SafeSkills

This is a wonderful studio. I started going here when I was seven years old, in the kids class, then graduated to the teens/​adults class. Their teaching methods are great, suited to the individual student. To my knowledge, the age range in the teen/​adult class is something like 11 – 65. Several of the older students have knee or hip problems, and they incorporate that very well. Usual class starts out with stretching, then we do «basics», where they drill us on individual techniques, then we do the main chunk of class doing kata, which are choreographed fights, or sparring (play fighting), or we get out the knives or arinis sticks (2 feet long bamboo poles), and do drills with those. You pay by how many days a week you go, so $ 110/​month for 1 or 2, and $ 125/​month for 3+. They are open Monday through Thursday, two hours each evening except Tuesdays, where it is just an hour and a half. They also offer private lessons, and arinis on Sundays. They hold various self-​defense workshops as well. I especially like how they do not do competitions or tournaments, as I am not the best in my class and would probably get very badly hurt. Overall, a wonderful and friendly environment.

«Friendly martial arts studio– for kids or adults!»
Both my kids have taken karate lessons at Safe Skills. It’s the diametric opposite of the «bad» dojo in the original Karate Kid movie– this one is run by several wonderfully nice ladies who teach karate very much in the context of concentration and self-​defense rather than competitively. Indeed, there’s virtually no «competition» whatsoever, which we liked for our kids but others may see as a negative. They never have «meets» with other dojos or competitions among people within the dojo beyond just sparring practice. But the attendees get good, in-​depth lessons, practice, and feedback. The senseis are also wonderfully responsive by e-​mail.
Their form of karate is Shorin-​ryu kobayashi. They have kids’ classes (kids can start at age 5 – 6), and some classes mixed with adults for advanced teens or tweens. They even offer «Kinder Karate» for kids age 4 – 5. We pay $ 110 per month for 2 one-​hour practice sessions per week. Most belt or stripe tests are on weekends, and regular classes are spread across evenings. In addition to standard karate classes, they have self-​defense classes for kids or adults and periodic game nights or other activities.
Overall, we like this studio a lot and recommend them highly.