Wow. A really interesting martial arts club. I don't know why it's so small…read more They practice Aikido and it's older martial art Daito Ryu. They also practice kenjutsu (sword) and iaido. It's all practiced together and self reinforcing. So they teach the sword principles in their empty hand martial arts and the other way around. When people say that Aikido is based on sword, here that is clearly true and demonstrated. The skill and knowledge of the instructor and senior students is very high.

From the owner: New Kids Akido class - Launching Nov 5 in NW Calgary Learn…read morefocus, balance, and confidence through traditional Japanese martial arts. Our new kids’ Aikidō offering combines movement, discipline, and fun — no competition, no violence — just steady, mindful training that builds coordination and respect. Details: Start Date: Wednesday, November 5 Time: Wednesdays, 5:00–6:15 PM (and soon to be Mondays) Location: Mount Pleasant Community Hall (NW Calgary) Ages: 7 and up No experience needed — all beginners welcome What they’ll learn: Balance, posture, and body awareness Safe rolling and falling skills Cooperation and focus through traditional martial arts practice Japanese cultural elements like respect and etiquette About Us: Calgary Rakushinkan offers traditional Aikidō and classical sword arts (Kenjutsu/Iaijutsu) in a friendly, small-group environment. Classes are led by Josh MacDonald, a senior student of Rakushinkan Japan, with over 15 years of teaching experience.

Wing Chun Academy is just awesome! I always wanted to practice Kong Fu but never got to it. At the…read moreage of 31 I decided to finally go for it. Obviously I was nervous as I had no prior experience. I was invited to participate in a free class - and ever since I'm hooked. I try to practice at least 5 hours a week - and the results are amazing. I could barely touch my toes when I started, and now I can do almost a full split! Bare in mind that don't have an 8 year old flexibility. The team is really friendly and informal. Instructors are very skillful, knowledgeable and patient. Operating hours are really good (morning, lunch, afternoon and evenings) so you can always find the best time to practice. All levels work together so you always practice with someone that is more experience then you - but you work only on your skill level. If you are looking to get into shape, learn self-defense, and get a huge boost in confidence you should try Wing Chun Academy. There's lots of parents that bring their kids with them and there's kids classes as well (ages 4-5). One more important thing, in Wing Chun Academy you practice in a non-full-contact method. What it means is that you are not getting punched or kicked for real. First thing you learn is how to stop your punch or kick an inch from your opponent face or body. The idea is to use your opponent force against them (and stay safe during practice). There are punching begs and other methods to simulate full contact. I think that this method is more advantageous as it teaches you to control your strength, speed and accuracy. And a real combat situation, all you need to do is take an extra inch forward to get your opponent. To conclude, I've been practicing Wing Chun for about 8 months now and I love it. I feel stronger, faster and in control, and I am much more flexible. I also feel very confidant and IF I will even be in trouble I could protect myself bare hands. Last word, how cool it is to practice Bruce Lee's martial art???

From the owner: This year the Canadian Wing Chun Kung Fu Association celebrates its 40th Anniversary. In…read morecelebration of our 40 years, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks and appreciation for your interest in our school. It is through the hard work, energy, enthusiasm of our Instructors and students alike that we have achieved this landmark in success and longevity. At the Academy, we have endeavoured to create a family friendly environment where students can have fun learning new skills, elevating their level of physical fitness and experiencing health improvements. Classes are offered daytime and evenings, Monday to Friday, as well as Saturday mornings, in order to accommodate the various lifestyles and schedules of our students. Our classes are designed to challenge individuals to reach new levels in skill, strength, fitness and flexibility, regardless of age or physical capability.

Awesome experience. Great way to exercise and learn something every time you step on the mat.read more

From the owner: We specialize in the instruction of Judo to people of all ages and ability levels.read more

This martial arts academy is super friendly from the front staff to the instructors…read more Pricing is excellent and great activity for kids to be introduced to Muay Thai. Been taking kids to this location for 2 years and highly recommend for parents and even for adults to take lessons.

