Martial Arts Summer Camp at GMA: Fun, Fitness & Character

If you’re looking for a summer that keeps your child active, engaged, and growing — not parked in front of a screen — a martial arts summer camp hits a sweet spot most day camps miss. It pairs the energy and fun kids want with the structure and character development parents value. GMA’s summer camp in Gallatin, TN was built around exactly that balance: full days of fitness, life skills, team games, and field trips, anchored by the martial arts training our academy has been known for over more than 33 years.

Below, we’ll walk through what makes our camp different, what a typical day looks like, and how to figure out whether it’s the right fit for your family this summer.

What Makes a Martial Arts Summer Camp Different

Plenty of summer programs will watch your child for the day. Far fewer will help them grow. A martial arts summer camp is built on a simple idea: kids thrive when their energy has direction. Instead of filling hours with idle time, every block at GMA has a purpose — movement, learning, creativity, or connection — so children come home tired in the best way, having actually accomplished something.

The other difference is who runs it. Our camp isn’t staffed by seasonal hires who meet your child for the first time in June. It’s led by the same background-checked, CPR- and First Aid-certified team that runs our school-year programs, inside our 6,000 sq ft, peanut-free, bully-free facility right here in Gallatin. That continuity means your child walks in already trusting the adults around them.

A Full Day of Structure, Fitness & Fun

Camp runs as a true full day, 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM, so working parents get complete coverage without juggling a patchwork of sitters. The day opens with a morning meeting and team building, then moves into a fitness and discipline block, a rotating life skills and arts-and-crafts session, lunch, team games or a field trip, and a calmer free-choice cool-down before pickup. Two daily snacks keep everyone fueled, and Fridays mean pizza for the whole camp.

Variety is the point. Across a week, campers might tackle a leadership workshop, a STEM or music activity, a craft project, a round of Nerf wars, and a group outing to the NCG movie theater in Gallatin. Most weeks include at least one field trip, all supervised by our staff at an industry-leading ratio. And because we cap each week at 20–25 kids, no child gets lost in the crowd — everyone gets real attention.

Character Building That Outlasts the Summer

The “fun” in our camp name is real, but it’s the character that lasts. Woven through every week is a life skills curriculum that develops social, emotional, physical, and personal growth — confidence, communication, focus, and resilience. Kids learn to set a goal and work toward it, to lead and to follow, and to handle a setback without falling apart. These are the habits that show up again in the classroom come fall.

Shy campers tend to find their footing over a week or two, and high-energy kids learn to channel that drive productively. Our team has spent decades reading the temperament of each child and meeting them where they are, so growth happens at a pace that feels encouraging rather than overwhelming.

Martial Arts at the Core

What sets us apart from a standard day camp is the martial arts foundation under everything. Campers get one to three hours of structured physical activity daily, with martial arts training taught by professional instructors — the same discipline GMA has built its reputation on through the Spillmann family’s kids martial arts program. It’s not a token gym hour; it’s real coordination, strength, and self-control built day after day.

Martial arts teaches respect and self-discipline in a way few activities can, and those lessons carry straight into how kids treat their teammates, their counselors, and themselves. For families who love what they see this summer, the same training continues year-round through our after school program once school starts back.

Who It’s For, What It Costs & How to Register

Camp is designed for kids ages 5 to 14, with age-appropriate tracks so younger and older campers each get the right challenge. We run 10 weeks of camp across the summer, and you’re never locked into the whole season — register for a single week, several weeks, or the full summer, with drop-in days available for partial weeks. No consultation is required to enroll; you can sign up directly for any week with open spots.

Pricing is simple and transparent: $170 per week for current GMA members and $230 per week for non-members — less than $3 an hour for full-day care. Pay-in-full and sibling discounts bring that down further for families enrolling multiple children or committing to the season. You can see every option and reserve your weeks on our camp pricing page. If this is your child’s first time with us, it may help to read what to expect on the first day so they arrive ready to jump in.

Frequently Asked Questions