Recommends

Destry H.

Joined 1 years ago

DCMA is an excellent school. I'm a 3rd Degree black belt at DCMA and I've been there for many years. I've trained under several masters and I'm very happy with the teaching style and personality of Master Dan Cavazos. The environment there is friendly and very upbeat. It's definitely a family environment. Master Dan teaches multiple martial arts and self defense strategies so we learn a lot more than simply taekwondo and karate. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to learn and excel at martial arts.

Doesn't Recommend

John S.

Joined 1 years ago

I am disappointed. I earned my black belt from this school and now I had to start over at another taekwondo school. They did not know or recognize the certificate. I paid $500 for a piece of paper. I would not go to this school, in fact I'm relearning techniques that I was taught wrong. The families there are amazing but the instructor did not give me the skills to prove that I am a black belt to this instructor. At first I thought the new school I was in was a fraud but after some research, I found that he was well known with Korea and the Texas Martial arts commission. Master Dan was not at all, even though his school name is part of the USAT organization but that is not hard to become a member of.

Do not go to this school no matter how cheap the monthly payments are or how nice everyone is.

This is my warning, please do not join this school. Look elsewhere or at least look around and shop carefully.

My new master is understanding and he is helping me out to re-achieve my goal for black belt.

Recommends

brimorales

Joined 2 years ago

DCMA is my home away from home. I am a Junior in high school and a female and I've been at DCMA ever since I was in 8th grade. Throughout my years at the Academy, I've learned so many valuable life lessons. I've learned to not only respect others but to respect myself. I've learned the meaning of the word discipline. I've learned patience. I've learned how to push myself and to try my hardest, all because of the instructors at DCMA. Master Dan takes the time to teach us step by step what we need to do, how to do it and he'll push you because he knows for a fact that anyone is capable of learning Martial Arts. I had very low self esteem when I entered the Academy with my family and now I'm a brown belt with a black stripe, soon to be a black belt. I take pride in everything I've learned and done the past 3-4 years and I am truly blessed to have people like Master Dan in my life. Currently I am an Assistant Instructor, I help teach the kids class and occasion the adult class as well. Master Dan puts me and my fellow classmates to the test once we get at a higher belt ranking such as brown. He let's us have the chance to be in charge and learn what it's like to teach others what we've already learned. Over my years at DCMA, many things have happened. Good and bad. Like I said before, I've learned some great traits that have improved me as a person and that I plan on keeping for the rest of my life. Every day I learn something new. I'm not going to lie, it can be tough, but no matter what Master Dan tries his hardest to ensure your safety. Because at the end of the day we are all part of the DCMA family. For example, One day when I was sparring, I ended up breaking my nose because I didn't keep my hands up- a key part of sparring, and even though Master Dan reminded me time and time again, I continued to be hard headed and not listen.But you better believe that everyone single person in that Academy went to the hospital and waited for hours to make sure I was okay. Now I know to make sure I practice hard so when the day comes that I'll really need my techniques out in the real world, I'm confident I'll know what to do thanks to DCMA. Bottom line in my eyes is, if someone is telling that this place is bad then they obviously don't have their head screwed on straight because they have not experienced the FULL affect that this exhilarating and near perfect place is. We do what we do best which is help people learn skills that will not only make them stronger but better as a person as well. And as I stated before, everyone that brings negative comments is just showing what they obviously haven't seen and they keep feeding that negative energy when all we do is keep our heads up, keep pushing forward and doing all that we possibly can to be the best Martial Artists that we possibly can.

Recommends

Renouf

Joined 2 years ago

DCMA - Just right for our son!. Two and a half years ago, we began searching for a way to build the confidence of our seven year old. Through the Northside continuing education classes, we signed our son up with Master Dan. We have since watched our son mature and grow with the nurturing, encouraging respect of Master Dan and his dedicated instructors. Our son has learned confidence, self-control, respect, dedication, coordination, and team work because of his attendance at DCMA. As long as our son contiues to have fun, to learn and to grow, we plan to be a part of the DCMA family.

Recommends

Colbster

Joined 2 years ago

DC Martial Arts Academy Program. I recommend DCMA Academy to everyone who wants to learn martial arts or taekwondo. I have fun while learning new techniques. My favorite days are pad training, sparring and grappling. Master Dan is very patient, encouraging, and respectful. I feel a part of the DCMA family.

