Over the last century, martial arts have grown more popular in Western culture. There are now more “karate” studios in the U.S.than ever before! With an increase in MMAcompetitions and movies featuring Asian-style martial arts, children are especially interested in taking classes so they can one day become as good as their heroes. However, real martial arts lessons, such as those taught at The Silent Mind in Northeast Ohio, are very different from how they’re shown in movies and on television. Those who choose to learn Kung Fu, T’ai Chi, Aikido, or Jujutsu at The Silent Mind quickly discover that there is much more to martial arts than fighting. In fact, this local school near Streetsboro, Ohio and Macedonia, Ohio takes an approach based on cooperation rather than one based on competition. Though the media often portrays martial arts as violent and miraculous, the reality is that learning martial arts at an established, well-run, professional school like The Silent Mind provides students with self-defense training and other valuable skills that transfer to school, work, extracurricular activities, and more.