FAIR HAVEN - Jim Pawlak, owner and operator of Fair Haven Martial Arts, got into martial arts and fitness through his mother, who gave him the tools to be health conscious in his childhood.

“She was a nurse and was into being healthy all around,” Pawlak said. “She got me into karate and would drive a half-hour each direction to a dojo that was completely out of the way. She wanted the best for me as a kid and I share that same feeling for the kids I teach now. It’s all about showing them the right path to perseverance.”

His path to success took much discipline and hard work, two prominent features of martial arts. Pawlak began his journey as a 12-year-old doing carpentry work for his friend’s father.

“My best friend and I really loved doing that kind of work,” Pawlak said. “We learned a lot and it was one of the first jobs that I had as a kid that taught me that work can be enjoyable. We did basic carpentry and demolition while on the job. It was back in the day when there was just your basic tool set without technological advances like a nail gun or an electric drill. We bent a lot of nails, but it took a lot of hard work. I really looked forward to it. It wasn’t just a job to me.”

Pawlak did that for two summers, picking up a solid work ethic that would prepare him for his days as a martial arts teacher.

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"I was always working and trying to make money for myself,” Pawlak said. "I worked as a dock hand at the marina, a butcher at a butcher shop, an X-ray developer and transporter at a hospital and the list goes on and on. I wanted to do something with my time and get an idea of what it was like to work for a living. I hated to waste time as a kid and that translated well to my years as an adult.”

'Real-life lessons'

Pawlak's passion was martial arts and fitness. He began his fascination at age 9 watching martial arts films with some of his favorite actors such as Bruce Lee and admiring movies such as "The Karate Kid."

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“Movies like 'The Karate Kid' did more than entertain me, they taught me real-life lessons,” Pawlak said. “I identified with their themes and I aspired to reach those ways of thinking because they played a very important role in the way I achieved my own success. They taught me that martial arts are more than learning how to defend yourself. It’s a state of mind.”

As Pawlak got deeper into karate, he started practicing more and more, and enjoyed it immensely. To this day, he surrounds himself with some of the friends he made during that time, and he works with them at his dojo.

“I made some lifelong friends while doing karate that I keep in touch with to this day,” Pawlak said. “One of them, Diana Kellenbence, is one of my righthand teachers at Fair Haven Martial Arts and I couldn’t ask for a better partner. We both work well together and know the best ways to teach and relate to our students, no matter what age group or personality.”

Pawlak attended college at Saint Leo University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in criminology in 1992. He would go on to work at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in New York City as an armed guard there.

“I was committed to my job, but it just wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Pawlak said. "I wanted to pursue a career in health and fitness, so I got certified as a personal trainer and also taught private self-defense/karate classes. I mostly worked with adults at the time, which I enjoyed, but I found that working with kids was more beneficial for me because of the end results.

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“Kids can absorb information and take direction in a more effective way because they just want to learn,” Pawlak said. "It’s just a better interaction and they strive to be the best of themselves. I wanted to find a way to help the kids I taught because it goes deeper than just the physical aspect of it. It teaches self-confidence and the ability to stand up for one’s self, among other things.”

'He picked me out of the Yellow Pages'

After deciding to call it quits with his guard job and making a commitment to doing fitness training and martial arts full-time, Pawlak got a call from a landlord in Fair Haven who looked him up and asked him to take over the location of a failing local business. Pawlak accepted the offer and took over the location where he got into his first storefront for teaching physical fitness and martial arts.

“He picked me out of the Yellow Pages and was eager to get me to fill in for another business that wasn’t doing so well,” Pawlak said. “I think he felt that there was a need for a fitness place and I filled that gap very well.”

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After being in business for six years, Pawlak decided he needed more space for his business, so he moved across the street to a bigger building and kept the business going from there.

“We already had a successful product and we just picked up where we left off,” Pawlak said. “We now had more room to accommodate the growing clientele from the fitness and martial arts classes at the original location and we just kept growing from there.”

Pawlak's services are designed to be age-appropriate, but everyone gets the same treatment.

“The premise of what we offer starts with self-defense, but it’s so much more than that,” Pawlak said. “We teach our students of all ages the best ways to function inside and outside of the dojo. It’s all about giving them the tools they need to persevere in life, so they can be successful. Our program is divided up into martial arts and fitness. We strive for excellence and we want to inspire confidence in all our students.”

Pawlak has accomplished a lot with his business so far and believes in what he is doing.

“We want to produce great students through our program,” Pawlak said. “We want to continue to offer a friendly, family atmosphere. The students we teach at our dojo consider us a second home for them because we just have their best interest at heart. That’s all we need to keep the business going.”

Fair Haven Martial Arts

Owner: Jim Pawlak

Location: 20 Cedar Ave., Fair Haven

Phone: 732-933-1700

Website: www.fairhavenmartialarts.com

Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays; 10:30 a.m. to noon Sundays

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Fair Haven Martial Arts started with love of 'Karate Kid'