About Us
Urban Martial Arts is a mixed martial arts school that has taken elements of American karate, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, and self-defense, and remixed them into a well-rounded curriculum that gives you the best that martial arts has to offer.
The school is run by husband-and-wife team Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, and it’s located in the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Our Mission
Urban Martial Arts is a black belt school. We are dedicated to developing in our students a clear mind, strong body, and serene spirit. We empower our students with black belt qualities, including respect, discipline, confidence, self-esteem, courtesy, perseverance, and positivity. By giving our students the ability to defend themselves and their loved ones, we are creating a stronger community, one black belt at a time.
About Sensei Serge Sognonvi
Sensei Serge Sognonvi [pronounced Sun-Yo-Vee] is owner and head instructor of Urban Martial Arts. In 2009 he won the New School of the Year award from United Professionals, a leading martial arts organization, in recognition of the phenomenal growth Urban Martial Arts experienced in its debut year.
Sensei Serge has practiced martial arts for over 20 years and holds a 5th-degree black belt. He started his training at the age of 11 and achieved his 1st-degree black belt at the age of 15. He currently trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie.
He fought on the competitive circuit for five years as a nationally-rated fighter in the North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA) and the Professional Karate League (PKL). Sensei Serge was a member of the Metro All-Stars, which was the No. 1 team nationwide for five consecutive years. He was also one of the top 10 nationally-rated fighters in the junior black belt division.
Sensei Serge is a born and bred New Yorker. He grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.
About Carmen Sognonvi
Carmen Sognonvi [pronounced Sun-Yo-Vee] is owner and general manager of Urban Martial Arts.
In 2004, Carmen founded a diversity education firm called New Demographic. Her views on race and racism were featured regularly in media outlets including CNN, MSNBC, and The New York Times. She visited as a guest lecturer at Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, among many other colleges and universities across the country.
Carmen created a network of blogs, podcasts, and email newsletters that reached over a quarter million people each month. The network included Racialicious, an award-winning, influential blog about race and pop culture; Love Isn’t Enough, a blog about parenting and race; and Addicted to Race, a podcast about all things race.
In 2010, Carmen decided to close down New Demographic and join Urban Martial Arts full-time as General Manager.
Carmen was born and mostly raised in Hong Kong, but also spent much of her childhood living in Shanghai and Belgium. She graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Political Science, and lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and daughter.