We love Ms. Palacios and Palacios ATA Martial Arts! Our first grader started taking taekwondo (TKD) lessons from Ms. Palacios one day per week in his after-school program at Magellan International school. We were so impressed with the resulting positive changes in our son, we soon had him attending additional evening and weekend classes at her studio on South IH 35 between Wells Branch and Howard Lane. He's preparing to test for his 3rd belt in just a few weeks and TKD has become a huge part of our family life. The gym space in a North Austin industrial park is nothing fancy, but it has everything a TKD student at any age from 3+ needs to progress, especially caring, knowledgeable, and motivating instructors. While Ms. Palacios (5th degree black belt with 20 years of experience) is the owner and primary teacher, there are several other advanced black belts on staff (all of whom have undergone background checks) who take turns leading different aspects of each class. Further, during each class, students at all belt levels are challenged to take on responsibilities and lead small groups of others below their belt levels, a great way to foster leadership skills. Beyond the fitness, self-defense, and discipline aspects of TKD, Ms. Palacios emphasizes academics, leadership, and good citizenship. She even teaches bullying prevention at local schools and incorporates many of those lessons into her TKD classes. Another thing we love about Palacios ATA: they offer summer and school holiday day camps for elementary school ages. These camps aren't just about martial arts and character building, but also offer other fun activities like tumbling, inflatables, and popcorn flicks with a good lesson. I've been so happy with the positive experience for our child, I'm now considering taking up lessons myself. When I do, I'll update this review with more info on the adult TKD beginner experience at Palacios ATA. Note: this business has another listing as ATA Blackbelt Academy, but it is the same gym as Palacios ATA. I've asked Yelp HQ to merge the two pages, but that may take a while to happen. read more

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Sending my son to Palacios ATA is the best thing his dad and I have ever done for him. He's grown tremendously over the past year since we started. He's more respectful, he listens better, he's more confident and focused. He's also getting stronger and learning how to defend himself should he ever need to. Master Palacios is just phenomenal, as are all the teachers. They are amazing at connecting with the kids and teaching them lessons in the moment when something comes up. I really can't say enough great things about Master Palacios, her staff and the community at Palacios ATA. read more

Palacios ATA Martial Arts is the most rewarding extracurricular program in Austin I have found for my children. While we first enrolled them in ATA for the self-defense, we quickly learned that our kids were learning subtle lessons about such topics as self-esteem, respect, leadership, bullying, selflessness, etc. While I think most parents try to teach these same things to their kids on a daily basis, the professionals at ATA are able to message much more effectively than I can. When we have a "teaching moment" at home, my wife and I are often able to use the ATA lessons as a reference point they understand. And my kids have never been more motivated to stick with an extracurricular activity - each is determined to get a black belt. I should mention, the gym was recently renovated, which allows me to watch comfortably (and knock out urgent work with on the wireless network - yeah, sometimes I'm that parent). Bottom line: As a life-long boxer, I enrolled my kids in Tae Kwan Do so they would have exposure to a form a self-defense. While they have certainly learned to defend themselves quite effectively, the reason why I will remain so loyal to ATA is the life-skills that my children are learning. read more

Very positive and encouraging place for kids. The owner, Ms. Palacios, does a great job working with young people. Her instructors all do a good job as well. I definitely recommend signing your child up for classes if you are thinking about it. It's a great confidence builder and a good way to learn some self defense. read more

Annettte Palacios and her staff are AWESOME! They are all very friendly and responsive. I enrolled my 4 year old last September and am very pleased with program. The children that have been there are very respectful and do very well as helpers during the younger kid classes. If you are looking for a Taekwondo program for you child, I would really suggest that you give ATA Martial Arts a call. read more

Ms. Palacios has a really great program. Beyond learning Tae Kwon Do skills, she encorporates life skills (like confidence, loyalty, anti-bullying techniques, leadership, and self-control) into the lessons. My 3 children have progressed so far in just a couple years of training. I, myself, started taking classes and have become more confident and physically fit than I really could have imagined. The facility is huge and it is a really positive and supportive environment. Very family friendly! I highly reccommend this school for martial arts training and life! read more

Palacios ATA Martial Arts has been a fantastic experience for my son and myself. Master Palacios is an amazing teacher and makes self-defense and exercise fun. My son has learned many new things and is learning to control himself as well as defend himself if he ever finds himself in a scary situation. Highly recommended program! read more

