It is a business they have grown successfully, Adam said, with 16 to 35 students in class each day and 400 families training with Reveal Martial Arts.
But things at Reveal had to change quickly after the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic March 11.
On March 15, Adam and Lucie announced to students and their families that their martial arts classes would move to a virtual platform.
“It basically happened within one day,” Adam said. “We turned our studio into a virtual studio, and we are basically doing live classes and also recording all the classes and uploading it to our YouTube channel for our families to be able to replay on demand. It’s a pretty profound change.”
Through their private Facebook group, their private YouTube channel and the conference service Zoom, the Spicars are offering live classes and free private lessons for all students, in addition to free seminars with guest instructors.
Using Zoom, the instructors are able to interact with each child and home in to help students develop their skills.
“It’s almost like a one-on-one class,” Adam said. “It’s the best thing that we can do in this situation where we actually don’t have they physical contact with the students.”
Adam said he has heard from parents and families that it is helpful for them to have a familiar routine, one focused on positivity and building discipline for their children.
“It's been going strong; you can see that definitely parents are looking for an outlet for their kids, something to do that will keep them moving, have a positive mindset and stay motivated,” Adam said. “The parents are really thankful for us for having the same structure and ... bringing some kind of a sense of normalcy for their kids.”
To help families stay active and connected during this time, the Spicars are offering free beginners' karate classes every Saturday from 11-11:45 a.m.
“It's open to everybody, and it's lots of fun,” Adam said. “We are keeping the kids busy and moving and punching, kicking, yelling, blocking."
The Spicars are also taking on new students in this virtual setting, offering a trial package of the virtual learning platform for $9 for the first week, Adam said. People have tuned in from as far as Hawaii and Ohio, he said.
The martial arts program helps with physical exercise during this time, but it also helps with the students’ mindsets, Adam said.
“[The virus] impacts the kids tremendously,” Adam said. “They might have anxiety; they might be very scared. ... Our instructors are their role models. We have been a positive role model in their lives. They trust us. So having the ability for our students to see us daily ... to see some kind of normalcy is going to lessen the anxiety levels that they might be experiencing."
Many businesses have had to adapt to survive, and Reveal Martial Arts is no different, Adam said.
“We knew that if we did not do something that our business, most likely, [would] suffer tremendous losses,” Adam said.
This was only one of the reasons the Spicars began to offer their classes virtually. Providing a sense of normalcy and allowing students and instructors to lead each other through a crisis was the other, Adam said.
“[H]ere at Reveal, we are all about having positive mindset, a positive outlook,” Adam said. “And I think that it's helping tremendously with our students and our martial arts families in this very difficult situation. Our focus is to basically provide connection to our current students and families, be an inspiration, be leaders, be role models, and our hope is that we are going to be able to reopen in May.”
Until then, it is the connection with the students that continues to drive Reveal Martial Arts and helps the instructors stay positive.
“That brings us a tremendous amount of energy,” Adam said.
Reveal Martial Arts
2120 E. Southlake Blvd., Ste. B, Southlake
469-444-0246
1125 Davis Blvd., Ste. 300, Southlake
469-215-5228. www.idokarate.com, www.facebook.com/idokarate
