Today we’d like to introduce you to Vinny Araujo.
Vinny, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Originally I used to train in Taekwondo. I used to compete and got as high as 2nd place in Junior Olympics one year. Started helping out and teaching classes at 14 years old. Once I graduated high school, I noticed college was not for me. I wanted to teach martial arts for a living.
Unfortunately, the martial arts school that I was working in wasn’t in the position to offer it’s instructors a career teaching martial arts, but I had seen other schools that did. That is where I met the organization America’s Best Defense. They were a fantastic martial arts organization that had a high standard of teaching practical self-defense (Krav Maga) but at the same time providing a career for instructors who wanted to do this professionally.
At that point, I was hired to open a second location in Franklin, MA. After 4 years of learning under Paul Garcia, the owner of America’s Best Defense, I received his blessing to open up my own school in Waltham, Ma. We just recently hit our 4 year anniversary. We teach adult’s Krav Maga which is an Isreali self-defense system developed by their military. The goal is to teach practical, easy to learn self-defense while also getting in the best shape of your life.
For the kids, we teach a unique kids curriculum specifically designed for kids by a child phycologist and a 7th-degree black belt. My goal here at America’s Best Defense Waltham is to provide an atmosphere for the students where they are pushed to their limit but feel comfortable enough to take it their own pace. There’s a quote that I tell my students that is “The high tide raises all boats”.
We do our best to push them without overwhelming them, we want them to know that once they’ve hit that wall they can push past it and that it might take longer for some people than others. I also want to provide the opportunity for those who love teaching martial arts to do it as a full-time career and make a living out of it.
Has it been a smooth road?
Originally the biggest obstacle was convincing my parents that I could take my passion and make a living out of it. Coming from immigrant parents and growing up hearing if you want to be successful you need to go to college and get a degree. Once my parents saw that I wasn’t going to give up easily on my dream they actually helped tremendously, without them I would have had a much harder time opening my own school.
Being young and looking even younger was also an obstacle, but what I noticed was that if I delivered what adults wanted: learning the practical self-defense. Then they didn’t care how old I was, because I had the experience they were looking for.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into America’s Best Defense Waltham story. Tell us more about the business.
At America’s Best Defense Waltham, we specialize in teaching 2 different programs; kid’s karate and adult Krav Maga. They are two different “hats” that required it’s own specialized training. What sets us apart as a company is our culture. When people come in for their first class we tell them our culture of how we want everyone to be able to push themselves but at the same time go their partner’s pace.
There will be times where students will need to dial it down a notch if working with a brand new person. And there will be times where you get to really push yourself and stress test the techniques being taught in class. We separate all our classes based on age and level of abilities. Adult’s only train with adults. Beginners with beginners, advanced students with advanced students.
We have a curriculum that has been proven to work and has produced black belts. When the instructor is teaching they are following a plan that is progressive and builds students up. So that if someone who has never done anything before doesn’t feel overwhelmed and see’s themselves progressing over time.
Lastly, our Instructors are certified to teach Krav Maga under Krav Maga Alliance, which is responsible for training Krav Maga instructors and posting their results online so that students can look up and see if their instructors grades.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I believe the self-defense industry is going to continue to grow. When Imi Lichtenfeld created Krav Maga, his famous quote that we use to this day is “So one may walk in peace.” People just want to be able to walk around and have the peace of mind if something were to happen that they could survive.
Those that do Krav Maga aren’t planning on going around looking for fights, but they know that there are instances in life where you are backed into a corner and it’s better to be prepared than relying on others to protect you. I also believe we will start to see more self-defense seminar incorporated in schools and cooperate settings.
Just like we have to do fire drills in case of a fire, I believe active shooter drills will also become the norm for schools and businesses. People are also realizing that Krav Maga has physical benefit as well. Many students share with me how they’ve lost 5-30lbs since joining.
Now it isn’t the primary goal of the class, but it is a by-product of training in quick high-intensity interval training. Going to the gym and self-motivating yourself can be very difficult, so joining a team that holds you accountable and training with people who are like-minded and striving for the same goal, keeps you motivated and accountable to train multiple times a week.
Pricing:
- $19 Starter Class – Which consists of a 30-minute semi-private lesson with an instructor to teach you the basics, follow by a one-hour beginner group class.
Contact Info:
- Address: 130 Lexington St, Waltham, MA 02452
- Website: abdwaltham.com
- Phone: 781-642-1700
- Email: abdwaltham1@gmail.com
- Instagram: v1nny_araujo
- Facebook: facebook.com/abdwaltham
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
