Dinoto Karate Center - Action Karate Mount Laurel

02/09/2026

I’m unbelievably proud of our Junior Leadership team.

As somebody who grew up in the Martial Arts, belt promotions every 3 months is the heart-beat of the school. It’s an intense day, with a lot going on. It is the day we show up for ourselves and our tribe.

Back in 2020 we had to stop doing in person belt promotions because…well you know why. For a while, we did belt promotions for an entire week to keep the number of people in the school down for virus safety.

Last year on my never ending to-do list of how to build our community back to what we know we can be, I started working on bringing back our single day belt-testing.

After the first one, two things became obvious.

This was a must do. It felt right. The energy in the school was electric. Frankly, it felt like home.

This was going to be hard. All of our Junior Leadership hadn’t seen a single day belt promotion ever. Most of our teenage instructors could only kind of remember what that felt like. From a leadership perspective, covid killed a whole lot of institutional knowledge.

Like in all things, it was easy to say, hard to do, and worthy of the challenge.

Friday’s belt testing went like clockwork. Like always, I got too much credit. The magic is how far our leaders have come.

From Master Hearn making sure the belts were laid out correctly.

Our Jr Leaders pre-framing each other when they came in word for word what I shared with the early birds coming in.

We even had someone on photo duty for all of our parents.

Like we talked about Friday night with the 5 year bamboo tree. It comes from the watering we’ve been doing for the past several years.

I’m so proud of the courage, confidence, and communication skills our leaders had on full display yesterday.

Instructors: Master Hearn, Ms Gupta, Ms. Knowlton

Jr Leaders

The Floating Mr. Augustin
Worm Savior Ms. Kolanko
Dash Squared the beasts on the field
The Golden Mr, Difazio

P.S. One of my favorite parts of the promotion was watching all our Jr Leaders take a break to hang out and have some snacks before their Black belt Promotion time 🙂

01/18/2026

NERF War's parents Night Out was a HUUUUUUGE success.

The kids didn't want to leave when their parents came to collect them. Battles were waged, alliances forged...and the real victory was the friends we made along the way.

Quick Shout out's about this weekend
This weekend just wouldn't have been possible a year ago. At the end of the day, neither myself or our team was ready to pull this off without me burning myself into the ground.

Master Hearn has proudly taken over our Birthday Parties and Birthday Celebrations for students. (You may notice she's already more consistent with the birthday signs going out). When I showed up at Mae's party--intentionally 30ish minutes in--I didn't really know what to do with myself without getting in the way. And, while I'm doing my best impression of a houseplant in the lobby, the parent's and grandparents raved about how fun the party was.

Then, we did a quick sweep of the school and it was time for her to run the parents night out.

Also, shout out to Knowlton who with about 12 hours notice (sorry) was our number to for the birthday party and made sure the 23ish 3,4,5 year olds are safe and sound.

During the NERF wars PNO, Ms. Kolanko solved our what to do for our first Tweens and Teens social (details incoming), and gave me three ideas that are genuinely Karate Culture Genius

Also this weekend, Master Cline and Master Pagurek put together some ideas to refine our Ko Dan Ja (Master test), which is coming up in October.
..headway was made on some secret projects, but... well they're secret.
______

TLDR I'm incredibly proud of our team of Instructors, Ko Dan Ja, and our Leadership team.

01/14/2026

Milan is inspecting the Gold Medals for next weeks BOARD BASH...

I think he's excited XD

11/06/2025

This is what I woke up to this morning :)

03/25/2025

When was the last time you gave your child a well-earned high five?

Not the "just because" kind… but the kind that celebrates effort, grit, focus, and progress. The kind that says, “I see you. I’m proud of you. Keep going.”

At Action Karate Mt. Laurel, our kids EARN their high fives.
Every class.
Every challenge.
Every breakthrough.

We don’t hand out praise for showing up—we celebrate growth, courage, and character. That high five? It’s a symbol. It means you showed up, gave it your all, and leveled up.

Parents—never underestimate the power of your hand meeting theirs with intention.
It builds more than confidence. It builds connection.

Let’s raise a generation of strong, respectful, and confident kids—one earned high five at a time.

Comment and ask for a free class.

02/11/2025

💡 FOCUS—One of the most powerful skills a child can develop!💡

When a new student's parent told me their #1 goal was to help their child improve focus, I knew exactly where to start—our Focusing Rules!

✅ Eyes on the speaker
✅ Ears listening the first time
✅ Mind thinking about learning
✅ Body still and ready

To make learning fun, I’ve created a FREE Focus Coloring Page to help kids practice these essential skills in an engaging way! 🎨🖍️

🔗 Download it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12SA_WwlWsiouOuI0yIojdkAqhSj6h6Vw/view?usp=drivesdk

Want to see these skills in action? Let’s schedule a FREE one-on-one lesson for your child! Call or text me at 856-278-5282, and let’s build that champion focus—together! 💪

01/20/2025

❄️❄️❄️SNOW DAY SPECIAL❄️❄️❄️
50% OFF! 3 CLASSES + UNIFORM. CALL US AT 856-235-0414 😀

01/01/2025

🎉 Kick Off 2025 with Action! 🎉

Join us TODAY at 1 PM for our 2025 Board Break Family Event at Action Karate Mt Laurel! 💪

This is your chance to set powerful intentions, break through limitations, and start the New Year strong with your family and community. Parents, grandparents, kids—EVERYONE is invited to participate!

There’s a $10 fee per family for the event, and every participant will take home their board—not just as a keepsake, but as a symbol of their commitment and dedication to break through any challenge or obstacle standing in the way of achieving their goals in 2025.

Parents and grandparents, this is our time to lead the way! Our children must see real models—the ones they see every day—of commitment, persistence, determination, resilience, tenacity, and an indomitable spirit that says, “Never quit.” Let’s show them the strength it takes to set intentions and follow through, no matter what!

Come ready to break boards, make memories, and embrace the power of action. We can’t wait to see you there!

To register your family for this event, go here: https://square.link/u/gj91fKSg

10/26/2024

Trunk or Treat for Kids: Free Community Event is happening from now to 1:30!!!!!! Come have some Halloween fun

10/19/2024

We're set to have an amazing senior black belt test tomorrow.

Here's the live link for anyone who can't make it :)

http://www.dinotokarate.comBEGINNER CLASSES ENROLLING NOW! KID'S KARATE IN MOUNT LAUREL TEACHES DISCIPLINE & SELF CONFIDENCE!!http://www.dinotokarate.comGive...