Adult Karate



Why take Karate at Elite Training Center?

Our Karate program has three components to help our students to excel to the top in discipline, focus, self-protection and great health. No other Karate program focuses on these three components so well.

Freestyle Karate - This exciting blend of martial art styles from around the world combines traditional forms and modern fighting technology. Children and adults will learn self-discipline, focus, respect for others, non-violent conflict resolution and effective self-defense. Children learn life-skills that no other physical activity can provide, and they are not excluded from participation due to lack of physical ability as in other sports. Adults will enjoy improved success, stress relief, improved health, and enhanced self-esteem.

Realistic Self-Defense - Over 90 percent of aggressive encounters can be stopped before ever becoming physical if you have had the right training. Traditional martial arts or overly aggressive combat systems lack research-backed life-saving de-escalation skills. These systems are usually made up by a martial arts instructor and are comprised of over-complicated martial arts techniques that the instructor thinks will work in a real situation. This type of instruction lacks the most important component of self-defense training, which is how to handle the emotional stress of an aggressive encounter, how to de-escalate it while maintaining a safe distance, and how to survive it if it becomes physical. Failure in these areas can cost you or a family member their life. To be trained in just how to fight can result in false confidence, hot-headedness, situational escalation and failure to analyze other dangers such as firearms, knives and additional participants. Elite Training Center offers the best in research-backed self-defense training that teaches how to properly handle a dangerous situation in order to give you the highest chance possible of maintaining safety.

Our instructors are certified to teach: • F.A.S.T. Defense™ (Fear Adrenal Stress Training) Level I - stand up aggression, Level II – ground aggression, Level III – weapons disarming and also F.A.S.T. Defense for Children™ • LRT™ (Last Resort Tactics) • CDT™ (Compliance-Direction-Takedown) Law Enforcement Level and also Family Protection Level These programs are highly specialized self-protection and law enforcement compliance programs. Our instructors have had advanced training that qualifies them to teach children, teens and adults how to avoid conflicts, control a situation and defend yourself if an assault is unavoidable. These systems are research backed and have been proven effective time and time again by students who have had to use them.




Our Expert Instructors


Phil Beatty


Mr. Beatty is a 3rd degree Black Belt in karate with over 25 years martial arts experience, a certified Level III F.A.S.T. Defense™ instructor, certified F.A.S.T. Defense For Children™ instructor, and has served six years of honorable U.S. Military service. He has over 25 years experience as a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor and is currently an international fitness and martial arts continuing education presenter. Mr. Beatty is also an instructor for All Children's Hospital KidShapers™, a weight management and fitness program where he currently teaches goal setting and fitness motivation to children and their families. He is also a loving father of three children.

Martial Arts, Self-Defense and Combat Training History

Phil Beatty started his formal martial arts training at USA Karate of St. Petersburg on January 6, 1985, under John Graden and achieved his Black Belt on March 23, 1989. USA Karate was also the training facility of the Legendary Joe Lewis, the man Black Belt Magazine named as "The Greatest Fighter of All Time." The Joe Lewis Fighting System taught to Beatty is a combination of the most effective strategic full-contact karate and hand-to-hand combat available. The focus of Mr. Beatty's training and specialized studies is in reality self-defense and empty-hand combat. Mr. Beatty is certified by internationally known combat and self-defense expert Bill Kipp, the chief instructor and creator of F.A.S.T. Defense™ (Fear Adrenal Stress Training). Mr. Beatty is a certified instructor in F.A.S.T. Defense™ for Level I (Stand-Up Aggression), Level II (Ground Aggression), Level III (Weapons Disarming), and F.A.S.T Defense For Children™ (stranger abduction and bullying prevention and self-defense).



Kim Cox


Ms. Cox is a 3rd degree Black Belt in karate with over 30 years martial arts experience, a certified LRT™ (Last Resort Tactics) Master Tactical Instructor, a Certified CDT™ (Compliance-Direction-Takedown) Master Tactical Instructor, and a F.A.S.T. Defense™ Coach. Some of Kim's other tactical and combat training accomplishments include being co-author of "Beat the Odds," a training manual used by the FBI, and serving as an instructor on the Empty Hand Confrontational Tactical Training Team for the U.S. Marshal's Office in 2003. Kim's fitness and athletic training talents include being a Certified Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, and she has over 30 years experience in gymnastics and acrobatics. In the 1980s Kim was one of the top ranked females in tournament martial arts in America. In 2000 she also won 1st place in women's forms and 1st place in women's fighting in the nation's largest martial arts tournament, the U.S. Open Karate Championships, after not competing for 12 years.



Luis Ramirez


Mr. Ramirez is a 2nd Degree Black Belt with over 10 years martial arts experience. He is also a F.A.S.T. Defense coach and Children's Karate Instructor.



Mark Graden


Mr. Graden is truly one of the most talented instructors and competitive fighters in the world today. With over 30 years martial arts experience, he holds a 6th Degree Black Belt in American Kickboxing under the Great Joe Lewis, a 4th Degree Black Belt in American Tae Kwon Do, and was trained by four world kickboxing champions. Mr. Graden is the current "World Association of Kickboxing Organizations" WAKO Pro Super Heavyweight World Kickboxing Champion with a fight record of 31 wins - 4 losses, and is undefeated on American soil. He is also a 3 time WAKO National Champion, 2 time IASKA National Champion, 3 time U.S. Open Champion, 5 time member of the United States National Karate Team, and 2 time recipient of the "Pound for Pound Fighter of the Year" award from the Joe Lewis Fighting Systems. Mr. Graden also acts as the Director of Martial Arts Education Curriculum for the National Association of Professional Martial Artists.