In this episode of Tapped In, host David Figueroa Martinez explores how the viral marketing, fan-first philosophy, and pure entertainment value of the Savannah Bananas baseball team can be directly applied to modern Jiu-Jitsu schools. David breaks down how breaking away from strict, traditional martial arts paradigms can dramatically improve student retention, foster a welcoming gym culture, and turn everyday classes into an experience people look forward to all day. Whether you are a academy owner, a coach, or a student, learning to put the "fan" (or student) experience first is a game-changer for growing your community.
Key Takeaways
Prioritize the Student Experience: Like the Savannah Bananas make baseball endlessly entertaining, gym owners should make walking through the academy doors the absolute best part of a student's day.
Break Free from Rigid Paradigms: Tradition has its place, but strict, military-style environments often push modern hobbyists away. Infusing fun, community, and energy into your classes keeps people coming back.
Entertainment Boosts Retention: People don't just stay at a gym for the techniques; they stay for the atmosphere, the culture, and how the class makes them feel.
Chapters & Timestamps
00:00 – Introduction: Discovering the Savannah Bananas & Fan-First Entertainment
01:14 – The Paradox of Boring Baseball vs. Exciting Entertainment
02:08 – Applying the "Bananas Formula" to Modern Jiu-Jitsu Schools
03:41 – Breaking the Rigid, Traditional Martial Arts Mold
05:07 – Structuring Your Class Environment to Be Engaging
06:55 – Cultivating a Vibrant Community Beyond the Mats
08:14 – Focus on the Student Experience to Supercharge Gym Growth
09:55 – Outro, Social Media Handles, & Free Community Program
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Stay tapped in,
David Figueroa-Martinez
Founder, DFM Coaching Bjj
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Transcripts
Full Transcript
David Figueroa Martinez: Welcome to Tapped In. My name is David Figueroa Martinez of DFM Coaching, and today we're going to be discussing what the Savannah Bananas can teach Jiu-Jitsu schools. I recently came across—and I've known about them for a couple of years now—the Savannah Bananas. And if you don't know who they are, they are a baseball team based out of Savannah, Georgia. And they have completely revolutionized the way baseball is played, specifically for entertainment value. If you've ever seen their videos, they dance, they do tricks, they have a different ruleset than regular baseball, and their whole goal is to make baseball entertaining for the fans. They call it "fans first" entertainment.
And it's—it's wild because baseball traditionally is Looked at as a boring sport to watch, right? It's long, it's slow, there's a lot of downtime. But they have sold out every single game they've played for years now, and they have a massive following on social media. They have people traveling from all over the country just to watch them play. And it got me thinking about Jiu-Jitsu schools and how we approach our classes, how we approach our students, and the culture that we build within our academies. Because so often, we fall into this trap of being so rigid and so traditional that we forget that the majority of the people walking through our doors are hobbyists. They are people who are coming to us to escape their daily lives, to have fun, to get a good workout, and to learn something new.
And if your class is boring, if it feels like a chore, if it feels like a military boot camp every single day, you are going to lose people. You are going to have a high turnover rate. And so, what can we learn from the Savannah Bananas? The first thing is putting your students first. "Fans first" for them means everything they do is geared towards making sure the fans have a great time. For a Jiu-Jitsu school, that means "students first." Everything you do in your academy should be geared towards making sure your students are having a great experience. When they walk through that door, they should be greeted with a smile, they should feel welcome, the energy in the room should be positive, and they should leave that class feeling better than they did when they walked in.
Even if they got smashed, even if they had a tough training session, the overall experience should be positive. And that comes down to the environment you create as a coach or an owner. If you are constantly grumpy, if you are yelling at people, if you are making them feel dumb for asking questions, you are not putting your students first. You are putting your ego first. And that is a surefire way to kill your gym culture. The second thing is breaking the mold. The Savannah Bananas didn't just accept that baseball has to be slow and boring. They questioned the paradigm. They said, "How can we make this better? How can we make this more fun?" And they created "Banana Ball," which has entirely different rules that speed up the game and make it more exciting.
In Jiu-Jitsu, we have so many traditions that we just accept as gospel. "We have to line up by rank, we have to bow to the picture on the wall, we can't speak unless spoken to, we can't ask questions." All this rigid, traditional martial arts stuff that honestly, for the modern hobbyist, doesn't make any sense and it's not appealing. Now, I'm not saying throw away all structure and discipline. Discipline is important, respect is important. But you can have respect and discipline in a fun, loose environment. You don't have to be a drill sergeant to get your students to respect you. In fact, if you look at some of the best academies in the world, the environment is often very relaxed. People are laughing, they're joking, they're listening to music during rolling, but when it's time to technique, everybody focuses and pays attention because they respect the instructor and they want to learn.
So question those paradigms. Does your warmup really need to be 30 minutes of jumping jacks and pushups that bores everybody to tears and eats up half your class time? Or can you do a dynamic, Jiu-Jitsu-specific warmup that gets people moving, gets them laughing, and gets them ready to train? Does your class structure have to be the exact same every single day, or can you mix it up? Can you do situational rolling games? Can you do fun King of the Hill formats that get the whole room cheering and supporting each other? Bring that entertainment value, bring that energy into your classes. The third thing is building a community. The Savannah Bananas aren't just a baseball team; they are a community. They interact with their fans constantly on and off the field.
They do community outreach, they are active on social media, they make their fans feel like they are a part of the team. As a Jiu-Jitsu school, you need to build that same sense of community. Your students shouldn't just show up, train, and leave without ever talking to anyone. You want to create an environment where people want to hang out after class, where they want to grab a bite to eat together, where they support each other outside of the gym. Host team events, do potlucks, go out for food after a big tournament, do a community service project together. Make your academy a "third place" for your students. If you don't know what a third place is, it's a social environment separate from the two primary environments of home and work. For many people, Jiu-Jitsu becomes that third place, and the reason they stay isn't just because of the techniques you teach; it's because of the community they belong to.
They stay for the relationships. And when you have a strong community, your retention rate skyrockets. People will stay through injuries, they will stay through busy times at work, they will stay because they don't want to lose that connection with their friends. So think about how you can inject a little bit of that Savannah Bananas energy into your academy. Focus on the student experience, break out of those rigid, boring paradigms that don't serve your students, and actively work to build a strong, supportive community. I promise you, if you make your classes the best part of your students' day, your gym will grow, your retention will be incredible, and you'll have a room full of people who absolutely love being there.
