Some of our success stories

"Alex joined Las Vegas Academy last May (2007) at the age of six. Improving his physical abilities was the least of our concerns. Alex needed to sharpen his ability to focus, his discipline, his overall social skills, and ultimately his self-confidence. Thanks in part to his Kung Fu classes, Alex has made huge leaps in each of these areas. His success is due not only to the disciple required by Kung Fu generally, but also patient and caring attention of the teachers. Kevin and Renee have the rare gifts that so few teachers and child professionals have - evident to anyone who observes them at work. Moreover, they have a caring yet competitive educational environment., in which students push one another to be their best while also developing excellent interpersonal skills. We would HIGHLY recommend this school (and have) to any family! We wish you all the best and extend our deepest gratitude for all you have given to Alex."

"I've always thought of myself as being physically active; I was still lifting weights even after my athletic career effectively ended in the late nineties. This led to quite a shock for me when I was diagnosed with adult onset Type 2 Diabetes approximately two years ago (my employment means that I sit behind a desk for 8+ hours a day, and I hardly even noticed that I had added a few extra pounds). My Doctor helped me to understand what Diabetes is about and what medications he recommended that I take. I took the medication for the better part of a year, but I continued to hear and read about Diabetes drugs being considered dangerous or life-threatening. To me, the daily dose of drugs almost sounded more harmful then the disease, so I vowed to find another way to combat the disease.

I came up with the usual list of resolutions that people regurgitate when they want to get off Diabetes drugs. I decided I needed to lose weight, change my diet, and become more active. I considered all the usual ways to lose weight and become more active (running, swimming, exercise bike, pilates, etc.). I've done all those activities before with varying degrees of success, but the thought of going back to that stuff didn't sound like a long term winner because I find them all very dull and boring. I wanted to find something that I could learn from and that would also be fun so that I would be more likely to stick with it over the long haul.

I have a good friend that started taking Kung Fu lessons at the Las Vegas Kung Fu Academy, and he highly recommended it. I met with Instructor Kevin Kawada and I decided to try a couple of classes to see if this could help me in my own situation. After only coming to two or three classes, I could already feel my body changing. This type of instruction was totally foreign to me. Throughout all my years of athletics I had never really been taught about the balance between strength, speed, balance, flexibility and being relaxed. I had been hearing for some time that many professional Football and Baseball players have been doing martial arts to better themselves in their sport. I now really appreciate how beneficial martial arts are for athletes for any sport. If I could jump into a time machine and change anything about my life, it would be to go back 20 or so years and begin my training at a very young age.

I have been taking classes at the Las Vegas Kung Fu Academy since September of 2007. Since that time, I have not taken any medication for my Diabetes whatsoever, and when I test my blood sugar, it is never above a normal range. I have been able to drop weight and maintain my weight at a level that is about 15% lower than where my weight was a couple of years ago. I have noticed a big difference in my day to day quality of life that is completely separate from the Diabetes. Due to the flexibility I have gained over the past few months, I have almost completely eliminated the back and knee pain that I previously thought was part of the aging process.

I would absolutely recommend the Las Vegas Kung Fu Academy to anyone. The way that the classes are taught makes it a very easy place for a beginner to get started in martial arts. Instructor Kevin makes sure that everyone learns at their own pace, all the instructors are encouraging and humble. Instructor Kevin is big on pointing out that there is no secret to Kung Fu. From what I've experienced, that does seem to be true in regards to learning Kung Fu as a martial art. I might just add that if there is a secret to Kung Fu, the secret is that in order to reap the benefits of it you have to be consistent in your training. If you are consistent in your training, you will be able to improve your life and learn something that could even save your life one day."