ONTA Studio

06/07/2023

Hi Everyone!

We made the finals of the Seven Days “Seven Daysies” contest!

Now we need your help again, to win First Place!

If you nominated us in the previous round, thank you so much, we couldn’t have done it without you!

We know that our studio would not be where it is today without the support and dedication of our amazing students and families. So if you appreciate our commitment to providing high-quality martial arts instruction and building a supportive community for our students, we’d really appreciate it if you’d vote for us now!

You can do that by going here:
https://ballot.sevendaysvt.com/services/best-martial-arts-studio

And voting for "ONTA Studio".

So, if you love our studio and the impact it's had on your life, please take a moment to vote for us! You’ll need to put your email in and sign up, but it honestly only takes a few seconds, and your support would mean everything to us. Plus, you'll be supporting a local business that's dedicated to improving the lives of our community members through martial arts!

The voting window ends Sunday, so please don’t delay!

Thank you so much for your continued support and loyalty, and we hope to see you at the dojo soon!

The ONTA Family (Sensei Zach, Lauren, Izzy, Melaina, Jackie, lil' Sequoia, and Baby Canyon)

Vote for your favorite Vermont businesses, people and places May 29 through June 11, 2023.

05/01/2023

The Seven Days Newspaper's 'Seven Daysies Contest' has opened for nominations! Every year we say we’re going to remember to ask people to nominate us, and every year we miss the nomination window. But not this year!

We know that our studio would not be where it is today without the support and dedication of our amazing students and families. So if you appreciate our commitment to providing high-quality martial arts instruction and building a supportive community for our students, we’d really appreciate it if you’d nominate us for “Best Martial Arts Studio!”

You can do that by going here:
https://ballot.sevendaysvt.com/services/best-martial-arts-studio

And writing in "ONTA Studio".

If you love our studio and the impact it's had on your life, please take a moment to nominate us for the East Bay Express Seven Daysies contest! It only takes a few seconds, and your support would mean everything to us. Plus, you'll be supporting a local business that's dedicated to improving the lives of our community members through martial arts. The nomination period ends on Sunday, so please don't delay!

Thanks so much for your continued support and loyalty, and we hope to see you at the dojo soon!

Nominate your favorite Vermont businesses, people and places now through May 7, 2023.

05/09/2020

Hi Everybody!

We're really proud of the efforts our fellow Vermonters have made flattening the Covid Curve. We're poised to be one of the first states in the nation to have successfully peaked and flattened. Now comes the tricky task of figuring out how to open up gradually without causing a second wave of infections.

Due to the Governor's new social distancing guidelines, ONTA will begin resuming classes, on a very limited basis, starting next Wednesday (5/13). Classes will be held outside, limited to only 5 students, and those students will maintain a 6 ft distance from everyone else at all times. For some classes (like Tai Chi/Chi Kung) class will otherwise be the same as usual. For other classes, like kid's classes and MMA/Dangerous Girls the curriculum will look very different.

We're still ironing out the details of this, so expect a much more in-depth newsletter on Monday with further information, including how to reserve your spot in class.

Thank you to everyone who has helped and supported us during this difficult time!

Stay safe out there!

04/22/2020

Hey everybody! We know a lot of you are home with your kids, and now it's April break, so here are 9 awesome martial arts games you can play with your kids at home!

And if you don't have kids, you can still play these with your roommates, or significant other!

Stay safe out there!

Here are 9 different martial arts games that we use in our kids classes which you can play at home with your kids during lockdown! These teach the basics of ...

04/10/2020

We know a lot of people are stressed out at home right now, so why don't you try this follow along video for the 6 Healing Sounds? This ancient Qigong set is used to relieve stress and turn negative emotions into positive ones. Here is the most basic version, great for beginners or kids!

The 6 healing sounds, known as the Liu Zi Jue (六字訣) are an ancient Qigong set used for calming the body and mind and relieving stress. First written down 1,5...