Elite is filled with everything needed for a proper martial arts environment. People of all skill…read morelevels to learn along side and push you further, a variety of class types for fitness and skill levels, be it competitive, self-defense driven, or just cardio and some hard work. Everyone is treated with respect and greeted with smiles. Excellent tutelage along with guest coach appearances on occasion by high level athletes in various fields, I've been going to Elite for almost 2 years whenever possible, and always miss everyone I've gotten to know when I can't make it down. Do yourselves a favor and swing down to check it out!

Kyle sensei is an amazing teacher and Kendo player. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of David…read more David is a disrespectful and toxic person both inside the dojo and out. He is neurotic, racist and doesn't respect Kendo nor the spirit and community Kendo represents. I feel sorry for any Caucasian students who have the misfortune to study under him. It's a shame because he is a very talented Kendoka but skill doesn't always translate to teaching ability nor social maturity. David chooses to laugh at and makes fun of students when they make mistakes and shakes his head in disapproval rather than correct the student's imperfections. I have never encountered this type of behaviour in a Japanese martial arts dojo before and frankly, it was shocking and disgusting to witness. In the beginning I thought David was trying to build the student's mental toughness as athletes, which made me happy and excited to train under him initially, however, it quickly became apparent that he does it out of spite and to take his bad day out on students. The environment became so toxic I was the only student to show up to every single class, eventually he tried to make me quit so that he could show up for advanced class instead.. when it became clear that I wasn't going to quit, David took it upon himself to flat out lie to Kyle sensei by making claims that I "don't respect the dojo's rules", fail to clean the dojo before they arrive etc which was very insulting to me considering that he himself and all of the students witnessed me bringing my own cleaning supplies and cleaning the entire dojo an hour before every single class when the business we share the community center with would lock the door to the custodian closet. I was happy to do it because I grew up in Japan and never had any problems training with the Japanese sensei in the various martial arts I studied growing up. Cleaning the dojo is a sign of respect and part of discipline. The best part of cleaning dojo before and after class is the fact that it's a great warm up and good practice before class so the fact that he lied to Kyle sensei about that specifically is unforgivable. He could have just asked me to leave instead of lying. I'm sure we could have found a compromise. Thankfully, Kyle sensei had told me that he doesn't believe that I was actually as disrespectful as David claimed me to be, which I appreciate. He would have had me stay if David wasn't the chief sensei but unfortunately, Kyle sensei is not there often enough and felt that it wouldn't be a good environment for the other students to witness the exchanges between David and myself which was pretty obvious towards the end. I truly enjoyed training here, there are some very talented people to train with but if you're a beginner without any previous exposure to Kendo and looking for a good community to train with, I would suggest looking elsewhere. Preferably outside of Calgary, your best bet would be in Vancouver or better yet, anywhere in Japan. Kendo is a beautiful art and you owe it to yourself to experience it by studying under a sensei who first and foremost, loves and respects the art has the patience and maturity to teach. Kyle-Sensei has all of these qualities, I just wish he was around more often. I do not blame him though, Kyle-Sensei is on the all Canadian Kendo team which is very demanding of his time, he worked hard for it and I'm happy to see that he's still representing Canada.

I had purchased a coupon online to check out Arashi Do martial arts, and boy, what a great buy!…read more I decided to try out their Cardio Kickboxing class yesterday for the first time. The Acadia location is on my way home from work, so it was perfect. The lady who signed me up at the desk, Laurie, was friendly and inviting and introduced me to everyone in the room. The guy who was leading the class, Chris, was a goofball and was joking with everyone. The class itself: AWESOME. I have done some kickboxing in the past in Montreal, and it quickly became my workout 'love'. I have checked out 3-4 other similar classes in Calgary to simulate the same experience in hopes of finding my favourite, and I think I finally have. Arashi-Do's Cardio Kickboxing class was a circuit-type, kickboxing-style training with the right combination of intense cardio, strength, kickboxing moves, and fun. I know quite a bit about fitness and am acquainted with a lot of different types of exercises, and yet they still managed to throw in a few exercises that I have never done/seen. This was a pleasant, and AWESOME surprise. At the end of the 45 minutes, my butt was thoroughly kicked, and I LOVED every minute of it. The only thing I regretted was not coming to check this class out earlier! The monthly prices they quoted me seemed a bit high, but I will worry about that once my coupon classes are over! I'm coming back Monday evening. And hope to continue Wednesday evenings. HIGHLY recommended if you like an intense kickass workout! Review #11 of Yelp's 30 Day Challenge 2012

