West Haven Academy of Karate

Outstanding and excellent team. Very impressed Great curriculum

I have been training here since I was a young child. It is an amazing studio and it has always been.

I think we lucked out in finding West Haven's home grown gem of a school. As far as my experience goes, WHAK is the Yale of karate schools in the area! The West Haven Academy of Karate is the national and international headquarters of dozens of martial arts studios around the world. There are "West Haven Academies of Karate" in places like Texas and Chile! In the year plus that my young sons and I have trained here, I've discovered why. Many martial arts studios offer great experiences for students, but WHAK is a step up in quality of instruction, intensity, teaching technique, and numbers of highly qualified instructors when compared to other studios that I've been in. The regional and international respect accorded KJN Ferraro, the studio's founder and owner, seems to draw very qualified, experienced, and dedicated instructors, many of whom could probably open a quality studio of their own. In our experience, KJN (Grandmaster) Ferraro makes a point of teaching many of the first classes to the youngest and newest students. Every belt and age group gets the same level of attention, respect, and motivational interaction with the instructors and other members of the Dojang of all ages. There is very little ego or attitude in the school -- to be honest, I'm not a natural "fighter" or " tough guy gym type" (my favorite sports are tennis, cycling, and ultimate frisbee) but I feel entirely comfortable training at WHAK-- my workouts are intense and the techniques powerful and serious, but that's not what it's about. Many women train there, and the atmosphere is very family oriented. The form of martial arts taught is Tang Soo Do, a Korean form that was the precursor to the more sport-oriented Tae Kwon Do. Jujitsu holds and throws are also taught, as well as weapons forms and techniques. Competitions are held on a regional, state-wide, national, and international basis. WHAK is the national and world headquarters of a major branch of Tang Soo Do, Tang Soo Do Mi Guk Kwan.