Champions Martial Arts Academy

An unexpected hiccup with our karate belt suppliers means we've had to push the date of our Virtual Belt Promotion & Awards Ceremony to Sat., Dec 19th. We hope you'll still join us!

Happy Thanksgiving Champions Martial Arts Academy! As crazy as this year has been, we are so grateful for our Shaolin Kenpo family. CMAA would not have made it through this challenging year without the continued support and encouragement from all of you and we are beyond blessed to have you all in our lives. From our family to yours, we wish you a safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday and we hope to see you soon!... - Grandmaster May Castro-Manner

Happy birthday Mr. Raymond Rodriguez! We would’ve rather celebrated in person today but we hope you have an AMAZING birthday and know how much we appreciate you Happy birthday Mr. Raymond Rodriguez! We would’ve rather celebrated in person today but we hope you have an AMAZING birthday and know how much we appreciate you

Starting tomorrow! Grandmaster June Castro’s new show FIGHT FIT boot Camp

In observance of Veterans Day, CMAA will be closed tomorrow, Wednesday November 11th. There will be no in-person or Zoom classes. To those in our Shaolin Kenpo family who are veterans, we can express enough how much we appreciate you and thank you for your service

In less than an hour we’ll be watching Grandmaster June Castro’s new show FIT FIGHT Boot Camp Join us! https://www.elreynetwork.com/watch

Hi CMAA Families! We've just sent out the new Zoom links to those students who have confirmed they will be continuing with Zoom classes. If you haven't received an email and would like for your student to participate, please contact Miss C-M via email ASAP. Also, you may notice we've had to slightly adjust class start times due to the numbers of students participating in Zoom. Please look over the new info for your student's class and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Happy Father's Day to all our amazing CMAA dads and grandfathers! Thank you for all you do to support your children/grandchildren in their Shaolin Kenpo training As we acknowledge fathers today for their love and sacrifices made for their families, we're spending a little extra time honoring the memory of the 2 fathers closest to our hearts. Their love for Shaolin Kenpo, dedication to teaching their art, and sacrifices made for our family is why Champions Martial Arts Academy even exists today. We'll never be able to thank you enough for all you did for us on earth, but we're sending all our love up to you both in Heaven today

Good morning CMAA! Today starts our expanded Zoom class schedule. We are using the SAME class links for both class times during the week (ex: Stingrays Group 1 links from May will be used to sign-in on both Tuesdays & Thursdays in June). Please let us know ASAP if you have any questions or need us to resend any Zoom Class Links. See you soon! Today's Classes: Tiny Tigers & Tigers Group 1 - 3:30pm Tigers Group 2 - 4:15pm... Stingrays Group 1 - 5:00pm Stingrays Group 2 - 5:45pm Stingrays Group 3 - 6:30pm See more

Happy Memorial Day CMAA!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms who have ever walked through our doors and been part of our Shaolin Kenpo family! As GM says, family is our #1 team and we hope your family is showing you all the love and appreciation today. You deserve it and so much more!

Hello CMAA Parents and Students, I hope you are staying safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. I know it might be frustrating and challenging as we shelter in place but what an unusual opportunity for our students to implement Black Belt excellence. Our martial arts training teaches us to persevere, to not quit and give up, to have a positive, hopeful and encouraging attitude and to be an awesome team member to the most important people in our lives...our famili...es. As you spend countless hours at home, I hope you’re taking this valuable time to do wonderful acts of kindness for your families (spend quality time with younger siblings, help mom and dad with spring cleaning, yard work, etc.) I also hope you’re staying as physically active as possible, challenging yourself with Sifu’s workouts and practicing your Shaolin Kenpo techniques. When we return to classes, I’m looking forward to everyone’s improved skipping rope skills, numerous students breaking my 7.86 seconds belt tying record (or at least getting close to it), and an awesome punching combinations competition. We want very much to stay connected with our Shaolin Kenpo family so I’m excited to announce that starting this week we will be teaching free mini-classes live via Zoom. We won’t be posting new videos this week besides Sifu’s Weekly Workout. Instead, we’re looking forward to reviewing what you’ve all been working on these past few weeks. Our goal is to provide our students the opportunity to continue training. In addition, we hope our Zoom classes provide a sense of community, enabling our students to stay more connected and engaged while sheltering in place. Due to time restrictions on Zoom, all classes will be limited to 40 minutes. The class schedule for this first week is as follows: Thursday, April 23, 2020 Tiny Tigers & Tigers - 4:00 to 4:40pm Stingrays - 4:45 to 5:25pm Friday, April 24, 2020 Eagles (White to Blue Belts) - 4:00 to 4:40pm Eagles (Blue-Green to Green-Brown Belts) - 4:45 to 5:25pm Eagles (Brown Belts) & Adult Class - 5:30 to 6:10pm Be on the lookout for another email shortly with more info on accessing these Zoom meetings. Although all of these materials (training videos & Zoom meetings) are optional, we hope that many of you are able to take advantage of them and continue practicing your Shaolin Kenpo skills so you’ll be ready when we return from Shelter-in-Place. We will keep you posted on next week’s Zoom class schedule. Thank you for your support during this time. We hope you enjoy your Zoom classes! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email at [email protected]. Please continue to take care of yourselves. We miss you all! Sincerely, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner

