Hai Tran came to Denver from Vietnam at 8 years of age; by the age of 21 he had opened his first martial arts studio in Fort Collins. Today, he can be found at Tran’s Martial Arts & Fitness Center, 1550 S. Colorado Blvd.
Growing up in America, Tran first learned martial arts from his father. “I used to love watching Bruce Lee.” A self-proclaimed “black sheep” uninterested in pursuing the culturally sanctioned path of high academic achievement, Tran considered a career as a police officer while continuing to study martial arts. “My dad was also a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and my grandfather was a great martial artist back in the day, so it must be in my blood.”
He worked at King Soopers during high school and then attended night school to become a police officer. At 21, he opened his own martial arts studio for kids in Fort Collins. “I fell in love,” he says. “I found my real passion. I liked police work, too, but it was so much paperwork. And it was really putting a Band-Aid on the problem. It wasn’t about talking to them or helping them out or trying to improve things. I realized I wanted more interaction and I got it in the martial arts studio. Here, I can make a difference. And people enjoy you – and even thank you afterwards.”
Fueled by the popularity of the movie The Karate Kid, the business took off. “I was working the bakery at King Soopers from three to eleven in the morning. I’d go home and try to sleep and be back at the studio by three-thirty. I taught until nine, went to bed, and then back to work.”
Eventually the grueling schedule allowed him to earn enough money to quit, and do only what he loved. Hoping to further grow the business he approached his siblings, who later opened their own schools. “To make a long story short, I have Denver, my brother owns the Boulder location, my other brother owns Longmont, my sister owns Loveland, and my other sister owns Fort Collins. Five studios – we’re one of the largest schools in the country.”
In 1997 when Tae Bo (martial arts moves taught to music) seized the fitness world, Tran became certified with creator Billy Blanks in California, and brought the new craze to Colorado. Today, at the Denver location he has run for the past 10 years, Tran offers a variety of personally designed classes including K.O. Cardio (kick, punch to music), Thai Kickboxing (bag workout), Body Pump, Fitness Boot Camp, Hai Tread Training, and personal training.
“Everything here is class-based. We teach functional training: balance, coordination, flexibility, core and weights. Machines can be good but they limit you to a single range of motion. In real life you’re leaning over, you’re reaching, you’re picking this up. We’re also really big into interval training (high-intensity bursts of physical work interspersed with rest or low-activity periods).”
Tran strives to offer something for all ages. His children’s martial arts classes offer benefits beyond balance, flexibility and coordination. “The mental part is also focus, paying attention, working with others. It’s very helpful for younger kids. They know how to pay attention in the beginning of an activity and the end, but somewhere in the middle they get lost.”
The solution? Offer lots of beginnings and endings through short exercises, as well as regular positive reinforcement. “A lot of kids have learned to get negative attention by acting out. I always praise the kid who’s doing well and ignore the kid who’s acting up. And I don’t usually have to go to the next level; it’s a win-win situation. A lot of the kids we teach, return themselves to teach. We are always writing letters of recommendation to colleges for our black belts.”
Fit adults, as well as a range of baby boomers, find something to motivate and challenge. “One of the ways to stay young is to learn something new, whether it’s language or a fitness program. Some of the younger baby boomers who take regular classes are in better shape than some of our younger kids. Many have always worked out and want to stay fit into their 60s and 70s. We know who they are and have classes for them. But there are also older boomers who don’t know how to lift weights, who maybe just walk once in a while in Wash Park. I say, ‘OK, great.’ We’re all living longer; health care is an issue; it makes sense to get in good shape and stay fit.”
His studio has created a loyal, active, social community. “When you meet other healthy people it encourages you. People build a habit. They meet people they work out with consistently. Husbands and wives take turns working out, and their kids take classes here. A fit family stays together. Keeping kids active keeps them out of trouble and it’s the same way for adults.”
All instructors at Tran’s Fitness began as students. “In the fitness industry, there’s no loyalty because you teach over there twice a week, over there once a week. They can’t afford to hire you fulltime, so you go wherever you can. Here I want loyalty. I created all these classes and if someone has been doing my classes for two or three years and doing a great job, I approach them to teach one night a week – and they love it.”
The secret of his success? Follow your passion. “You find that passion and then follow it and eventually it branches out from there. When we came to the States we had nothing but hope, and a system where we could have success. I don’t like to hang around people who are negative about America all the time. Because they don’t realize there’s so much hope here. You can make it. Even if you don’t have the money and education, if you want it, you can get it.”