Southern School of Martial Arts and Rivers Edge Bujinkan Dojo

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The instructor has a thorough knowledge of self-defense and teaches the children and adults real-life situations but with a gentle approach.

When my son was six, my wife and I looked for a martial arts program that would teach loyalty, honor, discipline, and proper techniques to help my child properly defend himself. I looked at all martial art programs within the Cary, Fuquay-Varina, Apex, Clayton and surrounding areas.



After months of looking we found Mark Murdock, the Southern School of Martial Arts, and started my son in the Kobushi-Do program. My son has been in the Kabushi-Do program for four years and it has provided my child with the necessary skills to be successful later in life.



Mark Murdock and his staff are professionals that inspire children and adults. The values and techniques learned at the Southern School of Martial Arts has truly been an awarding experience.

My sons have been attending this school for almost two years and have gained valuable knowledge about self defense. Mark is a wonderful, caring instructor who is extremely skilled in a variety of martial art techniques. I would highly recommend him to anyone who wishes to learn how to defend themselves.

My boys love this school! They have gained confidence and real world self defense skills in just a short time. As a mom, I appreciate the fact that the rates are reasonable and there are no contracts. Master Murdock is an exceptional teacher with an impressive background. My oldest son tried baseball and basketball but nothing stuck...until he tried this! My younger son is sporty, so during the on-season I will scale down Kobushi-Do to once a week. I appreciate the flexibility there. The classes have all ages, all skill levels, and girls too. They have a welcoming atmosphere and offer free trial classes for newbies.

My son Jackson has been attending Southern School of Martial Arts since September of 2012. Shihan Mark Murdock is an excellent instructor. He instills confidence, courage and uses various types of everyday situations that may occur to all of his students. He is one of the best if not the best I have ever seen. He really works good with youth as well at adults. This dojo trains the students to react to real life situations. Shihan Mark Murdock blends in various types of martial arts such as Aikodo, Judo, Karate and Ju-Jitsu as well as others. You will learn the names of all the locks and techniques as well. Learning these different martial arts makes more well rounded and you learn how they all come together to make a natural flow. Weapons techniques are taught as well. I highly recommend this martial arts school to everyone. You are made to feel very welcomed from the first class and before we came here we looked around and this school is the most reasonably priced for what you learn too. Shihan Mark is very serious about teaching you the skills you need for real life not trophies! Bobby Currin

I've tried martial arts of various forms in a vain search for true personal defense. Every school I found that taught various forms such as tae kwon do, karate, jujitsu (other styles), judo etc. All seemed to have a competition focus and taught you to pull everything.



There are no rules in a real world assault/attack. Your attacker will not hold back from hurting you! However, with Mark Miurdock's training, you've got a real chance of surviving with minimal injury to yourself which may not be true for your attacker.



If you want to survive in this crazy world and learn real martial arts that you can use, then come train with Mark Murdock. With Mark's teaching style, you will get all the things other schools advertise like discipline, respect, fitness etc. Mark takes a realistic approach and covers all bases. Most important, after only a few classes, you will be better prepared for an attack than after years of training in most other schools.



If you are looking for personal defense, look no further, this place is your home. You will love it!

I have been attending this class for a while and I feel that it has given me enough skill so that if I had to use it I could. Luckliy, I haven't needed to. Shihan really places a lot of emphasis on the basics. He then builds up from that. In his class you really get to meet the mat, so you really learn to fall well. Overall Shihan is a good instructor and a great guy.

I have trained at this school for 6 months and I love every minute of it. We start with strong foundation of basics and build a large and flowing natural feeling library of techniques to use. I have never been to another dojo that trains the students to react instinctively to real life situations. I am also very impressed that we don't separate the higher belts from the lower belts, we all train together. We all learn together, and we all get along very well. This is a great place to bring you children, the Kobushi-do class is awesome. I strongly recommend every one is interested in self defense try this School.

I train there as time permits. Shihan Mark Murdock is a very good instructor both in Manabi-Masho JuiJitsu and Ninjutsu. He allows students to try things on their own and figure out how the techniques works for them. He is patient and willing to correct or improve your technique. I have trained in Karate, Aikido, Judo, and JuiJitsu before. His method of teaching is the most realistic I have ever found. His methods instruct you in what to avoid on the Street as strategies and why. He stresses using whatever is available for locks. His knife defense teachings are based on not staying there to get cut. Escape, evade, surprise, and generally, do not get cut! Practical adaptation of available resources, such as a plastic shopping bag, serve as weapons as well. The use of your jacket to escape. Shihan teaches single and multiple attacker situations. Fear is utilized to enable us, not to paralyze us. I have gotten to the point where having somebody attacking me in the less than 3 foot range no longer scares me. His stress on correct falls works to drive your fear away. The ground is a friend, but not the ultimate destination.



The major advantage that I have seen with his school is the training to not allow your mind to block what you need to do. His emphasis on flow and be open to whatever happens stops the predictability. Not every defense or offense is appropriate or applicable every time. Sometimes simply escaping the best. He incorporates that philosophy at every stage. The training is rigorous and effective. It has improved my movement and my fluidity beyond that of my prior training.



In all, I highly recommend this dojo and instructor.

I've been a student here for a couple of years. Having trained previously in Tang Soo Do and Kung Fu, I can tell you Shihan Murdock is the real deal. A good friend of mine who teaches Ninjutsu at another school knows Shihan Murdock and vouches for the system here. The Manabi-Masho is particularly effective and street ready. And I really like the fact that I'm not training with a bunch of kids in the adult classes, though they do have plenty of kids in other classes.