Kevin Shapiro has been doing martial arts since he was a child. Now, he’s training the next generation of martial artists while helping them develop discipline and self-confidence.
Through his business, Shapiro’s Samurai, he coaches kids in kickboxing and other martial arts, as well as serving as a personal trainer for children older than 6 and adults.
Shapiro lives in New Market with his son, Elijah (10), who also serves as a junior instructor at Shapiro’s Samurai.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you get into martial arts?
Martial arts has been a lifelong journey for me. I originally got into it with my father. I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. I started at maybe around 4 years old and had more of a traditional kind of karate background. I did that for a while growing up as a kid and really had a strong passion for it, but I lost it for a while as I got older. In my 20s, I reconnected with martial arts again.
What led you to open your own martial arts and personal training studio?
I’ve been trying ever since I had my son. I always try to kind of find that work life-balance. I still do it part time now, but I’ve worked in the restaurant for many years, and it’s always been kind of tough trying to balance out time to spend with my son while working at a restaurant when our restaurant hours are typically the opposite hours of school. It’s a lot of evenings and weekends.
I wanted to start finding something we could do together that could allow more time to spend with him. So, we started training. We’ve been training in martial arts together since he was a little kid. A lot of his friends wanted to take up martial arts, and their parents would ask about training. So, we thought it’d be a really cool activity to do with one another, and it’s kind of started taking a nice, strong trajectory here more recently.
What benefits does martial arts have for kids?
Overall, it helps them grow their confidence, team-building skills and leadership. I’ve seen it transpire in my son and my students as well. We have kids that have been too shy to speak or have a conversation now leading instruction in class. My son becoming one of my coaches and my junior instructor has also brought out a lot of confidence in him.
How did your son get involved as a junior instructor?
Martial arts is our life; it’s what we do together. We do it every day. We watch martial arts videos. We practice different martial arts like kickboxing, Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu. It’s always been a shared passion. A few years back, we started filming little Facebook shorts where he would explain and demonstrate different techniques. And I was like, “Oh my God, this is awesome. He could be explaining this stuff better than I can to these kids.”
I just kind of view him as a more advanced student than his friends with no martial arts experience, and I let him guide some of the workouts and classes.
Is there a difference between planning martial arts classes for adults versus kids, aside from their difficulty?
I have recently teamed up with a very close friend and my now business partner, who has a nice, big training facility with a full boxing ring, lots of space for mats and punching bags and all the other equipment and gear you would need. And we merged our kids’ programs together at his gym. He has coed adult programs. He also has a women’s self defense program a few days a week. So, my current, sole responsibility is the kids’ program. And he kind of runs all the programs out of the same gym, but I’ve been doing the kids’ classes.
What do you hope your son learns from you as he grows?
I like to tell him that we’re all part of something bigger than ourselves, that we should spread as much good energy as we can and have a good time doing it.
Family Favorites
Food: Steak, ribeye in particular
Local Spot: Reps n Sweat gym
Vacation Spot: Outer Banks, North Carolina
Game: Chess
Family Activity: Swimming in the lake
