The Gym: Home of Boltz's Family Martial Arts Academy — Local services in Mendota Heights

The Gym - Boltz’s Family Martial Arts Academy in Mendota Heights is a perfect outlet for your kids to burn off excess energy while gaining invaluable life skills. The instructors are exceptionally patient, understanding, & highly experienced teaching kids especially with learning differences. My son has been training here for a year & we love how much he has grown. He started taekwondo isolated, reluctant, anxious, & easily overwhelmed. We love that he can face all these challenges head on in a safe & friendly environment. Now, he is more focused & starting to learn how to handle his emotions in a more productive way. He is bonding with his peers & learning from them as well. We’ve seen how it has made a positive impact at school & home. You should give the Gym a try. Your kids will see the benefits & find going is worth every penny.

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What to expect as a beginner & intermediate family taekwondo student:

Your kids will be greeted with a warm hello by the Masters, Miss Candy or other students when you walk through their doors. The vibe is down-to-earth, approachable, & family-focused. Hallways are always decorated with the holiday theme of the moment. Master Boltz is a big Marvel fan so you may see his super hero action figure collection proudly displayed in the lobby, and it may prompt your inquisitive kids to stir up a conversation. Students will check themselves into class at the kiosk on the front desk. Moms & dads have the option to drop off their kids, watch along a long ramp or join in & train alongside their kids. Often, you will see smiling & eager kids before they ready themselves to take to the floor.

Kids will feel at ease with the predictable & consistent teaching format & familiar instructors. Beginner & intermediate classes are 50 minutes long with a typical class as follows: -Bowing in as a show of respect & thank you for training -Warm-ups (sit-ups, push-ups, leg raisers, relays) -Water break -Stretching -Technique (focus material for the week) -Announcements -Bowing out as a thanks for the time spent

After class, students can challenge on the technique they learned & earn their “stripe." When students have mastered 6 techniques, they can sign up to test for their next belt. Belt testing happens about every 8 weeks & then the cycle starts all over again.

Each class your kids attend, they will practice courtesy, integrity, self-control, discipline, & perseverance. As they continue to train, they will build their self-confidence & self-esteem. They will improve their focus, patience and frustration tolerance, learn to perform under pressure & build social connections while they train alongside their peers. They will learn how to handle set backs & pick themselves up. They will learn about planning with a goal in mind & the ways to reach that goal.

You will be impressed by the longevity the instructors have been teaching & training here! Find their annual class photos along their walls and observe the same instructors posing in them! We love the consistency. They must love it here too! No other extracurricular activity my son has participated in has this kind of teacher retention rate whether in school, music lessons, or sports.

Classes are offered M-Th & Saturday, so there is flexibility to work around other sports and extracurricular activities. Make it a habit to go 2-3x a week for maximum benefits.

The Gym offers more than martial arts too! They heavily invest in kids & give back to the surrounding community by hosting free fun events year round. This gives kids the opportunity for unstructured playtime outside of class.They also have summer camps, after-school care, & monthly "Kids Night Out" so parents can have a date night for 5 hours! They even do kid’s birthday parties and cut cakes with a sword! I am in awe with all the work they do for the kids and community.

As you can see, the Gym goes far above & beyond a typical gym & our family is grateful for all their efforts. Thank...

The Gym is martial arts and SO much more! My girls went here for 3 years, and if it wasn't for our move we'd still be going. They were like family. My girls did after school care, and were picked up right from their school, which was a life saver for my work schedule; it was great because they also did their Taekwondo lesson before I picked them up. Master Boltz was always trying to find ways new ways to support families during the pandemic and beyond, and make it affordable. They did parents night out where we could drop off our kids and get a date night in. They put SOOO much time and effort in fun summer camp activities planning out ninja warrior courses, water days, tons of blow up houses and so much more. More than any of that though what I especially appreciated was that they genuinely cared about my girls as individuals, and helped them grow in confidence and in respect for others. I feel so blessed to have found this place, and I know my girls are better people from being a part of the...

The Gym is a top tier after school care / summer camp facility. My 6 year old daughter has been going here just short of a year now, and I couldn't be happier. She has gained an amazing amount of self confidence. Everything I want to teach her, such as, respect, integrity, and compassion are instilled and emulated by Master Boltz & staff here and the program in its entirety.

They do all this while letting kids be kids. Water wars, bounce houses, ninja warrior games, and many other activities. I've referred two neighbors here already and after a visit they decided their daughters will be joining this next school year.

Never would have guessed not getting into the YMCA after school program would have ended up being one of the best things that happened for my kids. (My 3 year old will be attending The Gym when...