About Goshen Academy of Martial Arts

Learn more about our mission, journey, values, and the team

Our Mission

We are an academy of life changers who empower kids and adults to be their personal best through exceptional martial arts & life skills training. Our purpose is to help our community be a happier, healthier, & safer place to live.

Our core values

How We Work

Our GOSHEN values keep us connected and guide us as one team.

Grateful

We have every intention of creating a family atmosphere. Having a grateful attitude means being friendly on purpose. We do our best to serve this way both on the mats with students & off the mats with all family members.

Open-Minded

We believe in the power of positive reinforcement, but also holding students accountable with training. This requires a balance of using your influence before your authority. We do our best to build our rapport with students, and correct them when they need work on a technique or behavioral area in class.

Satori

The word Satori is a Japanese expression for "in the present, at your best." We also equate this to the importance of us leading by example as instructors. Something we review regularly in our team meetings, but also try to help students with is checking your daily challenges at the door. In other words, we always do our best to show up & teach each class as if its the best class we'll ever teach.

Honest

We value the importance of earning anything you get. This is put into practice by praising in public, and reprimanding in private. Students must put forth their best to earn their next tip and receive their next rank. We also may have students perform make-up tests to challenge them to the appropriate standard of the rank they are testing for. This ensures that our students are building real confidence in their training.

Encouraging

A large goal of ours it to lift others up, and to help each student precisely where they are at. This takes both patience and enthusiasm as we all like being treated with respect even when we could be doing better. As we often quote, the role of a coach is to help someone get where they want to go where they couldn't do so by themselves.

Nourishing

The way that we ask ourselves as instructors if we taught a great class is the following: Were my students smiling, sweating, and learning? Martial arts is an incredible discipline because it can be such an enjoyable workout, and what you learn can be far more than just physical. This is a powerful rule of 3 that helps us understand how we want to constantly improve our teaching to give the absolute best experience to our students.

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Meet The Team Behind Goshen Academy of Martial Arts

We’re a small team that loves to create great experiences for our community.

Nathan Wilkening

Master Instructor

Nathan is the owner of the academy with over 20 years of martial arts experience. He trained directly with the founder, Master Rich Grogan, as one of his original students. His current rank is 5th degree black belt.

Josh Stout

Senior Instructor

Josh has trained as a student at the academy for 13 years, and has 5 years of teaching experience. His current rank is 3rd degree black belt.

Connor Borg

Senior Instructor

Connor has trained as a student at the academy for over 12 years, and has 6 years of teaching experience. His current rank is 3rd degree black belt.

Katelyn Long

Certified Instructor

Katelyn has trained as a student at the academy for over 10 years, and has 3 years of teaching experience. Her current rank is 2nd degree black belt.

Colton Schlemer

Certified Instructor

Colton has trained as a student at the academy for over 8 years, and has 2 years of teaching experience. His current rank is 2nd degree black belt.

Ava Schindler

Certified Instructor

Ava has trained as a student at the academy for over 8 years, and has 2 years of teaching experience. Her current rank is 1st degree black belt.

Madelyn Wolf

Certified Instructor

Madelyn has trained as a student at the academy for over 6 years, and has 1 year of teaching experience. Her current rank is 1st degree black belt

Corrine Smalley

Certified Instructor

Corrine has trained as a student at the academy for over 10 years, and has 1 year of teaching experience. Her current rank is 2nd degree black belt.

Cameron Thomson

Certified Instructor

Cameron has trained in martial arts for over 12 years, and has been at our academy for 4 years. He has earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do as well as Tang Soo Do. As of December 2025, he just recently completed his training to earn the certified instructor title.

Jessica Hunt

Front Desk

Jessica has been a parent at the academy since 2015. Her two boys each earned their 2nd degree black belt after 8 years of training. She is fantastic at helping our new families get started, and answering any questions throughout any stage of your martial arts journey.

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Our Story Unfolds

Explore our milestones, growth, and memorable achievements throughout our journey.

Our Martial Arts began with a heartfelt vision: to empower kids and adults to be their personal best through exceptional martial arts & life skills training. Our purpose is to help our community be a happier, healthier, & safer place to live.

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Our martial arts began with Master Rich Grogan founding the studio in 2005 as Grogan’s Martial Arts & Fitness. He had trained for decades under Master Mann’s in a Korean style called Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan. Shortly after earning his 4th degree black belt in South Korea, and the title of master instructor in that style, he started his first 3 month program at Nelson Elementary School. Nathan Wilkening, who now carries on his legacy under the name Goshen Academy of Martial Arts, attended his very first class.