04/07/2020

Throwback to Winter break camp 2020. What a great time! Since we are stuck here at home I'm gonna work on posting all these photos I've been collecting.

04/03/2020

Hi everyone! We know a lot of you are stuck at home with your kids, trying to figure out ways to keep from going stir crazy during this difficult time, so here's a video we shot with 10 Pole of Destiny exercises you can do at home with your kids!

Kids love doing the Pole of Destiny! And it is one of our trademark warm-ups for our kids classes at ONTA Studio. It's a great tool for increasing agility, t...

03/19/2020

Hi Everybody!

As I'm sure you've all noticed, things are crazy! Our family has been discussing what to do over the past 48 hours and have decided that the only responsible course of action for our community is to suspend all classes for the next two weeks. Hopefully that will be all that is necessary, but we'll see. As of right now, all classes are suspended from March 16 to 28.

ONGOING SERIES

For those who are enrolled in an ongoing series, like our Parks and Rec students, those series will resume as soon as classes resume. Our Senior Tai Chi class may resume later than others, depending on how the health crisis evolves.

MONTHLY MEMBERSHIPS

As you all know one of the biggest concerns with social distancing is the economic stress being put on small businesses and their hourly employees, and Vermont is a state made of small businesses. As such, if you receive a salary, are able to work from home, can take paid sick leave, or are financially able to, we personally and humbly entreat that you please do not suspend your, or your child's monthly membership. This is to ensure that our students who are hourly wage workers experiencing a significant decrease in income can pause their memberships, and that we will still be able to stay in business. Once we reopen, we will enact rolling membership payment pauses to ensure that everyone gets their full value from their memberships, while spreading the loss out over time rather than taking a big hit all at once.

REMOTE CLASSES

One of our favorite things about our curriculum is that it is highly social. There's really nothing like wrestling or holding pads with someone to get to know them. But this situation will give us the opportunity to develop some online courses in Self Defense, Chi Kung, Tai Chi, and Tao Yin, which is something we have wanted to do for a while now. We'll keep you updated!

CAMPS

The last thing on our list is camps. We had such a great time in the February break camp! Over the past year we've enhanced our curriculum and forged our teen volunteers in the fire that is being climbed upon by rambunctious small children. We really had a blast with all our little ninjas. On a personal note, it was amazing to see the growth and maturity in students who attended both this year's winter break camp, and the one from last year. We are super proud, both in their emotional growth, and in their truly impressive growth in technical skills. Some of our teens legitimately could not escape from their bucking bronco back control!

All that said, we're not sure what's going to happen with the April Spring break camp next month, since possible school closures may affect the break schedule. Parents, feel free to keep us in the loop as well, to let us know what your kids' schools are doing or considering, and how we can best help you and your family.

COMMUNITY

We truly believe that Vermont is the best place to have a family and a business, because Vermonters take care of one another. If you are in need of anything - babysitting, food, toilet paper - please reach out. If we can't help, I betcha someone in our community can. Hopefully this will blow over quickly, but if not, we'll continue to help each other in whatever ways we can to make sure we can all be healthy and safe.

In the meantime we'll be spending lots of time with baby Sequoia, who just starting crawling this week!

Thank You!

Zach, Lauren & Baby Sequoia

10/01/2019

The mother of one of our students has written an awesome guide to adaptive lessons for special needs kids, and included us in it! Share with any parents of special needs kids you may know!

Lyndsay shares local opportunities for adaptive lessons for special needs children and how she found joy in her son's small victories.

09/25/2019

We also had this really sweet article about us, which describes us as not just a business, but a romance story! Awwww, you can read the whole thing here: https://www.oppsvt.org/stories/onta-studios/

09/09/2019

Our friends at Opportunities Credit Union do video spots to highlight successful member businesses. Many thanks to everyone at Retromotion for coming by and helping us tell our story!

04/03/2019