Hello fellow martial arts fans Thank you for your time in advance. I am considering joining a certain dojo but have some doubts. I practiced before shito-ryu for a year, and I am starting again. I am about to join a dojo, and the following are the pros and cons: Pros: *Convenient schedule *The sensei is 5 times national champion, has been trainer of the national karate selection. She is cool and explains very well, she KNOWS her stuff. *Fellow karatekas in the dojo are nice and welcoming. Has not been the case in other places I have tried. *Good combination combat, kihon, kata *Sensei is 5th dan. The dojo has a long tradition of training karate champions and it has been in business 42 years. Current sensei 'inherited' the dojo when the old sensei passed away on 2013. However, there are some things that have me doubting. *The sensei has modified the 'official' katas of the style. She 'mixed' some parts of pinan shodan, with pinan nidan and so. Seems like a little bit she is diverging from the official style. *I have heard the sensei bad mouthing other senseis of the same style. Seems she does not like the local community of the style. I asked her about going to some weekend short courses organized by the community and she said 'I can not forbid you to go if you want', but it is more up to individual initiative and the club does not participate. *Is somewhat expensive. Starting september the sensei wants a year paid in advance. Is a lot of money and I told her, 'I can pay half a year' and she said 'I have to consult with my business partner, we can see how to fix it', but still the cost is steep. What has really doubting me is the feeling I have the sensei does not want to be part of the shito ryu community, and I am afraid of 'consequences' down the road. The dojo is fully accredited with the local national martial arts association, so it is legit, but it is the reluctance of the sensei to follow the official shito ryu lines that has me doubting. What do you think? Should I join or not? Thank you again, OSU