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As time progressed, Master Grogan grew the school substantially which warranted moving to different locations until we ended up at our current one in 2011. Shortly after moving to this location, Master Grogan retired from being a PE teacher in district 7, and pursued his ambition of having a full career in martial arts. Having greater freedom with his time, he surrounded himself with leaders in the martial arts industry such as Dave Kovar, and Brannon Beliso which led to transformational change. First, he renamed the business to Grogan’s Academy of Martial Arts in 2011. Notably he left the federation to become an independent studio where he created a curriculum focused around life skills & character development starting in 2014. Another huge enhancement to our student experience was the purchase & renovation of our building in 2016.

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Towards the end of the covid era in 2021, the Grogan family & Nathan evaluated their life goals together to create a path forward for them to move to Florida, and for Nathan to manage the academy. A year later, the Grogan family & Nathan finalized their plans to transition the business, and rename it to Goshen Academy of Martial Arts.
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Milestones at a Glance

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2005: Rich Grogan founded Grogan’s Martial Arts & Fitness at Nelson Elementary School
2011: Moved into current location, and renamed to Grogan’s Academy of Martial Arts
2014: Transitioned from being part of the Moo Duk Kwan organization to an independent martial arts studio
2016: Grogan family purchased & renovated the building to accommodate the use of two training spaces
2021: Grogan family moved to Florida, and promoted Nathan Wilkening to manage the academy
2022: Nathan Wilkening purchased the business, changing the name to Goshen Academy of Martial Arts

Today, our martial arts proudly operates as a life skills and character development academy. Every instructor is home grown where they all originally came up as a white belt. They are a dynamite team of life changers dedicated to cultivating courage, discipline, and a strong sense of community. We remain committed to supporting our students throughout their martial arts journey—honoring their progress, celebrating their successes, and motivating them to reach new heights.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about Goshen Academy of Martial Arts business and programs.

How would you describe your academy's culture?

Our academy’s culture is centered on attitude & effort. You get to test each month for a tip to progress to your next belt. We ensure that students must earn each one by putting forth their best. The balance that we aim to strike with students is positively reinforcing specific areas that are performed well while holding students to the expectations of the appropriate class.

What makes your martial arts academy unique in the Edwardsville / Glen Carbon area?

The primary focus of our academy is to develop life skills and character development. You can expect a focus on improving confidence, focus, respect, self-discipline, and bullyproofing skills. You can refer to our benefits page to see more details on how we work on those skills!

What qualifications and experience do your instructors have?

Every instructor is a black belt, and has a minimum 6 years of training experience at our academy. Each certified instructor has trained in our leadership program for over 3 years. The leadership program is run by Master Nathan, who has over 20 years of martial arts experience. We only hire instructors from within to guarantee our team reflects our academy's culture, and can give the absolute best quality to your training.

How do you ensure a safe training environment and prevent injuries?

Your safety is a top priority at our academy. High intensity techniques are only practiced by hitting equipment. Anytime we conduct partner exercises using pads, we provide detailed instruction on how to hold the pads to prevent injuries. Sparring is another area in our curriculum that may result in contact. We introduce this training in stages of your martial arts journey to develop body control, which helps to minimize accidents.

What style do you teach?

Our style is based in Tang Soo Do. We have taken influence from multiple martial arts styles to create a unique self defense curriculum. You will learn self defense that helps protects you against bullies on the playground along with predators attacking on the streets. As you progress in your martial arts training, you'll develop reflexes in stand up sparring to handle attackers with more fighting experience than the average person.

Do you need any experience to get started in martial arts?

No experience is required! Everyone is encouraged to run their own race at our academy. This means our team of instructors will challenge you according to your physical conditioning level, and your overall confidence when you start.

What is the price of a student membership, and what benefits does it provide?

The price of our membership is $189 monthly. This is an all inclusive membership that provides a flexible class schedule, testing, belts / uniforms, and free specialty events. In addition, we do offer family discounts for multiple family members involved. Lastly, you are not locked into a long-term contract.

How many classes can you attend per week?

Recommended attendance is 2-3 times per week, however, our programs come with unlimited classes. So you can attend as much or as little as your schedule allows!

Can you tell me about your trial program? .

Our 1 week trial is a great way to try out classes, and see if it's the right fit! You can start by booking your first trial date on this website for the program your interested in. This includes a Goshen t-shirt, and a private lesson before the class begins.

Still have questions?

Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Please chat to our friendly team.

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