Beckham Martial Arts & Fitness, formerly Aikido School of Self-Defense, is a premier martial arts school that has been serving the Upstate of South Carolina for over 30 years. We are conveniently located in the heart of Greenville and easily accessible from Easley, Berea, Taylors, Greer, and Spartanburg. We offer adult and children's classes five days a week, with both morning and evening times for adult students with busy lifestyles. At Beckham Martial Arts & Fitness we are unique in that we offer a state of the art training facility that has 1,800 square feet of floor space dedicated to aikido instruction with top of the line mats (Swain FlexiRoll Sports Mats - the best on the market). We have separate men's and women's dressing rooms and rest rooms, and we offer seating for visitors, guests, and parents who wish to watch the adult or children's classes. Striking and kicking bags are also provided for additional strength training. Our 3,000 total sq. ft. facility was originally built in 1922 and was renovated personally in 2012 by Joe Beckham and his students.
Nihon Goshin Aikido is a movement based, close-quarters martial art that can be learned by anyone of any size or age. It is a combination of aikido, aiki-jujitsu, jujitsu, judo, karate, and iaido. We teach street effective self-defense that disarms and subdues aggressors with turns, throws, joint-locks, and breaks. Our unique training system improves reflexes and reaction time. We use partner blending drills, partner uke/nage, attack lines, and randori exercises. Additionally, we are now offering low impact classes for adults at the same time as our regular adult classes.
About the instructor: Joe Beckham began training on August 16, 1980 in Spartanburg, SC. He is a Roku-Dan (6th degree black belt) in Nihon Goshin Aikido. He has also received a Sho-danho position in Hombu Aikido under Fumio Toyoda, and a San-Dan in Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu Iaido under Hanshi Greg Huff.
