No bs like ninja or mercenary ..I'm serious about this.
In addition to the advice already given, I would say these----and mind you, I am stretching it a bit. And, there is also another angle you should consider, which I will explain after listing these two jobs:
1) Orderly. These are the hospital workers who restrain patients that are out of control, but more often than not, they offer assistance to those who have trouble moving. They don't make much: http://www.innerbody.com/careers-in-heal... I was advised to be a part-time orderly in order to help my Jujitsu out, but, I found the best way to learn to hold people down without hurting them was to study Judo.
2) Security guard. http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Security-... They make an average of $26,000 a year.
EDIT: I forgot one: stuntman. Yes, there is work as a stuntman, where you may also get to use your martial arts ability.
My day job in IT has actually been helped by my martial arts experience. Here's how:
a) Some employers feel that if you are an instructor, you also have customer service skills. They want to hire a technical person who knows how to deal with people, especially difficult people. Running your own martial arts class does get you to hone your skills at dealing with the public.
b) I have been hired to work in two (and considered for jobs in other) "dangerous" locations (ok yes, the areas were bad, but so what, I thought that's why we had security officers there) because of my martial arts background. The hiring managers (martial artists themselves) felt I would not be scared to come to work. Yes, some techies are afraid to work in bad areas. It's that whole common sense thing. In fact, I helped install some wide area network software 20 years ago because the pharmacies that needed the software were in the "hood". The guys who were picked ahead of me would not show up at 4:00 am to install software and remove hardware in the ghetto. So, I got called in and made some ok money for a college kid to finish the job because they saw I had martial arts as a hobby. I onlly had to flex once on a potential robber. The other ones were just flat out afraid of me. And, when store customers acted odd, I was not phased or afraid.
c) Some managers like employees who are "active" and who "give back". Being in the martial arts is seen as proof that you exercise and that you care for other people.
d) You can find out about jobs. Quite a few lawyers, medical people, mechanics, educators, engineers and IT folks (not all, but some) are also martial artists. That means your classmates and teachers, and even some of your competition at tournaments can help you find a job.
There is also another angle, I call the martial arts combo. You could be a personal trainer and fitness instructor who ALSO teaches martial arts, a therapist who ALSO teaches martial arts as part of their therapy. Geoff Canada is a 6th degree Taekwondo master who created a well known charter school for disadvantaged youth: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/upto... You may be able to make some money as an author, but the book publishing game is a whole headache unto itself, let alone selling DVDs, online videos, etc. Or, let's say you find a way to be a motivational speaker who has that martial arts tag to his/her name.
My advice to you is to get your education and plan from there. You may be able to work full time and teach part time, eventually moving into full time martial arts teaching once the money is right. Or, the martial arts may be a way for you to step into something else entirely. Either way, even if it cannot be your full time job, it is not a waste. I got to help pharmacies that serve the poor upgrade their software because I was a techie AND a martial artist.
None. I only know one person in over the last 30 years who have one and only one job as a full time martial artists and he spent years living in near poverty before he was able to make enough to live on. Everyone else have day jobs.
Martial art is not a career. It is a lifestyle. You work jobs to support your lifestyle. In some very rare case, that lifestyle could be your career. Competitive sports such as tournaments and cage fighting is a very short term career. You are always one fight away from losing it all and for every one person able to make some money, there are hundreds if not thousands who don't make anything to live on.
A job in law enforcement is a full time low paying high risk job. There are no wealthy police officers - at least those who are not on the take. Everyday on the job could be your last day on earth and you do not even have to be on the clock to get killed. You work long hours, eat bad food, and are constantly under the microscope for every arrest you make. Take a good look at a 10 year veteran cop and look how overweight out of shape they are. That's because they don't even get time to exercise much less eat proper food.
I would say none. I wouldn't even consider those you have mentioned a career. The reason is that you need a $hitload of luck to get into them. And working within law enforcement is not the same as working with martial artist. When was the last time you read in the newspaper: "Police officers uses his superior fighting skills to take out a drug gang".
The number of people who make good money on fighting is low. The list is very short. It's in the same category as NBL or NFL player. It's not a career. It's a hobby that a lucky get to do. Owning a dojo or something similar is really not that sexy as people think. Most dojo/gym owners barely make ends meet. More people open it as a organization and they go and train people after work.
My advice: Go to school, keep your hobbies as hobbies and look at life like it is and not like you want it to be.
Bouncers, bodyguards, prison guards, some people have made money from instructional videos and books, guards in general, are some of the legitimate jobs that a martial artist can do.
You can also become a professional athlete and compete in sports games with prizes or be involved with exhibition shows. For the latter, you may need a manager or agent to book you for shows. But the safest job to say is still an instructor, see http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=...
I cant understand why you have to understand anything come on bro stick to the training thats all it is ya know what I mean if you can train in the mornings its free 99 or what unless you really want to know why the hell that is like that and that is what I really want to know so its deep it the heart we know how it is training is training and the . That is exactly what it is but you never know til you step off the mat in to the public society and the lunatics and everything.
Provided your art is not a striking one bouncer or prison guard aside from those you already mentioned.
Bouncer, guard,
Other than cage fighting, weapons tournaments, Hollywood stunts, law enforcement/bounty, and teaching.
No bs like ninja or mercenary ..I'm serious about this.
