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Increased Physical Activity

Since 1980, obesity rates among teens ages 12 to 19 quadrupled, from 5% to 20.6%. Trends for all ages have followed a similar pattern, even adults. With more things to watch on the television and computers becoming more available, less time is being spent every day dedicated to moving and working the body. A child needs to be active. An inactive child will become frustrated, moody, unhappy, uncooperative, and very difficult to manage. Multiple children even more so. Enrolling your kids in karate from an early age will instill in them the lesson that the health of our body is important and it will given them a physical outlet for their energy… and make the parent’s life easier.

Gain Self Confidence

Every child struggles to find their place among their friends and at school. In a karate class, kids of wider age ranges are placed together. This allows older kids to inspire younger kids, and it allows younger kids to participate in classes with older kids. The dojo community gives encouragement to all and helps individuals learn new skills. With each skill learned, confidence grows that translates into confidence with school work, playing with other kids on the playground, and developing a sense of independence and personal strength.

Develop Focus

With so many distractions in today’s world, being able to tune out the world and focus on the present is a skill that is slowly fading away from our daily lives. As a child progresses, learning the next kata requires focus, memory, and concentration. Spending time in each class calming the mind and turning off the world outside, children find a treasure of their own untapped potential. And once again, this translates outside of the dojo as well with kids being able to complete homework with less frustration, finish chores without getting distracted, and, most importantly, listening to the parents a little bit more.

Connect the Body and Mind

Developing intuition, understanding and transforming fear, and finding courage take time and practice. Each day in each class is a step to building the mind’s ability to better use the body. Physically being able to accomplish the move is one thing, but knowing when and how to use it is another. Being “paralyzed with fear” is nothing new to children, especially when faced with a scary situation. But in a karate class, these moments are presented in safe and encouraging environments and always with the goal to learn. Once the mastery of the mind begins, the body follows.

Learn Respect

Rules of the dojo are set to develop a sense of respect and appreciation for the instructors, the dojo, and other students. Belts are earned, not given. Children enter the studio at different ages, but all start at the white belt. Children learn that accomplishment of higher belts comes from hard work and dedication. This quickly teaches them humility of self and the appreciation of their peers based on their hard work.

The Next Step to Take with Your Child.

Karate classes are beneficial for children in many ways.  From physical development and health to mental focus and control, let karate for your kids become a tool to help them develop into balanced adults.

Karate Programs for Kids at Excel Martial Arts Maga

Little Dragons Program: 4 – 6 Years Old

In the Little Dragons Karate Program your child will be exposed to positive social interaction. He or she, will learn how to work with others and follow directions from their instructors. This program focuses on improving motor skills and listening skills, as well as building his or her character. The instructor creates interest, FUN and vision in your child to BECOME MORE POSITIVE and BALANCED, all in an ongoing, empowering and caring manner.

Little Champions and Junior Champions Program: 7 -11 Years Old.

The Little Champions and Junior Champions Karate Program is an Educational, Black Belt Program that will give your child the discipline needed to study complete home-work and ORGANIZE their time wisely. The program will help your child DEVELOP PHYSICALLY and EMOTIONALLY, while increasing his or her CONFIDENCE and LEADERSHIP qualities. During class we focus your child’s energies in a POSITIVE and productive manner. To ensure RAPID PROGRESS we focus on QUALITY instruction and personal attention.

Children 12+ attend the adult classes.

See the current class schedule.

Bring your child in for a free karate class.

If you would like to come to the dojo and let your child (or you) take a free, no obligation class, contact us and we will be happy to help you choose the best class to attend.

The post 5 Reasons Kids Should Take Karate appeared first on Excel Martial Arts.

Excel Martial Arts invites all the students and their friends to our awesome Free Parent’s Night Out event! No obligations whatsoever. This is just a night to get the wiggles out and have some FUN!

The address is at our HONBO DOJO located at:

8221 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite #100-101,Las Vegas, NV 89117

The Parent’s Night Out event is a monthly event that Sensei Nick believes is good for all kids, parents, and helps create community. That’s why it is free even to those who aren’t members of the studio. Drop your kids off and go get some dinner, catch a movie, or just relax for a little bit and let your children have some fun and burn off some energy in a safe and friendly environment.

ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

1. Obstacle CrossFit Drills
2. Dodgeball, Relay Races
3. Martial Arts + Self Defense
4. Breaking boards
5. Nerf Gun(s) Moving Target Shooting + Battle Championship
6. Noodle Fights, Tug of War, Floor Wrestling
7. Light Stretching in the end of the night
8. Free PIZZA is provided and Water + Fresh Cotton Candy Just a reminder for the participant(s) who need a different type of food: please bring your own choice of food (water will be provided).

