American Kenpo Karate

I have been studying with Master Rick Jeffcoat for 26 years. First, there are few athletes of his caliber. I’ve been a baseball player and a martial artist for my entire life and I’ve never experienced anyone faster off a dime, or with better balance and physical finesse. Secondly, Rick is a master teacher who can adjust the art of Kenpo to anyone’s body, and anyone’s physicality. He makes the art practical and applicable to real life situations. The dojo is an inviting atmosphere free of bad or competitive energy. Rick has instilled a family atmosphere at the dojo and the people you work out with quickly become your friends. It has been the perfect place for learning the art and learning about myself for almost three decades.

I’m not going to lie, Kenpo has become my favorite part of the week. It keeps me active, learning, and adhering to a schedule, all things difficult for a freelancer. I really enjoy how Master Rick Jeffcoat has set up the learning style here. I’ve tried Kyokushin Karate and another Kenpo studio before, but I’ve come to enjoy Kenpo as a style of martial arts that is adapted more for quick self defense and serious situations in the modern world. Personally, I love the language of Kenpo as it makes the most sense to me.
I greatly appreciate Master Jeffcoat’s immense knowledge and perfection in the art, and he and the other black belts are all fantastic at answering questions and explaining and teaching techniques. It has become one of my longterm goals to become good at Kenpo, and I hope to achieve that here with this great community.

Rick’s school teaches the application of the art with the understanding of not only how to defend and attack, but what your defending against and why your attacking, defining the etymology of the move.
Its one thing to learn a technique to perfection, and when you execute it, it sure looks pretty. But, its another thing to understand the attack, and the defense and move with purpose. If you want an education and a workout in Kenpo, check this school out. Hands down, the best I’ve ever seen!!!

«Yours For Life», a phrase used in their web site,
is what directed me to this particular karate school in Pasadena. After visiting their online site I was impressed so I decided to visit the actual school. I’m interested in both self defense classes and kids classes. When I arrived the owner, Rick Jeffcoat, made me feel right at home. It’s a no nonsense school with a great energy. I think it’s an excellent place to take karate classes.

not sure why but Unilocal wont let me review my old school. still one of the best.

Anthony Angulo volunteered some time to visit a youth club in North Long Beach. The youth club hosts foster youth from several group and foster homes. Anthony gave a demonstration of self defense skills. We usually have a tough crowd but Anthony managed to keep them engaged and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks Anthony for giving up your time to visit all the way in Long Beach.

well first of all the place has zero heat and zero cooling which makes it pretty uncomfortable for at least half the year. my son has a year contract here but will switch to Arnott Kenpo when the contract is up. Jeffcoat may be OK for adults but you can tell he hates teaching the kid classes and often has the advanced adults teaching the kids. As a parent just walking in I thought Mr Arnott owned this place but turns out he was just the only one I ever saw teaching kids and coming up to the parents to talk to us. The grouchy guy in the office (Jeffcoat) was the owner! who knew? Oh and parking is fun, the only nearby parking is in the bank parking lot next door. Each stall has a fun filled «bank customers only, you will get towed» sign. So you get to worry about getting towed during a class. Probably won’t happen but… ya never know!
save the time and trouble and just go straight to the new studio Mark Arnott just opened on South Fair Oaks, WAY nicer building, WAY nicer owner, WAY nicer teacher.
4−13−12 update. the owner Rick responded to my review so I will respond to his response, wow that gets confusing. Rick doesn’t judge a karate studio by the air conditioning, during summer here in Pasadena I judge every retail business where I am expected to spend an hour by how pleasant it is. That place gets very hot and humid, I felt sorry for the customers and for my son out on the mat. On and Ricky I never said I was a customer, I said my SON went there, over a year too for that matter. I or my wife just wrote the check. As for your name being here, there and everywhere, so what? I don’t spend my time looking at your website, or your walls and good God I can’t imagine watching you on video. I thought the owner was the one who sent 90 plus percent of the emails and the person who I saw teaching the kids class and the person who was warm and friendly to my family. That was never you. That was Mark Arnott who has since opened his own studio. We left you with quite a bit of our money to leave your studio early and join his. After reading your response to my review I am happier than ever we made the change.

Best Kenpo studio around! Trust me on this, I’ve been to almost all of them. Mr. Jeffcoat has a wealth of knowledge and utilizes practical applications for this system. He also teaches most the classes which is rare. Usually the owner of the studio will have his underlings teaching, which is fine but would you rather learn from a master, or a person who is competent? Duh, a master of course…
There are plenty of classes available for children and adults and the location is very convenient and within walking distance from oldtown pasadena’s coolest spots. Rates are competitive and extremely fair. You will get more than you pay for!

Outstanding school. The instructors are knowledgeable and do an excellent job creating an environment that encourages learning. I went here looking for a school that is less about posturing and more about sharing the art form and I found exactly that.
It’s great for the little ones, too. Their Little Dragons class makes me smile every time I see it. It’s awesome to see the confidence it inspires in kids of all ages.