Peoples Kenpo has moved into their new location at 618 West Foster and had a soft open over the weekend during Burnin’ the Bricks.
Their grand opening will be on June 26. The change of locations has been a long-time coming for owner Alex Couch, who is excited about having his own building to run the dojo.
“I’ve been looking for my own place to buy for a while,” Couch said. “We’ve been looking to grow and I have more mat here. We were during real good until Covid hit. I was up to 90 students. We went down to about 55-60, but we’ve recovered pretty good.”
The parking and visibility are two of the perks of Peoples Kenpo new location.
“We’re easy to find and people can see us from the street,” Couch said. “This place is a little more open. When you walk in, it directs you to a front desk where someone will be there and people are not lost when they get here.”
Couch has also enjoyed his creative liberty of owning his own business, which has seen a history of being a bar and game room.
“I can make it more comfortable for everybody,” Couch said. “I was able to put new flooring in and make it real nice for my students. It’s a nice place to train, inviting and people can stay as long as they want. They are my family too, and I wanted my family to be comfortable.”
Couch is proud to be a part of a continuous push to bring more businesses downtown.
“I’m glad to have been able to bring some light to downtown, much like The Well is doing,” Couch said. “We really like being downtown off of Hobart away from all of the big businesses. I want downtown to look good and have more events.”
Peoples Kenpo provides a place for youth in the afternoons and evenings to hang out and stay out of trouble as their hours are Monday through Friday from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
“It’s probably later at times as no one likes to leave,” Couch said. “We get to talking, laughing and cracking up and we look at the clock and it’s 9 p.m. at night. It was really cool this last Saturday doing the soft open with open mat. It was emotional for me to open up, have my people here and see how we can grow now.”
Kenpo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, like other single-competitor sports, is unique in that while the students compete one-on-one, they also work as a team.
“We’re a team, we’re a family,” Couch said. “But if you ever decide to compete, you have to walk out there on your own in front of 100s of people and compete against one other person.”
The grand opening on June 26 will feature food, belt promotions and a seminar with Third-Degree Black Belt Brad Nicholarson (Couch’s instructor).
For more information on Peoples Kenpo, visit their website at www.kenpobjj.com or find them on Facebook at “Peoples Kenpo Pampa.”
