Although Sensei Tanabe no longer leads the classes, the new sensei/head instructor Gus is superb…read moreand so are the associate instructors. I did tons and tons of research into authentic martial arts schools in northern Colorado (north of Denver, specifically). LWK is a small-ish dojo that will actually teach your child respect, discipline, work ethic, and confidence. It's not a place to send your kids for half a year only to quit when getting promoted to their third belt level is too hard. The instructors pay so much attention to detail and are even handed in having both junior and senior students polish their forms. They're also very approachable, offering up direct assessments upon request in class based on student concerns. There is an opportunity at the end of every class to get instructor feedback so you/your student will know what to work on. They are transparent about the costs, with no huge jump from the introductory period to the first official month. You can find both the tuition rates and class schedule on the website and see if it will work for you before joining. There are family discounts and a weapons class was recently added to the roster. Another area where LWK is awesomely transparent is that they have pamphlets on how belt promotions work: what forms/moves are the students expected to master. That way you have a clear idea of how to move forward. This is because LWK has been around for thirty years, which says a lot. This is an environment where the students do traditional Japanese martial arts warm ups, learn the Japanese names of their forms (nothing overwhelming), bow to each other when entering the mat/sparring/leaving class/demonstrating their forms at the end of class, where senior classmates voluntarily help junior classmates, where they recite a code of honor at the beginning and end of every class, where expectations are clear, and hard work is the norm. If you/your student are looking for a place with learned teachers, a decades long tradition of quality instruction, old school values of dedication/respect, and a welcoming-and-self-challenging environment in which to train, this is it. As with everything, you will only ever get what you put into it. 15 minutes per day of at-home practice never hurt anyone. I hope that this is giving the reader a sense of what the school is like and that it's set up for students to succeed. Everything is transparent, the tuition is reasonable (and many forms of payment are accepted), to eliminate obstacles to joining so the student and their family can just focus on their work and progress. Progress is enriched here because LWK is highly involved in the authentic Karate community in northern Colorado. They're among the handful that host a tournament every year, judging certification clinics are held here, and the recent inclusion of the kobudo (weapons) class shows a commitment to exposing students to Karate as a whole. Signing up to LWK is to join a Karate ecosystem with peers to challenge you/your student towards betterment. My only complaint is that the complimentary uniforms are affordable due to being cotton/polyester blends, and plastic-based synthetic fabrics are highly environmentally damaging in the wash because they shed lots of microplastics that wreck oceans and inevitably come back to harm the human biosphere as well. If you're a person who is committed to slowing climate change and believe that human behavior has been immoral on this topic, then I'd recommend looking into 100% cotton uniforms and belts before signing up for LWK.

This is by far the best Karate facility in Northern CO. Sensei Tanabe and his senpai staff are…read moreexcellent with both kids and adults.

I have mixed feelings about this place…read more On the one hand, the instructors are excellent. The young guys (who both attend and teach here) are especially good with the kiddos and they seem like have really learned how to carry themselves, beyond just leaning karate. But the business side of Scornavacco is tricky. After a trial period, you have to commit to a year agreement. And it is virtually impossible to get out of. Which is tough because kids change. They can lose interest. Our kid had some schedule changes that made coming here almost impossible. But we couldn't get out of the commitment, even though these appointments were medically related. When you push, they refer you to the payment company that you sign the contract with and then autobills you. That company will tell you that you actually signed a promissory note which legally obligates you for the full length of time and amount. I checked my documentation and didn't realize that's what we were getting into. I thought that, like a health club, if circumstances changed you could get out of it. But no. You're locked and bound. The kicker is that the finance company told me that Scornavacco picked this payment deal. they offer multiple types of billing services, not just ones that are bound by a promissory note, but that's what they chose to go with. So if you want quality karate instruction for your kid, this place is really good. But make damn sure you and your kid can commit to the full year, because there's no escape.

Very friendly staff and the systema guys were very friendly as well. However if you are looking for…read morea realistic self-defense system, I would (and have) gone elsewhere. Having that said I haven't taken a Systema class in a good 2 1/2 years. Maybe it changed, but If you are looking to learn a solid self defense system I would go down the street to Dark Horse BJJ. Nothing against the staff or people there.

I cannot say enough great things about it. Everyone is respectful and it is a kid friendly…read moreenvironment. Most of all my son loves going there.

From the owner: Tae Kwon Do and Chun Kuhn Do instruction, including self defense, weapons, after school program,…read moresummer camps and pre-martial arts classes.

I bought a Groupon for these guys for 10 Kickboxing classes. When I called a few days later to…read moreredeem, I was told that the owner hadn't been honoring these Groupons for many months, but that maybe he would try to give some kind of discount to me. Groupon can't do anything about it because they were never told by Amerikick that they no longer wanted to sell the Groupon. So I'm just out the money unless I want to spend more money to see if maybe the owner will give me some kind of discount.

My family has been training at Amerikick Longmont for years. The instructors are great and have…read moreexperience ranging from world champions in sport karate to experienced self defense and fitness instructors. Being part of Amerikick, the school is a big family and the instruction is world class. As a parent, the non martial arts skills my child has learned have paid dividends over and over, and have been worth every penny. My child learned how to focus, set goals, work hard, and achieve them.

The respect and focus that Sensei Nick Milliken shares with and teaches to his students is…read moreinspiring. Yes, our son is learning karate, but he is also learning about the importance of community, dedication, kindness, strength, self confidence, forgiveness, and self control. I am so grateful we found Vision Quest Martial Arts. "It's the tiny little efforts that make the difference."

It's a good program. There is a lot to like about the way that they bring out the best qualities of…read moreeach child, with some insight into what makes them each 'tick. The positive mantras and pep talks are every bit as much of what makes this a good program as the karate itself. Nick Milliken won us over when he spent 1:1 time with our son, giving him some good mentoring... and again when he was looking for new assistants for the school (indicating that the punching and kicking was the easy part, but "getting it right" with the major task of motivating and helping-to-raise the kids was the most important bit). It's not always perfect, they certainly need longer-term assistants and staff... but it's really a great place to develop your children mentally and physically. It builds "long-term" confidence. Check it out!

The Shuetts and the other instructors are knowledgeable, patient and forgiving to the the kids…read more Everything is clean and well organized. Worth it!

Northern Colorado Karate has classes for all ages and is the best option for martial arts…read moreinstruction in Loveland. Owner/ head instructor Sensei Shuett has received medals for full contact stick fighting on both the national and international level. Sensei Schuett has received a bronze medal in the 2000 World Championships (Philippines), a silver medal in the 2002 World Championships (London, England) as well as a gold medal for single stick sparring, silver medal for double stick sparring and silver medal in forms at the 2008 World Championships (Philippines). Northern Colorado Karate offers instruction in American Kenpo, Doce Pares stick fighting and cardio kickboxing. All self defense techniques are applied to practical scenarios.