In today's world, many mixed martial arts facilities and martial arts schools teach just violence, fighting or the sport aspect of an art which if not used properly on the street can get you thrown in jail, sued or possibly killed. Most MMA or martial arts instruction today are oriented towards sport or one-on-one fighting and they do not focus on real life combat or tactical situations.  

If you are looking for just sport, then there is nothing wrong with MMA training. If you find a good school and a qualified Black Belt instructor, you will have a great time. ATC does offer special sport TaeKwonDo and Jiu-Jitsu classes for those individuals who want to compete, however we do not teach violence/cage fighting and we expect students to excel in all aspects of their personal lives.

Adults who train at ATC must maintain a positive attitude, self control, respect towards others and avoid any type of drugs or stimulants. Children who train at ATC are required to maintain a good attitude and self discipline during training, at home and good grades in school.

In the real world, law enforcement and military personnel on the battlefield/street have heavy vests and about 40lb to 100lb of equipment. So to train in shorts, spandex or no shirt is not realistic. That is why ATC offers several commando martial arts programs including our specialized ATC-TDT program for real life training.

In the art of self defense there are no rules, no rings, no towel to throw in, and you might need to defend yourself against multiple attackers, individuals under the influence or attackers wielding weapons. Whether the attacker is standing or on the ground, you will learn to handle those situations.

So what is Self-Defense?

The working definition is: Using whatever means necessary mentally or physically to quickly end a situation that may cause you serious bodily injury.

Talking your way out of danger is self defense. Walking away is self defense, Running like hell is self-defense. Breaking someone's nose so you can run from the four guys who are attacking you is self-defence. Shooting the guy attacking you with a knife is self-defense. Not putting yourself in the situation in the first place however, is the best form of self-defense. Avoiding bad people and bad places is the best self defense.

Self-defense is *NEVER* oriented towards ending an emotional or mental threat, such as hurt pride, damaged ego, wounded feelings or to prove yourself right. That is fighting. It is not a form of punishment or to prove your superiority over another human being. That's an assault and that is against the law.

Self-defense is legal, fighting and violence are not. Until you understand what the legal differences are between self defense and fighting (and how the law and society look at the subject), you are putting yourself or your child in serious danger -- both physically and legally.

In short, self-defense is only oriented towards one thing: ending an immediate physical threat. How you go about it far supersedes the simple physical application.

Martial Art: The term martial arts refers to the art of war and self improvement. (Self Defense)