School Atmosphere

Our dojo before we opened

    It is our strong belief that the dojo should not just be a place for people to come together to practice but to build strong ties with the instructors and other students. Many people work at the same job their whole lives but never really get to know the people they are spending their lives with. The students in our school are part of our family and families go through both good and bad times together. Everyone shares your joys and disappointments, your dreams for the future and your worries about the present. The people in our dojo are always there for each other, sometimes more than their real families are.

    One of the ways we promote this feeling of family is by hosting a wide range of extracurricular activities including paintball, skydiving, swimming, and many others that are in the works. Through these activities students and instructors get to know each other outside of the dojo hierarchy. Students are encouraged to bring along family and friends to these events. This is helpful in many ways: it not only allows the families to get to know one another, but also for the families and friends of the students to get a chance to see where their loved one is spending their time. The usual outcome of this is more respect, understanding and support of the student's activities.

    All in all, this gives the dojo a foundation of respect, trust and understanding-not based on fear or the expectation of these qualities, but on true respect, trust and understanding. This makes for a great atmosphere which is more attuned to learning than to competition. Students want to help other students, not because they are expected to do so, but rather because in doing so they help out a friend. They can see their friends and themselves grow and mature as martial artists and people.