Sensei Martial Arts Academy<\/a> is marking one year at its new location after hurricanes Helene and Milton destroyed the owners\u2019 first space and left them fighting to keep their dream alive.<\/p>\nEmerson Santos and his wife, Marina Albuquerque, moved from Clermont to St. Petersburg in 2024 and opened their martial arts academy in St. Pete Beach.<\/p>\n
But just three months later, Hurricane Helene flooded the location. Hurricane Milton followed with even more damage. By Christmas, the couple learned their lease was being terminated.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have to close the doors and say that story\u2019s gone, that was hard,\u201d Santos said. \u201cThat was the first time I found myself in a position that we lose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Much of the academy\u2019s expensive training equipment was destroyed, and Santos said the couple struggled financially as they tried to keep the business going. Instead of giving up, they moved classes outdoors.<\/p>\n
For six months, Santos and Albuquerque held martial arts sessions twice a week at local parks.<\/p>\n
They credit their students and families with helping them continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they wouldn\u2019t give me any support, probably I wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d Santos said. \u201cTheir support, their positive energy and motivation motivated me to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the academy is operating in St. Petersburg\u2019s Skyway Marina District, where a new group of students and parents fill the studio. Many may not know the full story behind the space, but the owners say that history adds meaning to the lessons they teach: discipline, confidence and perseverance.<\/p>\n
Air Force Maj. Tyler Gross said his young son has been attending classes for eight months and is learning more than martial arts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really hoping that he gets the opportunity to not only learn self-discipline but how to use his energy to work with his friends, as well as to win, lose \u2014 just some life skills that he may not otherwise get,\u201d Gross said.<\/p>\n
The academy will hold a one-year anniversary celebration this weekend, including free martial arts training for families.<\/p>\n
For Albuquerque, the milestone represents more than reopening.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne year anniversary of Sensei Martial Arts Academy means resilience and faith,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The academy\u2019s story is one of many across Pinellas County after hurricanes Helene and Milton.<\/p>\n
According to county officials, nearly 900 businesses were damaged during the storms, which caused an estimated $136 million in damage.<\/p>\n
Tourism also took a major hit, creating additional challenges for small businesses still working to recover.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 A St. Petersburg martial arts academy is celebrating a milestone that means far more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[274,770,1548,2635,115,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,278,835],"class_list":["post-416729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-app-top-stories","tag-community-news","tag-good-news","tag-jason-lanning","tag-news","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}