I researched a few other places before joining Master Palacios ATA, and I have to say the value you get from the classes is invaluable. You learn self defense, punch and kicks, discipline, and a great set of instructors. My two little ones love to go, before class I just tell then we are going to learn to fight like a champion and they just love it. And it is just not for kids, super Dad is also learning. read more

Master Palacios is AMAZING with our 4 year old son! She focuses on respect, self-confidence, and discipline in a way that toddlers can understand, all while they are having a great time! We have noticed marked improvement in our son's behavior and social skills after just a few months. read more

My son, 11, recently started classes and loves it. He is excited to come to class every time and says Ms. Palacios is the best teacher he has ever had. He is inspired to do well in school and be his best self at home as well. read more

Not a member but i did meet Master Palacios the other night. very sweet and clearly cares for her students.

awesomely awesome! master palacios does great work with my son and consistently take the time to work with all the kids to ensure they are keeping up, progressing and having fun! we are in year two now and will keep on going for a long long time! read more

Annette Palacios is an awesome instructor and a great martial artist.

Thank you Ms. Amanda and Ms. Palacio you guys are incredible, you made Trillian feel confident and special. You both where very good with chil­dren and it showed that you truly cared about all of them.I can't wait for T to start. Your place has a fam­ily feel that is very wel­com­ing. Just in that short Hour I saw the work you put in to develop the stu­dents phys­i­cally, men­tally and spir­i­tu­ally. I will highly rec­om­mend this school to Anyone. I can't thank you enough. Trillian and her friends said this is the Best party Ever. They get 10 stars in my book. read more

My daughter (9) enjoyed this class and the instructors were accommodating of my son (13) who is on the autism spectrum, even during those occasions when he had difficulty fitting into the traditional structure and organization of martial arts classes. read more

We are just impressed with how our daughter has grown as a person by attending Palacios ATA Martial Arts, and it's only been 2 1/2 months. She's always been very quiet and an observer and in this world where introverts is not the best to be, we've struggled a bit to make sure she's confident and comfortable with who she is. She had a couple of incidents at school with a child who was louder than her, and honestly neither her or us knew know how to handle this. She didn't want to go to school, she didn't want to talk to her teachers about it, we would just get angry at her because she wasn't standing up for herself...and after seeing a couple of Master Palacio's classes, we thought we would give Martial Arts a try. We began classes with the goal to teach her how to "defend" herself, and we've gotten WAY MORE than what we expected. Master Palacios doesn't just teach "Martial Arts", she teaches the life skills, the soft skills, people need today: CONFIDENCE AND BELIEVING IN ONE'S SELF, RESPECT, COLLABORATION, COMMUNICATION, LEADERSHIP and how to use that self defense that they learn throughout the classes. Our daughter is now more independent and says she has to do things like " a black belt leader" she'll be one day. She's more confident when she speaks, she's not as scared to try new things, she talks about believing in yourself... we are just blown away by the change. Master Palacios has become her role model and we couldn't be happiert about it!! There is no better therapy for quiet kids than this to build their self esteem (and I'm a teacher and psychologist)! We are sadly moving to a different city this summer, but we are willing to drive for 2 hours every Saturday so that our daughter can attend Palacios Martial Arts at least once a week. There is no better investment than this for our daughter. read more

I highly recommend this studio and Ms. Palacios. All three of my kids adore Ms. Palacios and have benefited greatly from her classes. She teaches not only martial arts, but also confidence, leadership, and discipline. She is an amazing teacher and person. Definitely recommend for any level! read more

My son has been participating in tae kwon do with Ms. Palacios for two semesters. He absolutely loves having tae kwon do at his school and he has been thriving in her environment. Me. Palacios and her staff are patient, kind, and they instill the morals and values into our children we all want them to have. I am looking forward to having my son participate in her program for many years ahead. read more

My 5 year old daughter was telling me a story about a kid experience in school. It was unpleasant and involved some boys pinching her. She said, when the teacher was talking to the boys she knew the boys were lying to the teacher about what happened. I asked her how she knew they were lying? She said, "I was watching their eyes move and well, they sounded scared." I asked, well, maybe they were scared and that is it, maybe they were not lying. She says, "in Karate class, they taught me this, speak confidently and hold your head up. I use to hold my head down, (demonstratively) like this. But, when I know something and when I am confident, I know I am telling my truth." This was from a year ago and she reamains a student of ATA through Magellan International School. When we re-register and ask her what she would like to do after school, Karate is always first on her list. She now has an orange belt and is super proud of her accomplishments in class. read more