The Partner License,
walked through honestly.
A direct evaluation of the $47,997 Partner License: the $341K projected net at full capacity, the $53K total launch capital, and the qualification screen that protects both sides. Watch this first if you're short on time. The deep architecture, financial model, and the full math run below. (The walkthrough was recorded under the earlier royalty-based structure and cites $285K net, the current flat-fee model nets higher.)
Three different lives.
Three different licenses.
Each tier is a legitimate destination, not a stepping stone to the next. Pick the one that matches the life you actually want, and the math you can actually run.
For the working professional who wants a real second income, not a starter franchise. Teach at academies, run weekend workshops, give private lessons. Keep your day job.
For the operator who wants full-time income without a building or a staff. Birthday parties, corporate events, school programs, festivals. Your van is your dojo.
For the operator who wants a real academy business. Full academy + Saber Tag X-treme league + 8 revenue streams. The ceiling is here.
LSTA academies serve teens and adults, ages 13 and up. Teen participants (13-17) require parent or guardian consent. Commanders may maintain separate kids programming under their existing brand. Grandfathering: Any current under-13 students enrolled prior to the policy effective date may complete their current sash level before transitioning. All new enrollments are 13+.
Built for Operators.
Not for Martial Artists.
The Commanders running this aren't martial arts masters. They're community builders, team leaders, and operators who saw a category nobody else was building in. Here's whether that's you.
- You're 32–50 years old with $50K+ in available capital and you've been thinking about owning something of your own.
- You've run something before: a team, a side business, a department. You know what it takes to make a thing go.
- You think in words like "build," "movement," "people." Community isn't a marketing concept to you, it's how you naturally operate.
- You can dedicate 12–15 focused hours per week, and you'd rather work on something that's yours than work harder for someone else.
- You're comfortable being early. You'd rather be first in a wide-open category than 401st in a crowded one.
- You want a passive investment with no operator role. This requires showing up. Not 60 hours, but more than zero.
- You want a proven 50-year-old franchise with case studies in every market. We are a focused network, not a legacy franchise chain. That's the upside and the risk.
- You're not financially prepared. Total launch capital including marketing runway is approximately $53,000. If that creates real strain, this isn't the right time.
- You don't enjoy being around people. The product is community. If gathering people on a Saturday morning sounds draining, the model won't work for you.
- You want to change the curriculum to fit your existing martial arts school. Commanders run the LSTA system as designed. That's the deal.
If both columns describe you accurately, the next step is the Discovery Call. The market-fit check happens there. GET IN TOUCH →
Built by Champions.
Licensed to Operators.
You're not licensing a name. You're licensing a system designed by world champions, a national titleholder, a military contractor, and a Hollywood stunt director. Then proven at the founding Norfolk academy before it was offered anywhere else. When you sign, this is the team behind the curriculum your students train on.
Built a landmark U.S. light sword academy · Entrepreneur of the Year · Featured on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox · Parks & Recreation Contract
3× WEKAF National Champion · NASM-Certified Trainer · U.S. military contracts, Langley AFB & Fort Eustis
2× World Champion · 2004 Olympics Performer · Black Belt Magazine Feature · 2nd-Gen JKD, Bruce Lee lineage
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 · Tenet · The 5th Wave · 101 Stunt Credits on IMDb · JKD · Capoeira · Kempo · Judo
"I completed the entire certification online, no travel, no in-person requirement. Within 90 days of receiving my license I had my first students enrolled and my academy was operational. The system, the curriculum, the support, everything was already built. I just had to show up and run it."
Now Keith coaches on Monday nights, runs league events, and has built something in his city that didn't exist before, a community, not just a business.
The Conversion Bridge
Most academies rely on referrals and hope. This system doesn't. The Conversion Bridge is a proprietary 4-step process with scripts, documented triggers, and proven conversion rates. It turns $25 Saturday walk-ins into $2,000+/year members: automatically, repeatably, in any market.
Saturday walk-in → free Thursday pass. The Taste Script.
3rd Thursday → season pitch. "Lock in your spot."
