"My story, 50 years old French Canadian, arthritis in the neck, ex smoker, and gaining weight, time to get in shape! But work a lots and living out of town! Always wanted to learn Bojutsu, start to look around , lol! No way I could find a full Bojutsu training in Canada. I Start to look online, just curious, and I find GMAU Bojutsu with Sensei Hodge! I’m pretty skeptical about training online. I still give it a try. At my surprise, I was really amazed by the material of this online course, lessons, classes, assignment, testing, quality of teaching, exchanges with others student, discussion board. I was really surprise when I did my first video testing, and Sensei hodge reply to me by video! And you can tell, this course is not only about money, Sensei Hodge really care about his student , we are not just a number! I took a chance with this course, and I got no regret, I’m so happy and dedicated to the end! Black belt! I’m coming!"

Ken Atkinson - Parkland County, Alberta, CA

"My path of self improvement with GMAU started in October of 2017 by studying bojutsu. I did a lot of internet research to find a martial arts program in my area that would fit into my work and life schedule. I finally discovered that going to a dojo at their posted times was just not an option, but I wanted some kind of program that improved my physical well being, mental discipline and had an enjoyable martial element to it.

Finding GMAU and the programs they offer was exactly what I was looking for. I read that once I purchased the bojustu class, I could easily train on my own schedule and train almost anywhere I chose. GMAU is an amazing traveling dojo. A month after I started trading with the bo, I signed up for the Shotokan Karate course.

Since I began training almost a year ago, I have noticed an increase in muscle mass (my wife has noticed too), an increase in my body awareness, a stronger core and greater flexibility. In years past, when I had ‘down time’ my job, I felt I had wasted it by not including a physical activity component to my day. Now, I have no ‘down time’ at work, I have a training regimen that is serving me very well.

Sensei Michael and Sensei Jon’s approach to teaching fits my visual learning style. Their lessons are concise, detailed and patient. I feel like I have my own personal Sensei when I watch the training videos. I am able to pause, rewind, and rewatch all lessons until I know I have achieve proficiency. The few times I have reached out to either of them for advice or clarification on a training matter, they have been prompt, personal and courteous in their replies. I do not feel I can give a high enough praise for what they have put together with the GMAU.

Sensei Michael and Sensei Jon are very encouraging in not only their lessons but also in their feedback. The feedback they have provided from my chevron and belt testing efforts have always been helpful and relevant. I believe GMAU holds their students to a high degree of skill and proficiency in attaining rank."

Sean Robinson - Jamestown, North Carolina, USA

"​Hi, my name is Gavin, I am from Germany, 44 and I practice Wing Tjun over 2 years together with my wife Anja.

Martial Arts is a good way for us to improve mental, fitness and self-defense. But also i loved watching people using traditional weapons with the awesome movements like
shaolin monks do.

My wish to learn to handle such a traditional weapon was first awakened in the summer of
2017. In Wing Tjun we will not get teached in the traditional weapon bo, just the long bo with just
one boring form without any sense of self defence character. It is just a lesson to improve the
upper body condition and strength. This idea behind was not my goal. So I researched in my
neighborhood where there is a school that teaches Kobudo. Unfortunately I had to find out
disappointed that there is really no single school I could visit without having to do half a world
trip. So first I was content to buy a rattan bo and check some cool tricks here and there from the
videos found on Youtube and practice them on our home loft. The space was big enough to
whirl around with the stick.

The imitation of forms of the Shaolin fighters has led me sometime to the point that I had
reached my limits of deeper understanding and had not really progressed here. On the one hand I was motivated and at the same time completely overwhelmed by the mix of different styles, techniques and simple tricks of the well known toothpick-specialists.

I can still remember when between all these videos on youtube I happened to notice a class
video from Ultimate Bo and immediately hooked up the way this lesson was built. The video had
immediately animated to participate. Logically and structured like a real training lesson with
warm-up technical part and cooldown. I had really absorbed this video.

The way Michael Hodge works here and conveyed his knowledge convinced me immediately to
have a look at the homepage of Global Martial Arts University to inform about how the course is
working. Of course, I also had initial doubts whether I can actively pursue this course over a
longer period of time without losing interest in it after a short time.

After I finally decided to enroll in Ultimate Bo in September 2017, I was completely convinced
that I had made the right decision during my first visit to my personal training area. Each training
video was motivation to continue here. Achieving this attitude through an online course and the
distance and keeping students in the mood requires great effort and thoughtful approach.

