Martial Arts, Summer Camp to combine as P3 SportsPlex
He anticipates a Monday May 3, opening of his new location. Bailey is looking at a April 30-to-May 1 soft opening, with May 3 the official launch.
Saturday, May 15, he will have a summer camp orientation day. The studio will provide after-school programs after June 1.
“It may be August by time we get around to (a grand opening), Bailey said.
“I’m excited,” he added about the move. “It gives us a ton of room to grow.”
It also provides him with a “blank shell, where we can design it exactly the way we want it,” Bailey said.
“The new facility will have an air bag, also known as a stunt bag, so when people jump into it, it kind of inflates,” he added, also noting the bag would be used to practice tumbling techniques.
The new studio also will have a trampoline, a traversing (or rock) wall and mat space.
Bailey opened the martial arts business in July 2015 in Village Green and the after school/summer camp in 2017 in the same shopping center.
“It’s been a ride,” he said about the past six years.
To make his dream of owning his own martial arts business come true, he worked two jobs and invested every dollar he made into its start-up.
“Now, we have over 300 martial arts students and almost 100 after-schoolers and summer campers,” Bailey said. “Pretty awesome.”
To accommodate these students, along with the 22 staff members added through the years, he has been leasing two spaces — one was 3,200 square feet and the other 1,700 square feet — but his business still outgrew the spaces.
“We were ready to get a bigger space,” Bailey said.
Along with being close to Village Green, the location beside Ingles Market offers 10,000 square feet, “tripling what we have now,” he said.
“This facility gives us the opportunity to grow … and design it exactly how we wanted it,” Bailey said.
The location also features several thousand square feet of outdoor green space, where he could put a playground and inflatables.
Bailey has performed martial arts since he was 10.
“I started on the north side of town with an instructor, then when I was 18 I had the opportunity to open up another school (for another business in West Knoxville),” he said.
“When I graduated college, I decided I wanted to do it on my own and do it full-time, so that’s when I started doing multiple jobs … .”
In the P3 martial arts classes, he offers taekwondo and jiu jitsu. “It’s kind of a hybrid between the two,” he noted. “I want my students to be able to defend themselves.”
In the after-school program, students get four different activity classes, such as par core (obstacle course), dance, cheerleading and gymnastics) and one STEM-based class a week.
“We have a certified teacher on staff,” Bailey added.
After the classes, the students can play games, challenges or relay races “anything to get them active,” he said.
To book classes, or for more information, call/text 865-272-4853 or visit p3sportsplex.com.