Season finale → free Monday preview. "See what ranked players train."
Preview ends with enrollment offer. "First month includes league."
Norfolk founding academy result: 10 Day Pass events run using this exact script sequence. 8 converted to enrolled academy students. That's an 80% end-to-end conversion rate, not a projection. The model you're buying is the model that produced that number.
Year-over-year compounding math (Year 1 $37K → Year 3 $211K recurring) is in the full business plan. SEE THE FULL BUSINESS PLAN ON THE CALL →
A proprietary system. Already built. Already proven. Already running in live markets across the country.
Book a Discovery CallFirst question: is this right for your market?
We onboard a limited number of operators each year, and the founding cohort is filling now. The Light Sword combat category barely exists yet, in most U.S. markets, no one has started. The Discovery Call gives you a straight read on whether the model fits your specific situation before you go further.
Model Your License. Live.
Pick your license tier. Drag the sliders. Numbers update in real time on the right. This is a working financial model. The same one our existing Commanders used to evaluate before signing. All figures reflect actual page-documented rates including the flat monthly platform fee and rec center revenue share. LSTA takes no percentage of your revenue, no royalties, no revenue share.
Teach at academies, run workshops, private instruction · flat $59/yr LSMAF Coach dues · Break-even ~3 months · $30K–$60K/year
Sessions, students per session, and fee. These three drive your annual revenue. Defaults are pre-set to a typical scenario.
Includes $15K equipment kit · Birthdays, corporate, festivals · No LSTA Licensing fee · Break-even ~2 months · $60K–$180K/year
Events per month and average fee. Together they determine your gross revenue. Defaults are pre-set to a typical scenario.
8 revenue streams · flat $285/mo platform fee · Rec center 30% share · Break-even ~4 months · $341K projected net at 120 students*
These three drive ~80% of your bottom-line number. Defaults are pre-set to a realistic Year-1 scenario.
Your investment credits in full toward the Partner License upgrade.
When You Talk to Your Household About This
$47,997 is a household decision. Here are the three questions your partner will ask, and the straight answers.
No lease. The rec center model means you pay 30% of revenue, only after you earn. Zero fixed overhead before your first student walks in.
The Partner License includes a 15-student launch commitment within 90 days. If you don't hit it, LSTA keeps working with you until you do. You are not launching alone.
Average break-even is 4 months. The Conversion Bridge is the reason. $25 walk-ins become $2,000+/year members within 90 days on the system.
When you reach out, our team will set up a call, bring your partner if you have one. We'll answer every question, including the ones not on this page.
If those numbers look right and your household conversation goes the right way, the next step is the Discovery Call. 45 minutes. No pitch. We tell you straight whether this is a fit for your market and whether the math works.
Get In Touch →Your First 30 Days,
Step by Step.
Most people stall because they can't visualize starting. Here's exactly what Day 1 looks like.
Your application is approved. LSTA HQ finalizes your operator agreement. A dedicated onboarding call is scheduled within 48 hours.
You get full access to the Shadow Warrior platform and the master-coached form review system. Your LSTA advisor sends the first rec center pitch on your behalf using the included playbook.
Rec center or school space secured. Your first Day Pass event is on the calendar. LSTA provides the marketing templates. You post, you show up.
Walk-ins attend. The Taste Script runs. Thursday League Night invitations go out. The Conversion Bridge is live, not theory, not prep. Live.
First academy students enrolled. League night cadence established. You have 60 days remaining on the 15-student launch commitment, with LSTA working alongside you the entire time.
Most of the business runs without you. Here's the split.
12–15 hours per week is the operator commitment, mature operation. The system handles the rest.
The system is the business. You are the operator. That distinction is why 12–15 hours is real.
The WISE, Warrior Intelligence System Edge
The Partner License isn't two businesses. It's one operating system with four layers: each designed to run without you, compound on each other, and give every student a reason to stay, compete, and grow. This is what separates Saber Kinetics from a typical martial arts license.
