WHO WE ARE:

Carroll's Martial Arts, LLC, is a family oriented martial arts academy serving the SW Suburbs of Chicago, CONVENIENTLY located at 101 Hempstead, at the intersection of Rt 30 and Washington, near I-80, Providence Catholic High and Cherry Hill Kindergarten in New Lenox, Illinois. We have over 225 active students with an average retention rate of over 85%. Many of our students have been with us for 5, 10 or even more years.

We understand the needs of busy families, who have many other activities, so our classes operate on a 7 to 8 week session schedule allowing students to "skip a session" if needed for other sports or vacations or just to take a break. We offer classes for ages 4 to 99 and for beginners through all black belt ranks. See our calendar for upcoming session start dates.

OUR CLASS FEES & OTHER COSTS:

If you are looking for a martial arts program and are being pressured into signing a long-term contract with an initial deposit and high monthly tuition payments, you might want to check us out first. In our program, an individual who takes classes year round (1 hr per week for 5 sessions (37 weeks)), will pay a maximum of $500 for the ENTIRE YEAR. At other programs you pay every month, whether you attend classes or not. We coordinate our session breaks to coincide with school breaks so you are not paying for time you would not likely be taking karate anyway.

Unlike other programs, we do not charge a sign-up fee, so you can safely try it out without feeling like you're making a life-time commitment for yourself (or your 4 yr old). We hope you do make karate a life-time commitment, but we also understand that it is not for everyone. Our mission is to expose as many students as possible to karate so those who DO enjoy it can make it a life-long passion.

Quite a few of our most loyal students have come to us on the advice of an Occupational Therapist. What brings them here varies, but they stay because they have fun, they learn self-discipline and self-control, they see regular improvement in their abilities, and they can't wait to earn their next belt! It is so gratifying to see these students progress and gain confidence they might never have gained had their parents not found a high quality karate program for a reasonable cost.

Other costs to consider when selecting a martial arts program are uniform and equipment costs and testing fees. Our Gi's cost $120, which includes a t-shirt and the school chest patch, and may be purchased as separates to help ease the expense. Our test fees start at $5 for the Mini Program and max at $100 for 8th degree Black Belt. Many other programs charge HUNDREDS of dollars for each test, even for the youngest children.

OUR PHILOSOPHY ON BELTS:

We believe a Black Belt represents the highest level of achievement in the Martial Arts and should only be awarded to an accomplished, mature student who has earned it through years of intense study. Therefore, we do not award black belts to anyone younger than age 16. A very advanced junior may earn a "junior black belt" prior to age 16 but our program is difficult enough that it is highly unlikely that anyone would complete the requirements for junior black belt before age 12. Sensei Carroll believes that giving a young child a "black belt" provides a false sense of his/her abilities that could result in injury to self or others. When our students earn their black belt it is a VERY big deal.