Hello CMAA families, It sure has been a crazy and confusing week for our family as we've watched the rapid developments on a local, national, and global level in response to COVID-19. As we've tried to adjust to being at home and figure out how to move forward, we know that all our Shaolin Kenpo families are doing the same. We hope that the following information will at least relieve some anxiety or stress of the unknown for our immediate futures. Adhering to the recent Shelt...er-in-Place county and state orders, Champions Martial Arts Academy will remain closed until we are allowed to reopen. Although we planned to reopen for classes after the initial 3-week period ends on April 7th, with so many changes happening in just the past week we are very aware that this may not be possible. Therefore we have decided to put a temporary freeze on all tuition charges for April. It is still our hope that as our nation works on flattening the curve of this virus that we will be able to resume classes at some point during the month of April and be back to our normal schedules in May. However, as the situation continues to develop we will be sure provide you with updated plans. Although we cannot operate in-person classes, this doesn't mean that we want our students to stop all aspects of their training. Tomorrow Grandmaster, Sifu, and myself will begin working on getting various training videos made and available for students so they can continue practicing their Shaolin Kenpo skills and most importantly, being active while unable to train. Please be on the lookout for updates on this from Grandmaster and know that these videos won't just be instructional lessons for students, but will also be an opportunity for the whole family to workout together. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via email or at (925) 777-0100. Stay healthy CMAA families and we hope to see you soon. Sincerely, Miss Castro-Manner

Good afternoon CMAA families, After constant monitoring of Contra Costa Health Department updates and careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close the school and cancel all classes for this upcoming week, March 16 - 21, 2020. As we continue to monitor how our local agencies respond to the ever-changing COVID-19 situation, we will provide a status update of whether we will have classes starting on Monday, March 23rd. We have also made the decision to pus...h back our April testing dates to possibly mid or late April as we assess how the situation continues to change. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we appreciate your understanding and flexibility. As a team we reviewed the recent local measures taken to close surrounding school districts, public spaces/congregations, and limit social contact, and as our #1 priority is the well-being of all our students and their families, we feel it our responsibility to do our small part to help social distancing measures by temporarily closing. We will continue to keep you updated on any changes. In the meantime, students can certainly use our Members-Only video library to continue practicing their Shaolin Kenpo skills and we hope to see you all back in classes very soon. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Miss Castro-Manner via email or at (925) 777-0100. Sincerely, Grandmaster Castro-Manner & CMAA

Just a few days left to turn in your valentine cards!

So proud of our CMAA families!

Thank you to all the families who joined us to participate in the City of Antioch’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. It might’ve been chilly, but what a great way to spend the morning with our students and taking care of our community!

Don’t forget to join us tomorrow as we celebrate the accomplishments and hard work of all our students during 2019! Doors open at 1:45pm and all students must be in their full dress uniform. Bring your cameras!

Merry Christmas CMAA Family! We wish you all a blessed holiday from our family to yours.

Just a reminder for those planning to belt test on Friday or Saturday that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO PAY FOR BELT TESTING! Also, there are some students who have still not turned in their monthly ARKs for November and will NOT be allowed to belt test until they are received. ARKs can be dropped off in the basket on the cubbies, dropped in our mail slot or emailed to [email protected]. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Front Desk!

Congratulations to all our students recognized for their 2019 accomplishments at our Annual Recognition Awards Ceremony on Sunday, January 5, 2020!

Happy New Year! Congratulations to all our students recognized for their 2019 accomplishments at our Annual Recognition Awards Ceremony this past Sunday, January 5, 2020!

