"I feel that karate has added so much to our lives. The reason we started was that my oldest son was having behavior problems in school. I thought this would be something that would help him with self-discipline. I was right about that. By the end of the school year, about 6 months after he had been at karate, his teacher wrote me a note. She said that he had made such great progress in both learning and his discipline. I don't think this would have happened without the help of Dr. Flury. Since that change and my youngest has been old enough, the whole family has now joined. We have two black belts, one 1st degree brown belt, and one orange belt. Thank you, Dr. Flury, for being such a great influence on our family."

Corine Hartgrave, Grand Prairie

"I was trying to get Emilio interested in something. He not very good at team sports, and it was hard to get him interested in any kind of activity for very long. We put him in a lot of different things, because he would do one for a little while, then would want to quit. Boy, what a difference it was when we found karate! Emilio has really taken to it -- he loves to earn his different belts, and he doesn’t feel like he has to compete with anyone. He has been in Dr. Flury’s for two years now, and he has told everyone that he is going to be a black belt! Thanks, Dr. Flury, for all of your support of Emilio.

Maria Soto, Grand Prairie

“My son started at AITKD in Grand Prairie when he was 6 years old. He stayed all the way through until he joined the junior ROTC after starting high school. He got up to 3 rd Senior Black Belt. His martial art training has obviously had a huge effect on his life. He is well-disciplined, goal-oriented, and he gained a lot of leadership skilsl from being a black belt. Our daughter is 4 years old and has just started in the Tiger Tots class with Dr. Flury. We may have another future black belt in our family!

Alyssa Jordane, Ph.D.,
mother of 15-year old Black Belt James
and 4-year old Tiger Tot Melanie

“Cody has always been a challenge for me to deal with, since he can be very hyper and I have four other kids all under the age of 10. I had always heard about how karate teaches discipline. I was afraid it might make him into a bully, though. So I never did put him in karate until his school counselor recommended it. It has been great for our whole family. Cody thinks before he does something now, and the structured atmosphere of Dr. Flury's classes have really helped him control his actions better outside of karate too. It's a dream come true for us!

Angela Fellows, mother of 9-year old Orange belt Cody

“Pierce received two awards at school - the Elmer award for self-confidence, and an award for outstanding citizenship. We were so excited and impressed with this progress. He started the year very shy, unsure, and quiet. His teacher now tells me he is confident, participates in discussions, and works extremely hard. In fact, she said he finishes the work she gives him and asks for more! I know that Dr. Flury has had a major impact on him, as he always wants to make sure that she knows of his accomplishments and hard work.”

Christine Taylor,
mother of 6-year old Orange belt Pierce
and 4-year old Tiger Tot Preston

 “My son has always been a very high academic achiever. However, he has always had difficulty focusing on his schoolwork. He was somewhat of a “daydreamer”. Over the last year I have watched my son develop the ability to focus his attention on the task at hand. I believe that his training in martial arts has caused this change.”

Becki Burchfield, Grand Prairie

“I love the mental benefits that my daughter gets from her Taekwondo classes, but she just knows that she has fun! The classes are high-energy and I love to see her sweating and smiling when she comes out.”

Jim Sorbetalis, Arlington

“We haven’t found any other kind of activity besides Dr. Flury’s karate classes that we can get our own values reinforced to our sons -- things like honesty, hard work, courtesy, and self-discipline. We love that we can drop them off at Dr. Flury’s class, knowing that they are going to have fun and learn these important lessons at the same time.”

Daniel and Rosa Ramirez, Grand Prairie

 “I have always thought of My Son as a gifted little boy. He is always in a good mood, kind, caring, and the best person I know. He was born with a cataract in his left eye and as a result he has some issues with his vision. He does not see the word as we see it. His uniqueness makes reading, writing and just being coordinated a struggle. He has been in Karate for almost a year and a half now. I am seeing even more of the child I already new was inside of him develop. Karate has helped him to:

• Control his perfectionist issues - In first grade he was learning to read and he would come home from school and say, “I miss read 25 words today.” How many mistakes he made in a day would consume his thoughts and energies. At first he would go into karate and try to count his mistakes. After about 2 weeks that all but stopped. He saw everyone making and learning from their mistakes in a very safe environment.
• Coordination – He would go to recess and come home daily with a new hole in his left pant leg or shirt or broken glasses. He couldn’t see himself in relation to other things. His depth perception was way off due to his vision. Within months this changed. He can picture himself in special relationship to others and things and keep himself safe. The eye doctor said his depth perception is better than it has ever been and accredits a lot of this progress to the movements and routines of karate.
• Memory – Kye will tell anyone that remembering things is not his strength. Karate has helped him to sharpen his memory. He remembers 40 step katas, pledges, oaths, and to never put a note in his bag… He has proven to himself that he can remember things and given him some strategies to remember. This has also help improve his reading, writing and his lunch box comes home every day now.
• Self-esteem -- He sees himself move up through the ranks and learning new things 3 days a week. He sees that if he works hard he can be successful. Karate teaches him he can take care of himself and others.
• Character -- Just yesterday he came home saying I have to do two kind things for others. In karate it is stressed -- they learn it and live it.
• Goal setting – He is in 2 nd grade now and setting goals for himself. I am going to learn this kata, I am going to get my brown belt, I am going to do a kick better… Not only is he setting goals for himself he is making plans on how he will accomplish these goals. This is a lesson that will follow him for the rest of his life.

This success is also displaying itself in his regular classroom. He grades in reading and writing have never been higher. I am no longer the one motivating him to be a better reader and writer. He is doing it himself. I cannot thank Dr. Flury enough.”

Jody Leeds (GPISD teacher and proud mother of a brown belt!)

Back to Main Page