Safroot

Good on you sensei8, so happy for your achievement

No worries Sensei8, it's well deserved and have a very merry Christmas

Welcome to the forum & hopefully you enjoy it

I have been through many schools for different MAs and most of them were like that. Regarding the contract, tbh I hate this idea because the contract will be all the time in the favour of the school not the student and with possibility of circumstances changing every now and again, I will never lock myself in a contract. Even when I am looking for gym, I will go for one with no contract even if it's not as good as the contract one ! I hate seeing Contracts being used at schools, because it is a hard thing to judge for each individual person and whether it is a good fit. At my dojo our memberships other than a standard direct debit, normally offers various things that works out to be cheaper in the long run over the direct debit option. 90% of our students are on a Direct Debit which currently sits at $95 per month; courtesy of the location having increased our rent. The 10% that don't do the Direct Debit and are on a contract are those students who train regularly and are normally on the State or National Squad. But those "contracts" can be cancelled at any time with no negative consequence to the Member. We normally give a refund of any time remaining left if they paid in full, unless they are currently in the "free training period" of that membership where they don't receive the refund. Good to know that there are some contracts still in students' favour! If I moved to Melbourne one day, I will join your dojo for sure Another reason why I don't like lock in contracts is that may be after 3-4 classes you feel this school or instructor or even art is not for you, what will you do then ?!

Yes I will sign contract for essentials only ( electricity, gas, internet, ...) but not for gym or MA, I just don't feel comfortable to lock myself in a contract that will cost me say $1200 a year ! It's big chunck that I am happy to pay if I am training but if after 6 months for any reason I stopped training then I will pay $600 for nothing & I am not ready to do that !

I totally agree as this is my main complain regarding the kata

Wish I have too much Bunkai like you ! I hardly have any

You will get there JR, just make sure you don't overload your body with sugar from the 3-4 cans of Soda ! You can check with your doctor if there is any supplement suitable for you to increase your energy levels like Vit B12 for example, this might help but for sure you have to check with your doctor first!

Great news sensei8 , keep up with the healthy lifestyle & training 👍🏻

Sorry to hear that JR 137 and I completely understand what do you feel. If you finish the antibiotic course already then all the tiredness is what they call " post-treatment lyme disease syndrome " it happens after finishing the antibiotic course in 10-20% of people, it will take its course and you will be back to normal again soon. Don't push your body hard and give it some rest now to recover quicker !

Merry Christmas everyone & Happy new year

I have been through many schools for different MAs and most of them were like that. Regarding the contract, tbh I hate this idea because the contract will be all the time in the favour of the school not the student and with possibility of circumstances changing every now and again, I will never lock myself in a contract. Even when I am looking for gym, I will go for one with no contract even if it's not as good as the contract one !

My eyes are not that good, definitely will need sports goggles !

Thanks for clarification . I will be checking with my optometrist soon if they are available here or not !

Thanks for sharing the link, not sure if it's available here or not but I will definitely look for it

I think that will be rare to find ! To the bold type above... Why is that, iyho?? From what I can see here in Sydney at least (not sure about USA) most of the instructors will be looking more for money & lock in contracts and some of them might compromise the art for the sake of money, some will get you to pass grading even if you are not that good just to make you happy and remain in the dojo , others will never correct your techniques so you don't leave the dojo. Some students will be very happy with that but I won't, if I am gonna train in Karate then I will need to do my best to perfect it (if this is possible in any way) but not to be taught the right thing then for me it's waste of money & time. As I mentioned before money is important for Instructors who earn their living form the dojo but shouldn't be more important than the art itself. It's like a doctor who doesn't give their patient enough consultation time / care in order to be able to fit in as many patient as they can during their working shifts! I have no experience with managing dojos & don't know the finaincial aspect of it so I might be wrong but that's just what I can see (may be I was unlucky with the dojos that I have visited / contacted) !

Me without glasses in sparring ! No chance I might kick my instructor . I can only see body frames with no details at all, no I can't even imagine it

Thanks Twistkick kid, do you put the sport goggles on top of the glasses or you are speaking about prescription sports google ?!

Haven't heard about this before but it's worth a try. Thanks for the idea DWx

My problem with the contact lenses is more psychological than anything else I hate placing anything inside my eyes but I guess at one stage I will need to overcome that !

Congratulations

My main goal is to restart my karate training by January 2017 & keep training as hard as I can for the coming 365 days. It won't be easy at all to achieve but will try to do my best

In Kyokushin head strikes are allowed but I have a problem with contact lenses though , hard situation for me I guess 😂

I know it might be funny but I have one simple question for all MA practitioners that use glasses, What do you do in Sparring ?! It has been always a concern for me as I use glasses all the time since I was 16 YO specially when sparring in a kyokushin style !

Found this funny video & thought to share it https://www.facebook.com/martialtribes.official/videos/1330458800337488/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE