Martial Arts Family Fitness, a family-owned and operated school dedicated to improving lives through martial arts, will hold its first-ever all-school student promotion in the art of Dynamic Circle Hapkido.

The belt promotion will be held in Montecito’s Manning Park on Saturday, July 24. The promotion will begin at 10 a.m. and will be followed by a celebratory barbecue.

“When preparing for the summer months, we decided to do fun and engaging activities for our youth students,” said Sensei Andrew Hollingsworth, an instructor and director of Martial Arts Family Fitness’ youth program. “While developing the calendar for the summer, we decided on the theme ‘10 Weeks of Summer’ to create these activities. As we looked at promotion days, we decided to have an outdoor promotion, which lead to an all-school promotion and picnic.”

“Historically, our adult students and our youth students promote on different days,” said Dave Wheaton, founder and owner of Martial Arts Family Fitness. “We live in a very beautiful place, and an outdoor promotion seemed the right thing to do. This will allow students, guests and parents to experience what other classes go through, as well as an opportunity to interact with people they may only see in passing at our school.”

To promote from one level to the next, students must exhibit proficiency in the curriculum’s areas of study, including basics (hand strikes and kicks), self-defense techniques, take-downs and throw forms, and one-step sparring.

“Our system is based on a predetermined curriculum developed by Master Wheaton,” Hollingsworth said. “Each student is encouraged to continue practicing what they have learned throughout their studies and making the art their own.”

— Alex Rodriguez represents Martial Arts Family Fitness.