Potomac Kempo - Old Towne

Their owner can't both to change their phone number. He originally added my phone number by mistake to google so I was getting random clients calling about their kids being late. Now I'm getting calls asking if I want a business loan. This is unbelievable.

I can't comment on the quality of instruction - but given that they don't post anything about the schedule or pricing I thought this may be useful for other people to know.

The cost is $240 a month. So if you can only come one or two times a week, this is definitely not the dojo for you. There are no other pricing plans.

Just for comparison - if you train at Capital MMA, you pay around $180 and get unlimited crossfit, muay thai, boxing BJJ. Here you get karate.

Hope that helps.

Good workout and keeps me in shape. Knowledgeable instructors with significant experience. Instruction is given at a level I can understand, using analogies that make it entertaining to learn and keep it interesting. The kids that come in after my lesson seem to really enjoy it too. I enjoy hanging out with the community of students outside of kempo as well.

I've been studying at Potomac Kempo for a couple of months now. I like it so far. The classes are fun and a good workout and the staff is nice. I enjoy interacting with the other students more than I expected, for the most part they are very cool people.
I would definitely recommend this place.

I've been very very hesitant to say this, but after being asked about it by yet another friend, I realize that it's a moral obligation of mine to speak this thought: Potomac Kempo doesn't seem to do a great job teaching martial arts. That's not something I say flippantly or in passing. In fact, I don't think I've ever spoken poorly of a school's instruction ever before. I've got a couple of very serious concerns that were demonstrated both in my original trial classes and more recent return trials.

1.) The group classes are wildly overcrowded. The last couple classes I went to had around 35 students and only one instructor. Because of this, students can go the entire lesson doing things wrong and no one's got time to correct their form.

2.) While working with other students I noticed a disturbing trend: Many of the students (of even the mid-rankings) were aiming practice strikes that would not hit their opponents, even if they weren't blocked or stopped short. This bad habit is something that usually gets fixed very early in training because it's deeply detrimental to the training of both the student throwing the strikes and the student who should be blocking them... but for some reason, the problem ran high here.

3.) Sloppy form seemed standard. Details below.

I believe that all of the above problems stem from Potomac Kempo's unusual deviation from standard martial arts training methodologies. They offer a large group class that is supplemented by private lessons. The instructors claim to have method to their madness, but I don't think that their explanations are apparent within their prefecture. I would expect poorly-supervised students of low rank to learn incorrect behaviors, and then because they're practicing incorrectly they learn incorrectly and carry those bad behaviors further into their training. To me, that's looks like what is happening at Potomac Kempo. In a more traditional school, part of the training of mid and upper belts would include learning to instruct the lower belts. This builds in a level of communal responsibility to make sure everyone is doing every motion as correctly as possible. Potomac Kempo offers separate, even more expensive, instructor training. I think that this is removing much of the downstream student instruction that would help to offset the very poor student to instructor ratio and the apparent problems that it's causing.

There are a number of schools in the area, and I've been to many of them. Potomac Kempo students where the only ones that struck me as a body that I might not be proud to be a part of.

I still stand by the opinions I listed in my original review. In spite of all this, Potomac Kempo doesn't seem to have much trouble finding exceptionally wealthy people willing to fork over thousands of dollars a year for classes. They're overfull, after all... so someone's gotta like what they're getting. I just don't get it, but then I don't get why people go to Applebee's, either. Maybe the problem is mine.

I was at my company's health fair last November and amongst all the fitness booths, a nice guy named Mark had asked me if I knew anything about martial arts. Really, I didn't because I had never thought about it. My typical M.O. was to push around weights at the gym, with which I had become extremely bored. I spoke with Mark and decided to give it a try because I wasn't happy with my current routine.

I went in for the free trial and met with Mark and was taught a few basic Kempo moves. He took great care and interest in what I was doing even during the free session; something I've seen all the Sensei's doing with their clients regardless of whether free trial or someone who's three steps away from their black belt. I felt embarrassed at not being coordinated or being able to remember basic moves within a couple weeks but Mark reassured me that I'd grow into it with practice and focus.

I decided to join and with it I get a weekly private lesson with the Sensei dedicated to my specific development and also unlimited trips in to participate in group lessons that range from focus on conditioning, specific moves, and Kempo cardio.

I've been doing this for 8 months now and really enjoy it much more than just the gym. I've recommended it to many friends and although it is more expensive than a gym, I feel the workouts are much more dynamic and I'm conditioning my body in a way that works much better for me all the while building usable skills in martial arts.

Another reviewer commented that in 2011 the classes were overcrowded. There are now 5 Potomac Kempos in the area. While I can't comment on classes in 2011, the largest class I had been in was 15, and we all had plenty of room to practice and plenty of attention from Sensei Mark.

A great place to work out and learn Kempo. Chris is a great guy and wonderful to practice with. Everyone should check this place out!

This is a great place to study the martial arts. The instruction is top rate, the hours incredibly convenient, and the staff are truly dedicated. I can tell that they are there to not only teach an extraordinary art form, but also the philosophy and dedication that goes behind it.

I have tried several different dojos and art forms. This is by far the best that I have found. After eight years in the Marine Corps I am lucky (?) enough to see a martial art that is useful. This is. And, again, the instructors "get it."

I would, and have, recommend Potomac Kempo to anyone who's interested in studying martial arts, or a fascinating way to get in shape.

I have been attending instruction at Potomac Kempo for over a year now and I have found it to be a very worthwhile experience on multiple levels for myself. Not only is Sensei Mike, the head instructor at the Old Towne location a very motivational teacher and a talented martial artist but the other students are great people to know. Since the time I began taking instruction at the Dojo I have found myself in better physical condition and more relaxed on a day-to-day level. I would find myself looking forward to my classes. Potomac Kempo mixes private instruction with regular group classes so that you get the best of both worlds in your training. The group classes are great physical fitness courses in addition to helping you work on your basics and in the private instruction you're able to get the one-on-one time with the instructors that really brings your technique forward. What can I say, I'm a big fan.