Meet Karina Isaacs of Integrity Martial Arts
Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Isaacs.
Hi Karina, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I began training in martial arts at 22, and by 23 I was working alongside my then-boyfriend at his martial arts school. At 24, we got married and made the decision to build Integrity Martial Arts together. Over the years, we have grown not only as business owners, but also as a family, and today I am proud to be a mother to two young children while continuing to help lead and grow the organization.
What started as a shared dream quickly became a mission. In the beginning, our focus was on growing one strong school, first to 200 members, then 300, while building a culture rooted in our company’s four pillars: discipline, passion, wisdom, and character. We poured ourselves into creating a school that truly impacted families and helped students grow not just as martial artists, but as people.Over time, that vision continued to expand.
Today, our flagship Cutler Bay location serves around 400 students, and we’ve grown to five additional locations: Country Walk, Tamiami, Pembroke Pines, East and North Naples. Looking back, it’s incredible to see how far we’ve come. Martial arts changed my life personally, and I’m proud that what we’ve built now helps change the lives of so many others.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road. One of the biggest challenges was that I started working at Integrity in 2008, right in the middle of the recession. Then, years later, we faced another major challenge with COVID.
During COVID, we were deeply committed to our team and our students. We cut our own pay, pulled from savings, and made the decision to keep our entire team employed. We knew that kids were some of the most impacted during that time, and we felt a responsibility to keep supporting them. We quickly pivoted to online classes, provided families with training equipment so parents could help their children at home, and worked hard to make the experience as interactive and comprehensive as possible.
Since then, we have continued to face challenges such as rising commercial rents, hurricanes, inflation, and increasing fuel costs. It feels like many businesses are bracing for another recession, but we feel prepared. We have already weathered two major ones, and those experiences taught us how to lead through adversity, adapt quickly, and stay focused on what matters most.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Integrity Martial Arts is guided by one mission: Building Champions of Life. While we are proud to have developed many successful martial artists, our purpose goes far beyond competition and technique. We strive to help our students become champions in life. Our culture is built on our four pillars: discipline, passion, wisdom, and character. We also hold ourselves to our four Keys of Service: Safety, Experience, Efficiency, and Communication, which set the standard for everything we do.
We also bring a high level of experience and credibility to what we do. I am a 5-time World Champion, 5th Degree Black Belt, and my husband is a 6-time World Champion, 7th degree black belt, a Senior Master, and the Head Coach for Team ATA USA. That combination of elite experience, strong values, and a commitment to innovation helps set our organization apart.
One of the things I am most proud of is seeing our students succeed far beyond the mat. Many have gone on to top-tier and Ivy League schools such as UM, Berkley, FSU, Brown and Columbia. That is a reflection of the bigger mission behind our brand. Martial arts is the tool, but the ultimate goal is helping people grow into confident, capable, successful individuals.
We also believe in staying at the forefront of our industry by leveraging the latest technology and pursuing training and certification at the highest levels possible. At the end of the day, Integrity Martial Arts is about more than martial arts. It is about building leaders, building character, and building champions of life.
What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is people. My family, our students, our team, and the opportunity to make a positive difference in their lives. That is why the mission of Integrity Martial Arts, Building Champions of Life, means so much to me.
I believe martial arts is one of the most powerful tools for teaching confidence, discipline, resilience, and character. Watching students grow into stronger, more capable people, both on and off the mat, is the most meaningful part of what I do. As a mother to young children myself, building an environment where kids can grow in confidence, character, and resilience feels deeply personal to me. I care deeply about creating something that not only helps people succeed in martial arts, but helps them succeed in life.