XMA — extreme martial arts — at our Tyler martial arts academy

XMA in Tyler, TX — Extreme Martial Arts for Karate Students

The performance side of karate at our Tyler academy on University Place: forms rebuilt with creative sections, music and choreography, on top of the karate a student already trains.

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Where the Tyler program happens

117 University Place, Tyler, Texas 75702

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What XMA is, and where it sits in a Tyler student's training

XMA stands for extreme martial arts, and at 117 University Place it is the sport-martial-arts half of what we teach. A student still trains the same karate — stances, blocks, strikes, forms — in their kids, teens or adults class. XMA is where that material gets shaped into a routine: a form rebuilt with a creative section, set to music, with jumps, spins and combinations arranged into one run a single student performs from beginning to end.

It is a scheduled class of its own at our Tyler academy, not a segment tacked onto the end of a regular class. Students who take it keep training their regular karate on the nights they always have. XMA is added alongside that class, never instead of it.

The honest description is choreography plus athleticism plus karate technique. Some of a routine is martial arts and some is performance — the timing, the music, the fact that the student is being watched and knows it. A dancer or a cheerleader from a Tyler school would recognise the work. The difference is that every piece of it is built out of karate.

That is also why it holds up. A creative routine with nothing behind it is a gymnastics floor pass in a uniform. What makes XMA read as martial arts is the same thing that makes sparring work — technique that is correct before it is fast or flashy. Instructors build each routine out of forms the student already knows, so the music sits on top of the karate rather than in place of it.

Tyler is not short of places for a child to perform — dance studios, gymnastics, cheer, show choir — and XMA is not competing with any of those. It is for the student who is already here for karate and wants the part of the sport that is performed rather than fought. Students come to it at seven or eight, at fifteen, and as adults.

Tyler students

Who can do XMA in Tyler

Any student enrolled in our kids class (ages 6–11), teens class (ages 12–17) or adults class (18 and over) at the Tyler academy can add XMA. There is no tryout, no invitation and no minimum belt — if a student is training in one of those three classes, the door is open. A beginner a few weeks into the kids class is as welcome as someone who has been here for years.

Little Ninjas (ages 3–5) are not part of XMA. The class asks a student to hold a routine together and take direction on a sequence over several weeks, and our three-to-five-year-olds are not there yet. They train their own class, and XMA is something they grow into at six.

What XMA is not: it is not a separate martial art, and it is not a shortcut. It does not replace the kids, teens or adults class and it does not change what a student is tested on. A student who does XMA and a student who does not are on the same karate path — one of them is also learning to perform.

It is not a competition requirement either, and our competition teams and weapons training are separate add-ons with their own schedules.

Inside the class

What an XMA class looks like on University Place

This is what happens in the room.

A warm-up with a different job
Class opens with the warm-up any karate class here starts with, then adds what a routine demands — landings that hold, balance through a turn, weight control that keeps a spin from becoming a fall.
A form taken apart
The instructor pulls one section out of a form the student already knows and rebuilds it: a stance turned, an angle changed, a technique doubled, until it reads as something new while still being recognisably the same karate.
Music, and a count
The routine goes to music and gets worked to a count. Hitting a beat, holding a pose for exactly as long as the music holds it, finishing a sequence on the note rather than a beat after it. This is where the performance begins.
Repetition until it is theirs
A creative routine is learned in pieces and then run whole, over and over. The class is really about the twentieth run, when the student stops thinking about the next move and starts performing it.
Performing it for someone
Routines get run in front of the rest of the class, and often in front of whoever is sitting at the side of the room. Being watched is the skill underneath all of the rest of it, and students practise it here rather than saving it for a stage.

We do not publish XMA class days or times — a schedule on a website goes out of date quietly. Call 903-494-7040 and we will tell you what is running at the Tyler academy right now.

Getting started

How a Tyler student adds XMA

01
Ask your instructor
The way in is the class your student is already in. Ask an instructor after a kids, teens or adults class at 117 University Place, or call 903-494-7040, and we will tell you what XMA is running and how to join in.
02
Come to a session and take part
There is nothing to qualify for and nothing to sign. If it turns out not to be for your student, they carry on with their regular class and nothing else changes.
03
Keep the karate class going
XMA sits on top of the karate class rather than replacing it, so the kids, teens or adults class stays exactly where it is. Tyler after-school students walk over from Caldwell Arts Academy next door, and a family already making that trip can ask how the XMA days fit around it.

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Questions parents ask

Tyler XMA questions, answered

Does XMA replace my child's regular karate class in Tyler?

No. XMA runs as its own scheduled class alongside the regular class, and students keep training their kids, teens or adults class at 117 University Place. It is an addition to their karate, never a replacement for it.

Is XMA required to move up in belt rank?

No. Belt progression comes from the regular kids, teens and adults classes. XMA is an optional add-on open to any student in those classes, and not taking it has no effect on rank or on what a student is tested on.

Can a Little Ninja do XMA in Tyler?

No. XMA is open to students in the kids (6–11), teens (12–17) and adults (18+) classes only, and it is not offered to the three-to-five-year-old class. A Little Ninja can add it once they move into the kids class at six.

My daughter already does dance and cheer in Tyler. Is XMA the same thing?

Some of the skills overlap — counting music, holding a line, performing while people watch — but the routine is built out of karate technique, so it is a different discipline with a different standard. Students who dance often pick up the performance side quickly and then find the karate sections are the hard part.

Do you need to be flexible, or have done gymnastics, to start XMA?

No. Jumps and spins are taught from the ground up, the same way a stance is taught, and a student who can do neither yet is in the right place. Call 903-494-7040 if you want to ask about a particular student before coming in.

More at our Tyler academy

Ask us about XMA in Tyler

One phone call answers the questions this page can't: what XMA is running at the moment, how it fits around your student's regular class, and whether now is the right time to add it.

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