By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Friday’s Glow Chuck Seminar was so much fun!
Our students learned cool spins and tricks using glow-in-the-dark nunchucks, then put on a performance for their parents at the end of the seminar!
Every kid got a chance to do a freestyle solo — that’s always everybody’s favorite part of the night.
Here’s a video from the Glow Chuck Seminar:
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Congratulations to everyone who earned their new belts on Saturday!
We were honored to have New York City Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene (see 6:22 of the video below) join us as a guest speaker during our belt promotion graduation ceremony.
He himself is a black belt in Taekwondo and he attributes much of his personal success to his training in martial arts.
Here’s a video from the belt promotion:
Does your child attend school in Brooklyn?
Are you looking for an after-school program?
If you want something better than daycare or babysitting, consider the Urban Martial Arts transported karate after-school program.
Our program includes free transportation from six different schools in our area.
Students receive daily karate and character development lessons, and work towards their goal of earning a black belt.
Each day’s schedule also includes a large block of free time during which students can do homework and have a snack.
Just enter your email address below to view prices and details, and to request a free school tour.
Be sure to confirm your request by clicking the link on the confirmation email you’ll receive from us.
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Urban Martial Arts is featured on Business News Daily, an online magazine about start-ups and small businesses, in an article titled Danger Ahead: Small Business Owners Warn of Common Mistakes.
In the story, we share how we recently avoided what could have been a disastrous plan to move into a larger space:
Thinking about an expansion: Husband-and-wife duo Carmen and Serge Sognonvi of Brooklyn, N.Y., recently escaped a costly expansion decision. Other mixed-martial arts school owners had suggested they find a bigger space because student enrollment at their school, Urban Martial Arts, has doubled in the past two years. The Sognonvis caught “expansion fever” and found a spot they loved. After careful consideration, they opted not to move.
“We realized that while the space was less than a mile away from our current location, it was a completely different neighborhood with different demographics, much less foot traffic, and it was too industrial and thus deserted in the evenings when most of our classes are,” she said, adding that moving could have been a complete disaster.
Her advice: Don’t get caught up in what others in your industry think is conventional wisdom, adapt to the realities of your local market and use the constraints you work under to get creative.
We learned a lot from this experience. The biggest lesson? You should always be open to taking advice from others in your industry, but don’t get swept away to the point where you lose sight of reality. At the end of the day, nobody knows your business as well as you do.
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday to what we hope will become a new annual tradition: our 1st Annual Urban Martial Arts Summer Barbecue!
Here’s a video from the barbecue:
And click below to watch a slideshow of some photos from the barbecue:
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Congratulations to everyone who competed at the Twin Towers Classic karate tournament at the Sheraton this weekend!
Urban Martial Arts won big in the point sparring divisions!
Christopher and Kimberly took 1st place, and we had five 3rd place winners: Soren, Tristin, Jared, Komil and Alexis.
We also want to send a special shout-out to Jeremy, Troy, Malcolm, William, Damon, Athena, Haleema, John, and Romario. For many of them, this was their first-ever tournament and as you’ll see in the video above, they showed a lot of heart!
Great job, everybody! We look forward to seeing how you’ll do in the next tournament!
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Have you or your child ever competed in a karate tournament? There are many great benefits to competing in a karate tournament. Here are our top 5 favorite reasons to try it out:
In team sports, you spend a lot of time sharpening your skills through drilling and training so that you can perform well when you play a game against another team.
It’s no different in martial arts, except that instead of playing a game, we compete in karate tournaments.
You’ve spent so much time during your karate classes practicing your kicks and punches, working on your flexibility, learning effective sparring combinations and strategies. Why not put that work to use and see how you do in a karate tournament?
Chances are, you’ve spent so much time sparring with your classmates that you already know all their strengths and weaknesses: this person has a powerful sidekick but a tendency to drop her hands, another person has a great blitz but all you have to do avoid it is change your angle.
You can only improve as much as the best person you compete against. That’s why competing in a karate tournament is so powerful. It exposes you to other martial artists you’ve never worked with before, which forces you to up your game. Read the full article →
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Last week’s Summer Rank Camp was so much fun!
Congratulations to Alexis, Malcolm, Beth, Naomi, Elizabeth, Lesley, Joseph, and Reyesun. After putting in 18 hours of intense training over 5 days from 8 am to 6 pm, they earned a new belt!
Of course, all work and no play isn’t our style at Urban Martial Arts.
From piggyback contests to video game tournaments, from wheelbarrow competitions to cartwheeling contests, they had tons of fun between their training sessions too!
Click below to watch a slideshow of some photos from the camp:
Are you new to Urban Martial Arts? We’re a karate school in Brooklyn NY that offers kids karate classes, MMA training, and cardio kickboxing.
Fill out the form at the top or bottom of this page and you could try 2 weeks of classes for free!
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi Originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
Next time you’re looking for a movie to watch with your kids, why not make it a martial arts movie? There are so many great movies about martial arts that have positive messages for kids. Here are 5 of our favorites:
Why We Like It: Because we can all relate to Po!
Recommended For: Kids aged 6 and up
Official Synopsis: Enthusiastic, big and a little clumsy, Po works in his family’s noodle shop while daydreaming about becoming a Kung Fu master.
His dreams soon become reality when he is unexpectedly chosen to join the world of Kung Fu and study alongside his idols-the legendary fighters Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey-under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu.
But before they know it, the vengeful and treacherous snow leopard Tai Lung is headed their way, and it’s up to Po to defend everyone from the oncoming threat. Can he turn his dreams of becoming a Kung Fu hero into reality? Po puts his heart and his girth into the task, and ultimately finds that his greatest weaknesses turn out to be his greatest strengths.
Why We Like It: Because who knew soccer and kung fu would be such a fun combination? Read the full article →
By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog
From now until the end of the summer, we’re doing a different fun theme each week in class!
Wear your favorite team’s jersey to work out instead of your uniform! We want to see you represent the sports you love!
Bring your mom, dad, grandma, brother, sister, cousin, or any other family member and have them work out next to you in class – for free!
We want you to stay cool, so we’re going to hand out FREE frozen treats after every class this week! It’s our treat!
Get a break from wearing your uniform for this week only! Come to class wearing your UMA T-shirt and shorts, instead of your uniform pants!
We know how much you love contests, so for this entire week, every single class will include cool kicking contests, speed contests, and more!
To reward you for all the hard training you’ve put in throughout the summer, we’re going to hand out free candy at the end of each class. It’s our treat!