Happy Thanksgiving CMAA Family! We are beyond grateful to have such wonderful students and their families May you all have a blessed and restful holiday!Happy Thanksgiving CMAA Family! We are beyond grateful to have such wonderful students and their families May you all have a blessed and restful holiday!

Due to the extreme heat forecast for this afternoon, Grandmaster has decided to cancel all classes today, August 15th. We are currently working to update our A/C system, but the process has yet to be completed and we fear it may be too hot even inside the school today to safely conduct classes for our students. Belt promotion ceremonies will be rescheduled to next Thursday, August 22nd and students will receive information then regarding make-up opportunities. We apologize fo...r any inconvenience this may cause, but we appreciate your understanding and flexibility. After reviewing the current temperature inside the karate school this morning, Grandmaster's concern for the well-being of students during the hotter parts of this afternoon prompted our decision to close for the day. We hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and can stay cool! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at (925) 777-0100 or via email.

Before the day ends, we’d just like to send Happy Mother’s Day wishes to all of our WONDERFUL moms! So much of our students’ success is because of you. We hope your day was filled with love, rest, and happiness!

Just a reminder for those planning to belt test on Friday, April 12th or Saturday, April 13th that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO TURN IN ANY ARKs & PAY FOR BELT TESTING WITHOUT INCURRING A LATE FEE! Fees paid after we close this evening will be subject to a $15 late fee. We are open tonight until 9:30pm and belt testing fees can be paid at our Front Desk or over the phone via credit card. ARKs can be dropped off in the basket on the cubbies or emailed to us, but must be received by 9:30pm tonight to be counted towards this belt testing cycle!

Belt testing is THIS WEEK! Friday, April 12th & Saturday, April 13th. Belt test fees must be received by THIS Thursday, April 11th or they will be subject to a late fee. Acts of Random Kindness DUE DATE IS EXTENDED! ARKs will be due by THIS Thursday, April 11th for students belt testing.... You will not be allowed to test if all ARKs are not received by the deadline.

March make-up classes this afternoon starting at 4pm! Any student with an absence in 2019 can sign up. If you’re wondering how many absences your student has to make-up or whether they will qualify for belt testing in April after the make-up class, be sure to contact us!

Just wanted to send a reminder that we will be closed tomorrow, 3/23, for Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro’s Celebration of Life. Thank you all for your continued love, good thoughts, prayers, and most importantly for your understanding and support for our family during this very difficult time. For more information about Great Grandmaster and/or you’d like to join us in celebrating the life of our father, grandfather, and Shaolin Kenpo founder, please visit www.greatgrandmast...er-ralphcastro.com Sincerely, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner and family

Please visit the link for more information on our Celebration of Life for my grandfather, known to most as the amazing Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro, but who I cherish most simply as my Papa

Good morning CMAA family, Thank you all for your continued prayers of love and support. Details for Great Grandmaster's Celebration of Life can be found below. We hope that you will join us in honoring the life and legacy of our father, our hero, and founder of Shaolin Kenpo. Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro's Celebration of Life... Saturday, March 23, 2019 @ 10:00am Bayside Church - Adventure Campus 6401 Stanford Ranch Rd, Roseville, California For more information or to make a donation to the Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro Memorial Fund, please visit greatgrandmaster-ralphcastro.com or call/text (682) 266-3798. Thank you, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner & family

Our family is brokenhearted to share that Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro passed away in the early morning of Monday, February 25, 2019. His life legacy expands farther than just as the founder of Shaolin Kenpo, but as a teacher and mentor whose passion for martial arts and his students had an indescribable impact on the martial art industry that spread throughout the globe. But most importantly, he was our father and grandfather. His passion for his art was contagious and ins...pired not only Champions Martial Arts Academy, but also the very beginnings of the Castro-Manner family. What surpassed his love for Shaolin Kenpo was the immense love he felt for his family, always showing up as our biggest supporter, and modeling the true meaning of family as your #1 team and creating the foundation of our CMAA family values. As we take time to be with our family, we thank all of you for being part of our Shaolin Kenpo family and a part of Great Grandmaster’s legacy. As we continue to struggle with the recent loss of Professor Manner, we cannot begin to imagine how to process this and move towards healing. But we know that with our CMAA family’s support and love, we will be strong enough to fight through. Sincerely, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner, Grandmaster Rob Castro, Sifu Castro-Manner, and Miss Castro-Manner

Many local schools are closed today for observance of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, but WE’RE OPEN today with normal Monday class schedules. See you this afternoon!

