Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason White.
Jason, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started martial arts in 1987. I wanted to start years earlier but my parents didn’t want to pay for it because they thought I would drop out. In January 1987 my mom decided to go back to college and my step-dad dropped me off at the local taekwondo school so he wouldn’t have to watch me.
In 1997 I started teaching out of my garage where I worked my way up to around 15 students. In 1999 I ran into my first instructor at a tournament where he told me he was selling his school. He wanted $5500 which was a ton of money to me at that time.
I decided to sell my car to get the money. I was so excited that I finally had my own school, just to find out that the month before I took over that he told everyone they could pay off their contracts for 10% of what they owed.
So there was basically no money coming in by the time I got there. Six months later I was evicted. I couldn’t let this be the end, Since I was a kid it’s always been my dream to have a martial arts school. I found a bigger place 2 blocks away but it was more expensive.
I saved every dime I could get from my day job to put down the first and last month’s rent. It took a couple of months but we finally had a place. To my surprise, very few of the old students showed up. I was heartbroken, I really thought they would follow me. A couple of years later I talked to one of them and he said ‘we all felt like you wouldn’t make it so we found other places to train’. He was almost right.
Within the first couple years, my house went into foreclosure. I had to file for bankruptcy to save it but I wasn’t able to stay there anymore. At 27 years old I had to rent my house out and moved back in with my mom. I was working for a delivery service where I would wake up at 5am to go to work and get off around 5pm just in time to make it to the first class at 5:30.
I’d teach till 10, get about 5 hours of sleep, and repeat it again the next day. I still wasn’t making enough to keep the school running so I started using the rent money from my house to pay the school bills instead of the mortgage. I knew that if Iron Dragon stayed open long enough we could make it but I didn’t know anything about business, as I dropped out after my first day of college.
By the age of 30, I moved back in my house just to watch it go back into foreclosure. I didn’t want to ask my mom to stay there again so I moved into the office at the school with my girlfriend and 2 kids. I was able to eventually save the house but the stress from all this lead me to getting Addison’s disease. The doctor said I was within a day or so of dying if I didn’t get treatment immediately.
I was in the hospital for a week while one of my students, Johnathon Brown and a good friend of mine, Terry Ham, ran the school. At the end of the week They came to the hospital and told me that there were less than 5 people the entire week. I told him that was it, I was shutting it down. I was devastated! This is where I truly feel that God had taken over.
On Monday I walked into class to tell everybody the news and there were 17 kids standing there ready to train. That was the biggest class I had ever seen! I was overwhelmed with excitement. I had just had a second chance at life and now I had a second chance to make the school work. I knew right then that we were going to make it. Since this time we’ve expanded a couple of times & made huge strides on the business end of things. And I was also able to quit my day job, thank goodness.
I wouldn’t change anything (except the Addison’s, I have to deal with that for the rest of my life) it’s made me truly appreciate everything I have & not take anything for granted. All in all, it took right around 6 years to finally start turning a profit. I guess better late than never.
When Covid hit we lost almost everyone. My landlord called me & said I owed him approximately $10,000. I made a decision to close. About 2-3 hours after that conversation I got a call from a guy I had never met, Brian Reyes. He owned a CrossFit gym called Max Zero. His brother trained with me at a Jiu-jitsu school I was part owner of. He was looking for someone to teach martial arts at his gym & the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. I guess you could say I was given a second chance…again. To be honest, I didn’t think it was a good idea when I saw the place. It was a warehouse that you really couldn’t see from the road. I told him I didn’t think we would have 50 students the first year. I figured at least I could continue doing what I love for a little longer so why not try it. Within the first year, we hit 160 students, I never came close to that at the old location & that was at the corner of an intersection. Everytime I go through hardships like this & things end up being better than before I can’t help but think this is what I was meant to do & someone must be watching over me.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We’re a martial art school that specializes in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Taekwondo & Muay Thai. Most classes are taught by Jason White, 2021 World Champion Jiu-jitsu Champion & 3x State, National & Jr Olympic Taekwondo Champion.
Contact Info:
- Email: taekwonhapki@yahoo.com
- Website: http://irondragonhouston.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irondragonhouston/
- Facebook: Facebook.com/IronDragonMMA
