Budo Scholar
A year-round leadership program for young martial artists.
Students keep training at their own school, in whatever art they already practice, and students who don't train yet get a guide to finding one near them. Each week the program gives them one idea to work with, something to try with it on the mat and in daily life, and a national community of other young martial artists to talk it through with.
What it is
A 50‑module curriculum, developed through our accredited program at UC Irvine, paired with real training on the mat.
The curriculum is grounded in the teachings of some of the most respected voices in martial arts, psychology, and education. A student works through it online, alongside their training, and brings what they find back to their own mat. Nobody has to change art, school, or teacher to take part.
How the year is built
Five phases, one short module a week, grounded by training on the mat.
Foundations
The base everything that follows is built on: stance, breath, falling, and learning why we train.
Self-Mastery
Taking control of your attention and your fear, and learning to recover when failure finds you.
Perception
Reading a room, a person, a moment. Noticing what others miss.
Connection
Training with others: building trust and alliances, and learning to repair important relationships when they go wrong.
Leadership
Leading with integrity and dignity. Unlocking the power of a team, and learning to think for yourself when it matters most.
Proven
Five years of results, now going national.
For five years students have come through this program in Southern California, more than 1,000 of them since 2021.
reported leaving the program with good or great career knowledge and skills.
demonstrated gains in at least one applied leadership capacity.
demonstrated gains in at least one adaptive mindset capacity.
Outcomes measured by Hello Insight, an independent youth development evaluation platform.
Where to go next
Join us.
For students and parents
What a week looks like, the community, scholarships, and how to join the list.
Join as a student →For martial arts schools
What a partnership involves, what your school receives, and how scholarships get funded in your own community.
Become a partner school →For supporters
A scholarship covers one student for a full year: their martial arts school and the program.
Fund a student →Not training yet
You do not need to train already to start.
Plenty of students arrive without an art, a school, or any idea where to begin. Finding the right place to train is its own skill, so we put together a guide to choosing a martial arts school: what to look for on a first visit, what questions to ask, and what a good school feels like.
Forged on the mat. Proven off it.
Budo Scholar is a program of Budo Accelerator, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.