Century Martial Arts Bids Farewell to Dan Bowers and Welcomes New President, Sarah Fields

March 28, 2011 - PRLog -- After 24 years of service with Century Martial Arts, the world’s largest martial art supplier, Dan Bower, president of the company, has announced his retirement with Sarah Fields stepping in to lead the company as the newly appointed president.  When Century Martial Arts Owner, Mike Dillard, brought Bower on board in 1987, he knew that he would leverage his immense experience in merchandising, sales, and commercial sourcing to grow the company. Bower provided a unique combination of seasoned business expertise and martial art industry sensibility with over 40 years of study in martial arts. Dan Bower exceeded Dillard’s expectations and earned the title of president in 2000 when he effectively ushered in an entirely new era for Century Martial Arts.  Bower forged new partnerships and pushed Century Martial Arts to record high revenues. Commenting on his retirement, Mr. Bower said, “I am very proud to pass the title on to Sarah Fields. She has been dedicated to the growth of Century Martial Arts for 15 years and I know that she’ll continue to build upon that strength.”

Rising through the ranks since her career with Century Martial Arts began in 1996, Sarah Fields has always had her finger on the pulse of industry product innovations as a design engineer and eventually vice president of research and development in 2003.  Fields led the way with her launch of the marketing department in 2005 and continuing in to her position as senior vice president of marketing in 2006. Moving in to the role of senior vice president of sporting goods, she was instrumental in building exclusive relationships with key brands, such as UFC and TapouT, as well as maintaining Century Martial Arts’ nationwide sporting goods product proliferation.  Mike Dillard remarked, “Her experience has made her an ideal choice to continue the tradition of excellence that our company, the world’s largest martial art supplier, has been known for during the last 35 years.” Sarah Fields said, “I am honored to have been chosen to keep the momentum of success going. Century has always been a front-runner in the industry and we have more exciting plans for the future.”

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Century Martial Arts is the largest martial arts supplier in the world. Century manufactures and sells martial arts supplies both at the wholesale level and as a retailer to the general public. Century was founded in 1976 and is located in Oklahoma.