Today we’d like to introduce you to Dion Riccardo.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Dion. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started Martial Arts at 13 years old. I was hanging around the wrong crowd. I met a Police Officer Tony Pelegrino who invited me to his gym for a class. I was hooked! Almost immediately I dedicated myself to training 5 days a week and I have not stopped.
In the over 35 years of training I have been fortunate to be able to train under some of the most legendary and iconic Martial Arts Masters.
Under the Private Instruction of Ron Balicki (a native Chicagoan who is one of the most sought out martial arts instructors worldwide. During the course of about 10 years my instructor Ron Introduced me to perhaps one of the most legendary Martial arts trainers & Bruce Lee protégé (one of only 3 certified to teach directly under Bruce Lee himself) Dan Inosanto.
These are just some of the coaches I have studied under that inspired me to stay on a single path dedicating myself to training and teaching martial arts.
After operating many martial arts schools my wife and I decided to open our first Academy in Forest Park Illinois and it was a huge success and we still operate our location their some 20 years later.
Except now we have expanded to 2 locations in the City of Chicago and 5 MMA gym locations in the suburbs (Plainfield, Naperville, Arlington Heights, Forest Park & Orland Park)
We offer daily classes in Kids Martial Arts & Focus Building lessons as well as Adult MMA, Kickboxing , Jiu Jitsu and Self Defense classes in a Safe, Clean and Fun Environment. Our students leave their class inspired!
We are so proud of the long list of Victory Martial Arts Reviews from around the web. In fact, oftentimes when interested people inquire they mention the amount of 5 star reviews we have at all of our gym locations.
Oftentimes, our reviews talk about how our method of teaching martial arts has helped them to lose weight, get lean & fit or perhaps even competitively fight in the cage. Most of our students come to just better themselves thru learning and training. However, we have a separate competitive team for those who want to challenge themselves in that way.
What’s perhaps even more interesting is what both parents and our adult students say about the Benefits they never expected from their training. For Example, many parents report that their children’s grades have improved and they are more self-disciplined than ever before.
Adult students report of Stress Relief and Confidence as being the biggest unexpected benefits of martial arts training at Victory. Each instructor goes through a rigorous certification process that ensures each class is taught by a professional Martial Arts Instructor who has also been taught the psychology of coaching.
In short, they know how to inspire and motivate and leave students wanting to come back for more, their passion can truly bee seen with their person attention in each training lesson.
Presently, we are growing our location base as well as expanding our horizon by creating an online martial arts academy for those that want to learn at home or do not live near a Victory MMA Gym. We are also doing much work training Law Enforcement, Private Security Firms, Women’s Protection Courses and Military
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The Challenge has been learning new skills, like business and marketing. I went from teaching and training students and other coaches to having an academy that I needed to operate and promote. Black belt in Martial Arts and White belt at business. So I quickly saw the need to immerse myself in the study of all things business. I read books, took course and spent thousands of dollars doing my at home study course on marketing.
It’s what inspired me for the past 10 years to personal coach other small business owners (some in the martial arts industry and some in other industries) how to operate and effectively market their business in half the time it took me to learn.
I think the biggest constraint of most small business owners is that they work hard IN their business but often overlook working ON their business. That was my challenge the first 3 years in operation.
Victory Martial Arts Chicago – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We have been passionately teaching students martial arts for over 30 years and have an online reputation that top notch. However that pales in comparison to how proud we are of the amount of times a student or parent of one of our kids classes tell us how their lives have been changed since starting training at Victory MMA gyms.
Yes, we do have fighters that have made it pretty far and we have won all sorts of top 100 martial arts school in the nation awards but again it’s no compare to the amount of people who have written me letters telling us how Victory Martial Arts Academy has changed their life!
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
The willingness to bear pain is how I define success.
The focus of success is BE-DO-HAVE.
We first focus on what we want to Become, we DO the things need to get their and finally we will have the goal we have sought!
The Black Belt Success Cycle is this:
1. Know what you want
2. Have a Plan & Success Coach
3. Take consistent action and be patient
4. Review your progress and renew your goals
This was taught to me when I turned 21 and it has worked thus far.
Champions are willing to become and do daily what others prefer to do occasionally….bear the pain of self-discipline to get to the outcome you want to achieve!
Contact Info:
- Address: Victory Martial Arts Chicago
329 W 18th St
Chicago, IL 60616
(312) 909-7751Victory Martial Arts Forest Park
1401 Circle Ave
Forest Park, IL 60130
(708) 524-1553Victory Martial Arts Naperville
1003 W Ogden Ave
Naperville, IL 60565
(331) 330-7501Victory Martial Arts Orland Park
15414 S 70th Ct
Orland Park, IL 60462
(708) 275-4250Victory MMA Gyms Chicago-Midway
5101 South Keeler
Chicago, IL 60632
(773) 957-8040Victory Martial Arts Arlington Heights
764 W. Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005
(224)345 9490Victory Martial Arts Plainfield
16108 IL-59 #126
Plainfield, IL 60544
(815) 200-4446 - Website: http://www.go4martialarts.com/locations/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/go4mma2day
- Other: http://www.YourMMAcoach.com
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
