–by Sylvania AdVantage Staff
PUBLICATION DATE: Aug 04, 2020
“…Dedicated! Motivated! On a quest to be my best!” —These are the final words of the creed that each student repeats before his or her martial arts class in the newly opened All American Karate, 7601 W. Sylvania Ave. in the Kroger shopping plaza.
Owner John Roberts has successfully operated his Lambertville, Mich., location for the past 15 years and has been looking for a suitable location in Sylvania for some time. “Sylvania is a beautiful location and has the feel of a very caring place. Families strive to provide the best for their children and it is clear there is a strong sense of community here,” Roberts explained. “And, we wanted to be close enough that instructors could conveniently travel between the two locations. I have very talented and dedicated instructors who have been with me for some time and they are ready to help share the benefits of the martial arts and a Black Belt mindset to another community.”
He added, “I trained with Thomas Broyles when we were growing up and he is the head instructor in the Sylvania location. Kane Simms has also been with me for several years. This is more than just a job for all of us. We are passionate about what we do.”
According to Roberts, the term ‘karate’ is a general term to describe martial arts. “We offer a traditional eclectic style of the art, but we do much more than punching and kicking,” he smiled. “While we focus on fitness and self-defense skills, our main focus is to build life skills. Whatever time we have with students, we want to make the most of it and help them change their lives.”
In addition to a variety of self-defense skills, many intangibles are included such as integrity, respect, self-confidence, self-discipline, goal setting, responsibility and leadership skills. “We do the best we can to help our students,” Roberts said.
Broyles added, “In just the four weeks that we have been open, we have already received several testimonials from parents who have noticed major changes in their children after attending our classes. That has been very encouraging to us!”
Classes are grouped according to age and later on skill level as students begin as early as age 4. “We also offer a variety of classes for adults. Class times are scheduled on Monday through Thursday from 4:10 to 9 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm. Friday office hours are from noon to 5 pm for first appointments at the school and the studio is closed on Sunday.
“We feel strongly that it is important to give back to the communities where we are located. We will be offering free community events for self-defense and anti-bullying seminars soon, as we do in Lambertville,” Roberts promised.