Minnetonka PRO Martial Arts Franchise offers Armor™, National Bullying & Predator Prevention Program

Bullying and predatory behavior are both national epidemics that have left millions of U.S. parents seeking a solution. A renowned martial arts Grandmaster is providing answers by incorporating a comprehensive bullying and predator prevention program into the world-class martial arts training at his national chain of martial arts franchises. 

The Armor™ Program is offered at all PRO Martial Arts franchise locations across the country, including the recently opened location in Minnetonka. The program gives PRO Martial Arts franchises a mix of the physical discipline of martial arts and the mental, social and psychological tools that allow children to defend themselves from the devastating effects of physical, verbal and online bullying and predatory behavior.

PRO Martial Arts was founded by internationally certified Grandmaster Instructor Ed Samane, who holds a seventh degree black belt in Tang Soo Do and an eighth degree black belt in Sin Moo Hapkido. 

The Armor™ Program was developed as a result of eight months of consultation with national experts in psychology, law enforcement, medicine, education and martial arts. The curriculum focuses on increasing a child’s awareness of bullying, teaching practical tactics to avoid becoming a bullying victim and educating participants on how to defend themselves against predators.

“The Armor™ Program is all about empowerment,” Grandmaster Samane said. “It is about empowering children to be their own best advocate.” 

The theme of the program is “I Am My Own Superhero™,” a message of self-confidence and self-esteem that teaches children to stand tall and stand up for themselves. Twelve weekly bullying prevention lessons are followed by 12 predator prevention lessons. The program has been designed so that students can enter the program at any point and pick up on the learning, regardless of the stage the class might be in the curriculum at that time.

The program targets a growing national concern over bullying in schools, online predators, sexual predators and other abusive behavior toward children. One in 4 students is either a bully or a victim of a bully. Each day 160,000 students don’t show up for school out of fear of being bullied, and 56 percent of students have witnessed a bullying crime take place at school.

PRO Martial Arts founder Ed Samane, a victim of bullying at a young age, himself, realized that although bullying was grabbing national headlines and television coverage, little was being done to solve the problem. The solutions to bullying — increased self-esteem, confidence and discipline — coincide perfectly with world-class martial arts training. So the Armor™ Program formalized much of the character training already existing in the PRO Martial Arts program, and added the skills and techniques gleaned from national experts on the subject.

The result is a practical, skills-based program specifically designed to be easily understood by children of all ages.

“This sets PRO Martial Arts apart from every other martial arts program out there,” said Samane. “There is no martial arts program or curriculum that comes close to this program.”

PRO Martial Arts Minnetonka is located at 14705 Excelsior Blvd. For more information about the Armor™ program call (952) 405-9126.

For more information on PRO Martial Arts’ Armor™ Program visit: ProMartialArts.com/armor.