Recommends

Marc Morales

Joined 2 years ago

DCMA is a great matial arts school. I love the way that the teachers tell you how to do the kick, punch, or want ever your doing and thats way I like DCMA!

Recommends

alex tavakoli

Joined 2 years ago

Best school ever!!!!. when the frist time I came dcma martial arts academy I was happy to come to the school I lean how to defend myslef and everything elese I say you should come because you will have lots of fun and lean new moves

Recommends

eddog26

Joined 2 years ago

The Best Martial Arts School Ever!. Ever Since I first walked through the doors of DCMA Academy. I have succeeded and have been able to achieve belt after belt all the way up to first degree black

belt. All because of Master Dan's Patience & belief in me. I belive I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't ever met Master Dan. Cuz' all the Masters I have studied under in my past didn't show belief in me like he has.I had always felt invisible when I was learning martial arts else where.

Recommends

crackhjoe

Joined 2 years ago

Great School!. I would like to say that Master Dan Cavazos at DC Martial Arts Academy is a kind, sensitive, and wonderful person who places his students first. I am a black blelt from another Korean style and now a black belt in TKD. I have thoroughly enjoyed my training and have all my children enrolled in the curriculum. Over the years DC Martial Arts has evolved to include more self defense and Hapkido. Master Dan understands the need to constantly modify and implement new types of training in order to better meet the needs of his students. He has NEVER been disrespectful to anyone; parents or students. Children and adults have fun and learn in his classes! If you want a school where you and your childen will learn, be respected and respect others, give DC Martial Arts a try!

Doesn't Recommend

Squint

Joined 4 years ago

I went there..... First I must say I earned my black belt from Smith Taekwondo in Hawaii. I got transferred to San Antonio by the military. Then I was medically retired with military honors from the wounded warrior project here in San Antonio. I wanted to continue my training with a certified Kukkiwon school as I have PROMISED I would to my Grandmaster in Hawaii.

I QUIT this DCMA for many reasons and one of them was not because of the parents and kids there but because of the instructor.

He told me that they do handout Kukkiwon Blackbelt certificates and that was a lie, in fact a lot of parents thought they were paying $500 for a International Certified Blackbelt. Not so funny. Now, don't get me wrong, if your child moved to another area and you have the certificate of some school saying what you are, more than likely they will accept it without question.

So what is a Kukkiwon Certification? Well it is an international organization that have standards to earn your black belt and if your sponsor believes you deserve it, then you will get a signed certificate from the president of Kukkiwon in South Korea. Then you can go online and check your name. All of the sub-organizations of taekwondo honor it without question.

So I handed over my key of the school and told him I was quiting DCMA. I talked to my Grandmaster Smith and received his blessing to move to another school, which was NSMA. There, I am completely happy and they have the option for the kukkiwon.

Now here is the thing, there was a lot of DRAMA when I left and lies told from the DCMA side. This was also a year and half ago and I am still reading and hearing the lies. I was also charged an additional 2 months after quiting and did not fight that. Because of the complete joy I felt with NSMA.

So here is my advice to you, go check out his school but not just his. Investigate the schools thoroughly not because you are just putting money into it but the time you are sacrificing. Since with time, you can never get it back.

Up in New York, there was this Korean Instructor who owned 6 BIG schools. Drove expensive cars and always looked good. They found out that he got his certificates from the internet. His assistant instructors, which earned their blackbelts from other schools, taught the classes while he sat in the office looking at videos. All his schools shut down and some of those students, who really LOVED TKD, quit completely. It was sad and depressing to see TKD leaving a bad taste in the kid's minds.

So do not be fooled with the amount of schools they have but the quality. If you get a chance, go to the schools testing session. Do research on the instructor. Ask a lot of questions: How long have you been training? Has all the black belts in your school, earned their black belts from you? If yes, then ask, why hasn't any other black belts from other schools stay in your school?

Remember, go check out other schools, just because they are close does not mean that they are "good enough".

The one thing that I will say about DCMA that is good, is that the families there are amazing and loving. I miss them a lot.

Good luck and form your own opinion.