From the owner: Our Little Dragons Karate curriculum is internationally recognized and offers 4 to 7 year old…read morestudents the chance to begin learning the basics of Karate as they are developing confidence, character, fitness, and skills. Our Tiny Thaigers Muay Thai and Mini Monkey BJJ follow in the same footprints. For Youth, Teens, and adult, beginner to advanced, we offer Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) for all ages and levels, Karate for all ages and levels, Muay Thai/Kickboxing for all ages and levels, and Cardio Conditioning classes. Our instructors are not just experts, but are trained and certified as skilled educators and practitioners. Arashi-Do's philosophy is simple: we have a place for you to succeed. We hold weekday classes and private lessons for individuals and groups of up to 4. Ask about our group rates for corporate partners! We are a Black Belt school; each new student is a potential Black Belt in the program(s) they choose. Many of our instructors spend years developing the skill set to become an expert in a chosen discipline, then take on the challenge of learning a whole new discipline to compliment it. They are offered the opportunity to train as instructors and become certified to teach. We "specialize" in helping every member reach their goals, to recognize their inherent potential, and to go for it!

Master Piercey is an excellent teacher, I got some private tuition to fit around my schedule…read more Master Piercey came to me which was perfect because I was on holiday from the U.K. so I didn't know the area well. The classes are amazing, fun and give you a good workout. I am very happy with Kung Fu For Life. They are a great school.

'They' will accept you if you're a beginner - or on the condition to renounce all prior training…read moreif you have martial arts / kung Fu experience. You're not allowed to train with anyone else while going to this place. Upon watching some videos of their school, I've concluded that it's not worth renouncing anything. On top of that, I received attitude from the owner. I wouldn't train at any school that held a philosophy as narrow minded as this. There are more open-minded & great schools & teachers out there. Keep looking.

We had an unfortunate billing issue stemming from the old ownership when we went to a closer gym…read more As soon as we uncovered it, the new ownership dealt with it immediately and professionally. They turned a problem that was not their fault into a huge win. Thank you!

Neuro-Divergent kids need not apply…read more If I were rating Element on the Karate program alone they would get five stars: the instructors are fantastic. They are able to run diverse classes where participants are different ages and abilities, and somehow still make themselves available before or after class if anyone needs to talk to them. The other instructors could learn a lot from the Karate instructors. My 9 year old child has ADHD and she normally brings a ton of energy and enthusiasm to class. She also bring defiance and outbursts if she doesn't understand something or is frustrated. Apparently these outbursts were happening frequently in classes other than Karate, but I had no idea until one by one the other instructors kicked her out of their classes. When 5 Elements became Element the new ownership heavily discouraged parents from remaining on the premises so I was not in the habit of staying during class. There was no way for me to know my daughter's behaviour was becoming a bigger and bigger problem until I was told she was not welcome in first Jujitsu, then Boxing and finally Muay Thai. After the first ban we did a round of occupational therapy to help my daughter control her outbursts and have been practising the techniques ever since. I thought all was well until the second two bans were issued. Again, I did not know her behaviour was still a problem because nobody told me. By the time the instructors bothered to talk to me they were so upset that they were unwilling to work together and find a solution; they instead chose to ban my daughter. Since most of the classes were no longer available to my daughter we decided to end her membership. Technically they should have charged me, since we had committed to a year, but they waived the fees without a fight. This all went down right around billing time, but they also refunded the money for the upcoming month even though it should have been too late. This could be interpreted either as excellent customer service or the desire to get my daughter out of the dojo before I had the chance to tell the other parents how we were treated. If you are an adult, or if your child is only interested in Karate, you will do fine here. If you have an ND child interested in a variety of disciplines I would recommend you keep looking.