I remember exactly when I first saw Bo Kata 1 in the training videos section. I have to admit that
for the first time I had a short-term feeling, "Oh dear, there you have something planned!" Today I am heading for the graduation of the Blue Chevron Level and smilingly look back to the first
beginnings with many heights and deep ones. Days on which everything had run smoothly and
those on which you would have thrown the Bo out of the window. But Michael Hodge and the
community does not leave a student in the lurch and is always backwind to keep up the motivation.

And it will continue and never end the supposed successes that have been achieved with the
graduations at Ultimate Bo to elaborate in more detail until these are finally in flesh and blood.
I'm proud to be a student under Sensei Michael Hodge of Global Martial Arts University. All that
is missing is the greatest honor: to train with Sensei Michael and my colleagues together having
fun and make a great party with barbecue or something typical american cool things after we
have finished the lesson. Maybe this will never be possible due to the distance and the costs for
the flight. For this reason, a photo of Him is hanging in my training room so that I can express
my honor and respect in my own way as I do this also to my Master in Wing Tjun.

On GMAU i have found the best way to practice with structured lessons helping me to learn this
interesting martial arts style from the really beginning teached by a shining example like Sensei
Michael Hodge.

He opened up my horizon to apply what i have learned by now to my own martial arts style and
also my personal mindset in the area of life. If you also like to go this way enrolling this course
is highly personal recommended!

-Gavin Huhoff - Rodgau, Germany

"Global Martial Arts University is a cutting-edge martial arts training program. I cannot speak highly enough of them.

I started with GMAU’s Ultimate Bo program in February of 2018, and I absolutely love this program. To start, any time I have a question or comment, I can email Sensei Michael (the Ultimate Bo instructor) and he responds within a couple of days, if not the same day. Many see the lack of direct instructor oversight as a negative side of home training, but I prefer it, as I have learned not only to ask the right questions, but to find ways to answer them. By the time I finish composing the email with my questions to Sensei Michael, I have already answered them myself!

Another awesome part of my home training with GMAU is that I get to interact with other Ultimate Bo students. In the Discussion Board, we can share ideas, critique each other, and even lead our own classes. It feels like I am actually training with other students because of all the great videos and insights posted. Another thing I like is the training itself. For each rank level, there are certain requirements you must meet to test, and if your pass, advance to the next rank. There is no question what I need to be working on, because the requirements, such as techniques, training hours, and assignments are all clearly outlined on the GMAU sight. Again, if I have any questions, I can just email Sensei Michael and he will respond promptly.

Probably my favorite part of the Ultimate Bo course is the curriculum itself. I think any traditional martial art should have an even balance of traditional techniques, such as kata (pattern) in karate, and practical application, like kumite (sparring), also in karate. In Ultimate Bo, we have our traditionally based techniques, that we practice in the form of combinations and patterns, and we also have combat bo, the section of our course where we focus on the practical (combat/self-defense) application of our bo. Like I said, I enjoy practicing the traditional stuff, but without the combat bo it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.

Right now, I am a Green Chevron in the Ultimate Bo program, and I am training frequently to achieve my Blue Chevron. An awesome aspect of my GMAU home training is that I can train any day, any time. This is something that no brick and mortar martial arts school can boast. This allows me to get way more training than I normally would in, because I train on my schedule, when I feel like it. If I am taking an online class (watching a video), I can pause or skip ahead any time. If I need to stretch out a certain muscle group after the warmup, I can pause the video and stretch it out. If I recognize a problem in my pattern, I can pause the class and work on it a little bit before I move on. If I am crunched for time and am already proficient at a section of a class, I can skip to what I need to work on. Even private lessons at a physical dojo don’t have these advantages.

So far I have only listed good things, but I would say there is only one real negative part, and I don’t think that is really a true negative aspect, but rather a good point to train yourself on. That is:

Self-Motivation.

Having the freedom to train anytime means you have the freedom to not train at all, so you have to condition yourself to stick to a schedule, maybe have a training buddy to be accountable to, and log your progress. I think of myself as a self-motivated person, so this aspect of training usually isn’t a problem for me. However, sometimes I just don’t feel like training, and that is when I have to fall back on my training buddy, and tell myself “In 15 minutes, I’m going to get my bo and train for 30 minutes, practicing x, y, and z.” Like I said, this isn’t really a negative point as much as it is a good area in which to train yourself.

I know this is a lengthy review, but there are just so many good things to say about GMAU and their Ultimate Bo program." 

-Levi Potter - Glendive, Montana