karate_woman

Welcome to the wonderful world of martial arts! I've been passionate about martial arts since I started 20 years ago. Whether I am actively training or not (sometimes I wasn't as "life" took over), I've considered myself a martial artist ever since I started - it is quite a way of life . Hopefully you find an art that resonates with you, and don't be shy about trying different arts through seminars, extra training, etc. - just keep an open mind, that there is not always a "right" and "wrong" way, sometimes there is just a "different" way. There is so much to learn in the martial arts, you can continue the journey for your entire life and still not know everything I agree with the previous posts. In my opinion, you should consider a number of factors: 1. Your personal goals for the training (fitness, self-defense, competition, etc), 2. The location of the dojo's/training places in relation to your school, home, work, etc. 3. The hours you are available to train, vs the schedules of the places you investigate. 4. The price to train (including uniforms, grading fees, etc), if that is a factor for you. In association with factor #1, as the others have stated, you should go to a number of schools and check the instructors out. You should be looking for the quality of instruction. I know that is hard to judge if you don't have any experience yourself. A few hints: *With an untrained eye, do the more advanced students actually appear to do the movements with more ease, fluidity, speed and power? Do they appear to use stable stances? * Are the classes disciplined and organized, or are there a bunch of people milling about talking and not working? *If sparring occurs in the class, is it done under controlled circumstances under the watchful eye of the instructor? Is safety equipment used? *If you are aiming for a martial art that features belt promotions, you may wish to ask about the qualifications for each belt, average length of time to obtain them, price, and number of belts. *Is their belt system recognized by a traditional organization, if that is important to you? *How long has the instructor trained? Does their apparent rank match the length of time required in their martial arts ranking system to achieve that rank? *Does he/she do most of the training, or do other people instruct as well? *What are their qualifications? *Who does the instructor train with (who teaches them?). *If you wish to compete - Does the club compete, Are they successful? What type of competition? What level of contact are you aiming for in your competition (if any?) *Do you wish to have a chance to compete in the Olympics? (Not all martial arts are Olympic sports). *If you wish to defend yourself, how much emphasis is placed on practical moves, simulations, physical/mental preparation? *Is the attitute and philosophy of the instructor compatible to yours? *Do you wish to learn weapons? What kinds? Do they teach weaponry where you wish to train? *Do you wish to learn philosophy, history, etc, or focus solely on fighting? In association with #4 (price): Do you have to sign a membership agreement? For how long? A lot of clubs in my area insist on a one year committment. Is it transferable to another area (is it a franchise)? Can it be put on hold if, for example, you injure yourself? Are there other membership benefits? Gym facilities? Personal Training, etc?

I have always approached my training in a serious way, and was disappointed somewhat with girls (and guys too, for that matter) that came to class and barely participated - just did the bare minimum with each task they were given. The good news is, most of them didn't train for long - at least not with that attitude. If the instructor was onto them, and had high enough standards that they wouldn't take that kind of behaviour, they named the person and drew attention to them and their efforts. Not necessarily in a humiliating way, but enough to get the point across we were at class to work hard. I've also seen (and sent, when I was teaching) people to the side of the class if they were disruptive and clearly not there to learn. Another thing they could do is choose the person's partner, so you don't end up with two lazy chatters giggling at each other instead of practicing. As for the suggestive nature of grappling (referred to in some recent posts: I love grappling with guys, but never think about the matches in any way other than how fun it was to fight. I don't give up easily, either. Grappling isn't for everyone, but I personally think avoiding it altogether is a mistake; the more tools you can use to fight off an attacker, the better off you'll be.

I agree with that statement. My main concern with classes taught by aerobics/fitness instructors that have no kickboxing background is while it will certainly be a good workout, repetively doing techniques incorrectly will ingrain them into your reflexes, not to mention doing them wrong can actually hurt you. A non kickboxer/non martial artist may be able to do the moves so they look sort of OK, but if their angle is off even slightly they could really hurt themselves or not be able to recognize incorrect techniques in others to prevent injuries. Anyway, to each his/her own

Speaking as a woman myself, who as tried more than just kickboxing(as my name implies), I'd disagree that there are more women who like kickboxing than women who like other martial arts. If you roll in the cardio kickboxing, and tae bo, I may be wrong, but to me those classes are just another version of aerobics or "fitness class" (unless taught by an actual kickboxing instructor). I went to a tae bo type class and was disgusted at what they were teaching. I'm not new to the martial arts, and have flirted with kickboxing for quite a while. My first experience with kickboxing was in a competitive kickboxing class (I was already a black belt in Goju Ryu Karate, and in good shape). I talked to the instructor, who invited me to that class. I thoroughly enjoyed the class, but we spent a good portion of the two hour class kicking each other in the legs - to condition them, I suppose. I was used to bruising from sparring, which usually started to go away in a few days, but this deep bruising covered both my legs, inside and out, and lasted over two weeks. In spite of that, I wanted to go back; my family disagreed. They won out because I was still training in karate anyway, so it wasn't crucial that I join another club at that time. Anyway, 6 years later, I haven't trained in several months, and am looking for something to do, preferably a martial art, that will help me regain some of my conditioning, and learn some new things as well. I started at a local kickboxing club this week. I LOVE it! The only downside so far is there is no contact in the classes I'm in (I always loved sparring). I'm not ready yet for sparring anyway, as I'm still learning the techniques they do - they are different than the ones I learned in karate. The classes I'm taking are the technique classes, and not the cardio classes, so perhaps there will be contact eventually, or I may have to attend the "advanced" classes that are invitation only. I'm sure when and if I become ready for that type of class he'll let me know. For now, I'm happy to get a great workout in sparring techniques. I read a few of the comments here before I posted, and I'm not sure if I'm abnormal or not, but I absolutely loved sparring and grappling with men - it was a great strengh builder for me - especially the grappling; grappling with a woman of about 120 lbs after grappling with a 200 lb man was great - I had a lot of strength to move them around.