Doors open in just a couple hours! We can’t wait to celebrate all of our students and all their accomplishments from 2018!

Belt testing weekend begins in just a little bit... We know CMAA students are ready to give their absolute BEST effort today and tomorrow! We believe in you!

We wish all our amazing students and their families a very merry Christmas We are beyond grateful for everyone of you and your support for our family this first holiday season without Professor Manner. We cannot express enough our appreciation and just how blessed we are to have such a wonderful and loving Shaolin Kenpo family. We’ll see you in 2019. Sincerely, Grandmaster Castro-Manner

On behalf of our entire family, I'd like share our appreciation and thankfulness for all those who joined us in honoring my dad at his recent Celebration of Lif...e. We are so touched to know of the impact he left on so many lives and grateful to know that we are not going through this loss alone, but have received unbelievable love and support from extended family, friends, and our CMAA family. Technical difficulties prevented us from sharing a slideshow of his life during the services, but we'd like to share it with you all now as we continue through this holiday season honoring the legacy he leaves behind...

To our wonderful students and families of C.M.A.A.. First and foremost, I wish to express my sincerest appreciation for your understanding and patience during this very difficult time. The passing of Professor Manner has devastated my family and has caused us to put our very lives and our business on hold. With that said, after much prayer and thought, I have decided to postpone the November 30th & December 1st belt testing and our Annual Recognition Awards Ceremony schedul...ed for Sunday, December 9, 2018. Please know that this decision did not come lightly. Our return to the school last week was premature. We felt an obligation to be there and conduct business as usual; but our hearts and minds were not ready. Being at the school was a constant reminder of Professor Manner and the significant role and tremendous presence he had there. Missing him at home has been extremely painful. Missing him at C.M.A.A. is indescribable. I hope to reschedule belt testing and the awards ceremony in early 2019. Even though belt testing is being planned for a later date, this 3rd trimester belt cycle ends November 29, 2018. All lessons taken up to November 29th will qualify for the revised belt testing date. If you have any questions, please email them to [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding. Respectfully, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner

As our family prepares to celebrate Professor Wil Lanikaula Manner Jr.'s life next week, we'd like to honor his memory by creating a collage of photos of him wi...th family, students, friends, and colleagues... If you have any small photos with Prof. Manner, we invite you bring them and contribute to the collage at his Celebration of Life on November 17th. If you are unable to attend the event, please feel free to contact us for more information about where to send or email photos. See more

Hello Everyone, The information for Professor Wil Manner’s Celebration of Life is listed below. We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate his memory and the profound influence he had on so many lives. We will set aside time during his celebration to allow anyone to share a few words about him. We encourage you to do so, but we just ask that you please keep it brief. Professor Wil Manner’s Celebration of Life... Saturday, November 17, 2018 @ 11:00am Faith Worship Center Ministries 2170 Harbor Street, Pittsburg, California Immediately following the service, the celebration will continue at Champions Martial Arts Academy located at 3620 Lone Tree Way in Antioch where we will highlight his love of the martial arts and the legacy he leaves behind. Lunch will also be served. We hope you’re able to attend. We look forward to seeing you as we honor Professor Wil Manner. If you have any questions, you may contact us at (925) 726-8572 or at [email protected]. Thank you, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner & family

It is with many tears and with great sadness that we share that Professor Wil Manner, Jr., passed away in the early morning of Wednesday, October 24, 2018 after a brief but ferocious battle with pancreatic cancer. He fought this battle to the bitter end, but unfortunately his body succumbed. We wish to thank all of you for your continuous prayers, well wishes, and cards for Professor and our family. This has no doubt been the most difficult and challenging time of our live...s but we have stayed strong and united as a family to get through this. We will be sharing with you in the coming days details of Professor Manner’s celebration of life. We hope to return to CMAA soon. Sincerely, Grandmaster Castro-Manner, Sifu Castro-Manner, & Miss Castro-Manner

