GreenDragon

I have also heard of people using dumbells (hand held weights) when doing the punching in the air thing. GD

It is easy for me to answer the poll because I am currently training in Muay Thai in a gym, no chi. However, the question you pose as a follow-up in your message, can not be answered given the way that you have asked it. If one were to presume chi exists, then the answer would be ridiculously obvious, the importance of it would outweigh any other consideration. The arts that cultivate chi are guided by and designed around this presumption being a certainty (aikido for example). All arts teach chi only to the degree that chi's existence is believed to be a certainty. Clearly the man who developed Krav Maga did not believe that chi would be as effective as properly modernized technique. You can not separate the question of chi's existense from the question of whether it is more or less important than technique, it's existence is the core factor in determining whether it is more or less important than technique. GreenDragon

There is nothing wrong with what you are learning, I am sure it is quite beneficial. But karate_woman makes an excellent point...there are some important questions that it sounds like you need to ask. It sounds like he is certifying you to teach, and it may be recognized nationally, that is the first thing to make sure of. If the teaching certificate is not recognized nationally, I would say you may be getting ripped off. If it is, then there are two ways to look at it: 1. You may want to teach in the future and this will allow you to do so, it is worth the money. 2. You have no interest in teaching and should ask the instructor if it is alright with him if you could continue to train without paying for the level certifications. $42 per "level" is a lot if the teaching certification is meaningless to you. Something else to consider is that your instructor may have built this fee into the overall cost of the class in a reasonable manner. For example, the place my wife was doing cardio kickboxing was charging $65 per month with no belt or level fees. The place you are training at might be $40 dollars per month with a $42 belt fee every three months or so. This would make your total monthly cost average out to be $54 per month. So depending on what your monthly fee is with respect to other places in your region, it is possible that this is not just a way to rip you off, but instead a well thought out method of motivating the students. I may be grasping at straws here, just to keep things on the bright side for ya, but, who knows...let us know what you pay a month and we will see. GreenDragon

I've never heard of it and can't imagine any reason why your instructor would give belts unless it is certified by some organization as being a standardized progression toward being a certified instructor within that organization. Otherwise it is just a way for the instructor to ride the gravy train. The upside: in a few years you will be able to warn off potential attackers by stating that you have a black belt in aerobic exercise. I'm kidding...seriously, even if the belt is certified as I mentioned above, unless you are thinking of becoming a certified instructor it sounds like you could save some money by going elsewhere. GreenDragon

As usual...it depends. She will either be hardened by training with men and any sensitivity shown by you will be perceived as weak and undesirable to her. OR she may be tired of guys that she perceives to be blockheaded fighters and will respond positively to some intelligent sensitivity that she feels she has been missing out on. Flip a coin. You never really know...even if you get the opinions of female martial artists that hang out in this forum, they will only be giving you their opinion, which may or may not be the same as that of the female fighter you are going to date. Although I am the first to say that it is nearly impossible to predict what a woman will want, I can also tell you there is something I know for sure: Women are not stupid, and rarely are they naïve enough to not know when someone is trying to "work it". So the best advice I could give is for you to treat her the same way you would treat any other woman and be yourself. GreenDragon

I attended my first tough training session in my Muay Thai class last night. The work-out was intense. When I was working out, it was good, but when I was holding the thai pads and feeding the guy I was partnered with, it was brutal. His kicks were so hard, it felt like my forearms were going to break, right through the thai pads, so I have huge bruises on my forearms from that. While I was hitting a focus pad with a down elbow, it was raking the skin off my elbow, so my elbow is all bruised and raw. And during this one drill the feeder was wearing shin pads and we would check his incoming low kick...Damn! Even through the shin pads it felt like I was kicking a baseball bat with my shins when he would check it. So my shin is feeling really messed up. Is this normal to feel this beat up after a training class? GreenDragon

King of Fighters: I checked it out and it looks like I was wrong, my city is really only about 800,000 people or so, and although it is a pretty big city, that is nowhere near as large as somewhere like Phoenix, or Denver, or Dallas, or hundreds of other larger cities. Anyway, back on topic, yeah, it does sound like we Americans are getting ripped off. I am happy to say that I finally found a place I will be training at that teaches Muay Thai, Brazilian JuiJitsu, and a little Eskrima all for $50. That is much cheaper than all but one of the places around me. GD

That is what he implied when we were talking about the organization membership thing, "come watch me teach, do a free class or two if you want and if you think it looks good, then keep on comin". I went today and trained with him to check it out. Speaking of McDojos: The only other place in town that teaches MT and BJJ also teaches Krav Maga and cardio kickboxing...they want $90 a month (per art studied) and you have to sign a year contract. They advertise all over town...big time McDojo, probably a very nice facility, and as commercially minded as they are, I am surprised they don't have several locations around town. Well, this guy I went to train with today is pretty much the opposite of that...he rents a room above the raquetball courts of an old health club. He has a day job, so he doesn't need to do this to put food on his table...he only charges $50 per mos. and that gives me MT and BJJ as well as a little eskrima on Saturdays if everyone feels like doing that. He told me I don't even have to buy equipment if I don't want to, he has enough stuff that people without their own gloves, headgear, shin pads, etc. can use the extra ones if we want...very cool (but he did say I would have to get my own cup and mouthpiece, no sharing those ). It seems like a good place to train so far. My first day today was very tiring, a lot of focus pad and thai pad work, I think I am going to like this a lot. GreenDragon

