aefibird

Yeah, the Karate Kid movies have a lot to answer for when it comes to Karate's image in the wider world.... :-/

Or rarer still to find a school that teaches it correctly...

Partly because of the avilability - schools aren't available, so people don't train in the arts, so there aren't many schools, so people don't train in the art... etc etc. Also, some people just buy into the whole "MA from the East" thing. They think of China or Japan and assume that's it when it comes to MA - look at the way TKD and TSD were marketed as Korean Karate in the 60's and 70's. Karate was something people had heard of, so everyone wanted to be in on that bandwagon. Same with Shaolin - there's a lot of clubs jumped on the Shaolin bandwagon because it's a popular term and conjures up mystical images for non-MAists. That's partly why most Asian MA's tend to be more popular than Western MA's - it's more 'mystical' or 'authentic' or whathaveyou. I borrowed a martial arts book from the library once which even stated as fact that ALL MA's were invented in either China, Japan or Korea. Now, leaving aside other Asian MA's (such as Muay Thai for the most obvious example), what happened to all the other MA's in the world? Obviously the writers of that (poorly written) book have never heard of Boxing...

Hi Mervyn, welcome to the Forums!

Hi there! Welcome.

Hi drunken.master, welcome to the forums!

Hi War Dragon! Welcome to Karate Forums.

Good luck with your search. I hope that you find a MA school that is right for you.

Martial Arts are totally addictive for me. I couldnt imagine my life without them.

Congratualtions! I used to go sea fishing with my dad and his brothers when I was ickle, but I can't remember if I caught anything or not... It was more likely that I was just the little kid on the boat who was there to pass stuff for the grown ups. I remember my brother pushing me in, though. Aren't siblings delightful???

I get .21 usually, thats with the mouse. I can't get it to work for me with the enter key.

I studied at The University of Sheffield. I've also done a course for work through Sheffield Hallam University.

My style would be a mix of Aikido, Karate, TKD, Escrima, Capoeira and Muay Thai, with a little BJJ thrown in for good measure.

People see the sport/olympic side of TKD and assume that that is all there is to it without bothering to investigate further. TKD has become a bit of a laughing-stock of the MA community because of this reason - non-TKD practitioners think "oh, they only do head kicks", without investigating anything else about the art. Yes, some of TKD is a sport. Yes, there are some (very) bad dojangs out there. But there are sports practitioners and bad MA schools in most styles, not just in TKD. TKD is heavily kick based - that is part of it's trademark, just as other styles have 'trademark' techniques or 'trademark' stances or 'trademark' weapons. Just because TKD happens to favour kicking isn't a reason for it to be knocked all the time. It is, after all, either the most or one of the top 3 most widely practised styles in the world!

Do you think that BJJ and SBD work well together? Is this why you train in both of them, or is it more because you enjoy both MA's?

Respect is a good component in most martial arts, but it can be taken to silly extremes. In my karate dojo we bow to Sensei (and call him Sensei) but that's about it. Some karate schools that I've visited have so much bowing and what-have-you going on that students seem to spend more of their lesson bobbing up and down or saying "yes/osu Sensei" than actually doing any training...

At least you have had a postivie experience from visiting that dojang.

I'd say that all 3 aspects are as important as each other.

:lol:

Yes, yin and yang.

That sounds interesting! I've never tried Bassai Dai with any weapons before, but I'll have to give it a go now.

Congratualtions Sam! An excellent choice for member of the month.

I'm sorry I don't know. Have you tried searching on google?

Congratulations on passing your college course! Well done!

Do you have any links to that Aodhan?