Academy of Martial Arts

Academy of Martial Arts sits on North Yonge Street in downtown Ormond Beach, a couple of blocks off Granada Boulevard, and has been teaching students for close to a quarter century. Both the business’s own website and its directory listing put the school at twenty four years in operation, meaning it opened in the early 2000s and has stayed in the neighborhood ever since. That kind of longevity is worth noting in an industry where storefront martial arts schools regularly cycle through owners and locations within a handful of years.

The curriculum spans multiple disciplines rather than sticking to a single style. The school teaches karate alongside Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and its own materials describe a range that runs from traditional striking arts through grappling, which gives students exposure to both stand up and ground based self defense. That breadth is fairly unusual for a school this size, since many small town dojos specialize in one discipline and stick to it. Instructors are described as certified professionals with years of combined experience, though the school does not publish individual instructor bios or an owner’s name on its site, so students meeting the team for the first time should expect to learn those details in person during a trial class.

Programming is organized around the same rhythm most Ormond Beach martial arts schools use: an afterschool program for elementary and middle school aged kids, a general martial arts track that runs from beginner through advanced levels for teens and adults, and a summer camp that fills the gap when school lets out. Classes run Monday through Friday from three in the afternoon to seven thirty in the evening, a window built specifically around the school pickup and dinner schedule that defines so much of family life in this part of Volusia County.

The academy’s own description of its history says the school grew from what it calls an intimate local dojo into a more established program over the years, built by people it describes as lifelong martial artists with decades of combined experience between them. The philosophy leans toward blending traditional martial arts values, discipline, respect, perseverance, with more modern training methods, rather than running a strictly old school program frozen in one era of technique.

For families in downtown Ormond Beach looking for a martial arts option that covers more ground than a single style, or for adults interested in adding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to a karate background (or vice versa), Academy of Martial Arts is a straightforward option to check out. The Yonge Street address puts it within easy reach of the historic downtown core, and the after school hours make it workable for parents coordinating pickup from nearby schools. As with any martial arts program, a trial class is the best way to get a feel for how the instructors run a room before committing to a longer membership.