Finding Inspiration in a Set of Custom Challenge Coins
We have been a custom coin company since the year 2000, and in that time, we have realized that you can find challenge coins just about anywhere. Our clients incorporate challenge coins into their everyday lives and in their businesses in all kinds of unique ways, covering everything from customer loyalty to employee recognition. It didn’t take long for us to find out that the coins we help create mean something different to just about everyone.
Sometimes challenge coins are used to commemorate promotions or special events, and other times they are designed to honor the service of soldiers, public service members or hard-working employees. The most meaningful coins have an element of inspiration and encouragement mixed into the design. While it may not be the first place that comes to mind, one place we see these qualities at work are gym challenge coins and martial arts challenge coins.
It takes dedication and self-discipline to get in shape or earn a comprehensive understanding of the different martial arts. The effort it takes to reach your fitness goals makes achieving those goals and earning your challenge coins that much sweeter.
24 Hour Fitness Challenge Coins
As the name suggests, you will most likely see people working out at all times of the day and night at any 24 Hour Fitness location, and that’s one of the greatest appeals about the gym. People have different preferences and different schedules, but 24 Hour Fitness caters to everyone by keeping their doors open.
Creating a custom shape coin is an excellent way to make a design stand out. These coins are designed to look just like Iron Grip’s 45 LB plate weights. Our team created an authentic, but scaled down, mold of the plate with cut outs and labels exactly where they are in real life. The blue and red 24 Hour Fitness logo stands out beautifully against the black metal on the back of this coin, while the unique checkered design on the front of the coin is achieved with a combination of silk screen and soft enamel. The message of this coin is clear: Overcome Your Limits. Earning a coin like this is proof of achieving your fitness goals, making it all the more precious.
Challenge Coins Representing the Dedication in Martial Arts Study
There are all kinds of Martial Arts to study. Some focus on offense and competition, while others focus on real-world self-defense techniques. Gracie Survival Tactics (GST) is a Martial Art in the latter category. Students choose gyms teaching Gracie Jiu-Jitsu because it’s full of safe techniques that build strength and self-defense knowledge. There are a number of certified Gracie Jiu-Jitsu training gyms around the country, but one of the best is SK Martial Arts.
SK Martial Arts takes pupils from any age group and any level of experience. There are classes for children, adults and even MMA level fighters like Brian Ortega, the #2 ranked fighter in the MMA featherweight division, who trains with SK to prepare for competition. These custom coins are earned as a symbol of a student’s mastery of the key disciplines taught in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu: humility, courage, discipline and respect.
Jiu-Jitsu is not the only martial art that students can pursue. Other gyms and dojos around the world offer their own styles and techniques, and the coins offered at each of these studios capture a unique sense of character.
The Iron Bridge Martial Arts Academy created this coin using a technique known as offset printing to include a photograph of the studio’s founder, Dr. Jimmy Gee. One of our favorite aspects of the design, however, are the small figures within the Yin-Yang symbol. Each one strikes a different pose, and we thought it was a fun way to make a familiar design more personal and unique. Just like SK Martial Arts coins, these coins are earned through mastery of different levels of study at the dojo.
Encouragement Goes a Long Way in Self Improvement
Choosing to get in shape and go to the gym is easy, but dedicating oneself to physical self-improvement is not easy. It helps to have support and encouragement throughout the process, and gym challenge coins are sometimes the best place to start.
When challenge coins first started as custom unit coins in the military, soldiers would carry them as a symbol of respect and belonging. They represented personal merit and also a support group that had your back in the toughest situations. Gym challenge coins and martial arts challenge coins capture that same spirit. They represent how far you’ve come in reaching your goals, the dedication of your efforts and the support group that has your back. During times of doubt, having a custom coin to remind you of these things goes a long way in keeping you going.