Between mat sessions, your students record their form on a phone and submit it to a certified Shadow Council instructor for personal video critique, not algorithmic feedback. Real coaches, at scale, on the same standard you teach in the academy. This is what students pay for. A layer you will not find at a typical martial arts school.
Your members don't just train. They track recovery, nutrition, and performance between sessions on the AcadevoFit app. The Wellness Platform keeps them engaged seven days a week, not just on the nights they're in your gymnasium. Retention goes up. Cancellations go down.
Your Saber Tag X-treme league runs on electronic scoring backed by Century Martial Arts. Every result feeds national standings. Your students are ranked. That ranking is permanent, public, and a reason to never leave. This is the compete layer, and your league is it.
The complete 12-volume operations playbook: enrollment, events, sponsorships, community, and scaling. Every subscription includes an AcadevoFit Martial Arts Pro management account: lead capture, automated follow-up, member billing direct to your bank, retention campaigns, and live competition scoring. The curriculum teaches the system. AcadevoFit runs it.
GRANDMASTER: AcadevoFit Martial Arts Pro ($2,364/yr standalone) included at $1,997/yr. The platform costs more than the subscription.
Train inside the WISE. Compete with the edge. , This is the operating system your academy runs on from Day 1.
What People Ask Before They Apply
Keith Nye completed his entire certification online. No prior martial arts instruction experience required. You're not being asked to be a master. You're being asked to run a business using a system that already has the curriculum, the rank progression, the scripts, and the conversion system built into it. Your job is operations and community. The academy teaches itself.
Ten million collectible sabers are sold every year, and almost none of the people buying them have access to structured combat training. That gap exists in every market: suburban, urban, military town, college town. The Conversion Bridge was built specifically to turn curious walk-ins into paying members without depending on an existing martial arts community. You're not competing with the karate school down the street. You're talking to people who would never walk into it.
Most Commanders operate 12–15 hours per week in Year 1. Two training nights, one league night, one Saturday Day Pass event, and the admin in between. The structured curriculum gives every class a documented lesson plan. The Conversion Bridge runs the enrollment process. The scripts handle the sales conversation. The system is designed to run: your job is to show up, build the community, and manage the operation. This is not a 60-hour-a-week job. It is a serious business that respects your time.
Commanders Come From These Backgrounds Most Often.
Not requirements, mirrors. The model has been built to work without any of these. Keith Nye had none of them and was operational in 90 days.
Comfort with rank structure, systems thinking, discipline culture. The academy's hierarchy mirrors what you already know.
Already run seasonal cohorts. Already know rec centers. Already manage parents, schedules, and registration. Same model, better margin.
The Day Pass event is your acquisition engine. If you already produce Saturday events, the hardest part is already your strength.
You already have community relationships and understand recurring membership economics. Now there's a curriculum to sell it with.
A Growing National Network.
Founding Operators Already Running.
Operators across the U.S. and internationally are already active and running. We onboard a limited number of new operators each year, and the founding cohort is filling now. And in 2026 the federation fields a Team USA world-championship competitor (GSBA Worlds, Germany). The sport is ascending toward international recognition and a World Games bid, and every founding operator’s position appreciates with it.
Read the documented deployments behind this model: military, civilian academy, municipal →
Network operators across the U.S. and internationally have made this decision. Every single one is active and running. This is a movement, not a pilot program.
Three different lives. Three different licenses.
Each is a complete operating model, not a step toward the next. Pick where the math fits the life you want. Prior investment credits toward upgrades if you change your mind.
If you've read this far, you're looking at the Partner License. That's the right instinct. The Instructor and Mobile paths are real, but they're built for a different operator. The Partner License is the full model: the complete Conversion Bridge, all 8 revenue streams, and the 15-student launch commitment. Everything else on this page describes what that license enables.
What we commit to: 15 enrolled, paying academy students within 90 days of your first Day Pass event.
If you don't hit it: LSTA continues working alongside you (additional coaching, event support, and marketing guidance), until you reach 15. No expiration on that commitment.
