Our History

ABOUT US

American Martial Arts was founded in 1985 by Terry Gravelin. Kyoshi Gravelin had taught at various martial arts schools before opening the first American Martial Arts school in Grand Rapids Michigan. In 1996, Kyoshi Gravelin opened American Martial Arts Institute in Cedar Springs, Mi. and we have had the privilege of serving the community ever since.

➾ American Martial Arts Institute is an affiliate school of the Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate Association, the oldest and largest Shorin-Ryu Karate association in the world. As a part of this organization, we are dedicated to the practice and propagation of authentic Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do.

➾ We encourage individuals to develop and maintain the high standards and principles set forth by the founders and masters of Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Karate-Do. Our goal is to develop students who are able to translate the principles and standards into knowledge that will lead them to a successful and happy life.

➾ We hope, as a school, to nurture in developing students the strength of individualism and choice. Although we practice traditional forms, we depart from that point and try to develop martial skills to fit the needs of the individual. We do this by offering instruction in karate, weaponry, grappling, conditioning, and cardio exercises. We also offer seminars with guest instructors in differing systems and special seminars.

“We are the school with a choice”

Personal Welcome Statement

Hello, My name is Terry Gravelin. My master Instructor level is “Kyoshi”. I have high-level Black Belts in three different Martial Arts and Brown Belts in two others. I have been involved in martial arts for 48 years and teaching my own schools for about 40 years. My teaching career started in Grand Rapids and I have been teaching in Cedar Springs Michigan for the last 28 years. I have taught and promoted well over 200 people to Black Belt and the higher Black Belt levels. My BB's get their certification directly from Okinawa, the birthplace of our Karate system. This in itself is something most schools cannot offer.

There are huge differences between karate schools. Some schools have a very rigid structure. There are many formalities in a strictly traditional setting. There are a lot of cultural differences that people teaching schools of this kind to incorporate into their teaching structure. I do believe that learning about the traditions and mores of the country is very important to immerse oneself in their style of choice but it does not increase its efficiency. This would be its ability to get the best result in the main goal of developing life-saving self-defense.

Then on the other side of the spectrum are the schools with no standards. The term karate is used as a strictly generic term to cover badly run classes, especially the ones for children. These types of schools generate exercise classes that are designed to only keep the student happy and entertained which results in keeping students longer and making more money. The end result of children and adults that have attended unrealistic soft training exercise drills is that their training lacks real effective means of protecting oneself.

My school has high standards. I have been able to maintain high standards because I have these standards for myself. I have the bragging rights of having attained high-ranking Black Belts in three separate disciplines. In all reality, I was going for 5 but I got old too quick. I did accomplish Brown Belts in those other two disciplines. I also separated myself from the normal by developing skills to do some extraordinary breaks… After 20 years of conditioning, physical training, and mental training I learned and attained certain skills to start breaking Baseball Bats. An important fact is that I break not just any bat but Louisville Sluggers. I broke one about every couple of years at different community events. I broke the last one at 62 years old at The Red Flannel Celebration in Cedar Springs. I have not seen anybody break a baseball bat live in Okinawa or America so I believe it is quite an amazing feat.

I have also conditioned and learned how to do board breaks with my thumb and my big toe. Still amazing I think… So, I would like to extend a warm welcome to any adult or child who would like to join our group…I have trained around the world and around the country gathering knowledge of skills and abilities to make what I have to offer my students unique and extraordinary.

If you want to study and learn real Karate please come and join us…We are truly worth checking out… Come and train with the best!

About Shorin-Ryu Karate

Shorin-Ryu Karate is a traditional martial art that originated in Okinawa, Japan, in the mid-18th century. Okinawa is the birthplace of what is now known as Karate. Its original students were from the noble houses in Okinawa, then the independent kingdom of Ryukyu. Shorin-Ryu combined native martial arts with Chinese martial arts. Shorin comes from the Okinawan pronunciation of Shaolin. This style predates most modern martial arts. Today Shorin-Ryu Karate incorporates the classic traditional forms and techniques while incorporating the best and most useful of the new. American Martial Arts Institute is a member of the Okinawan Shorin-Ryu Shorinkan Karate Association, one of the oldest and largest martial arts associations in the world.

About Firestorm

Karate Demonstration Team-Come sees our exciting Martial Arts Demonstrations. We have choreographed fight scenes, synchronizes martial arts movement, Karate forms, weaponry fights, displays of self-defense, board, bat, and brick breaking, and much more. American Martial Arts Institute has been putting on shows for more than 20 years for community events, schools, theaters, private groups, sports shows, and many other organizations that are interested in our type of martial entertainment. At this time this program is not available Coming Soon