To our wonderful students, families and friends of CMAA, Many of you may have noticed that our family has not been present at the karate school for several days. I am writing to let you know that we have been dealing with a very serious matter since September 20, 2018. Nearly one month ago, Professor Wil Manner was admitted into John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek for excruciating pain. Three days later he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The prognosis i...s not good. During this time our family has been at his bedside standing firmly on God’s Word. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are not in denial of Professor Manner’s diagnosis. However, as faith believers in God’s Word we know that there is a greater TRUTH that trumps this. We know that God sent His Word and healed him (Psalm 107:20). That by Jesus’ stripes he is healed (Isaiah 53:5). That Jesus Himself took his infirmities and bore his sickness (Matthew 8:17). We know that God’s Word says, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive it and you shall have it (Mark 11:24). So we are standing steadfast and immovable on the power of God’s Word as we wait for the full manifestation of God’s healing. We are asking for your prayers for Professor Manner and that you be in agreement with us for we know the power of prayer. We want to thank everyone in advance for your prayers, well wishes, love and support. We also want to thank our awesome and competent staff who, in our absence, have stepped in above and beyond what we could have asked for - Raymond Rodriguez for handling all our children’s classes and some adult classes, Grandmaster Rob Castro and Professor Marvin Cunningham, Jessica Cayetano and our awesome S.T.O.R.M. team. We cannot express enough our gratitude for these individuals who have given us the opportunity to step away from our family business to be with Professor and know that our livelihood is intact. We hope to return soon. God bless you all. Sincerely, Grandmaster May Castro-Manner

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers for Professor Manner and our family. We will provide an update on his health status soon. We will be opened today for regular scheduled classes starting at 3:30pm.

Dear CMAA students and families, Our family is dealing with a very serious personal matter. Unfortunately we must cancel all children's classes for today, October 9th. We apologize for this last minute notification. We ask that you keep Professor Wil Manner in your prayers as he deals with a life threatening situation. Thank you for your understanding. GM Rob will still be teaching the Adult Class this evening at 7:30pm.

It was a busy summer for awards and celebrations at CMAA. Congratulations to our June, July, & August Students of the Month and Anniversary Award recipients! We are so proud of all of you and your continued efforts in Shaolin Kenpo. Happy Birthday again to all those who celebrated their birthday with us this summer!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our CMAA Family Picnic yesterday! We had a wonderful afternoon with bounce houses, some serious relay races and balloon tosses, and an epic water gun battle! Here's some snippets of all the fun...

THIS SUNDAY! Don’t miss out on all the family fun! Please join us for an afternoon of comradery, games, a bounce house, and more!

Come join us for some fun in the sun!

We’d like to acknowledge the following students as our July CMAA Students of the Month who are recognized for continually exemplifying Black Belt excellence in commitment, effort, and attitude. Congratulations Milania B, Peter S, Noah B, and Emily A.

Please join us for the Antioch Neighborhood Cleanup this Saturday, July 14th from 9am-11am. Cleanup will be taking place in the neighborhood around 6th Street from A Street to F Street and south to 15th Street. Volunteers should meet in the City Park parking lot on A Street and 10th Street. Don't forget to wear your CMAA shirt! :)

Grandmaster and Miss Castro-Manner will be volunteering early in the morning next Saturday, July 14th at the Soroptimist International of Pittsburg's KIDZ ON TARGET event. If you'd like to join us as volunteers assisting local foster children shop for new school year items, please register via the link below!

The practice perks of having Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro as your great-grandpa...

He loves practicing with his Papa and Papa loves sharing his love for Shaolin Kenpo with his great-grandson

As we take time out to celebrate our own very special Momma (today we get to show how grateful we are for her, not as Grandmaster, but just as Mom), we also want to send a very happy Mother’s Day wish to all our Shaolin Kenpo moms and grandmas. Thank you all so much for everything you for your children and grandchildren! We cannot express enough how much we appreciate your continued support of and belief in our programs. Happy Mother’s Day! - Sifu CM and Miss CM

Happy Birthday to all our students who celebrated a birthday in April.

Don't forget that belt promotions are happening in classes today and everyone must be dressed in FULL UNIFORM! Congratulations to all our students receiving new belt ranks or stripes today!

Just finished the last round of belt testing for April and we are SUPER pleased with the performances we saw! Congrats to all our students on the great job!

Getting ready to start belt testing! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s 100% personal best today and tomorrow! Let’s go CMAA students!

Just a reminder for those planning to belt test tomorrow Friday, April 13th or Saturday, April 14th that TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO PAY FOR BELT TESTING WITHOUT INCURRING A LATE FEE! Fees paid tomorrow or Saturday will be subject to a $15 late fee. We close at 9:30pm tonight and can take payment over the phone!