I apologize in advance for this excrutiatingly long and monotonous post. Ever since I was a little kid, I have always had a very intense interest in the martial arts. Unfortunately, I was never allowed to take them. Even when I moved out and finally had the freedom to do as I wished, I still could not pursue this great interest of mine because I couldn't afford it. But I suppose some good came of this poor hand I was dealt in life, as I eventually learned that Martial Arts were not all they were made out to be. Now before you all start flaming me, understand what I'm saying. I'm not saying all martial arts are bad, but I think that in North America at least, they way they are taught is very poor. For example, I would imagine that in Asia, you could receive very high-quality instruction in a great number of styles and become a highly effective fighter. But thanks to the obscene ignorance and lack of respect towards martial arts in North America, if you try to learn to fight in a typical Tae Kwon Do or Karate dojo, you are likely to become a worse and more unskilled fighter than you could ever imagine. Case in point, I once saw a Black Belt in Karate reduced to tears after one punch. I also once knew a guy who beat the * out of two drunken guys, but broke his leg in the process. If I weren't so accustomed to such stupidity, I would be appalled that even a single dojo exists that can promote you to black belt without teaching you a goddamn thing. Or that there are instructors out there that teach you to break your * leg when you kick someone. And I don't mean to generalize all North American Dojo as poor, fradulent, and inept, but it's my opinion and the opinion of many fighters that as unfortunate as it is, it's the case for about 95% of all Dojo here. But as bleak as my situation is in regard to studying the martial arts, I am holding on to the hope that I will someday find and be able to afford quality MA instruction. But while I have done a lot of research, I am by no means whatsoever an expert. I am still very much a novice to all of this. I don't know a whole lot about how to distinguish a McDojo from a real one. I know enough to avoid any school that does any tournament-related competition, requires you to sign any contracts, or charges high belt fees/promotes you just to get money and not to teach. I would also like to avoid Dojo that have any belt ranking at all as a fighter should be judged by his skill, and not by the colour of socks he wears. It's absurd to think otherwise. But I won't entirely rule out belt-ranking because it's so common. Is there anything else I should know? I don't know if anyone here is familiar with the area I live in, but in case anyone here is, and knowing will help them help me, I live in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. I don't know when I'll even be able to afford instruction, but I'm hoping to know where to go by the time I can. I am considering http://www.russiansystema.com And Krav Maga classes at Leo Wong's Tae Kwon Do Institute. I tend not to trust TKD schools, let alone Leo Wong's so called "Institute" (I suppose I'm being harsh, but I just don't trust the place.) but maybe the KM instructor is trustworthy and just rents the space or something. As for Systema, it sounds really good, in fact, if it's everything it claims to be, this is exactly what I'm looking for. I'd even say it was made just for me. But that's also one of it's problems. Something that's too good to be true usually is. Also, I find the history suspicious. I mean, it sounds good like I said, but it's also just as possible that it's all a load of * some fat Russian guys made up to scam ignorant people like me. Also, if what I read about Sambo is true, which is that it was originally created during WWII because Russian soldiers were having such a hard time with the Japanese, why couldn't they just use Systema? If it's been "declassified" since the '80s, why have I never heard of it until yesterday? Also, I saw some demonstration videos and wasn't all that impressed. Although they'd need to be unimpressive for the average person to understand and be able to observe what's going on, but still... (http://www.systema-chicago.com) Krav Maga is also right up my alley, but some schools/instructors are too McDojo-like for my liking. And of course, I'm open to just about anything as long as it teaches me to fight effectively. So yeah, long story short, I want real fighting/self-defense instruction, not fradulent, sporty instruction. Any help you can provide me with will be appreciated. Thank you.
