While other 11-year-old boys busied themselves by playing video games or training dogs to do their homework, Max Tzentis was training to be a champion martial artist. Month after month, Max poured his afternoons into judo, karate, and tae kwon do classes, eventually beginning training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. After years of teaching and coaching in various schools and training facilities throughout the local area, Max founded his own studio—Pure Performance Martial Arts Center.

Punching bags and functional-training equipment speckle the floor of his spacious studio, where Max and his team of expert martial-arts instructors teach classes in a sweeping range of styles from krav maga to boxing. In between lessons on movement, form, and technique, instructors lead students through high-intensity routines of cardio and strength-training exercises. In addition to classes for adults, the staff offers a training program for youngsters, where kids as young as 6 can hone fitness skills while building the confidence to stand up to bullies or ask a hardhearted hall monitor to prom.