It is “Mandatory” to have fun!

In addition to the fun activities, we will also teach our students life skills during the event such as:

• Manners
• Respect
• Focus
• Teamwork
• Social Games

Age limit is 5-12 years old.

RSVP to reserve your spot and your Nerf Gun(Spots are Limited). You can always call us @702-285-7404 to answer any questions you may have.

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Call us today and get 2 WEEKS of classes for just $39!

Start your year off right learning a new skill. Join Excel Martial Arts Maga for UNLIMITED classes and get a solid introduction to either Karate or Krav Maga. For only $39 you can take as many classes as you want for the two weeks. Hurry and call us today!

Learn More about Karate Programs at Excel
Learn More about Krav Maga Programs at Excel

Call us or contact us to reserve your spot or answer any questions!

The post New Year Special 2016 appeared first on Excel Martial Arts.

Business in Las Vegas is always booming, I’d always like to think. Buildings and small businesses are always being started or developed. Many studios go up in the city, dance studios, recording studios, entertainment studios, fitness studios and martial studios just to name a few.

Excel Martial Arts Maga in Las Vegas is also happy to be part of the city’s transformation. As a developed and growing studio in Las Vegas, we look forward to being an important part of this city’s growth and our youths’ development. We hope to get an opportunity with as many as young people to teach them the martial arts style of discipline and determination to always keep pushing until you reach your goals and dreams. Once you reach those you set another even higher and begin the new journey to reaching you latest dreams.

We have several amazing instructors from all over the world that teach our Krav Maga & Israeli Martial Arts classes and lead our Shotokan-Karate Program. Our main instructors in the studio are currently:

Sensei Catalin "Nick" Neagu

Sensei Catalin “Nick” Neagu

Sensei was born in Brasov, Romania in 1964. Since he was 10 years old Sensei Nick was very impressed with artial Arts through various Martial Arts documentary movies, Martial Arts known at that time under the name of Karate. He immediately fall in love with Karate. Romania, at that time being a communist country, Karate was forbidden, and those who would be caught practicing Karate would be persecuted by the authorities, so…

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Sensei Senpai Louis Gross

Sensei Louis

Hello my name is Louis Gross and I am one of the assistant instructors at the IMA Las Vegas Karate-Do. I moved to Las Vegas, Nevada around the age of 7 from Chicago, Illinois in 2000. From since a very young age I have had an interest in martial arts. When I first entered high school I decided to take a Shotokan-Karate class at my local YMCA on a whim. I did not have any real interest in a sport at the moment and felt it would be a good way to…

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We take the art and turn it into fun and great exercises that will help our young ones to focus and direct their attention to the task at hand. We teach them foundation while they take their journey into many levels.

Martial arts teach the young mind to be strong and to always continue to fight for their goals and ambitions. We guide them on a path of focus in both martial arts and their studies at school. Call us today at 702-285-7404

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The roots of modern Krav Maga began with the need for self-defense in the land of Israel. To understand Krav Maga, one must first understand some Jewish history. The Jewish people, a great fighting nation, were defeated by the Romans in three successive wars in the first and second centuries. Until that time and against all odds, Jews had always maintained a presence in the Land of Israel (called “Palestine” and other names by the various occupation forces).

Although Jews lived in Israel continuously since the loss of independence in the year 135, their numbers were few. This changed in the 1880s when a growing number of Jewish immigrants returned from all over the world. These returning Jews were philosophers, pianists, and university professors. They were not used to fighting and farming – they came to begin a new life in their ancestral home. Resident Arabs and Turks did not care to see the Jews come home, and they used violence to attempt to stop the growth of Jewish towns.

The Jews were regarded as weak and helpless. They were considered fair targets by Bedouin Arabs and other Muslims. The Arabs did not respect weakness and referred to the Jews as “Walid el mita” (the child of death). Jewish blood was considered cheap. The Jews lived in their own quarters, scared and at the mercy of others. Often they hired Arabs to protect them. The Jews emigrating to Israel from around the world, coming home to their ancestral homeland, found this situation shocking, intolerable and unacceptable. They began to “adjust” to the Middle East.

