Meet Savannah Schoenecker of Kung Fu Moves

Today we’d like to introduce you to Savannah Schoenecker.

Savannah, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
About 2.5 year ago, I’d been practicing martial arts, Wing Chun Kung Fu, specifically, for about 5 years before starting my business. I was instructing children at the studio where I practiced and they needed help with enrollment, so the owners asked me to reach out to local preschools and offer a martial arts program in order to market the studio more broadly. Once I was hired by a couple preschools I created lesson plans, instructed students and helped expand enrollment for the studio by marketing to parents at the preschools.

With rent being outrageously high in Los Angeles, I was living in my friend’s husband’s office, instructing students at the school and studio as well as working as a server at a restaurant. One day my friend said to me, “You are so good with kids, you should make this a business and reach out to more schools.” I ignored the idea at first, but a few months came and went and my partner (now husband and business partner) as well as a few other friends kept nudging me to reach out to more schools. After enough encouragement, I began to take the idea seriously and from there, creativity flowed.

At this point my husband, then boyfriend, agreed to help me with the idea and we had many important discussions about what kind of martial arts curriculum we wanted to offer children all around Los Angeles. My husband had suffered from severe bullying as a child while I had witnessed friends survive assault of many kinds growing up. We agreed age appropriate curriculum based in martial arts that focused on real world Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Bullying techniques was absolutely necessary. Even to this day, most children I meet whether at a school or the martial arts studio don’t know what a stranger is, what bullying means, what a kidnapper is or what to do if they get lost in public. In this way, were creating a new program many fitness based martial arts companies do not off to children in preschools/schools. We also felt this was a deeply gratifying way to give back to the communities we served.

The building of the curriculum began. I had five plus years on my side viewing and teaching these subjects as a martial artist while my husband came from his personal background of life experiences and teaching kids. The research began and we dug deep to find the best knowledge of how to bring forward street safety and self-confidence techniques to children of all ages. Once we settled on our curriculum and created a packet for schools to read, we went door to door, phone call to phone call reaching out to schools who might take a meeting or allow us to come teach a trial class at their facility. It took a lot work and dedication but after several months meeting the most wonderful program directors and owners, within our first year we were teaching at 8 different preschools. Now into our third year of the business we also teach children in elementary and middle school these essential life skills.

A lot has happened since starting our business. We currently teach over 100 students in the Valley between my husband and I. We’ve witnessed kids grow incredibly confident, who might otherwise be picked on because they are “different,” gain street smarts to help them avoid potentially dangerous situations, and speak up bravely for themselves and their peers with compassion. One of our students who is the smallest kid at one of the preschools we teach at began working with us when he was a little under three years old. He is now 5 years old, incredibly confident, enthusiastic, loves martial arts, has tons of friends, and is enrolled not only in our program at the preschool but an outside Jiu Jitsu studio as well. It’s been heart melting as well as absolutely humbling to help our students in times of need, especially when any of them experience bullying for the first time and either they or their parents reach out for some extra coaching.

Beyond the joy of teaching vital skills to kids of all ages through our business, I am happy to share that I no longer need to work in the restaurant as our business pays our bills, and yes, my partner and I got married, and we have our own apartment now (no more living in my friend’s husband’s office!). We also make our own hours which enables us to help in environmental, systemic and social activism as well as pursue our dreams in music and the dramatic arts.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The public school system is very difficult to navigate at times. Although we have our business license, are insured, TB tested, background checked, etc., it took us almost three years to be able to instruct kids above the age of 6 years old. Most preschools are privately owned, which means they have more freedom in the programs they choose for their students. Public schools are very tight on funds and several times were sent from the head of a school to the district office back to the head of the school with everyone claiming they didn’t make any of the decisions. That being said, we are grateful for the schools, directors, owners we currently work alongside and our goal in the future is to create a non-profit division in which we can provide kids in at risk communities as well as public schools in need of assistance our Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Bullying curriculum through sponsors and donors. Ultimately, we want to teach at schools all over Los Angeles to as many kids as possible no matter their financial status, but we are still relatively new business owners learning the ropes of how to expand our business. That too comes with its own challenges.

Please tell us about Kung Fu Moves.
With the style of Wing Chun Kung Fu, Kung Fu Moves focuses on bringing social and emotional learning & street smarts through the self-mastery of martial arts to as many children as possible. We value the personal growth of every child as well as the relationships they develop with their peers, teachers, friends and family. This is why we’ve tailored our programs for age groups 2 1/2 and up. It is our goal to provide a safe & healthy environment for children to practice compassion, self-awareness, street safety procedures and anti-bullying techniques so future generations have the tools today to create a better tomorrow in their communities.

I am proud to provide a unique and worthwhile service to kids. We are not just a fitness program, we are a social and emotional learning program, a street safety program and martial arts program working with kids of all ages. I’m proud to instruct alongside my husband who gets to teach kids the tools he never learned in school when he was bullied as a child. We have heartfelt discussions about how providing this info to our students brings him healing too. From conversations with our parents and students, it also gives me so much joy to know we are helping create more compassionate and confident kids for the future as well as potentially saving kids’ lives from possibly dangerous situations throughout street safety classes.

Most extracurricular programs focus mostly on the fitness aspect of their art forms and while that is incredibly rewarding, we feel our program sets itself apart by incorporating anti-bullying and street safety into the fitness curriculum.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I’m not sure what I would change. Becoming a business owner teaching martial arts at schools around the Valley was quite unexpected but came very naturally, which I have a lot of gratitude for. This business took off with the grace of something I can’t quite explain and was very surprising for me. I am humbled by it every day and love working with kids as well as my husband.

Pricing:

• 10-Week Compassionate Leaders, Street Safety, Wing Chun Fitness or Shaolin Fitness Sessions – $12/class
• The studio I also instruct at is called Martial Arts Fitness Academy Los Angeles. Classes are $100/month unlimited. Come in for a trial class!

Contact Info:

• Phone: 323.613.5994 or 323.770.8020
• Email: kidskungfumoves@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kungfumoves/

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