That is what he implied when we were talking about the organization membership thing, "come watch me teach, do a free class or two if you want and if you think it looks good, then keep on comin". I went today and trained with him to check it out. Speaking of McDojos: The only other place in town that teaches MT and BJJ also teaches Krav Maga and cardio kickboxing...they want $90 a month (per art studied) and you have to sign a year contract. They advertise all over town...big time McDojo, probably a very nice facility, and as commercially minded as they are, I am surprised they don't have several locations around town. Well, this guy I went to train with today is pretty much the opposite of that...he rents a room above the raquetball courts of an old health club. He has a day job, so he doesn't need to do this to put food on his table...he only charges $50 per mos. and that gives me MT and BJJ as well as a little eskrima on Saturdays if everyone feels like doing that. He told me I don't even have to buy equipment if I don't want to, he has enough stuff that people without their own gloves, headgear, shin pads, etc. can use them the extra ones if we want...very cool (but he did say I would have to get my own cup and mouthpiece, no sharing those . It seems like a good place to train so far. My first day today was very tiring, a lot of focus pad and thai pad work, I think I am going to like this a lot. GreenDragon

We will see indeed. Yeah, this is only the second place in all of Tucson I have found with that decent of a rate. And to thnk I could end up getting a very well rounded experience with the MT striking and the BJJ groundwork, I'm excited. And I thought I had checked every dang place in town. Well, in the morning I will find out if it is all am am hoping it to be. GD

Well, after getting a little egg in the ol' face for calling Mr. Prather a phony, you clearly have worked hard to do a truly excellent job of discrediting the entire Bujinkan organization to make up for it. Well done. *note of sarcasm* . But in all seriousness I was wondering how ancient of an art can this really be if the current soke takes credit for creating the style by blending three traditional ninjutsu arts with six (for lack of a better word) samurai arts? He is clearly teaching us something a little different than his soke taught him and if we take that pattern back 34 soke's how close is the Bujinkan to what it's lineage indicates? I'll never know , nor do I care, because it seems to be a very respected organization and I might go to school at the Bujinkan. But today I did find a place that teaches Mauy Thai, BJJ, and a little Eskrima on the weekends, all for one low price...$20 less than the Bujinkan, and class starts at 7:00pm, which I could make it to on time more often than the 6:30 start time at the Bujinkan. Woohoo, I'm happy now...wait till I get my first shin to the ribs! We will see. Interesting read about the ninja issue though Hobbitbob GreenDragon

I know that in Tae Kwan Do or pretty much any MA where you are going to be getting belt rankings, it is important that the instructor and/or the student belong to some official organization (so the belt can be certified). I also know that Mauy Thai has no belt system (other than the ones you earn in the ring). So would it be normal for a guy that I am thinking of taking lessons from to not belong to some official organization? He says he's been in it for 13 years and just doesn't feel that it is worth it to pay to be part of an official organization since he has retired from competing. What do you think? GreenDragon

OK Tommarker, you can't drop a bomb like that without telling us what art you are learning and who you are sleeping with to get that price! GreenDragon

In my smallish town (about a million people) the lowest I have found is $50, that is a Wing Chun/Hung Gar combo. Most dojos and dojangs are about $60-$75. The "in" arts, MT, BJJ, KravMaga, being available only at one place that charges $85-$95. And the most expensive, suprisingly at every place that offers it, is American Kenpo, about $120 per month! Keep in mind, you want to take into account other costs, such as sign up fees (these pay for printed class materials and sometimes a uniform), belt testing fees, organization memberships, a uniform, sparring gear, etc. Some places will have fewer of these "hidden" costs than others and the cost of each can vary widely. For example, one dojo may be ten dollars more expensive per month than another, but if they don't charge a $35 belt testing fee every three months, then is is actually $5 less expensive. Also keep in mind that unless you are talking about a huge difference in price, the quality of the school is much more important than the cost. Some places, you get what you pay for, and some places, you don't. GreenDragon

I say you try the classic yet somewhat non-PC '80s song "turning Japanese". Very upbeat, and would be quite funny, I can't believe no-one else suggested it, maybe they did not want to invite the flames.

