Mr. Tom Yennie had opened and run 3 schools during the years of 1999-2009. While taking a sabbatical in early 2009, his nephew and good friend, Shawn Yennie got it back up and running. With Shawn's help and persistence, the Plainview studio was opened in Feb 2010 as Yennie Martial Arts.
Plainview has a great community education director and with that assistance, we started our first month with 50 students. More than half of them are still training. We started out renting a community center for our location space, but in May 2013, we finally rented our own building to call home. In 2015, it was decided to change the name back to Academy of Martial Arts, stemming from our roots.
We at the Academy of Martial Arts try to make each student feel special by being interested in their daily lives and supportive of their families. We promote good grades for the kids and encourage them to be the best they can, not just in the martial arts. We take it very personally when a student decides to quit. I believe we are the only school in the area that teaches students with special needs. We also do yearly fund raisers to raise money for cancer research and money for people battling cancer. The adults in the class go above and beyond to set a good example for the younger students, giving them someone they can "look up to".