PRESS RELEASE July 31, 2017 – Cary, North Carolina Avi Pandey is keeping himself very busy this summer. The 12-year-old trains hard in martial arts already having earned a 3rd Degree Black Belt, and is a fine chess player with a USCF (United States Chess Federation) of 1000. But what does chess have to do with martial arts? Being a Black Belt at Johnson’s Martial Arts, Avi is encouraged to lead community service projects to benefit causes that he is passionate about. So, Avi

When I first when I first heard the idea, I thought it wasn’t going to be hard to just simply shut my mouth for one day. I proceeded to do so and realized that what I had expected was nothing like what I had experienced. Staying mute for one entire day, I realized, was a challenging task which took me multiple tries to finally achieve. I often forgot to keep my mouth shut since I've lived most of my life with the ability to speak and it has become a natural thing. So at times

Francesca Digiovanni is preparing for her black belt test in TaekwonDo at Johnson's Martial Arts in Cary! Francesca has a love for animals and decided to raise money for Saving Grace Pet Adoption. Her goal is to raise $300, choosing this amount because $300 is what it takes to pay for the adoption of an animal. Francesca has already raised almost $200 and will be SUPER busy making bracelets! #CommunityService #blackbelt

Devin Paulus and his stepdad, Joe Tripp volunteered at the Special Olympics as part of their black belt project at Tiger Rock Martial Arts in Cary. This is what 11 year old, Devin had to say about their experience at the tournament. The volleyball Special Olympics were held this year in N.C. State. Go Wolf pack! Anyways, when we got there we had to go to the end of the street in a reserved spot. That just proves there is going to be a lot of people there, and it felt like mil

We are here to let our son, Andrew Xavier, know how proud we are that he is receiving his black belt in Tae Kwon Do today at Johnson's Tae Kwon Do Academy. Tae Kwon Do -- the words literally translated are "Foot Hand Art". So, I'll use those terms to summarize how we feel about his achievement. Foot: Andrew has taken great leaps forward in his self-confidence and strength. I am glad that he was not immediately able to go through ALL of his belt tests and pass each one on the

Kayna n Goldberg, 12 year old and red belt student at Johnson's Tiger Rock Martial Arts in Cary started her Nutrition Initiative a few months back called Veggies Go Crunch. Her work is pretty, well, impressive! As a pre-teen, Kaynan is hoping to influence other young people to live healthier lives.She has attracted the attention of Black Belt Magazine contributor, Jason Brick. Mr. Brick is a martial artist himself, and wrote in the February issue of Black Belt Magazine an art

“Dojo” means “school” in Japanese --and while every country has it’s own name for school (it’s a different word in Korean, Chinese, ect.), the important part of this statement is that your life is your school. Should you ever decide to take martial arts lessons, of any kind, I hope that you would be lucky enough to find a teacher who understands and practices the idea of my life is my dojo. When a student is on the mat, executing punches or kicks, rolls or break-falls, leg lo

Our black belt student, Stephanie Lamm has some wonderful insight that we could all learn from. I am pleased to include her black belt essay in our blog. Enjoy! My Experience With Appalachian Service Project Over the summer I participated in a powerful organization that changed my life. ASP, or Appalachian Service Project, takes work teams of teenagers and adults to help make living conditions in Appalachia safer. I spent the majority of the year prepari

Black Belt Essay Community Service Eric Meehan This summer I volunteered for 150 hours at Duke Hospital in Durham. During this time, I worked at various information desks and helped escort patients to their clinics inside the hospital. Because of it’s size, many of these patients were overwhelmed and upset. Having an escort, however, helped calm them down and made them feel more comfortable in the hospital. This job taught me a lot about working with the public. The majority

10 Tenets that relate to free sparring by 9 year old Johnson's Student- Swaycha Goli Honor Free sparring shows honor by students following the rules even though it is free sparring. It also shows honor with being easy on people and not trying to hurt people. In free sparring honor is also in your technique. Your technique shows how much you really care even about free sparring and how much respect and hard work you put into your technique. There is also honor in what techniqu