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Mayor Carlat honors Millennium Martial Arts

BY ZAKKARY BROG Peoria Times Contributing Writer

Teaching is in Howard Munding’s blood.

A U.S. Air Force veteran, Munding served more than 36 years in fire departments in the West Valley, including more than 20 years in the Peoria Fire-Medical Department.

During his time in Peoria, he taught fire safety, personal safety and drug awareness to students. Munding incorporated his skills as a professional magician into his lessons to keep students engaged, reaching more than 360,000 students in 10 years.

A longtime student at Millennium Martial Arts, he wanted to carry on the tradition, so he purchased the school in 2006. Fifteen years later, Millennium Martial Arts was named Peoria Business of the Month for November by Mayor Cathy Carlat.

For nearly 38 years, Millennium Martial Arts has been serving Peoria families with advanced martial arts and fitness training. The school is an official training center of the Chuck Norris System and, out of 70 training facilities around the world, received the prestigious ranking as the 2021 Chuck Norris School of the Year.

His journey to Millennium Martial Arts began out of necessity. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Munding transitioned to firefighting. Munding’s colleague was stabbed while responding to a medical call.

Realizing it could have been him, Munding joined Millennium Martial Arts, which his son attended.

“A lot of times, the fire department is there way before the police department is, and they have to take care of things on their own,” Munding said.

“They may get called to a fall injury, and it’s actually that the lady fell down the steps because her husband knocked her down. So, it’s a domestic violence issue. You’re there and you have to be able to recognize the situation and extricate yourselves safely to wait for law enforcement.”

Carrying on teaching

As a seventh-degree black belt in the Chuck Norris System and third-degree black belt in Krav Maga Force, Munding uses his experience and opportunity as owner to teach leadership to people of all ages.

“A world champion fighter is cool, but I want successful, productive adults that have integrity, honesty, perseverance and discipline,” Munding said.

“That’s what we’re trying to instill in our community. We use karate and martial arts as a vehicle to teach values and character traits.”

Also an official Israeli Contact Combat System and Krav Maga Training Center, Millennium Martial Arts offers in-person and virtual classes for children, teens and adults. The Dragons Class provides instruction for ages 6 and younger, and the beginner, intermediate and advanced classes offer specialized training for all fitness and belt levels.

“I like seeing the students grow and progress in here,” he said.

“I have students who are police officers, DPS, firefighters, all the branches of the military. I’ve got one with a full-ride scholarship to Embry-Riddle. Another one is a commercial pilot. Another one is a nurse. Another one is a PA. You see them grow up and become successful, productive adults. Our

Mayor Cathy Carlat congratulates Howard Munding, Millennium Martial Arts owner. (Photo courtesy of the city of Peoria)

motto here is ‘building champions in life.’ A mom was in here showing me a picture of her son who, when he first came in here, was a real handful, and now he’s a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps. He’s just tearing it up out there in life, and that’s why I do this.”

Like many businesses worldwide, COVID-19 heavily impacted the school. However, the school successfully adapted to the ongoing pandemic.

“Nationally, 30% of all martial arts schools in the country closed their doors,” he said. “We were fortunate that we had a good team, had systems in place, and were ready to go.

“When they shut things down, we pivoted right away to teaching classes on Zoom. Things opened back up, and we put precautions in place that the CDC recommended and just continued to grow. As a matter of fact, we’ve grown through the entire thing.”

For the last 15 years, Millennium’s staff has put substantial time and effort into the school. With awards and recognition coming as a result, Munding doesn’t take it for granted.

“Everybody plays a part in this, from the instructors to the students and the parents,” Munding said. “Parents are an integral part of the team as well. Without coach mom and dad, this wouldn’t be successful. They have to bring them here. So, the awards, that’s really cool and it’s very humbling to be selected as business of the month in Peoria. Out of all the businesses, the mayor selected ours. It means a lot to me.” PT

Millennium Martial Arts

9800 N. 91st Avenue, Peoria 623-486-0970, millenniummartialarts.net