Beyond Lego: A review of the Panlos 613007 Martial Arts Training Centre

 


Intro

Hey brick builders!

Picture walking into a martial arts dojo or training center, and you'll likely find an environment designed for discipline, focus, and physical training.   That's what this Panlos Budokan set conveys in this stunning 2681 piece building block set.

Imagine a setting where Ninjago style minifigures engage in simulated battles in an arena within the dojo. They can immerse themselves in a diverse range of training activities, combining martial arts principles.  To succeed, they must master sessions using wooden dummies and kicking pads and compete one on one. It all sounds very exciting so let's see if this set meets our high expectations!


The Highlights

  • Set Name: Martial Arts Centre
  • Set Info: Panlos 613007
  • Piece Count: 2681+ pieces
  • Manual included: Yes
  • Stickers: Yes
  • Printed Parts: Yes
  • Brick Separator included: Yes
  • Minifigure: Yes, Six
  • Numbered Bags: Yes
  • Missing pieces: None
  • Extra pieces: Yes
  • Bonus: 3 LED light bricks
  • Size:  37cm/14.5in D x 34cm/13.3in W x 28cm/11in H


Where to Buy





Go to Afobrick.com and check out the set pricing for your country.

https://afobrick.com/en-ca/products/panlos-613007-martial-arts-gym?ref=oGOdUj_izrflQ

Use my code itsnotlego at checkout to save an extra 5% off your entire purchase.


Set Unboxing

You can view the contents of the Panlos Martial Spirit Budokan set in my unboxing blog post here.


Building a budokan

Section 1.

We start by building the courtyard grounds for the budokan.  As you can see we have already put into use three of the four 16x16 stud baseplates.

Section 2.

The full dimensions of the base are actually larger than 32x32 studs.  If you include the steps, the entire base depth of the Budokan set is 38 studs by a width of 36 studs.  This is because there were a few filler baseplates added to the courtyard.

The courtyard is cobblestoned and one can find the training apparatus to include wooden dummies for blocking and kicking practice.

Section 3.

Construction of one segment of the dojo building gets started.

I'll refer to this section as the landscaping section.  A sakura tree is added to the corner along with some wildlife such as a blue parrot and some chickens.  On the other side of the courtyard we find a flower patch.

Section 4.


Here's the courtyard wall being constructed along with  second floor of the dojo building.

Time to install some lighting!  The LED light string gets attached to the wall .

In case I forgot to mention, water for the budokan is source from the onsite well.

Martial arts training is practiced day and night at the budokan.   

Section 5.

In this section, we focus on the rear part of the budokan.

Like this small man-made pond.

The back part of the first floor.  You may be wondering why the rear wall is divided.  It's because the back of the building can be swivelled open to display the interior.  The sign boards are all printed tiles, not stickers.


Here's the construction progress of the martial arts center so far.

Section 6.


Construction of the courtyard wall is completed in this section, and another light strand is added to the right side of the martial arts centre.

I love the entrance way with the circular door.  All printed pieces here.

Section 7.


With the courtyard and grounds completed, our attention is now directed towards constructing the dojo building.

Yup, those are printed designs on the glass doors.

Section 8.


Now we will finish the second floor of the dojo.  It's a cozy tea room with some ornamental helmet and sword on display.   This is also where a white cat makes it's home.

Here is the final light strand added to the building to light up the both floors of the dojo's interior.

In case you were wondering how one gets to the second floor, its via this ladder at the rear of the building.

One more look at the dojo interior, before we put the roof on.

A decorative treatment for the second floor ceiling.

Final roof assembly.

And the budokan/martial arts centre is complete!

Gallery







Want to see the inside?  No problem!   Simply remove the roof, the 2 black slopes over the hinged bricks and the locking piece over the two pins on the back wall.  

Now, you can open it wide to display the dojo in all it's majesty.

Let the training begin!  And lets sip some tea as well!

Final Thoughts

I didn't expect that the Panlos Martial Arts (Budokan) Centre to be so large a set.  I really enjoyed building this and had absolutely no issues with missing brick parts or poor clutch.   I found the fit and finish of the Panlos bricks to be excellent and the instruction manual was easy to follow.

I'll leave it for you to decide whether you like the Panlos minifigures or not.  They look almost Lego compatible to me, so I'll keep them with the set, but I might add some Ninjago figures in the future.

For a training centre it had lots of weapons on hand for training as well as the wooden dummies.  And there's also the dojo for one to one combat training inside the building.  The set comes with a garden and chickens for meditation as well as a large sakura tree, but I'm wondering if I should remove those elements and have more training apparatus and obstacles instead.

I think the added lighting really enhances the look of the martial arts centre and I especially like the lighted courtyard.   It's so cool that you can even open up the back of the set to see the interior.  There are lots more details and items that I didn't mention but you can see in the pictures.  I want you to get the same feeling of joy and discovery as I had building this set.

There were only a few stickers and that was really my only dislike about the set.  But not enough to deter me from giving this set a 5 out of 5 recommendation!   Let me know if you agree in the comments below!


Thanks for looking!  Bye for now!