Banzai Boomers

Harry Grimm fits the profile of the Baby Boom generation: He's old enough to retire but feels too young to park off without fulfilling some ambition.

Grimm, 57, believes there are many more people just like him who have long lists of things they want to accomplish before they “kick the bucket.”

For many baby boomers, that bucket list includes earning a black belt in martial arts. It's something many people have always wanted to do but have put off because of more pressing commitments such as children and careers in earlier years.

So Grimm opened Bucket List Martial Arts in Naples recently, a studio that targets older adults and doesn't accept kids or cage fighters. The studio is tucked away discreetly on the second floor of an office building, not a shopping center. “I didn't want big windows where you feel like you're in a fish bowl,” he says.

His target market is people born between 1946 and 1964, though he welcomes older people, too. “You don't have to be fit to start,” he says, though you have to be capable of walking up one flight of stairs to the studio.

Grimm's studio is only large enough to accommodate about a dozen students, so he can give each student plenty of individual attention. He has earned a fourth-degree black belt in Kenpo, which combines Chinese and Japanese martial arts into a system that emphasizes self-defense through sequential forms and techniques.

A carpenter by trade, Grimm and his wife owned and operated several large martial arts schools in Central Massachusetts for 20 years. These were family centers with as many as 500 students.

As he approached retirement age, however, Grimm decided to move to Naples and open a smaller school. “This is my semi-retirement project,” he says.

Grimm aims to sign up between 75 to 100 older students who will pay $199 a month for two classes a week, but he says he only needs about 20 students to break even in the first year. At that twice-weekly pace it takes about four years to earn a black belt. “As you get closer, it'll take more training,” he says.

He's confident he'll get customers because retirees in Naples have two precious commodities: time and money. He says there are 23,000 prospective customers with annual household incomes in excess of $60,000 within a short distance from his studio. He says most of these folks don't want to learn with children and feel they're too young for low-impact martial arts such as Tai Chi.

To market Bucket List Martial Arts, Grimm plans to make presentations to community groups, churches and gatherings in the Naples area. His brochures feature an older man with a gray beard striking a pose.

Grimm plans to offer a free week of lessons to get prospective students acquainted. “We're looking for like-minded people,” Grimm says. “They like to socialize with people their own age.”

One of the challenges for martial arts schools is the relatively high dropout rates after students hit a plateau in their training. Grimm overcomes that by asking students to sign a contract agreeing to 100 classes, which will lock in their monthly tuition for a year. While he always lets students out of the contract with a 30-day notice for any reason, the deal helps retain students who might waver at the first challenge.

Grimm says while he teaches the true Kenpo martial arts, he does so in a way that's tailored to his students. For his boomer clientele, he'll focus on balance, coordination and range of motion. In the first year, there's no sparring or contact against opponents.

Besides, the system Grimm teaches emphasizes the use of hands more than legs. “No jump flying kicks,” he grins.