Former Instructor Helps Hazlet Karate Studio Reopen Amid Pandemic

HAZLET, NJ - When Mat Weisfeld quit teaching karate nearly ten years ago, he certainly didn’t think he would restart in the middle of a global pandemic.

The former karate instructor and decorated competitor stopped teaching at Amato’s Karate and Weapons Academy in Hazlet in 2011 to take over his family business, turntable manufacturer VPI Industries based in Cliffwood. To the black belt, it took a combination of necessity and innovation to pull him back into his passion for both teaching and martial arts.

“Before I left for my day job, I was one of the main instructors, I traveled the world competing,” Weisfeld told Patch. “I lived and breathed martial arts. When I did my first class back at Amato’s, that was the end of it. I was like, ‘I completely forgot how much I love this.’”

As the current president of VPI, Holmdel resident Weisfeld oversees the production of turntables, records and an assortment of other music-related products. But once the pandemic shuttered non-essential businesses in March, he quickly turned his attention to the production of healthcare-related goods, such as sanitizer, face shields and intubation boxes, that could be fashioned from the manufacturing materials he already had on hand. Weisfeld soon began distributing the goods to hospitals such as Freehold CentraState, Bayshore Medical Center and Hackensack Meridian Riverview Medical Center free-of-charge.

“Assembly and manufacturing was allowed to stay open because we’re considered essential. I was like ‘that’s kind of BS, we make turntables. Of course, music is essential, but not really in this case,” Weisfeld said. “So we just made sanitizer and face shields, we donated it to doctors, first responders, the police department, first aid and schools. I met the administrator of a hospital in a QuickChek parking lot, and it was the shadiest thing I ever did. It looked like I was selling drugs, I was standing by my car like, ‘you got the stuff?’ I was like, 'I can’t believe you’re getting sanitizer from me.' She was like, ‘we’re running so low, thank you for what you’re doing.’”

Once Weisfeld was able to distribute his products to essential and emergency services, the entrepreneur turned his attention to local businesses - in particular, Amato’s in Hazlet. While the Palmer Avenue location is extremely sentimental for the black belt (he began teaching at Amato’s in 2001 and taught for nine years), Weisfeld noticed that the studio's pandemic response was delayed and in desperate need of a pandemic makeover.

“All the black belts got together earlier this year and were talking. I was just like, ‘guys, we need to get up to speed. We need to get a tent, we need to do Zoom,'” said Weisfeld. “Hardcore martial arts is a lot of contact, hand-and-fist type stuff. We needed to get creative. It just came to a point when I said, ‘Man, I have to jump in and help. That’s the only way.’”

Amato’s remained shuttered through March and April as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded throughout the country, leaving martial arts instructors to their own devices to determine when (and how) to reopen safely. Weisfeld noted that, when considering reopening, karate falls into a “gray area”, as the dojo isn’t officially designated as a gym or personal training facility. It was in May when the former instructor ordered an outdoor tent to commence socially-distant classes in the parking lot.

“Once [the state] started outdoor dining, that’s when I read the laws and I was like, this is a pretty big gray area, but I think we can do it,” Weisfeld said. “I asked some questions and everyone had the same attitude of ‘we had no idea’ but they were all okay with it. We got a tent, we mounted it in the parking lot and we started classes back up.”

But as Gov. Murphy began issuing personal training facilities, gyms and eventually martial arts studios to reopen in July, Weisfeld reassessed the interior of the building to determine best practices for rearranging the space. He reports that the studio ripped out all the carpets, mats and old equipment. Anything useful to others was donated, but the studio eventually “got rid of everything” before installing a hardwood floor for the training area.

“I went inside one day and I was looking around and just thinking to myself, “Would I sign up my daughter?” my daughter is 2 ½ years old,” Weisfeld said. “ Thinking as a parent dealing with COVID, would I bring my daughter here? No, I don’t think I would. So we renovated the whole place.”

“Anything that even had a hint of being dirty, it was out,” the black belt added.

The studio was eventually repainted and reupholstered, even undergoing a complete ventilation system update to ensure proper air filtration and circulation. The martial arts curriculum was updated to offer training bags instead of requiring physical contact between other students or instructors. All students and instructors are now required to wear face coverings and sign a health waiver before training. The 4,000-square-foot indoor facility reopened to students in August, servicing 25 in-person learners spaced seven feet apart at all times.

Amato’s now offers virtual classes in real time to follow along with in-person learners. To Weisfeld, the addition of Zoom and a student-parent communications portal helps to bring Amato’s “into the twenty-first century.”

“We’re getting there slowly but surely because we know there are still people who are afraid to come back, but we want to make sure that they can be a part of it while still safely at home,” Weisfeld said. “It feels so great to do this. It especially feels great because this is my school. This was where I grew up, so for me it was being able to come back and take what I learned from VPI and all that stuff and it felt good. It helped people feel comfortable to come back in.”

As Amato’s Karate and Weapons Academy prepares to maximize its newfound potential mid-pandemic, Weisfeld happily reports that the experience has led to his decision to return to teaching martial arts at the school. In fact, he’s now a Master Instructor at the dojo.

“In the beginning, my initial thought was that I was just going to help the school and walk away. I was going to help the building, help Amato’s get back on its feet, and I’d just be the friendly guy looking after them and getting back to my day job,” Weisfeld said. “But the more I got back in there, the classroom was always my first love. At this point, it’s my school now. I just jumped in and took over the whole thing. Amato is ready to retire from the administration side and continue as the Grandmaster, so now I’m excited to bring light and life back into the school. I couldn’t be happier.”

To learn more about Amato’s Karate and Weapons Academy, visit amatosmartialarts.com or call (848) 667-1720.

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