At first glance, it seems great that we have close to 90 members in our community, but the not-so-great truth is that only a small handful of members actually engage and contribute. Moreover, it's almost exclusively those members who have upgraded to either the Premium or VIP tiers who do all the engaging and contributing. Funny... It's as if they invested something, so they want to get something out of it... Imagine that. I've invested something, too... and I definitely want to get something out of it - so, I am going to ELIMINATE the FREE STANDARD TIER as of June 15th. If you are currently a Standard-Tier member, you will need to UPGRADE before then to remain in the community. At the end of the day on Monday, June 15th, I will run down the list of community members and remove anyone who has not upgraded.

We're getting the Online Class dialed in. Tomorrow, we be doing it slightly differently - using the Skool "call" option as opposed to the Skool "webinar." Fingers crossed that this different option makes it more organic. Also, as pretty much everyone agreed, it's important to keep your microphone muted unless you're needing to respond to a question or ask one yourself. That should minimize or eliminate any feedback issues. Beyond the Online Classes, though, what can I be doing/providing to incentivize the community members who are presently on the free Standard tier to upgrade to Premium? As you might imagine, I ask for a very simple and pragmatic reason –– If this platform can serve as a source of income for me, that incentivizes me to turn more time and attention to it. And I would not have started this community if I didn't want to do that. So, with the understanding that I do, indeed, want to bring more value and benefits to you, the community member, please let me know exactly how I might best do that. I added the option of taking private online lessons the other day and I'll teach the first on Thursday. Again, I have the school space 24/7/365 and I can have a student or two present to demonstrate with, so if you're halfway around the world from me and you want to learn, get a training partner and share the cost of doing privates with them. Joe Hyams - the author of Zen In The Martial Arts and a former private student of Bruce Lee – trained privately with me (exclusively) for 20 years.

It took quite a bit of doing and uploading time – which happened at the speed of paint drying – but I finally got the first class uploaded to the library. Because it took so much time, I'll leave it up for a full 24 hours starting now. I know it says 0%. Ignore that, open the Online Class Library and you'll see the Inaugural Online Class - that's it!

We did a sort of impromptu online class the other day, just to see if we could and to see if it would reveal any technical issues that we need to resolve before beginning online classes in earnest. As a test, it went very well. In fact, it went so well that what I scheduled as a one-hour informal session ended up going nearly two and a half hours. It really was an enlightening conversation and I came away feeling absolutely convinced that committing myself to teaching online classes is worth the substantial investment of time and energy it will take to do it right. The Skool platform allows me to record every class and to add it to an ever-growing library that will be available (for VIP members) to review and learn from. Moreover, as it is my intention to build an additional library of encapsulated lessons, teaching such interactive online classes will help me to determine exactly what lessons need to be recorded and made available. I’m excited and I’d really like all the members in my community to take part. At just $37 a month, it’s kind of a no-brainer to join in. And for those who currently train in my in-person classes, online classes will be a great supplement... particularly for those who can't make it to as many in-person classes as they would like. So, please click the link (https://www.skool.com/fma-mastery-markmikita/plans) and upgrade to either the Premium or VIP tier and let’s get this going. I intend to start classes this coming week and I want everyone there. – Guro Mark Mikita

Many thanks to Rich Endo, John Fawcus, Carlos Pamplona, Bill Evans, Ed Compton and Rodrigo Scattone for joining the online test session this evening. It revealed a lot of things and raised a few questions I'll be looking to get answered about the platform to make classes all the better. As I requested of everyone who joined, let me know what days and times really work best for everyone... talk to each other! I'm willing to set class times in the morning, afternoon or evening... whatever dasys and times will allow the most members to participate. So, speak up!