The one condition: You must run the system: the Day Pass events, the Conversion Bridge sequence, the scripts as provided. The commitment covers execution of the model, not substitution of it.
You don't need 120 students to have a real business. You need 15. The Bridge takes it from there.
Most operators come to Partner first. Some come to Instructor or Mobile and stay there, because that's the life they actually wanted. Both choices are correct. If your circumstances change, prior investment credits in full toward an upgrade. But the Instructor running a $50K side business and the Mobile operator booking $150K in events are not waiting to "graduate", they're already where they wanted to be.
For the working professional who wants a real second income, not a starter license. Teach at existing academies, run weekend workshops, give private lessons. Keep your day job. Five sessions a week pays back the license in your first quarter.
For the operator who wants full-time income without a building or a staff. Birthday parties, corporate events, school programs, festivals. $15K equipment kit included. Your van is your dojo, go where the customers already are.
Every Commander Has a Next Level
Your rank isn't ceremonial, it's your revenue milestone made visible. More students means more margin, more influence, and more equity in your business. The system is designed so each level funds the next.
Certification complete. You've opened your academy and you're enrolling your first students. Every system is live, your only job is to fill the room.
Word is spreading. Your margins are compounding. This is where the business starts paying you, not just covering costs. Steady cash flow, predictable enrollment.
Full-time academy income. Your academy runs on systems, not your presence. You're competing on the national circuit and your community knows your name.
Top 1% of Academy Commanders nationwide. You've built something that outlasts you: a community institution, a feeder pipeline to nationals, and equity that compounds.
The 15-Student Launch Commitment means your first rank milestone is backed, LSTA keeps working alongside you until you hit it. Most Commanders hit Captain within their first competition season.
$47,997 vs. What Else $48K Buys You
Your buyer's brain will make this comparison anyway. Here it is, honestly.
| BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY | ENTRY COST | BREAK-EVEN | NET MARGIN |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDonald's Franchise | $1–2M+ | 3–5 years | 6–8% |
| Anytime Fitness | $300–500K | 2–4 years | 10–15% |
| Typical Martial Arts Franchise | $50–150K | 1–2 years | 20–30% |
| Independent Dojo (cold start) | $30–80K | 12–18 months | 15–25% |
| Saber Kinetics Partner License | $47,997 | ~4 months | ~71% |
You've probably been pitched a franchise, a passive income model, or a business opportunity before. You're right to be skeptical. Here's what's structurally different about this one: there is no physical location obligation: no lease, no build-out, no fixed rent. There are network operators already running this, none of whom are anonymous. The financial projections are tied to a documented conversion system, not assumptions. And in nearly every U.S. market the category is still unclaimed, no direct competitor has built there yet. You are not evaluating another franchise pitch. You are evaluating whether to be first in a market where the category barely exists yet.
The comparison isn't this versus another franchise. It's this versus whatever you're doing right now, and whether that's still where you want to be in three years.
Partner License Financial Summary
8 revenue streams at 120 students. Full line-by-line breakdown in the business plan.
120 students · 8 streams
~60% variable, scales with revenue
~71% projected margin
monthly ops self-funding
Most expenses are variable. They scale with revenue, not against it. No fixed rent. No payroll obligations before you're profitable.
Monthly operations become self-funding by Month 4, revenue covers ongoing expenses. Full license fee recovery typically follows by Month 8–12 as the student base compounds. The Discovery Call walks your specific timeline.
Most businesses can't hit 63% net margin at our founding academy* because their biggest costs are fixed: lease, payroll, build-out. Those exist before the first dollar of revenue. This model has none of them. The rec center provides the venue. You pay 30% of revenue only after you earn. There is no payroll before you're profitable. There is no build-out. Almost every expense in this model is variable and contingent on earning, which means the margin compresses only if revenue is low, and the Conversion Bridge is specifically designed to prevent that.
No lease deposit. No build-out. No equipment purchase required, rec center supplies the venue. The $2–3K above the license is for marketing and peace of mind, not overhead.
Revenue goes back into student acquisition and equipment. This is normal. Break-even is the goal, not owner draw.
