Business Spotlight: AMAI Karate

Having been in Loganville for the past 11 years, American Martial Arts Institute is dedicated to staying in the community. 

That's why when AMAI Karate outgrew its previous 4,300 square-foot space in the old Ingles shopping center off Highway 78, the staff decided to move into a 10,500 square-foot building off Commerce Drive in July. 

While the new facility was originally built for a chemical company, the new spot seems perfect for a karate studio. It offers tons of space with large separate rooms so that different classes can be taught at once, and the classrooms have vaulted ceilings.  

Everything from traditional karate to mixed martial arts is offered at AMAI for every level and essentially any age. The school currently has students who are as young as 3 years old to seniors who are in their 50s.

And instructing those students are AMAI's dedicated staff under owner Edmond A. Brown Jr. The staff includes: Brian Thompkins as the program director; Cathy Born as the office manager; Shaiann Etwara and Hannah Parr for coordinating the after-school program; Alex Daltro, who teaches Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and mixed martial arts; Jeremy White, who's head of marketing and assists in teaching; and Tyler Parr and Kimberly and Mark Kiddoo, who's also a Loganville City Councilman, are instructors for various classes. 

Loganville-Grayson Patch spoke with Marketing Director Jeremy White and Office Manager Kathy Born this past week to catch up with AMAI and see how the new building is treating them.

Patch: Aside from MMA, Jiu-Jitsu and American Karate, what else does AMAI offer? 

Jeremy White: We do afterschool programs for the community. We'll go around and pick up the kids from local elementary schools, and they'll hang out with us, and we'll help them with their homework. [There are also] huge summer camps, and we have kids who aren't students who come to those. We have pretty much camps anytime the kids are out of school. We also try to help out at the elementary schools. Mr. Brown goes a couple of times a year to act as a PE-teacher-for-the-day. We try to be as active as we can in the community. In November we had a day just for first responders, so we got a bounce house and we had food and other activities. 

Cathy Born: The City of Loganville Police Department does their training here. They do it once every three months, and it's instructed by Mr. Brown and Mr. Daltro.

White: We also offer women's self-defense seminars every few months. We try to have that open to the public, as well as the kids' bully proof program and other safety programs for children.

Patch: What is AMAI's goal? 

White: To help develop the community by creating leaders and providing life skills, like respect, focus and confidence, that they don't get elsewhere. We also aim to guide people to personal development. 

Patch: What are the standings or certifications of some of the instructors?

Born: Parr is a second-degree black belt in American karate, and Daltro is a brown belt in American Jiu-Jitsu. It takes almost 25 years to become a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, so it's a very high rank to be a brown belt. They're not like the karate system; the Jiu-Jitsu system only really promotes when you earn it. When your instructor sees that you can compete at that level, that's when they advance you. 

White: Mr. Brown is a third-degree black belt in American karate. I'm a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and first-degree in Hapkido. 

Patch: What separates AMAI from other karate studios?

White: I think here in Loganville, it's the quality of our teachers, instructors, the program itself and our involvement in the community. I don't know any other local school that's more involved in the community than we are. I don't know if any of the other Tae Kwon Do studios do anything with the other elementary schools, or any of the police officers, so we're definitely very community-driven. 

Born: Every year, we collect food for the homeless and the needy. 

White: When we went to The Cross for their 5K run for the needy, we donated tons of food to that, and we just did the Loganville Parade and we donated food to the Shepherd's Staff. Kids actually get stripes on their belt, and we actually made it a requirement to bring in food if they wanted another stripe.

What's an upcoming event at AMAI?

Born: We're having our end-of-the-year awards ceremony and belt graduation Friday (Dec. 20). That's open to the public. The black belt students will receive their official embroidered belts, and we'll be giving out 20 different awards, such as Best Kicks, etc., to the kids. We expect at least 350 people to come, because it's a big event for the kids and their parents and families.

White: We also offer day camps for the kids during the holiday break.

American Martial Arts Institute (AMAI Karate) is located at 2230 Commerce Drive and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information on classes, call 770-466-KICK(5425) or visit www.amaikarate.com.