Most teens are looking for a thing of their own.
Strip-mall karate is too soft. School sports end with the season. Screens give them nothing back. A 13-17 year old needs strength, friends, a coach who knows them, and a hard thing they can keep getting better at.
At TRITAC, teens get all of it. Coaching from a deep staff. Small-group sessions with peers their age. A six-week program that builds strength, skill, and friendships. The chance to train alongside adults when a coach says they are ready.
We have coached hundreds of teens through these years. We know what they need. We know what to leave alone. The coach a 14-year-old needs is not the coach a 7-year-old needs, and we do not pretend otherwise.
Teens get small-group sessions with peers their age and a coach who knows their name. When they are ready, they train inside the adult class with coaches who watch them. Friendships and skill both come from that mix.
Chris Ahearn writes age-appropriate programming next to the mat. Real strength training, not kids fitness. The teen who walks in soft does not walk out that way.
Five coaches. Different paths in. Same standard.
Teens at TRITAC are not handed off to an assistant. The coaches who run the adult room are the coaches who teach the teens. Real lineage, real competition records, real teaching hours.
Owner and head coach. 30+ years on the mat, BJJ 3rd degree black belt, Kobukai Jujitsu Kaiden 5th Degree, co-creator of the TRITAC system.
Head S&C coach. NASM + ISSA certified, 12+ years training fighters and general-population clients.
Lead combatives coach. Certified Defence Lab instructor with international teaching experience.
TRITAC MMA team competitor and private-lessons coach. Active amateur fighter on the New England circuit.
Team Jiu-Jitsu coach. Active competitor and member of the TRITAC roster on the regional circuit.
They get better than the adults. It is the part of the gym I am most proud of.
“Our teens get better than the adults. It is crazy.”
I started martial arts when I was 14, and wrestling at the same time. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. That is why I watch the teen room close. I know what it can change for a kid, because it changed me.
Some of my longest students started at 13 or 14. They are adults now. They walk into the gym like they belong there because they earned that walk over years. That is the bar.
Three steps. Then the work begins.
- 01
Start 21 Days Free.
Take the 4-minute quiz. Get your teen a custom plan. No card. No contract. The fastest way to see if TRITAC is the right room.
- 02
Meet a coach. Tour the gym.
Drop by or book a 15-minute appointment. We will walk you through the floor, the cage, the strength room, and answer your questions. Most teens start with a free one-on-one intro before joining a group.
- 03
Train in small groups, with peers, and with adults.
Six weeks is one cycle. Long enough to build the body. Long enough to make friends. Long enough that your teen has a thing to show for it.
Paige started at 13. You will see it at dinner first.
Paige Pendl walked in at 13 to get stronger for soccer. She stayed for jiu-jitsu. She added self-defense. In December 2025 she earned her purple belt. She is 28 now, a working physical therapist, and she is the one who rehabbed Matt’s neck after fusion surgery. Fifteen years from her first day to one of the people Matt trusts with his own body. That is what a teen who starts here can become.
Before the belt promotions, parents tell us the same thing. He picked his head up at dinner. She started looking adults in the eye. They stopped scrolling for an hour and went outside on their own. Six weeks in. You will see it at the kitchen table first.
The stakes are quieter. Another year of screens. Another year of being the smallest one in the room. Another teen who does not find a thing of their own. We have parents who waited a year and regretted it. None who waited a year and were glad they did.
Is the teens program a fit?
- Is 13-17 and feels stuck, drifting, or in-between
- Wants real martial arts and real strength training
- Needs friends who train like they do
- Has been bullied and wants earned confidence
- Has too much energy and nowhere to put it
- Has gone quiet behind screens
- Has a parent or sibling already training here
- Is under 13 — see our youth path on /youth-martial-arts-programs
- Has an uncleared medical situation — talk to us first
- Wants a no-contact workout — this is contact training
- Is being dragged here against their will — bring them by to talk first
Parents see what their teen is working on.
Mat work builds the skill. The Hub keeps it sharp between classes. Parents get a clear picture of what their teen is learning week to week. Short at-home practice reinforces what was on the mat that day.
- Weekly focus snapshot for each class
- Short at-home drills, no equipment
- Coach notes parents can read
- Belt and stripe progression visibility
Questions parents ask before they sign their teen up.
Sparring is the most-watched part of the teen program. Matt personally watches every teen sparring match. Teens mostly pair with adults who can handle them, who let the teen have fun and grow, while still challenging them. No teen has been knocked out here. This is not a fight night.
Teens rarely spar each other unless a coach trusts the pair. Every member earns sparring before they get it. Only about 20% of any class is sparring hard on any given day, teen or adult.