Once break-even clears, you set your draw. At 30 students the model supports a meaningful monthly income alongside continued growth.
Mature academy. Full 8-stream model running. Owner sets salary, retains equity, and operates a community-anchored business.
Exact draw amounts depend on your market, overhead, and growth pace. The Discovery Call walks your specific numbers.
At 120 students, the academy runs on its own cadence. Returning members train each other. The league structure drives its own enrollment. Your role has shifted from launch operator to community director. You show up for the culture you built, not the tasks it took to build it. The $341K net is the financial result. The real result is owning something in your city that people are proud to belong to, that didn't exist before you built it, and that no one else has built yet in your market.
The strategic case for $47,997.
You've seen the math. The $341K projected net. The $53K total launch capital. The qualification screen. Now the strategic case: why the architecture works, why the market matters, and why the screen exists. The capstone before you decide. (Recorded under the earlier royalty-based structure, the video cites $285K net, the current flat-fee model nets higher.)
Or skip ahead to reach out to our team.
You Don't Build Alone
Three partner types reduce your overhead and accelerate your growth. Plus a private network of active Commanders sharing what's working in real time.
30% Revenue Share. $0 Rent.
Year-round programming in their existing gymnasium. They earn when you earn. Zero cost, zero liability on their side. The rec center playbook is included with the Partner License.
Ask us about rec center partnerships →4 Schools × 30 Students.
$247/season × 3 seasons per year. School provides gym. You provide curriculum. The school alliance templates are included with your license, ready to send on day one.
Ask us about school alliances →104+ Events/Year.
4 tiers from $1,500 to $100K+. Real advertising inventory with 200+ engaged participants and 45-min avg dwell time. Sponsorship pitch decks included.
Ask us about sponsorship revenue →Every Partner License includes access to the private Commander network, active network operators across the U.S. and internationally sharing what's working, what's not, and what's coming next. Launch questions, marketing tests, event formats, seasonal tactics. You are not operating in isolation. You are joining a group of people who already solved the problems you're about to face.
You Will Never Sign a Lease.
The rec center model is built into every Partner License. A local recreation center provides the gymnasium. You provide programming. They earn 30% of revenue, but only when you earn. No lease. No build-out. No monthly rent obligation before you have a single student. The biggest financial risk in any brick-and-mortar business is eliminated on Day 1.
$47,997 not the right step?
Here’s where your path probably leads.
If you read this and realized the full academy isn’t quite your fit, you’re not lost. You’re routing. Pick the door that matches what you actually want, and we’ll take it from there.
Teach the system as a paid coach. Lowest-capital path into the operator network. Side income, not full-time.
EXPLORE INSTRUCTOR PATH →Saturday-only operations. No lease, no daily floor. Pop-up league format with federation pathway. Lighter operational load.
EXPLORE LEAGUE PATH →Already run a studio or academy? Test Light Sword on your existing floor for six weeks before committing to a license. Credit applies if you upgrade.
EXPLORE THE PILOT →If reading this, you realized you want to train the system (not run an academy), start here. Earn a real sash before you decide about the operator side.
EXPLORE TRAINING PATH →NOT READY TO BOOK THE CALL YET?
Two things to do before you are: read the Code of S.A.B.E.R. to understand the values this network operates by, and request the business plan below to review the full financial model on your own time. When you're ready, send us a note and we'll set up a conversation with a straight answer on fit.
Read the Code of S.A.B.E.R. →The model works. Your market may still be open. The only question left is whether you're the right person to run it, and that's what the call is for.
We review applications on a rolling basis and give you a straight answer on fit during the Discovery Call. Founding-operator enrollment is capped at 100 total. The call is where you find out if this is right for you.
You've been thinking
about owning something.
This is the category worth owning.
A Light Sword combat license for your market. Network operators across the U.S. and internationally have already made this decision, every one is active and running. Your market may still be open. The Discovery Call is the only way to know.
The founding operator cohort is filling now. Connecticut closed March 2026.
See If This Fits Your Market