I've been a member of the AKC since 2000. Very reputable dojo. It was established in 1969! It's…read morethe oldest martial art dojo in Atlantic Canada. Great youth and adult classes. Lots of fun for all ages. People join karate for different reasons of course. Most join to focus on self-defence. Some, especially youth members, love the optional sport tournament aspect of karate. Others join for having a fun extracurricular activity that keeps them active. Regardless what you're there for though, the club follows the traditional karate teachings and curriculum of Sensei Shane Higashi, 9th dan, of the Canadian Chito-Ryu Karate-Do Association for all its students. Chito-Ryu is the style taught here. It was created by the Okinawan karate master Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose. Chitose, a medical doctor, was a master of two old styles of karate from Okinawa. He noticed over the years that some movements and techniques wore out the body resulting in damaged knees and other joints, bad backs, etc. He blended the best aspects of the two styles he knew, applied his knowledge of human anatomy and physiology, and created Chito-Ryu. When practiced properly, Chito-Ryu strengthens the body over time and is a very effective form of self-defence. The best aspect of the AKC though? The camaraderie. You make new friends here and everyone is supporting one another in learning karate. In addition to the strong karate program taught, that camaraderie is probably one of the main reasons the club has been in existence for over 45 years!

My wife trained in Karate years ago, and now our whole family has joined this club. We train with…read morethe children's class (more like a family class now), and also the adult classes. The instructors are fantastic and do great work with the kids (age 4 and 6), and they do a great job teaching to the level and ability of everyone in the class. There are free trial classes, which we took advantage of to make sure the kids wanted to continue, and the uniforms were included with a six month membership. Would highly recommend to anyone looking to either start or re-start training in Karate.

I had some weird experiences with this club in late 2019, but one of the younger instructors in the…read morekickboxing class in particular. I don't know if they're still there (this was just pre-pandemic) and I can't check because he refused to tell me his name. He was abusive to the new students, and I tried talking to him several times just to get his attention off of other people he was being an asshole to. Some people are not meant to teach, but I would give some leeway if he were at least good at it. Without getting too much more specific, you shouldn't be paying every month to put up with some guys personality disorder. I did around 4 classes of this, and decided not to go back for more. Another thing that put me off was that everybody already had THEIR partner, and refused to work with anyone else. This was pretty frustrating and unwelcoming as a new member, and I just had to wait around awkwardly asking people if they wanted to work together. A few times I had to stand there until someone just showed up late. I think this speaks to club leadership. I'll speak more to that. I liked Rad (the head instructor). We had a few chats about cardio and GJJ after class. I was excited to keep coming back and try other classes because of him, but... after taking some kickboxing, It didn't seem like he was interested in being a leader at his own club. Just let people do whatever they wanted, and focused on pushing people for a burner workout. He usually spent class sitting down in the back, whispering with other instructors, and not really doing much to monitor or teach. I would repeat some of what the other reviewers here have said: He's very hands off, and just kind of shouts. Despite the website that preaches "self improvement goals, go at your own pace, we are a family". Most of my past martial arts experience is in an okinawan style of karate, but I've done some boxing and kickboxing before. This is probably part of why 374 struck me the wrong way so much: in karate respect is key, and so is club leadership. Partners were chosen randomly and intentionally mixed up at times. Every technique asked to be thrown is also thrown by the instructor (this was huge for us). Poor behaviour is discouraged, and you'd get kicked out the door for being an unreasonable ass. Going from that to a room full of cliquey students, one complete asshole of an instructor, and a leader that wasn't interested in leading, was jarring to say the least.

Ive had quite a bit of experience in martial arts - mostly between karate and muay thai and I can't…read moresay I was impressed with the quality of instruction. There's clearly some very proficient people in class but they mainly stick to themselves; otherwise most people are beginners. Ill echo another review - instruction is almost non existant in the muay thai and boxing classes. I mean real, technique based instruction. Classes consist of find a partner, do combo on pads, switch, high rep burnout calisthenics and thats it. Not once in nearly a dozen classes did I even hit a heavy bag or thai pads. If you have experience, youll likely not improve, if anything you'll get worse. We were told to clinch and it didn't even seem like instructor knew how to do it; that or he just didn't care to really teach it. If youre a beginner, youre not going to learn the fine points of techniques. For example, it'll be demanded you slip or put pressure on or whatever but youre never shown how to refine and perfect techniques. Beginners are often expected to rely on being paired with more experienced people so they can show them what to do. In addition, my last class there was a terrible experience. Got paired up with the instructor for a "light, playful" round of sparing. No mouth guard or head gear and the instructor just cranked me nonstop. No lesson learned, no tips, no point - just left class with an awful migraine and never went back. Im fine with full contact as Ive actually fought before but don't ask for light, playful sparring and beat the life out of somebody and then offer no constructive criticism....especially from the instructor. No comments on the jiu-jitsu class but in my opinion, go elsewhere. Theres enough black belts in HRM these days. Nevermind that most have never seen the instructor roll or compete so it raises some questions. The diamond in the rough is the wrestling class. Finding an adult wrestling class that is fine with total beginners is nigh impossible. They bring in a different instructor for wrestling and the guy absolute class. He was super patient and gave extra help to myself and my partner as we were both beginners. If he ran his wrestling 2 to 3 times a week outside of 374 Id buy a year of coaching tomorrow.

What an AMAZING Traditional Karate School. The school teaches Youth and Co Ed Adult Karate classes…read more The emphasis is on High End Technical Karate, with physical Fitness and Wellness being built into their classes. CONGRATULATIONS on having the BEST School i have ever trained in. I highly recommend this as the Perfect Family School.

From the owner: Canadian Associated Schools Of Karate-Do (CASK) teaches traditional Wado style Karate-Do in…read moreHalifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. We offer both Adult (16+) and Youth (6-13) karate programs year-round downtown Halifax. Traditional karate training has many benefits for children and adults alike including: Physical Fitness, Leadership, Discipline, Focus, Respect, Confidence and Concentration; all important skills for children to be successful in their studies and life. Further details may be found on our website.