Mitch311

Thanks John, sensei8 and mal. I understand now that I don't have any idea what a traditional dojo is. My old seido dojo just felt really traditional compared to the kids gym feeling dojo we train at now. Yes the budokan style is the one you mentioned. I wasn't too sure if it was an actual style or something that the owner had come up with. I presume it's roots come from shotokan ? At the moment the training seems to be very good. I guess they take tha adults more seriously and teach us in a different way to the children and teenagers.

How's it going guys and girls. Quick background on myself and my training, I'm now 21, lived in New Zealand most of my life. Started seido karate at the age of 13 and lasted 1 and a bit years. (lost interest as I was young) Reached white belt black tip. (Advanced white belt) Started back in June last year at the same dojo. Started from the beginning again. Shortly after starting again I had knee surgery so was put straight back out. Moved to Sydney Australia in January this year. (2013) Found a local dojo that teaches Budokan karate. Have been attending classes for the last couple of months. Usually 4, hour classes a week. Classes consist of kata, kumite basics and combinations or whatever we can fit in to one hour. I have a few questions on my new chosen dojo and its style. When I first started karate, the dojo we trained in seemed very traditional. Wooden floors and very traditional looking bits and pieces everywhere. (Don't know the correct name of the special parts of the dojo) Our sensei was Hanshi Andy Barber and by the sounds of it is of a very high level. http://www.seido.co.nz/hanshi-andy-barber The dojo and training style was very good and hard. Also some of the focus was on the pylosophy of karate and what it meant which I really enjoyed. The current dojo I train at has rubber matting for the dojo floor, has a lot of members and requires contracts to join. A lot of children students but they seem to run under a seperate belt class system. This may sound like a McDojo and I'm inclined to think it may be. The style of teaching is very different although the techniques are much the same as what I learnt. Probably because they are basics though. My questions are, can dojos that seem like McDojos actually be as good as their more traditional counterparts. I would prefer to have trained in seido in Sydney but it is just not possible. Also, is budokan a recognised style. I have tried googling it but it only comes up with results that directly include the dojos in Australia. I'm wondering if I am wasting my money. I would really like to be taught karate by some one that has a real passion for it like my old sensei seemed to have.