I have lost all respect for Kevin Smith, both as an instructor and as a man…read more
My son and I joined Smith Family Dojo in June 2025, shortly after moving to Fayetteville. We are both Shotokan Black Belts, but we willingly accepted starting as white belts because we wanted to learn a new style.
In December, I injured my ankle during training, and it did not fully heal until March 2026. My 17 year-old son, who has been training since age seven, had spent much of his martial arts journey in my shadow. When I asked whether he wanted to continue training without me, he said yes, and I respected his decision. Mr. Smith agreed that this was best for him.
When I mentioned returning to Shotokan, Mr. Smith himself recommended a dojo in Hope Mills. I followed that recommendation, and the instructor there permitted me to maintain my Shotokan rank as a 1st Degree Black Belt.
This past Monday (10/18), after a brief conversation with Mr. Smith and another adult Black Belt student, I received an email at 1:08am from Mr. Smith accusing me of betraying my loyalty to him by "teaching" at the very dojo he had recommended. I was not teaching for the new instructor. I was simply helping out as an advanced student.
Rather than clarify the misunderstanding, Mr. Smith chose to expel my son, a Green Belt in his system, for something that had absolutely nothing to do with him.
I initially asked Mr. Smith to reconsider, explaining that I was not teaching under the new instructor, whom Mr. Smith knows and has claimed to respect. But after reflecting on the situation, I realized I could not, in good conscience, leave my son in the care of someone willing to punish him for a perceived grievance against his father.
Having served as a Program Director and instructor in the past, I have worked with several karate school owners. One recurring flaw I have observed is the belief that their authority extends beyond the dojo into the personal decisions of students and their families. This situation is a troubling example.
I trained under Mr. Smith for approximately six months before my injury forced me off the mat. After several months of recovery and additional time away from training, I decided to resume my martial arts journey in the style in which I had already earned my Black Belt. I went to a school - again that HE recommended, and a misunderstanding about my involvement there somehow became grounds for punishing my son.
Mr. Smith graciously offered to let my son finish out the month. I declined. No amount of remaining training time is worth placing my son in an environment where he could be made to suffer for a dispute in which he played no part.
Kevin Smith is an excellent martial artist and, in my experience, a capable instructor. But martial arts are supposed to develop more than technique, rank, and physical ability. They should also cultivate character, integrity, fairness, and honor.
In my opinion, his handling of this situation raises serious questions about those qualities.
Sometimes, people reveal who they are - not through their words or their skills, but through how they treat others when their pride has been wounded. I would rather recognize that now than discover it later, at a greater cost to my son.
You can find a better place.
