Martial arts, fitness, and teaching have always been passions for Charles Dean, and now he’s doing it in the heart of Madison’s South Side with his Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center which recently opened up on the ground floor of the 4-story, 80,000 square foot Black Business Hub.
For a little over a month, Dean and his staff have been leading classes in martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, fitness, circuit training and more while offering adaptive programming for people with disabilities at The Hub, the state-of-the-art center of commerce and entrepreneurism led by Black business owners and entrepreneurs.
“I really like the community here and I love what The Hub stands for. I love the opportunities that are afforded to people in the community. It’s quite uplifting to be around other entrepreneurs … this is a nice, safe environment here,” Dean tells Madison365 in an interview in the large Black Business Hub lobby overlooking Park Street. “I’ve been in other places like strip malls before, and sometimes there’s some alcohol shops and some bars and things that get moved in. So it doesn’t present the best environment for kids.
“So we are very happy to be here in The Hub. We’ve always been in the community, but I love being able to continue to grow our roots here and throughout the Madison community, and continue to grow our partnerships around Madison,” he adds.
Dean, a graduate of Madison La Follette High and St. Cloud State University, has been an entrepreneur since 2006 and says he began developing his vision over the next decade, which would lead to him founding Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center in 2016.
“One of the things that I’ve always wanted to do is have my own business, and I’ve always wanted to kind of do things under my own rules … I’ve always had those dreams,” he says. “Back in 2016, the opportunity presented itself for me to branch away from the previous organization I was with and it gave me the opportunity to grow the program in a direction that I saw would lend better longevity. That was just not being a gym that just focused on martial arts, but actually getting into the community where we’re able to expand into the school districts, the colleges and some of the other local businesses.”
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
Everything he’s put together at the Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center, he has built from the ground up. “The logos, the style of class, the variety, it is all based on my life experiences … and I thought that that would give people a better, well-rounded opportunity, and a better experience,” Dean says.
Dean currently teaches individual and group fitness classes at Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center, which offers a variety of things like traditional martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, circuit training, self-defense, and more for people of all ages.
Dean first began studying Hwa Rang Do in 2000 under Master David Kijek and went on to obtain the rank of third-degree black belt. According to his bio, Dean also became a 6-time undefeated sparring champion and won the 2011 world heavyweight grappling and weapon fighting championships.
“At Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center, we offer traditional martial arts, where you’re going to learn basic self-defense,” he says. “There’s sparring. So we have the sparring gear, the head gear, the hands and feet gear, and basic self-defense application. And then there’s a belt system, white belt all the way through black Belt. That is our traditional system
“For Jiu Jitsu, we are part of the Jared Jessup IQ Jiu Jitsu Stone Path family. So that’s my lineage in Jiu Jitsu and that’s where my teaching comes from,” he adds.
They also have boxing classes and programs, a sport that has always been a love of Dean, since he was a child. “The ’70s, and I don’t want to date myself too much, was a very special time for boxing when I was a kid,” he says. “So I’ve always loved boxing, and I’ve always studied the training, studied the coaches, studied the philosophies, read so much. I have a VHS library that would rival the best of them.”
Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center offers circuit training, as well.
“We have an adaptive program …so we are CLST [Children’s Long-Term Support] certified, and we are now listed as providers for people with disabilities in the community to receive funding,” Dean says. “We are registered with them, and that’s another really important branch of our operation
“We get all walks of life in here. We get kids, we get adults, we get super uber athletes, and we get people who really have never even played sports before,” he adds.
The latter can be a challenge in the fitness and martial arts worlds, where many people are afraid to start on their journey because they think that everybody around them is so much more advanced.
“That is something that we battle constantly. But getting people to believe in themselves is just one of the highlights of training because we always see the potential and the upside of everyone who comes in,” Dean says. “We don’t look at or judge people. We want you to come in and be the best version of yourself.
“It is you against you. You’re not competing against anyone. You’re not being judged against people who can kick over their head and who can do back flips or anything like that. It is your time for you to be the best version of yourself.”
Dean stresses that there are so many benefits from exercise and movement that he sees daily at the Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center.
“With the fitness component of it, you’re definitely making an investment in your health. There’s a social network component where you’re getting to meet different people whom you might not have ever had the opportunity to meet before,” Dean says. “And also you’re able to set goals …personal goals, attainable goals for yourself that help you grow as a person.
“The one thing I’ll say about martial arts is it exposes your weaknesses, and that is why sometimes people like to train to get over public speaking, or to get over performing in front of people, or to get over not being physically fit,” he continues. “Or they may just be there to have the ability to protect themselves. So I think that’s really important, that you know people can come in and feel comfortable. We want to foster that family-first environment, and I think that’s why we’ve also had the longevity that we’ve had. All walks of life are welcome to come in. That’s why we’re a very diverse group, and I’m proud of that.”
An important part of what Dean has been doing at the Wisconsin Martial Arts & Fitness Center is developing community partnerships. Through the years, he has been able to develop business relationships with well-known entities like Madison Schools Community and Recreation (MSCR), UW Leadership in Adapted Fitness, One City Schools, Edgewood College, the Madison Mallards and more.
“Being involved in the community is one of those things that I’ve always believed in that would help make the program more robust and more appealing to people, because there’s not a tunnel vision of just belt rank or tournaments and medals,” Dean says. “We are part of our community. We donate to Second Harvest [Food Bank] and The River [Food Pantry] every year. We’ve done that since I’ve been an entrepreneur.
“Building a sense of community makes people feel good when you’re able to go out and partner with UW-Madison, Edgewood College, the Madison Mallards, and MSCR. It’s important,” he adds. “It helps people understand how training and self-awareness and empowerment are beneficial to people, and can help people grow. So I think getting that brand out, getting those connections out, and just helping bring people together more is important. And I think it just helps shape a very positive perspective on martial arts, Jiu Jitsu, boxing schools and programs.”
It’s been a lot of hours for Dean right now growing his business and exploring new partnerships in the community, but he loves what he does. “Being an entrepreneur, you’re tied to it 24/7, so when people go home and punch out, a lot of times, we can’t,” he says. “So that’s working on the weekends, too. That’s emails at night. It is ongoing. It’s contracts, it’s business meetings. It is meeting with potential partners in the community. It’s maintaining your current schedule at your school on top of everything else. So you never want to be stagnant. And if you want to be a good business owner, what I’ve learned is you want to constantly have a finger on the pulse.”
Dean says his long-term goals include having his own building to expand the work he is doing in the fitness, wellness, and martial arts fields. As an entrepreneur, he has a lot of work ahead of him, but he doesn’t like to call it “work.”
“When you can wake up in the morning and feel like, ‘I can’t wait to get to work, and I can’t wait to train the kids, and I can’t wait to help these people get to the next level.’ It’s not like it’s work. It’s something I look forward to.”
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