Budo Accelerator

for high school students

Leadership, Community, Opportunity

Make friends, connect with mentors, and develop the skills and mindset to achieve your goals and dreams, whatever they may be. Oh yeah- you’ll also learn awesome martial arts in a non-competitive setting!

About the Program

Martial arts and Leadership?

Yes! Budo (a category of martial arts) was developed hundreds of years ago to train leaders and build community. We combine Budo with modern approaches to leadership training to make it more awesome.

Our high-school program is modeled after our Aikido & Leadership course offered at UC Irvine (college-level academic course), but you can totally handle it!

Program includes:

Summer leadership academy (2 weeks)

Quarterly summits (one weekend afternoon every 3 months)

Year-round martial arts training

Open to:

High school students in Orange County

Scholarships available for qualifying students

No martial arts experience required

Start anytime!

Program held at Ikazuchi Dojo in Irvine.

  • Juliana

    “Here, I was able to find a new community that welcomed my desire to learn and grow as a person. Because of the confidence I gained in the program, I’m now the co-captain of my school dance team.”

  • Nevaditaa

    “My parents weren’t born in America so our family doesn’t have the kind of network some others do. As someone interested in a career in medical research, I’ve been able to connect with a research scientist who ran programs at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Without Budo Accelerator, I never would have had the opportunity to meet her.”

FAQs

  • High school students can apply anytime and will join at the first gathering (quarterly summit or summer academy) after acceptance into the program.

  • Our program is centered around a 2-week summer leadership academy (2023 dates TBA) and one weekend afternoon meeting every 3 months.

    Aside from that, you’re expected to train martial arts throughout the year, but that can be done according to your own schedule.

  • We have discussions, small group activities, and guest speakers focused on leadership. We also do non-competitive martial arts training that reinforces the leadership concepts we teach, and is just very cool to do.

    You’ll also get a membership to Ikazuchi Dojo in Irvine, where you can practice aikido up to 7 days a week. You can level up your martial arts skills and meet lots of interesting people from all walks of life.

  • We cover topics such as resilience, empathy, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. We teach how to engage with mentors, manage time, regulate stress, navigate conflict, and how to generally be a better human.

    Most importantly, you’ll not only learn the theory, but you’ll get to observe and practice these things in high pressure interactions through martial arts training. (Don’t worry, it will be fun and safe!)

  • The program is open to high school students in Orange County, CA.

  • You’ll need to find a way to get to Ikazuchi Dojo in Irvine. If you want to join the program but don’t have a ride, please apply anyway. Many of our students carpool and we may be able to help coordinate one for you.

  • We’d love to chat! Send us an email at hello@budoaccelerator.org and we’d be happy to answer your questions.