Premier Martial Arts Dover

Signed up my kid for intro classes, they seem top of the line which they might be however when it came time to sign up for the weekly classes I found out there was a yearly contract that you had to pay to get out of if your kid decides they want to try something else. Prices seemed a little much but they told me upfront about the prices gave me flyers of their different price packages but no where was there anything about a contact. I was shocked to hear they did this for karate and felt like it was a bit of a sales man pitch to pressure people into signing up, after the intro sitting there was my kid who did two lessons (the into) now expecting to go every week and I had to tell her no I'm sorry it wasn't going to work out. Making me feel like I let her down. The more I thought about it the more it upset me. I'd rather find a mom and pop family karate studio then some big chain from now on. Go to Kaizen

My son has been a member since 2020! My son Dairieon loves being there and is on his way to getting his first degree Black Belt in June of 2024! He has learned to more independent, disciplined himself and dedicated to learning the forms, combos, and weapons. I am a committed parent on the Sidekicks Team and we love what we do! PMA is a great place for children learning to be part of a team and dedicated in learning self defense and life skills. He is also in the leadership class. The staff and owners are very nice and professional and hold the child accountable for their actions and earning their belts. I Love this place, PMA keep doing great things! Come on out and join us!!

My child attended Premier Martial Arts in Dover before Covid occurred and restarted again in Feb. 2022. With that said the new owners and instructors took over about that time. Although my child has a hard time focusing, I thought this would be a good program. My child has previously enjoyed the classes under Mr. Garcia and I expected a similar experience with Travis and the new owner/management, even though I questioned some of the fee changes that occurred after they took over. Although the more experienced instructors were no longer there, Chris appeared to be doing a good job and was a positive influence to start off. It wasn't long before my child's natural hard headedness became an issue. Chris was unable to find a strategy that would motivate my child (more experienced instructors previously found ways to motivate my child). There were several times we discussed quitting early on because what appeared to be the ineffective instruction, but chose to stick it out because of the comradery my child was building with the other participants. Fast forward to today, belt testing has always focused on completing positive character/values worksheets and having teachers and parents approve the children's behavior in order to belt test. Although, my child did not test for two previous opportunities for which they were completely qualified to test for the next belt, not completing one of the character papers this time and was sufficient to deny them opportunity to test for the same belt they were previously qualified to test for. In all honesty, my child has had the best past three to five months ever at the premier. One thing that really bothers me, is after my child didn't test three months ago, Chris offered to test during a private lesson. (So it is known, you pay to test for each belt level now and also pay for private lessons. ) With all of that said, at this point, I've paid several hundred dollars to belt test and with meeting the requirements to test two previous times and not testing, to be denied testing this time felt hurtful and was my final straw with Chris, Travis and Premier MA Dover. And before anyone says your child didn't meet the requirements and shouldn't have tested, the requirements were the same for the previous two tests and they met the requirements to test for the same belt as this time. Clearly there was some miscommunication between me, my child and Premier of which Travis agreed was not communicated properly. It appears more like the focus is on money and not the true development of values and character as described. I'm sure others will have different experiences, and I don't doubt other will continue to excel, but if your child isn't easily motivated, you may have significant trouble here.

I basically live here! I've been training and teaching here for years. I'm so glad to get the opportunity to improve lives every day on the mats! Not only that, but having fun at the same time! I hope you'll give us a shot to get your family to grow!

We have been a part of the PMA family for almost a year now. My 2 boys LOVE the classes so much. The growth we have seen in them over this last (almost) year has been amazing. 🖤💚