The hours I work (about 10-11 hrs per day) make it very difficult to go anywhere that is not within easy reach, I have a hard enough time finding places that have night classes starting after 7:00pm, let alone driving all the way to Scottsdale. After checking out the schedules on both of the Tucson sites, it appears I will never be able to make it to those either! Aarrrgh! GreenDragon

Thanks Hobbitbob, Check out this site: http://www.bujinkanusa.com/instructors.htm This talks about the head instructor in Tucson. Please tell me about the two Shotokan schools you know about in Tucson, I imagin one is Rendokan dojo, been around a long time, several people teaching in Tucson started as students at Rendokan. What is the other (other other two, if I guessed wrong). And what is Wado, tell me about the school too... Thanks again. GreenDragon

Tell me what you know of this art. Compare it to other styles that you know of. Characterize it, pass judgement on it, etc. There is a Bujunkan in my town and I'd like some opinions about the art. GreenDragon

Uhhggg...it turns out that he runs a "dual belt system" but only the TKD belt is certified. He defended this by saying that he didn't want his students to have to pay to be in both organizations. Me no likey. And his class was run in an old house that had been remodelled to be a dojang, and his students were all wierd and well I just don't like the idea of learning two sets of forms just to get two belts, with one of them being nothing more than a token belt. The quest continues. I did find a Bujinkan that teaches Budo Taijutsu in Tucson. Seems like something good to check out: http://www.bujinkanusa.com Have any of you heard any good or bad things about this art or have any opinions about this school? GreenDragon

Hello, I did ask this man lots of questions and one of them was about the style of TKD. Since he is teaching the more traditional TKD (not sport) I do not find it to be an odd combination. In fact I find it to be very similar to Laurie’s situation in that his TKD and TSD will be a natural (almost redundant) pair for a mixed MA school. To answer tommarker’s specific questions: Yes he does require students to move up the belt rankings of both systems, but he does not require two separate tests. He told me that it is one test where the student must show that they have learned the forms of both arts (among other requirements, I imagine). So I’ve thought about it, and rather than asking him what his credentials in the two arts are, I will ask him about belt certification. If he can certify the TSD belt he gives through an official TSD organization that he is a member of AND certify the TKD belt through an official TKD organization that he is a member of, then this could be a very good thing. Thanks for the feedback everyone, GreenDragon

Hi Laurie, I thought it was your school that it reminded me of...are you actually getting dual belts too. for example, when you reach green belt, are you a green belt in TKD or TSD or both. This guy is claiming to be able to give belts in both arts, is that unusual? GreenDragon

Hello, I recently finished my trial period at a great Tang Soo Do dojang to find out that the way to continue there is to sign a contract I am unwilling to sign. He says he has short term contracts but those are a lot more expensive...so my quest for a good MA school continues. I am currently looking into a kung fu place that some experienced kung fu stylists on the forum say sounds a bit fishy based on the website of the school. I also found a dojang. They teach Tae Kwon Do, and Tang Soo Do with a little Hapkido joint locks thrown in for self defense. And no contracts, sounds great, at least worthy of a visit. The wierd thing that I want your opinion about is: When I asked what nights the Tang Soo Do classes are, he replied that they were on the same nights as the Tae Kwon Do, they are taught together in the same class. He teaches the forms for both arts and at belt testing time, you are tested on both arts, and when given the belt...it is in both arts. Sound wierd? I thought it sounded logical in some respects because there are similarities between TSD and TKD, but I also though it sounded strange enough to request your opinion. So lay it on me, please, whadaya think? GreenDragon

Thank you both again. Paolung, please explain specifically about the site what you see as red flags, I would like to know so that I regognize these things myself as my quest for a good instructor continues. GreenDragon

Thanks Jeff, No, Paulung posted right before you asking why I thought mantis was soft and said he wasn't trying to flame, so I was jokingly referring to that in a manner that was meant to express that I was in no way offended by his question. I live in Tucson AZ. There are a couple different Kung Fu schools in my area: There is a place near me called Kodenkan, they teach the Mantis style, but in observing the class I decided that I did not like the extreme flourishes that were readily appartent in their forms, very showy. Not interested in pure mantis. There is another place close to me that teaches Wing Chun, tell me what you know about it, compared to others. Those and this Wind Fist are the only two I know of close enough to me to make them a practical option. Thanks again for your feedback. GreenDragon

Hi, I was worried about that when I wrote it, hard, soft, hmm. I had heard that it uses more circular motions, whereas karate and chuan fa use more linear motions and had heard them referred to as hard & soft. How else have I heard it explained...hmmm...internal and external. karate and other "hard styles" generate all the power from the stylist throwing the punch using the hips, etc. Whereas "soft styles" use the oppponent's energy against them and add their own to it rather than trying to generate all the power themselves. A "hard style" would be trained to block with a stike to the incoming kick or punch, whereas a "soft style" would have been trained to move with the energy of the strike to reduce it's effectiveness or dodge it entirely rather than using a hard block. I am admittedly coming off of a bad instruction experience in karate, and a great Tag Soo Do instructor who now wants me to sign a contract i am reluctant to. So I freely invite any enlightenment you can offer me regarding different styles of Kung Fu/Gung Fu as I continue my quest to find a good place to train. I recently found a place to train that seems good and teaches what the lead instructor calls Wind Fist Kung Fu or Dragon Kung Fu, but it seems that dragon is really just one of the animal styles that make up his art, but represents the culmination of the other animal styles. Perhaps it would just be easier if you gave me your thoughts on his school's website: https://www.ravenhill.com Thank you, and btw, that was not even close to a respectable flame ;o) GreenDragon