We focus on martial arts for self defense rather than competition. Cooperating with a partner enables rapid, more efficient understanding of self defense reactions and applications in a fun manner. No one in our martial arts lessons/classes will attempt to impress you with their superior strength or skills.

Whether a woman or a man, these effective self defense karate reactions are based on natural body movements rather than strength to defend against larger and stronger attackers.

Am I too old to for adult martial art karate?

Our members' average age is about 45 years. Members' ages range from the mid-70s to a few teenagers. Through Adult Martial Arts You Improve your strength, balance, and flexibility. Martial Arts for Teenagers helps them improve their self-confidence, coordination, reduce stress, and boosts their self-esteem.

Do I need to get in shape before taking martial arts classes?

Come as you are! Start now. You'll get in better shape and improve fitness while in the martial arts class.

Can I keep up with the physicality?

No worries! Members take breaks during our adult martial arts classes any time they need a breather.  Oftentimes, the Teenagers in Martial Arts classes struggle to keep up with the adults!

I have physical limitations. Can I take Martial Art Karate Lessons?

Most of our adult members have physical limitations that they learned to work around by adapting their martial art karate to what their body can do.  It is more important to participate in the adult & teen martial art lessons to discover how to effectively react against an attack than to always wonder what you might do!

Will young kids show me up?

No. We don't teach children. These adult martial arts self defense reactions aren't for children. There are mature teens that may be in class with you, but no children.

Note: Sometimes, parents bring their children to sit in the office to read, do homework, or use an ipad during our martial arts classes.

Can I start in the Woman's Self Defense class?

Yes, Denise teaches womens' self defense classes 5 times per week. 

See Class Schedule

Am I too shy to participate in the Adult or Teen martial arts classes?

We are a friendly bunch. We'll introduce you to members present before your first class. We are all friends here helping us improve every day.

As a diplomat, when faced with an intimidating foreign dignitary or situation, I learned to fake it. You can, too! Pretend you are an actor on tv or in a movie. Just act confident and no one will know that if you are like me, you really just want to cower in the corner unseen by anyone. Pretty soon your acting becomes how you face most situations.

Am I going to be forced to sign a contract?

We have no contracts. Our Martial Art Academy membership is based on a monthly basis.

What are your hidden fees?

- There are none.

- We have an all-inclusive monthly membership. Attend as many classes per month as you wish. There is no limitation.

- No Registration fee

- No Promotion and Belt fee - until Black Belt

- No Equipment Fee

- No Special Training Fee

- Bring your own white Karate uniform (Gi). We do have some for sale.

- See the special Free offer below!

How should I prepare for my first martial arts karate class?

Wear comfortable workout clothing and a smile. We're all friendly.

We practice in bare feet on the padded mats. No worries! We don't expect you to know what we do in class.

What will my first class be like?

We bow at the start of class and begin doing coordinated exercises (kata) that you aren't expected to know yet. Just follow along. Everone is so focused on their own performance that they don't have time to observe yours. We'll have a senior student soon work with you one-on-one to go over the exercise. (No worries about holding up the person helping you! They are relearning their techniques and reactions so they can teach you. You are actually helping them more than they are helping you.) Then you'll rejoin the group as we work with partners on specific self defense martial arts reactions like the one below. Keep at it. You'll get there eventually.

What! Class is over?

We line up and bow out and then in line we fist bump the smiling instructor and the rest of class because we all had fun.

That was fast!

Ask Questions!

The instructors will ask if you have questions or concerns. Our members are our best Ambassadors. Unlike other schools, you are also free to ask any member anything, what they think, why they train, or anything else you can think of. 

When do We Spar?

It's fun to test your karate skills when you are young. Yet many of the brutal Self Defense Reactions You Learn in our Martial Arts classes are prohibited in competitions because they are hard to control and lead to serious injuries. Competitions have strict limitations on the reactions and applications you can use to reduce injuries. Most of the self defense reactions and applications we train in are prohibited in competitions. That's right! If you train to compete you restrict your self defense training. If you train in self defense you must restrict your competition. So we train cooperatively in class to learn effective self defense reactions that work.

To address the necessity of learning to react to attacks, we have partner percussion drills (punch/kick/block/throw) like the kumites shown in the first video below titled "Virginia Dojo Self Defense Karate Martial Art".

Then we modify the self defense reactions for grappling and tusseling responses as in the second video below titles "2023 NTS Pinan Shodan Henka Bunkai practice".