Sure there are a lot of places to learn and practice Martial Arts in the greater Seattle area, however none compare to Mercer Island Martial Arts. At Mercer Island Martial Arts it’s not just about athletics - they believe it also includes leadership, respect, responsibility, kindness to self, kindness to others, and much, much more. In addition, they encourage the practice of these skills outside the Do Jang, as well. Our son has a list of tasks to achieve at home in order to maintain his leadership status at Mercer Island Martial Arts which makes life for my husband and me so much easier! The expectations are challenging, but it all balanced with the warmth, love, caring and individualized support he needs to be successful. In fact, he has wanted to quit several times but the staff is able to uncover the root of his frustration and works to find ways to motivate him again to keep going. Suddenly he'll be asking to go a few hours a day instead of fighting to go at all. I would recommend Mercer Island Martial Arts a thousand times! It is the most positive place I could think of to send my son.

Mercer Island Martial Arts has been the single best activity that my kids have done. This school goes way beyond just teaching martial arts. They have that rare gift of being able to mix teaching and discipline with fun. The kids love them, respect them and learn from them. I have two very different children that have benefited in very different ways from this school. My daughter found a sense of place and community here. She developed respect and had another set of adults steering her in a constructive direction. She developed relationships with older students at the school who have helped her learn to stand up against peer pressure and have guided her to being a better student and making better choices. She has learned the responsibility of teaching the younger children and helping them with their challenges. She is eager to mentor the younger students because she values the experience that she had. My son has gained self confidence. He is an easy-going boy that would sometimes be taken advantage of & pushed around. Now he has the confidence to stand his ground and know that he can take care of himself, and, perhaps more importantly, he knows that he can walk away. He has learned about responsibility as well. He has gained leadership skills from teaching roles that he had previously have avoided. I am grateful for the work that Mercer Island Martial Arts has done. They have helped my children develop in very positive ways. These two, and the school that they run, are a tremendous asset to the community.

In the six years I’ve trained here at Mercer Island Martial Arts, going from my last year of elementary school, through middle school, and into greater half of high school, I have always found that the skills taught in the dojang are those needed to succeed academically. One of the changes in perspective I’ve found most useful is focusing on learning new ideas and techniques instead of worrying about how they will be tested. On the floor at class we devote time to drilling the forms and kicks, perfecting every detail, so when the time comes to demonstrate the movements come naturally. Similarly, I've found it's necessary to put in the focus needed to study, reviewing simple flashcards and running through practice calculus problems until they are second nature. Walking into class one the day of a math test, I then have the confidence to not stress out even if problems look unfamiliar. With a strong base of skills, working through a challenge is fun instead of frustrating. Going for long term understanding of how each piece works and how every piece fits together is a study style that sounds intuitive, but can feel draining- it’s from my time at the dojang I’ve been able to see firsthand that it pays off, and with enough time building up foundation anything, even implicit differentiation, can be learned.