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North Suffolk · West Dojo

Kids' karate in North Suffolk

You feel it the moment you walk in — there's a difference at Savior Martial Arts®. Our kids' classes in North Suffolk teach children confidence, self-control, and respect. They'll have so much fun they'll never suspect they're learning real life skills to make them overcomers and champions.

Two classes, by age

  • Dragons — ages 5, 6 and 7. Short, high-energy classes designed for the attention span of a five-year-old: listening, balance, courage, and their first belt.
  • Karate Kids — ages 8 to 12. Real karate and real belt ranks, with the structure and focus that carry into the classroom.

What your child gains

  • Confidence — goal-setting and belt achievement build kids who stand taller, in every sense.
  • Focus & self-control — structure and discipline that carry into the classroom and home.
  • Respect — for instructors, for classmates, for themselves.
  • Real friendships — a positive peer group in a family-oriented school.

"It's so much more than teaching martial arts. It's building the entire person — physically, mentally and spiritually — from the inside out."

Headmaster Scott Gilbert kneeling with a pair of training sticks, demonstrating for a student in a black uniform in front of the wall logo

A parent put it best

"These are NOT the same boys that started at SMA last spring. The transformation is incredible."
— Mary P.

Children practicing karate at Savior Martial Arts North Suffolk

Or call 757-753-6137 — we'll find the right class together.

It’s so much more than teaching martial arts. It’s building the heart, building from the inside out. And they’re taking this home.Shihan Aimee · 18 years at Savior Martial Arts

Questions parents ask

Good questions

What age can my child start?
Children start with us at 5 — Dragons is ages 5 to 7 and Karate Kids is ages 8 to 12, and that is the same at both locations. We do not teach younger than 5. Around 13, once they have outgrown the kids' classes, students move up into our teen and adult classes.
Is my child too shy or too energetic for karate?
Neither one is a problem — both are why parents bring kids to us. Classes are structured so shy kids build confidence step by step and high-energy kids learn focus and self-control, all while having fun.
How do you teach from a Christian perspective?

We teach the same physical martial arts every good school teaches. Your child will kick, punch, block, break boards and earn belts. They will learn to handle a bully their own size, and they will stand differently as a result.

What sets Savior Martial Arts apart is what we do with the rest of the hour. We are just as interested in the inner man — which is why we say we build Black Belts from the inside out.

In practice it looks ordinary. Courtesy and respect lived rather than recited. Letting someone else go first at the water fountain, because you are confident enough that you do not need to be first. Learning, on the mat, how to encourage somebody through a hard moment.

Our older classes — not the Dragons — also spend about ten minutes in a devotional. They sit down with their Bibles and we work through a scripture: what it means on the mat, and what it means at home and at school. For example, we spend three months focusing on patience, with one memory verse and daily practice at living it in the living room and the classroom, not just in class.

It is far more than a verse here or there. We believe you do not know a scripture until you have become it — and that is what we are really teaching.

How do we start?
Schedule a free private introductory lesson — call 757-753-6137 or use the form on this page, and we'll set a one-on-one time to meet you and your child. We'll ask what your goals for your child are, and show you how we can help accomplish those.

Ready to start?

Schedule a free private introductory lesson at the West Dojo. Also offered at our Virginia Beach location.

Schedule a Free Private Intro Lesson