With these attacks came defense, thus it can be said that the roots of modern Krav Maga began in the 1880s. In 1903 the Maccabi Union was formed to teach Jews physical fitness and strength. They wanted to end the era of “Walid el mita.” They soon began training with sticks (early KAPAP), but the goal was rifles – live weapons. In 1907 a group was formed called “HaShomer” (the Guard), with the purpose of defending Jewish settlements. From this point, and arguably even before this, was a constant exploration and evolution of hand-to-hand self-defense techniques and strategies.

This evolution of self-defense continues even today. No one person can claim rights to this process. The need for self-defense is as old as man himself. In 1919 Ze’ev Jabotinsky founded the “Haganah” (Defense in Hebrew), for the purpose of defending Jews against the increasing Arab attacks.

Various instructors were instrumental in developing what would become known as KAPAP, and eventually Krav Maga. In January 1941 a self-defense course took place, and the chief instructors were Maishel Horowitz, Menashe Harel, Gershon Kofler, and Yitzhak Shtibel. This was a key point in the organized development of Israeli self-defense.

At the same time, in lands around the world, Jews of the exile also faced violence. They, too, began to form self-defense groups in different areas of Munnkacs, Carpata Ukraine, around the 1930s. Formed by Jewish veterans who served in the Hungarian military in WWI, one group’s purpose was to defend the Jewish inhabitants from roaming gangs of Jew-haters. Another Jewish defense group was formed in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s. Together with other Jews, Emrich “Imi” Lichtenfeld, an expert in boxing and wrestling, formed a Jewish self-defense group. Lichtenfeld was influenced by his father, Shmuel, a detective and Defensive Tactics instructor with the local police force. Shmuel Lichtenfeld was known as a tough officer with a reputation for arresting the most violent criminals. Young Imi grew up in a tough area and had to deal with fascist thugs, violent gangs, and anti Semites. On the street he learned to distinguish between sporting techniques and real life self-defense.

The post History of Krav Maga – Part 1 appeared first on Excel Martial Arts.

Jabotinsky was one of the great Jewish leaders of that century. He foresaw doom for European Jewry and urged them to relocate to the Land of Israel (aliya). He founded the Betar youth movement and the Herut (Freedom) political party. Future prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzchak Shamir were among his disciples. Jabotinsky formed the Zion Mule Corps as part of the British army in World War I, and he himself enlisted as a private.

Jabotinsky, or Jabo as he was known by the Jewish masses, was not only a great leader and speaker, he was also a writer and a poet. He wrote in many languages and his works include text books on Hebrew language, novels, and poems. His works inspired his generation and those that followed. One of his most famous articles was titled “Jews; Learn to Shoot!”

While Jabotinsky was the philosophical force behind Jewish military revival, others were the hands-on Krav Maga instructors. Imi Lichtenfeld’s talents were noticed, and he was assigned to the unarmed combat instructors team. Eventually he became a KAPAP instructor and was among those who trained the Palmach and Palyam. He is credited with a shifting of emphasis from use of the stick to the greater incorporation of Jujutsu. When Israel became a state in 1948, all the pre-state militias joined together to form the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Imi was recruited into the staff of the IDF physical training school where he was one of 11 KAPAP instructors.

Krav Maga includes techniques from judo, jujutsu, karate, western boxing, and elements of wrestling. With the establishment of the State of Israel, Krav Maga was adopted as the official fighting style of the IDF and the Israel Police Force. In 1964 Imi Lichtenfeld retired from the IDF and opened a private Krav Maga club. With this he became the first to offer Krav Maga to civilians, although in Israel nearly all civilians serve in the military and thus already have some Krav Maga training.

Lichtenfeld’s fame comes from his initiation of the development of Civilian Krav Maga. This is a process still going on today with many branches. Krav Maga is free flowing – all styles of punching, kicking, chokes, and take-downs are employed with the aim of neutralizing the enemy in the shortest amount of time possible. Krav Maga has no limitations. Groin, eyes, throat, and face are all fair game. Therefore, Krav Maga does not hold competitions and does not seek to be represented in the Olympics. The danger to the participants would simply be too great.

Krav Maga is designed for self-defense, combat, and worst case scenarios. A major part of the training involves the ability to handle such stressful situations, both physically and mentally. The style is easy to learn and apply. Krav Maga employs simple movements that are natural to the body, based on instincts that are already established within us. Perhaps the most unique aspect of Krav Maga is the emphasis on aggressiveness – it teaches you to stick to the goal no matter what, even when it is hard, even when you feel you have nothing left. Krav Maga has a no compromising attitude towards the enemy. The goal is to neutralize the enemy; the specific technique does not matter.

