Instructors and Staff

**SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION**

Elite Martial Arts Academy has merged with Premiere Martial Arts on August 1, 2009. Here is a copy of the information letter we sent home with our current students:

Letter to current "Elite" students on July 18, 2009...

We are really excited to give you all this information.  This opportunity has only recently come about, but it offers so many benefits that we could not pass it up and we had to react quickly.  Elite Martial Arts Academy and Premier Martial Arts are merging.  As I alluded to above, this benefits both studios in many ways.

As way of background, Premier Martial Arts Academy was purchased by Mark Dumas.  Mark has studios in Peachtree City, Newnan, Fayetteville, Stockbridge and McDonough, as well as the one here in Griffin.  Mr. Kevin trained under Mark for 9 years and worked for Mark for 7 years.  We have kept in contact with him over the past two years since we started this studio.  A short time ago he contacted us in order to inform us that he was changing his program at all his studios, including Premier’s.  He was designing a new curriculum that would be developed by some of the most creative and impressive people in the martial arts business today.  After hearing his plans and seeing some of the detail on the program, we were extremely impressed.  It is a program that maintains the focus on the mental benefits of martial arts, but adds more depth and excitement to the physical side of the program.  While we were having this discussion, we both decided that it would be in everyone’s best interest to merge the two studios.

The developers of the curriculum are Mike Chat, Founder of XMA, and the principals of American Top Team and The Pit.  Mike Chat’s XMA Performance Training is regarded as one of the most dynamic and entertaining martial arts programs being taught today.  Mr. Chat has developed our forms and had input into the core curriculum.  You can check out XMA at http://xmahq.com. American Top Team and The Pit sponsor some of the best mixed martial artists competing today.  American Top Team and The Pit provided material for the curriculum that will improve both the stand-up and ground programs.  Another plus is that the program was developed with an emphasis on fun.  We want the children to learn the important principals of martial arts and master the physical requirements while having fun.

We are also extremely excited to be moving into a brand new facility in 5 to 6 months.  The new facility will be about 3 ½ times as large as our current studio.  The building is 11,200 square feet in area.  The new facility is also very close to this studio.  It is on East Solomon Street near the court house.  The studio will have three large workout areas.  The primary workout mat will be over 3 times as large as our current floor.  We will also have expanded party area, pro shop and more.  The viewing area will be much larger and more visitor friendly.

Until we move, we will be having class at the current Premier studio.  We will be having an after school program at this studio starting August 3rd.  While it may be a little crowded, we will make sure that we have adequate instructors and assistance on the mats.  As stated above, the curriculum will be changing, but it will still be fairly similar to our current style.  You will also have the benefit of having an additional instructor with many years of experience.  The instruction teams will be working together and give you a very high level of training.  Mr. Kevin and Mr. Tim, from Premier, will both be considered Head Instructors.  Mr. Jim will remain as Program Director and one of the managers of the operation.

You will hopefully see some streamlining and efficiency improvements in the operation.  Some of this will come from the years of experience Mark Dumas brings to the business and some to new systems that we are implementing.  One of the changes will be in our accounting process.  It will be handled by a third party company that will be handling our billing.  For those of you that use EFT, you will notice little or no change.  For those of you that pay by credit card, cash or check there will be a change.  For credit cards, these will be charged each month by this new company, Member Solutions.  Cash or Check payers will be sent a coupon book or statement and have to mail their payments each month to Member Solutions.  If you would rather not have to use the coupon/statement you can change to the EFT.  We have gotten to the point that even without this merger, we are too large for In-House payments.  Mr. Jim is spending too much time collecting funds.

There will be a schedule change.   We will be adding additional classes because of the increased students.  We will have more advanced belt classes and will add a teen class (13 – 17).  The teen class will have a different curriculum from the children’s class.  It will be more age appropriate than the children’s class for this age group.  Because of these additional classes, we will be deleting the late evening second classes we had on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays.  Mr. Jack’s Thursday class will also be canceled.  He will be teaching a traditional Tung So Do class once the new building is complete.  The new schedule will offer two classes a week meeting before 6:00 and two after 6:00 for most belt groups.

We know that change is something concerning to many people.  We hope this change will not cause concern for anyone.  We have looked at this from many directions and truly believe it benefits everyone in many ways.  If we did not think this was good for you the students and parents, we would not have done it.  We will still be teaching, we will still be managing, we will all be in a new bigger building, better designed for our needs.  You will have a better curriculum that should be even more fun.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Mr. Kevin & Mr. Jim