Our COVID-19 Success Story

It's been a year since our studios were ordered to close due to pandemic. But in reality we never closed. We did what successful businesses do. We adopted to the new reality.

In April 2020 we provided classes via video and live streaming. In May we started classes outdoors and in June we re-opened our studios for our students.

In one year we have instructed over 1,200 classes with an average attendance of 75 students per day.

During this period we had zero cases of COVID-19 connected to any of our studios.

How is that possible?

The answer is simple. Common sense and personal responsibility.

Since we are a membership based organization and are not open to the public contact tracing and communication with our members was already in place through our attendance software. Additionally, we asked our students and parents not to come to the class for 2 weeks if they experience any flu/cold-like symptoms or if they knew, that they were exposed to someone with COVID-19. It worked. Many times I received messages from our students that they had a cough and were going to stay out for a while.

Using my experience from working for over 20 years in the commercial cleaning industry, we immediately implemented enhanced cleaning and sanitizing procedures and encouraged our members to use hand sanitizers before, throughout and after the class. That minimized the possibility of contracting the virus through surfaces.

The last thing we had to do was to eliminate the possibility of contracting the virus from the air. We have accomplished that by installing hydroxyl generators in each location. Hydroxyl Generators are safe to use in occupied environments and can kill up to 99.9% of viruses and air contaminants, including COVID-19 and SARS-COV The hydroxyl creation process involves progressive/resistive Anatase TIO2 treated Mega Reactor Shield which was engineered to hold the maximum number of Highly Reactive Nano Sized Anatase Titanium Dioxide, and as a result whole electron pairs are produced that will then react with the H2O and O2 in the air and form free electrons and Hydroxyl Radicals that when dispersed by the fan will then neutralize air pollutants and break them down into carbon dioxide and water. The result - the highest quality, virus and contaminant FREE air, while we train.

We never mandated wearing masks, since the science on using masks to prevent contraction of COVID-19 was in my opinion, questionable, at best. Actually, according to WHO wearing a mask while training could lead to a number of pulmonary diseases. I was just not convinced that the benefits would outweigh the risks. Of course we left the decision up to our members. They are responsible for their health, and the health of their family.

As more and more population gets vaccinated and we're getting closer to achieving herd immunity, the risk of getting COVID-19 will be smaller and smaller, but I think that the pandemic has changed our outlook on personal hygiene and cleanliness of our surrounding for a long time.

Martial Arts Schools in the nearest future well be chosen not only for their program and the quality of training but also based on the level of sanitation. Luckily, we can deliver in both areas.

Written by Greg Dziewonski