Rimsie McConiga
Special to the Citizen
How many people can say they love what they do? The owners of United Studios of Self Defense in Parkville asked this question when commenting on their love of martial arts.
Janet George and Joe Austin jumped at the chance to open their business earlier this year, inspired by the opportunity to do what they love every single day.
Chief instructor Austin has been studying martial arts for more than 10 years. He began studying martial arts to help with focus and self-confidence.
George has been studying martial arts for two years to help with strength and flexibility, as well as to learn self defense — which is something she believes could potentially save her life one day. They both practice Shaolin Kempo, which is based on ancient methods of self-defense, but adapted for modern-day use.
“The Shaolin style combines Kung Fu, the hard-hitting explosiveness of traditional Karate, and felling and grappling arts of Jiu Jitsu, Chin Na and Mongolian wrestling,” Austin said. “This hybrid style combines striking, kicking, felling and grappling to eliminate the inherent weakness of martial arts styles that only focus on one or two techniques.”
Most martial arts schools only offer group classes. George and Austin specialize in personal instruction, where students receive one or more personal training sessions a week, as well as unlimited group classes. They believe personalized training provides for a more intensive way to learn.
“Students can progress at their own pace, without the pressure of other students in a large group setting,” Austin said. “This provides for advancement up to four times faster than if you were taking group classes alone. Additionally, students are not locked into a group class schedule and personal training sessions are scheduled based on the student’s availability. Finally, lessons are able to be modified to fit any physical ability, age or interest.”
United Studios of Self Defense accepts students from age three and up.
The studio provides classes that enable women to learn and hone self-defense skills.
“What do you tell people who don’t believe women can defend themselves as well as men?” Austin said. “Our classes provide some strikes and stances that women can use to defend themselves, and we go over different grabs and possible releases from those grabs. However, we emphasize that these moves have to be committed to muscle memory to be effective. If a woman hesitates a fraction of a second to think about what to do, it will likely be too late.
“Self-defense is not about strength and size, it’s about awareness and skill. Women are every bit as effective as men if they learn the techniques.”
For health of mind, body and soul, George and Austin recommend the complex art of Tai Chi, which enhances balance, agility, movement, flexibility and strength, but can also improve immunity, relieve pain and improve quality of life. The studio also offers cardio-kickboxing as an aerobic total-body workout, with such benefits as weight reduction, increased strength and coordination, and cardiovascular improvement.
United Studios of Self Defense has a variety of activities for kids, including ninja birthday parties.
“They are for 10 to 25 kids and include two hours of fun ninja activities, as well as a karate lesson,” Austin said. “Ninja camps are one week in length and include lessons on the five martial arts animals (tiger, leopard, dragon, crane and snake), and five life principles (effort, etiquette, sincerity, self-control and character). We also have a daily karate lesson, ninja obstacle courses, arts and crafts and water play.”
The studio’s anti-bullying seminars are also popular. Research shows approximately half of the student population is bullied at some point in their school years. This contributes to worry, sleeplessness, depression, poor grades, low self-esteem, self-harm and suicide.
“Bullying happens everywhere,” Austin said. “In our seminars we talk about conflict and identify healthy and unhealthy responses to conflict. We give strategies to prevent conflict and to resolve it if it does occur. We talk about communication, body language, and tone of voice. We also talk about respect and being empathetic toward others. Our goal is to provide information to both kids and parents, and to give parents an avenue to open conversation with their kids about bullying and its effects.”
For Austin and George, the classes not only benefit the students, they also provide the couple with pride as they watch students flourish as they become more self-confident, stronger, more focused, fit and proficient in being able to defend themselves.
The business is located at 6325 Lewis Drive, Suite 118 in Parkville.