Who Teaches Tiger Kids, and Why Does Having the Same Instructors Since 2007 Matter?

Short answer: Karen Boyer leads Future Tiger and Tiger Kids today. She and Adam Boyer founded Victory Defense Systems in 2007, and the Boyer family has taught these programs ever since. Research in classrooms and childcare links steady, responsive relationships with adults to how young children develop. None of that research studied kung fu, so we don't promise a result. We can tell you who will be teaching, and for how long they have done it.

Who teaches Future Tiger and Tiger Kids?

Karen Boyer teaches the classes. She holds a B.S. in Health Education from the University of Akron, where she graduated summa cum laude. Fitness is part of how class is coached, not a separate gym program. Our son sometimes assists.

Adam and Karen Boyer founded Victory Defense Systems in 2007. Adam was lead instructor from Fall 2013 to Spring 2025, while Karen taught some classes and homeschooled their children. Karen leads now, and Adam still pops into a class on rare occasions.

What does "since 2007" mean for your child?

It means the program your child joins was not put together last season. The Boyer family has taught classes and camps since 2007: more than a thousand students and thousands of weekly classes. They have trained in kung fu themselves since 1998.

Karen built the classes to make sense to her students and to grow their confidence, health, and character through learning kung fu. Future Tiger keeps that plain and playful for ages 3–6, in short classes of about 30 minutes, and Tiger Kids builds on it for ages 7–12. For what each age group practices, see What Do Kids Learn in Future Tiger (Ages 3–6) Versus Tiger Kids (Ages 7–12)?

It also means one program with one culture. Both age groups share bows, listening, taking turns, and self-improvement ahead of competition, with no pressure to join a travel competition team.

Children arrive in different ways. Some watch first, gathering information. Others come in with energy to spare. Both belong in class. For more on fit, see Is Future Tiger Kids a Good Fit for a Shy (or High-Energy) Preschooler?

What does research say about steady adults in a child's life?

Young children develop in an environment of relationships. The Harvard Center on the Developing Child and the American Academy of Pediatrics both describe safe, stable, nurturing relationships with caring adults as a foundation for healthy development. Harvard's researchers call the everyday back-and-forth "serve and return": a child reaches out, and a consistent, responsive adult answers.

Classroom research adds detail. Researchers who followed 179 children from kindergarten through 8th grade found that kindergarten teacher-child relationships marked by more conflict and dependency were linked to poorer grades, test scores, and behavior records through 8th grade (Hamre and Pianta, 2001). That study shows a link, not a cause.

Childcare research points the same way. In one study of 115 toddlers, those in childcare classrooms that kept them with the same caregivers (about 14 months, versus 5) had more involved interactions with their caregivers (Ruprecht, Elicker, and Choi, 2016). Those toddlers were in all-day childcare, not a short weekly class.

Does a teacher's experience matter?

In schools, it does. One study of classroom teachers followed them over ten years and found they kept improving with experience, and improved more in schools with supportive working environments (Kraft and Papay, 2014). That is a finding about classroom teachers, not coaches.

What don't we promise?

These studies are about classrooms and childcare, not kung fu. None of them studied martial arts instructors or years of teaching in a kids' activity program. So we don't promise that your child will stay longer, learn faster, or gain confidence because of who teaches. We can tell you who will be teaching, and for how long they have done it.

Where are classes, and how do I ask?

Classes meet at partner sites across the Akron area. Future Tiger Kids is for ages 3–6, daytime, at RiverTree Christian School, Growing Places Preschool, and St. Luke's Church Youth Building. Tiger Kids is for ages 7–12, afterschool, at St. Luke's Church Youth Building, St. Francis de Sales, and partner school sites.

Want to know who teaches at your location? Email karen@victorydefensesystems.com with your child's age, the location you're considering, and any questions.

Sources

Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2004, updated 2009). Young Children Develop in an Environment of Relationships (Working Paper No. 1). https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/wp1/

Garner, A., Yogman, M., & AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (2021). Preventing childhood toxic stress: Partnering with families and communities to promote relational health. Pediatrics, 148(2), e2021052582. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-052582

Hamre, B. K., & Pianta, R. C. (2001). Early teacher-child relationships and the trajectory of children's school outcomes through eighth grade. Child Development, 72(2), 625–638. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00301

Kraft, M. A., & Papay, J. P. (2014). Can professional environments in schools promote teacher development? Explaining heterogeneity in returns to teaching experience. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(4), 476–500. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373713519496

Ruprecht, K., Elicker, J., & Choi, J. Y. (2016). Continuity of care, caregiver–child interactions, and toddler social competence and problem behaviors. Early Education and Development, 27(2), 221–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1102034