About Us

We emphasize academics and setting lofty goals. We provide many programs and incentives for students to work toward and we give them the guidance to get there.

CHILDREN'S CLASSES
Our children's classes make up the largest portion of our program at American Karate Academy. Sure we practice punching, blocking and kicking. And we love it! But there is so much more. These classes are filled with LIFE LESSONS and how each one is connected to our martial arts training. Children listen more closely when it's about Martial Arts and this is a great opportunity to reach them on a new level. We stress the need to work harder at our weaknesses and the vision to not neglect our strengths. And hard work builds character which leads to a sense of pride in your accomplishments. We talk about street smarts, safety, relationships with siblings, school situations, things you see on T.V., honesty, the importance of school and studying, and much more.

We teach tons of general lessons like these regularly. Then we give examples and have discussions in class so they can internalize the lessons. We cover Bully situations, street smarts, karate practice time, school work and grades, respectful and disciplined behavior, sibling relationships, learning from negative situations, and more. Our parents really love these parts of our program.

ADULT CLASSES
Our adult classes are far more demanding as would be expected. As the age group of our classes increases, so does our intensity level. The older kids train harder in a more demanding class than our young kids. And while everyone works at their level, the adults train even harder. There's more bag work and self defense in our Adult classes and the instruction on technique goes into greater detail. Parents can train together with their children in our Mixed Classes when the children are 8 and older. This makes our Martial Arts Program a great family activity!

HEAD INSTRUCTOR
Our Head Instructor, Darin Morgan, taught for several years under his teacher, Master Robert Torres, beginning in 1988 and has also taught at two other schools under the same system. At this same time, our original conception of the American Karate program began. Later, under the guidance of Master Torres, our program launched it's own classes at Baton Rouge School of Performing Arts on Jones Creek Road in 1996. We also provided martial arts instruction for Linda's Guardian Angel Daycare on Old Jefferson Highway at Highland Road before moving to our present location.

EXPANSION
Our classes were staying full and more new students were joining. With our advanced students needing to train in separate classes from our beginners, we decided in 1999 to move to our present location - -
5765 Jones Creek Road.

As a parent I have seen both of my children excel in several sports outside of martial arts arena with direct attributes to the style and discipline of training the American Karate Academy offers through strength, agility, balance and explosive power. As parents we want our children to have every opportunity to be part of the diverse training methods along with strict discipline focusing on grades in the classroom and the importance of strong character traits that exhibit kindness, integrity and honorable civic engagement.

Mr. Darin has always been patient and understanding as it relates to each of the students needs and different levels of ability. Both of my children are Black Belts and we as parents feel it has been and will continue to be an honor and privilege to be part of the American Karate Academy.

Cordially,
David Hamilton MPA
City of Baton Rouge Municipal Government

We originally chose American Karate Academy based on the location and convenient training schedules. We have been members of the school for approximately 7 years and I appreciate the level of discipline and order in regards to the testing for belt levels and the consistency in which promotions are acquired by the students.

What is important to me as a parent is the belt ranking system is done in a fair and impartial manner and only those students who have exemplified excellence at each level are allowed to move forward. Some Karate schools in the area tend to advance students based on time, money or other factors. Mr. Darin Morgan in very consistent with the promotional tests given at the Academy.