American Institute of Kenpo (AIK) Martial Arts Programs
7320 N. La Cholla Blvd., #164, Tucson, AZ 85741
About
American Institute of Kenpo (AIK) Martial Arts Programs offers Kenpo Karate classes, martial arts classes, and self-defense training, including advanced sparring, tactical sparring classes, and competitor classes. The program also offers Smart Girl Self Defense™ classes, women’s self-defense classes, and Paxtial Arts.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Class options Monday–Saturday, with afternoon and evening times on weekdays and midday classes on Saturdays. The Smart Girl Self Defense™ Class is a single 4-hour workshop.
The American Institute of Kenpo (AIK) has been serving Tucson, Marana, and Oro Valley since 2005. Programs include karate for kids, children’s martial arts, teens, adults, and women’s self-defense, and classes are open to students ages 4 and older. AIK uses a specific A-I-K training method that includes Access through online manuals, training videos, and detailed curriculum, Interaction through personalized verbal and visual feedback, and Kinetic through hands-on training in real-world scenarios. The dojo is described as state-of-the-art, with spacious areas and top-notch equipment, and offers a family-friendly environment where kids, adults, and families train together. AIK emphasizes traditional values such as truth, bravery, courtesy, compassion, sincerity, discernment, and loyalty, inspired by the L.A.W.S. of the Scholar and Warrior.
Master Andrew Pilch, founder of the American Institute of Kenpo and architect of modern Kenpo at AIK, is a 9th Degree Black Belt with over three decades of experience, a former MMA and kickboxing fighter, a certified instructor at Pima Community College, and a personal student of Sigung Stephen LaBounty. He began his early training in 1986 under Mike Winkeljohn, co-founded AIK in 2005, and assumed full leadership in 2022. He was inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2007, named a Physicist of the Paxtial Arts in 2023, and was promoted to 9th Degree Black Belt in 2024, and he received recognition for Tucson’s “Best Martial Arts and Combat Sports Classes” in 2024. AIK’s instructors are described as certified Kenpo instructors with decades of experience, all of whom complete an Instructor and Leadership Training Program (ITP) to maintain teaching eligibility, and the Smart Girl Self Defense™ Class is led by certified instructors. Students have access to an online database of videos and manuals as training resources.
The Smart Girl Self Defense™ Class is an intense, comprehensive 4-hour workshop that is offered three times a year and connects participants with a supportive community of women. AIK serves the communities of Tucson, Marana, and Oro Valley. The American Institute of Kenpo (AIK) states that it is dedicated to cultivating character, confidence, physical well-being, and inner peace through Kenpo Karate classes and uses the art of self-defense to empower students of all ages, from kids to adults, fostering personal growth and resilience.
One testimonial from Mike Winkeljohn states that Mr. Pilch has become an incredible practitioner in Kenpo and Kickboxing, is a great teacher and motivator, has very talented students with a high level of competence, and leads a kickboxing team he describes as the most talented in Arizona, and he also describes Mr. Pilch as a family man and role model who adheres to traditional values and has contributed and given back to the Kenpo system, his students, and instructors. Another testimonial from Monica Chavez states that American Institute of Kenpo has been a part of her life since 1998, when Andrew Pilch began to instruct her two small children.
Last updated July 4, 2026.
• Ages: 4–18 years old
• Schedule: Class options Monday–Saturday, with afternoon and evening times on weekdays and midday classes on Saturdays. The Smart Girl Self Defense™ Class is a single 4-hour workshop.
The American Institute of Kenpo (AIK) has been serving Tucson, Marana, and Oro Valley since 2005. Programs include karate for kids, children’s martial arts, teens, adults, and women’s self-defense, and classes are open to students ages 4 and older. AIK uses a specific A-I-K training method that includes Access through online manuals, training videos, and detailed curriculum, Interaction through personalized verbal and visual feedback, and Kinetic through hands-on training in real-world scenarios. The dojo is described as state-of-the-art, with spacious areas and top-notch equipment, and offers a family-friendly environment where kids, adults, and families train together. AIK emphasizes traditional values such as truth, bravery, courtesy, compassion, sincerity, discernment, and loyalty, inspired by the L.A.W.S. of the Scholar and Warrior.
Master Andrew Pilch, founder of the American Institute of Kenpo and architect of modern Kenpo at AIK, is a 9th Degree Black Belt with over three decades of experience, a former MMA and kickboxing fighter, a certified instructor at Pima Community College, and a personal student of Sigung Stephen LaBounty. He began his early training in 1986 under Mike Winkeljohn, co-founded AIK in 2005, and assumed full leadership in 2022. He was inducted into the U.S. Martial Arts Hall of Fame in 2007, named a Physicist of the Paxtial Arts in 2023, and was promoted to 9th Degree Black Belt in 2024, and he received recognition for Tucson’s “Best Martial Arts and Combat Sports Classes” in 2024. AIK’s instructors are described as certified Kenpo instructors with decades of experience, all of whom complete an Instructor and Leadership Training Program (ITP) to maintain teaching eligibility, and the Smart Girl Self Defense™ Class is led by certified instructors. Students have access to an online database of videos and manuals as training resources.
The Smart Girl Self Defense™ Class is an intense, comprehensive 4-hour workshop that is offered three times a year and connects participants with a supportive community of women. AIK serves the communities of Tucson, Marana, and Oro Valley. The American Institute of Kenpo (AIK) states that it is dedicated to cultivating character, confidence, physical well-being, and inner peace through Kenpo Karate classes and uses the art of self-defense to empower students of all ages, from kids to adults, fostering personal growth and resilience.
One testimonial from Mike Winkeljohn states that Mr. Pilch has become an incredible practitioner in Kenpo and Kickboxing, is a great teacher and motivator, has very talented students with a high level of competence, and leads a kickboxing team he describes as the most talented in Arizona, and he also describes Mr. Pilch as a family man and role model who adheres to traditional values and has contributed and given back to the Kenpo system, his students, and instructors. Another testimonial from Monica Chavez states that American Institute of Kenpo has been a part of her life since 1998, when Andrew Pilch began to instruct her two small children.
Last updated July 4, 2026.
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