have far fewer students than the average judo, boxing, or wrestling club. Furthermore, aikido is not an expensive martial art, so students will not want to pay large amounts of money to train. Simply put, if you are teaching martial arts for money and have a wide range of skills, aikido would be one of the very last you would consider.