Azmyth

yeah, I actually got a discount.. so its less than 80.. but he doesn't give that to everyone. plus no contracts, made for a sweet deal. I still have to buy some of the gear.. but thats not something i have to do often.

After checking out all the schools in the area.. and finding only 1 ATA school close enough to go to (they are terrible, this one in particular). I decided to visit the first school I had looked at, that taught.. a mix of jiujitsu and american kenpo, as well as weapons including arnis, bo staff, knive fighting, and gun combat. He also teaches ground fighting and MMA style fighting. I got there, and tonight was weapons night.. so he showed me some of the basic stick strikes with escrima. It was pretty cool.. I enjoyed it. He had everything that was required per rank posted on the wall, and everything was very organized and the building and equipment was all top notch. the class consisted of about 10 adults and no kids.. the next class after it was open hand fighting.. i didn't participate in this one but watched rather.. they did some normal fast paced kick and punch combos, some boxing, and then got into some self defense joint locks and take downs. I'm used to doing the same thing every class.. and the instructor (whom i was a student of a long time ago) told me he liked to keep things interesting by changing it up every class. I liked this. He also recognizes black belt rank in other styles in his school. I know in my last school.. they didn't care what other arts u had black belts in. I am very pleased with my choice.. and being that I knew the instructor already.. i felt right at home.

well I went tonight and checked it out and after seeing it and doing it.. I signed up.. its worth it.

yeah, and I am fine with that... but it may make more sense just to finish up what I have left with ITF.. and go on to something new.

this is not meant to cause any flames.. just something to help me decide. I have a high rank blue belt in ITF tkd.. currently on Yul Gok form.. actually stopped right as I would have tested for red belt... the ranks following are.. high red recommended black 1st degree black so I was close to my goal.. but I just cannot go to this school any longer. some of the things that have happened I cannot deal with and respect myself afterwards. I had an offer from a good friend of mine who is a 4th dan black belt who converted from ATA to ITF.. to work with me to help me attain my first degree in TKD so all my time is not gone to waste. All the while.. I'd be studying at another school with an old friend of mine doing Jiujitsu and Kenpo as well as a bit of filippino martial arts and MMA. as a 3rd option.. I could stay away from the non TKD arts for now, and focus on TKD.. but I'd have to do it at an ATA school. My issues with this are.. 1. will they let me convert over and keep my rank? 2. ATA schools have a bad rap for promoting 5year olds to 3rd dan in a very short amount of time. 3. ATA has been said to not be very big on practical use more show. 4. should I just do the above forementioned idea and work with my friend on the side to finish out TKD.

its a bit high compared to the last school i was at.. last one was 36 a month, but was tied into a year contract. and it was ITF tkd only. this is jiujitsu, some kempo, practical weapons, MMA fighting/grappling.

well if u look at alot of the ATA demos.. its pretty much what the XMA does.. the XMA does slightly crazier gymnastics however. I would love to learn how to do that just for kicks and to just randomly fly around like a ninja.. but, its not worth it enough for me to enroll in an ATA school vs. a more self defense based one. the schools down here give it a bad rap.. with 5 year old 3rd degree black belts.

yes he did.. on several occasions.. i left because of it. amongst other things.

i couldn't help but notice all the schools are ATA.. why is that?

nope because all of ours are not from one style..

75 a month sounds reasonable, the gear seems ok too.. I have never taken aikido so I am not sure on that. Aikido I can tell you is gonna be strenuous because it deals with joints and pressure to joints at times.. they don't have a kids class for this reason.. so it really all depends on what YOU want to do..

to make this a little more interesting.. there are a few rules that an instructor might break that would cause a student to leave. 1. class interuptions to sell health foods and meds, enough of which to cause me to not learn anything that class. 2. selling drugs that allow people to pass drug tests 3. passing people soley on the money they paid.

Muay Thai Pankration Silat

If the school is legit.. they are going to want your business and the only way for you to know if u want to go there is to see what they are about. I have never been to a school that didn't allow you to watch. I have even had some to allow you to participate in 1 class for free.

80 a month.. 6 classes a week.. 2 on tuesday and thursdays.. they teach.. Jiujitsu/kenpo + practical weapons/filipino weapons + grappling/MMA style fighting. no contract. free uniform. no limit on # of classes u can take a week

I'm not trying to say I dislike the UFC.. I enjoy it for wha t it is.. but like you say, if I want to watch pure martial artists vs. brawlers I should probably watch something else. I think the main thing for me.. is the attitudes they have. Most true martial arts I know are very humble. Those guys are all cocky.... especially Matt Hughes..

the only thing I disagree with is.. if stand up fighting is so useless why do it at all? to a degree this statement is true.. because 99% of the time.. the fight has already been taken to the ground within the first 30 seconds. UGC = Ultimate Grappling Championship would be a more fitting title. The ultimate way to fix this for me.. would be to seperate the divisions.. and have a grappling and non grappling division.. strikers vs. strikers grapplers vs. grapplers I like grappling arts.. don't get me wrong.. but I can almost never say "dang, look at that kick". You might see about 10 kicks a fight.. and probably only 1 of those 10 will land at all. I'm a TKD guy, so I think I just miss the traditional part of it, now that it has been modernized into a sport. The "art" part is almost gone.. Can anyone tell me what styles of Martial Arts Matt Hughes studies?

yeah.. your right and it makes perfect sense.. its more of a "sport" now.. than a tournament. just like other sports.. all the teams are alike.. for the most part.. so the one who does it better wins. i just wish at least the fights weren't all the same. I get more entertainment out of watching school tournaments. some of the fighters don't even have a martial arts background at all.. (tank abbot anyone?)

cool.. I don't have many options.. apparently every school in albany is closed except the ata one.

you see what I see. thats how I look at it.. every fight is the same.. they start off standing.. kick and punch a few times.. til one can take the other to the ground, then they'll roll around the ground until one can make the other submit. its really wrestling is all it is, in my eyes. not that they don't know their stuff.. I just yearn for a pure martial arts type open tournament. It doesn't even have to be no holds barred.. just full contact with protection is fine with me.. muay thai vs. tkd karate vs. kung fu ninjutsu vs. savate that type of thing.. all UFC proves is who is the best submission artist, rarely ever does a fight end with a kick or a punch (it does happen sometimes though)

where do u study?

bring Frank Dux and the Kumite back IMO

Yeah I didn't notice this til now.. He was taught by the same teacher I have now for ITF TKD.. so I know he's legit in that facet. I never knew he even did WTF or American Karate, I know he did Arnis for a while, and got heavy into "practical" fighting styles. I saw him on tv on a local access channel demonstrating his system, and it looked pretty good.. they had a few different stylists there.. I remember there being a Krav Maga guy and some others... I still believe he knows what he's doing just from personal experience, but I'd like to know when all these other things came into play because if there was a place around here to study american karate.. I would have been on it like gravy on rice.

I see you guys points. Albany is a bit of a drive for me.. I was just mainly wanting to try something other than TKD.. because.. well I just want to broaden my horizon's. I had thought one time that crawford's in albany taught other styles.. but like you said.. not even sure its even aroudn anymore. but now that you have explained.. I do see what you mean.

if they would wear gi's that would make me happier.. I know wearing spandex shorts lets u move better.. but they look too much like pro wrestlers for my taste. and where are the average Joe's? I'm sure there are guys that weigh 165lbs soaking wet that are 10x the fighters anyone in UFC is.. but unfortunately due to size.. they can't do much... I'm a small guy, and I'd rather see a flexible agile quick as lighting little guy over a big muscle pound wrestling looking dude any day of the week. Show some little guy love.