Classical Martial Arts Academy: Owner Stresses Fitness, Not Competition, in His Classes

• CORRECTION: In an earlier version of this story, the dates he started his dojo in Indiana were incorrect. He started it in 2004. 

Two things led Tom Revell to open : a terrible commute and the desire for a career change.

In 2004, Revell, who has lived in Frankfort for more than a decade, was running a car dealership in Hammond, Ind., and still driving--sometimes as much as two hours a day if traffic was bad--to New Lenox to do his martial arts training. That became too much for Revell, and with the blessing of his sensei, he decided to open up his own dojo in Indiana in 2004.

While Classical Martial Arts has changed locations over the years (it has had three different locations in Frankfort, moving to the current spot earlier this year because it outgrew its old space on Lincoln Highway), the academy's teaching philosophy has remained the same since Revell took in his first student.

"We connect the mind and the body," he said. "We're not structured around competition. We don't participate in sport karate. That's not what martial arts is all about."

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Revell teaches an Okinawan-based martial art called Shobayashi Shorin-ryu Karate-do, emphasizing the fitness aspects of the discipline to his students, who range from 4-year-olds to adults.

"I stress health to my students," he said. "Exercise is the key for (the younger students). ... I tell students you develop the ability to defend yourself as you become more trained."

For adults, life-protection is a side effect of the training, not the only thing he said, adding that building a spiritual essence and good character are important.

The approach has certainly benefited those under his tutelage. Parents tell Revell that their kids jump ahead of their peers in other sports because of the foundation of exercise and strength they build at Classical Martial Arts. In fact, Revell has worked with a pupil who had major surgery to correct a curved spine, and the boy's physicians were amazed at his progress.

"(The student) had a curved spine. He only had 40 percent lung capacity, but he trained two to three days a week," Revell said. "His doctors wondered how he could be doing so well, and all they could tell him was to keep (up the martial arts). He's an inspiration to everybody. His will is incredible."

The teaching reflects Revell's own connection to the form, which has grown more spiritual over the years. He started learning a variety of martial arts when he was 17, but it wasn't until he was in his late 20s that he felt a deeper bond between his training and his personal and physical well-being. That's why earning a black belt under Revell, who is a fourth degree, is a serious matter. Students can't test for a black belt as a young adult until they're 17 because they need to develop a certain level of maturity first.

"To us, a black belt means something," he said. "To become a first-degree black belt ... it's just the beginning. It takes a very long time for the average adult to advance. About four to five years if he's a strong student."

Karim Ross, of Frankfort, says he likes Revell's approach to instruction. That's why he enrolled his 4-year-old son, Kaiden, in to the academy. In fact, the Ross family has a strong connection to the martial arts. Karim, who plans to take classes at the academy, too, has studied martial arts for years, and Kaiden's godfather is Hanshi Dr. Shorty Mills, a 10th-degree black belt and five-time world champion.

"I was looking for an art to start (Kaiden) in. I thought it would be nice to have my son continue the tradition," Karim said. "(Revell) is tough, but he makes sure the kids have a lot of fun."

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It's training students like Kaiden from child to teen to adult that's Revell's long-term goal. He wants to build a strong student base and eventually branch out to another dojo in the north or northwest suburbs.

"My biggest satisfaction is watching students develop, watching them grow and develop in the art and in life," Revell said. "My main objective is to keep students and develop them. No one stays in (martial arts) because they lose interest and focus. That's not the student's fault; that's the system's fault. They hit a wall. Martial arts is continuous learning. It never ends, and if you train properly in the right system, you should always be evolving. ... As we evolve, the art evolves. That's the way it should be."