BUSINESS NEWS
Ignite Martial Arts, a martial arts school in Gray, recently celebrated being open for 20 years in Jones County.
The martial arts school is currently located at 511 Settlement Point Drive, Suite C, in Gray and has a schedule online for different classes.
Melissa Cowart Cown, Ignite Martial Arts owner and sensei, said people should take martial arts classes at Ignite, because they can be a part of something great that can become a second home. She said celebrating 20 years of running Ignite was spectacular.
“We celebrated by doing a sparathon, which was for all ages. It was to earn the 20 years medal. They had to do 20 sparring matches and each match was a minute and a half,” she said. “They had to really work for it. I had a great turn out for it, and it was so much fun celebrating having Ignite for 20 years with everyone.”
Cown said she grew up in Stone Mountain and moved to Jones County at 19 years old. She said she wasn’t sure where she wanted to open a martial arts school at, but she rode through Gray and sat on the curb at one of the shopping centers.
“I told myself while sitting there I was going to open a school here, and I wanted to move here. That was in January 2003. Faith is very important to me, so I feel it was definitely God led. I love the people in Gray and this is family,” Cown said.
The sensei said she has about 45 students now at Ignite Martial Arts, and classes are filling up. She moved to her new location in January 2022. She said Ignite was previously inside Elite Fitness for almost 11 years, but she wanted her own space for Ignite, so the business could grow.
“I wanted to be able to do birthday parties, summer camps and just have our own space where we could do more,” the sensei said. “This has been a big blessing, because this really feels like home. It feels like home to my students, too.”
Cown said she’s very blessed to have Ignite Martial Arts for 20 years, and she’s ready to have her business for another 20 years in Jones County. She said she’s just as excited now as she was when she was 19 years old and excited to open Ignite for the first time. The owner said she has had phenomenal students and instructors, with some of her students still remaining after 20 years.
“I started martial arts when I was eight years old, so I’ve been training for over 31 years now. I got interested in martial arts, because of the Ninja Turtles. I told my martial arts instructor at eight years old I was going to have my own school one day. When I was 19 years old, I opened up my own school and have been doing this ever since,” Cown said.
The sensei said she didn’t like sports before doing martial arts. She said there were very few girls when she started so long ago, but at Ignite Martial Arts she has just as many female students as male students.
Cown said she is always looking for new students, and she is about to start summer camps. She said people can join Ignite Martial Arts by visiting the location in Gray or calling/texting. She said she keeps her prices for classes reasonable, and she doesn’t do contracts.
“This has all been worth it. I love my students, and they love me back. Ignite is a family, and we truly are very close,” she said. “There were several students who wore their medals to school after the sparathon, and I feel like our students wear their Ignite shirts proudly. This is a place they can call home and feel confident.”
For more information about Ignite Martial Arts, call 478-986-8571, email IgniteSensei@gmail.com or visit www. ignitemartialarts.com.