They are general topics, but for reasons already indicated (mainly the inflammatory nature of these subjects), the decision has been made to ban them.

First of all, there are no new techniques in my style after your 4th Dan test. After that, you are graded on your contribution to - and understanding of - your art - books written, seminars taught, essays written, etc. You also can't go above 4th Dan without teaching full time. There are also strict guidelines for the number of years to reach each Dan level (basically the number of years between Dan rankings is the same as the Dan level you're testing for (eg to be tested for 5th Dan you must be 4th Dans for a minimum of 5 years). My only suggestion if you are concerned about legitimacy, train in what is considered a "traditional" school that is using these timeframes. I would like to point out, however, that the invention of Dan rankings is recent, and that the inventors of these traditional styles wouldn't have reached 10th Dan by the time they died, let alone when they invented their styles. Think about it for a moment: Goju was invented by Chojun Miyagi when he was quite a young man, and he died in his 60's. He was well respected, and had the more traditional titles (Renshi,Hanshi) given to him. There were no Dan rankings in Goju until after his death in 1953. My point is just that we shouldn't get too hung up on rank in and of itself.

Welcome

If you are referring to my English, my only explanation is the more hurried and/or emotional the response, the worse my grammar will be. In addition, the time of day I'm writing and other factors will affect my writing abilities (I've written at 2 am before). Obviously, the more time and thought I put into a post (and the more wide awake I am), the better it will read. Since (Canadian) English is pretty much all I've ever spoken and written on a consistent basis, that's all I can say about that

They might be able to attempt to sue, but given the nature of their attack (attack with a weapon), I seriously doubt they'd get anywhere. I've been taught that when a knife comes out you are going to get cut; if the person's arm happens to get broken as I'm trying to defend myself , and I use only the force necessary and don't go overboard, I think I'd be just fine. However, I'm a small woman, and while I have a black belt, I'm not so arrogant as to believe myself invincible; if someone was a knife defense specialist and went ballistic on the person then maybe the suing attempt might be successful.

My response (as a woman) is whatever martial art she wants!

Hmm. I don't think you really can keep "politics" out of anything. Wherever people gather, alliances, cliques, gossip and politics rear their ugly heads. All you can really do as a person/martial artist is to do your best to stay out of it whenever possible.

It depends on the organization. We get a certificate from Okinawa, though the testing is done by an approved person in Canada.

Yes, but they are willing training partners and not someone who has attacked you on the street; I think you should just bow following your school rules. Obviously, Japanese/Korean eye contact etiquette should be observed (regardless of your school's rules) when bowing to people in/of that culture, however.

When I went from Judo to Karate I went back to white belt from orange belt - no big deal, and the two were only marginally related (the bowing, counting and a couple of stances were all that were related at that point). At this point (I have a black belt in Goju), I'd still just wear whatever belt the instructor suggests I wear, whether it be a white belt or my actual rank with one caveat: if I compete in tournaments, I would always wear my highest rank, (regardless of what I do in class); as a Goju black belt it is completely inappropriate to wear a Shotokan/Wado ryu, etc white belt in a tournament - it would be totally unfair in my opinion - cheating. I've seen it happen (and disapproved), though some tournament circuits actually have rules preventing that.

We have students of all levels practicing together, so in class we'll often hear the Okinawan followed by the English, though sometimes just the Okinawan. In our Black Belt grading the instructions for the basics were given out in Okinawan. I'm not really passionate about saying things in Okinawan vs English, though some people are. I've read a few web sites by people who speak Japanese or Okinawan who find the common pronunciation in martial arts classes to be appalling, so I can take it or leave it. Our Sensei's Sensei goes to Okinawa to train every couple of years, so I believe the pronunciation is fairly accurate in our school, though.

Hmm. I can find both good and bad things to say about the belt ranking system. On the one hand, belts and ranks are a good idea because they allow the student to show progression (which keeps goal based students interested), and they also enable instructors to tailor their classes to the level of the student (assuming the instructor doesn't normally teach that class and isn't familiar with the student). Unfortunately, the lack of consistency in the martial arts community, and the McDojo phenomenon has made the belt ranking system meaningless when you try to compare one dojo or system to another. On the other hand, belts in and of themselves have always been meaningless; it is the training itself, and not the belt you're wearing that has real value.

Welcome. The information about the belt structure in KF is in the FAQ, which can be found here: http://www.karateforums.com/faq.php

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I wouldn't recommend it, but I've seen it work. Are you able to be really dedicated to your martial art, and able to focus on the martial art (and not flirting with her) when they were in class? It doesn't sound like it - it sounds like you've been mooning over her. I've seen several dojo relationships break up and as a result never seen one or both parties again.

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Looks like you've figured out the answer to your question. Welcome!