Krav Maga is taught to all units of the IDF — the amount depends upon the unit. As such, nearly everyone in Israel has some Krav Maga training. Depending on the unit, knife and gun disarms are also taught. All training involves strict discipline, aggressiveness, and a warrior mindset.

The post History of Krav Maga – Part 2 appeared first on Excel Martial Arts.

At that time, Romania was a communist country and Karate was forbidden. Those who were caught practicing Karate would be persecuted by the authorities. So, at the age of 13, Sensei Nick started Judo which was allowed by the government.

Karate at that time was practiced in secrecy, underground. In order to be part of the karate group you literally had to know somebody who knew somebody. It took Sensei Nick almost 1 year until he first was introduced to Shotokan-Karate, at the age 14, through an older friend.

Sensei Nick was completely blown away by the speed, power, flexibility, and control of his future Sensei.

Sensei Nick’s passion for karate was noticeable to all who knew him. Years later, Sensei Nick would learn from one of his training partners that for the first 3 years of his karate training as a youth, he never miss one training session, even when the training was held outside. After 8 months in his training Sensei Nick was appointed by his Sensei to conduct the classes for over 160 students, all white and yellow belt, not knowing that this will be very useful in his career.

At the age of 17 he received his 1st degree black belt, becoming the youngest black belt in the country.

In 1989 Sensei Nick moved to Denmark where he continued his study with JKA-Europe(Japan Karate Association).

In 1995 Sensei Nick was appointed Chief Instructor for JKA Romania, in that year Sensei Nick open his JKA organization in Romania.

In 1999 Sensei Nick moved to Las Vegas, where he continue to train with various Karate masters. He is the father of 2 beautiful kids. His daughter is a gold medalist at the Junior Olympic Championship and a gold medalist at the Rocky Mountain Championship.

Since Sensei Nick started karate-shotokan, he had the opportunity to train with renowned karate masters such as Sensei Jorgen Bura(8th Dan JKA-Denmark), Sensei Masahiko Tanaka(8th DAN JKA Japan), Sensei Keinosuke Enoeda(9th DAN JKA-KUGB), Sensei Mikami(8th DAN JKA-USA), Sensei Yaguchi(8th DAN JKA-USA), Sensei Seiji Nishimura(8th DAN Wado-Ryu Karate), Hanshi Cyrus Madani(8th DAN-IMA Chief Instructor-USA), just to name a few.

When Sensei Nick moved to Las Vegas, he searched for a family orientated martial arts organization to join that shared his values, passion, and potential for growth. Over the years, he received several offers from different organizations he knew, however they were not what he was looking for. In 2007, after 8 years of searching, he meet Hanshi Cyrus Madani, and the following year he join him and his organization, The International Martial Arts Association.

Hanshi Cyrus Madani is the Founder and Chief Instructor of The International Martial Arts Association with the headquarters located in Louisville, Colorado.

Hanshi Cyrus Madani has over 45 years experience in professional instruction in karate and dojo management. He holds a 8th Degree Black Belt, he is a Pan American and World Karate Federation (WKF) karate referee , where he has been refereeing for the past 30 years. Since 2002 he has been a member of the technical committee for the USA National Karate Federation (USA-NKF). USA-NKF is the only National Governing Body of karate in the USA. Hanshi Cyrus Madani also holds a BA in Business Administration, a BS in Electrical Engineering, and a Master of Science in Telecommunication from the University of Colorado.

Hanshi Cyrus Madaniʼs wife, Sensei Fariba Madani, is the first woman from United States to be licensed by the WKF as a Karate Referee. Sensei Fariba Madani is also a member of the USA-NKF Referee Council and WKF.

Today Sensei Nick holds a 5th Degree Black Belt in Shotokan-Karate, certified USA-NKF Kumite judge, brown belt in Judo, he is also the only authorized certified instructor with IKI (Israeli Krav International) in the state of Nevada. Sensei Nick is also a Certified Sports Nutritionist Consultant for several martial arts organizations such as IMA Colorado, IMA Utah, IMA Texas, and Vancouver Martial Arts Academy.

Sensei Nick has over 40 years teaching experience, over the years he taught in different countries such as Romania, Denmark , USA, as well as he has been holding seminars in Romania, Canada and USA, his teaching program is tailored in an unique way for kids and adults of all ages, he specializes in combining the best of Traditional Karate with the principal of Modern Athletic Training Methods and Nutrition.

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