lexmark

Well, I went and saw the jujitsu instructor and I'm not quite sure that it's for me. I really like the idea of being able to control someone just by moving or turning a certain way when they are holding your wrist or whatever. But he had me try that on him and the way he moved and twisted my wrist really freakin' hurt. I know that it's about submission and pressure points and things like that but I've never done anything really physical to prepare me for something like that. He had his son there and they demonstrate several different things and he was just putting his son all over the mat. I just don't know. I think, deep down, I know that I'm not the type of person that would be able to concentrate on the technique without thinking about how much it could hurt. But he did say that it should only hurt if I don't do exactly what he says to do. And if I'm the type of person that doesn't like alot of contact, grappling, hair pulling, choking, that sort of thing, then jujitsu probably isn't for me. He said the way he teaches, modern, is a mix of karate, judo, and aikido. But I liked that he didn't say his way was better than the karate, it just depends on the person

Well, I did go to the shotokan class. I liked it. It is confusing though. I thought I would just be able to watch it but the instructor said I could tryif I wanted to, so I did. Of course, not knowing the commands or anything, I just watched and tried to follow. But the instructor, the sensai is a man, paired me first with this kid that might have been 12, I'm 30, to show me a couple of basic things. One was a basic punch and block. don't remember what they are called. Anyway, the instructor had me do a couple of other basic moves with different students. It was difficult only because I kept forgetting which way to move my hands and arms. Tried a kick too but my balance is terrible so that didn't go so well. If I decide to go with the shotokan, I don't think it will be too hard to get down the basics. The instructor said it usually takes about a month to get it. During that time, the beginners are pretty much lost. But learning all of the commands in Japanese could be difficult. I guess it's just memorization though. After I came home, I was showing my wife what I did and she just kinda rolled her eyes. But that's ok, she doesnt' really think I'll stick with it, whatever I choose. I think I can prove her wrong. I get the feeling she's bored with me talking about it all the time. I told the sensai I was looking at other schools and he recommended but did say that I should do karate even if it isnt' with him. He said its the best. For what I don't know.

bushido, looking at the styles you've done, I see hapkido. I looked it up on wikipedia and from what i read, it's very similiar to jujitsu. I also see you do taekwondo, which is a striking art so it's more similiar to karate.(?) How would you compare the 2 methods and which would you say is better for improving overall physical quality of the body? Or is it even possible to compare the two in a general way?

I really do like the idea of jujitsu and I called and spoke to the instructor last night. He just moved here and is running a special where it's a year for 250. After November, it goes up to 600 a year. I'm going to go tomorrow evening and speak with him and try to get a better idea of what it's about. He's actually starting the classes next week. I don't know if he does a free trial or not but I hope so. I don't want to spend that much and end up not liking the style. As far as the shotokan goes, I'm going tonight to check out a class. THe instructor told me that the next session starts next week also but she does have students during the summer, just not as many. So hopefully I'll be able to find out more about it. She does have a free trial. I just don't know what to do since I don't even know anybody that studies martial arts of any kind. One of the reasons I like the karate is that I can practice the forms on my own and from what I understand, you really need 2 to practice jujitsu since it's throws and holds and things like that. I don't think my daughters would appreciate my practicing on them.

Well, at one of the shotokan schools, it seems like the jiu-jitsu instructor is seperate from the shotokan instructor. I think they are just using the same location for the different courses. The jiu-jitsu guy is Hanshi Simon Limoges, 8th dan and he is recognized by the "ALL JAPAN JU-JITSU INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION" http://www.ajjif.org/AJJIFblackbelts.htm ANd he also has this: http://www.geocities.com/kidokan_bu_jutsu/CVEnglish.html His credentials seem pretty impressive to me. I'm hopefully gonna be able to check out the schools in my area this week. We'll see.

Well, I recently discovered that tae-kwon-do and jiu-jitsu are available where I live and are as accesible as the 2 karate styles I asked about in another thread. After doing some reading here and other places, I'm pretty sure tae-kwon-do might not be for me. Granted, I haven't gone to a class yet but I'm not sure all the kicking is suited to me. I can't touch my toes and even when I could, I've never been able to kick very high and from what I've read, tkd focuses on leg work. Also, it seems to be very competition oriented and I want to pratice martial arts for the physical and mental aspect of it, not to see how many trophies I can win in competition. Both the places that do shotokan where I live, have jiu-jitsu. Don't know much about that either but I do like the idea of learning a style that is more focused on using your oppponet's momentum against him. Wikipedia says"Jujutsu expresses the philosophy of yielding to an opponent's force rather than trying to oppose force with force" I like that. So it kinda looks like it will either be shotokan or jiu-jitsu. Any new advice?

Well, I haven't gone to any of the schools yet but I did speak to someone at one of the shotokan schools. What she told me sounded promising. One of hte first things was that I should look around at other places before deciding which style and school to go with since I should find what suits me best. She also said they are recognized by the IJKA(?) International Japanese Karate Association and they are monitored to ensure what they are teaching is correct. Yutaka Katsumata, 7th dan, does the exams for the higher ranks. He spends 6 months in Quebec and the other 6 months in Japan. It's $125 Canadian for 4 months. $25/exam with a $30 clinic before the exams if you wish to participate. The uniform is included. Here in the Quebec, the main language spoken is French and she said the class is in French but since they have several English students things can be explained in English if needed. Which is a very good thing because I only understand a few words and phrases in French. Anyway, I hope to check out that school and a couple of others in hte next couple of weeks.

Well my plan is to try to go to each class at least twice. Even if I can only to to 1 each, I'll post my experiences with it and what I thought about it. In the meantime, thanks for the advice and I'll try to remember the things I should look for and what to ask the instructor. Thanks

THanks for all of the responses so far. I really appreciate it. I've been to other message boards, not necessarily martial arts, and some times the new guys get slammed for asking questions that have been asked before. So thanks for not doing that. I'm on vacation for 2 weeks starting this weekend so it should give me plenty of time to check the schools in my area. One more question; is learning a style of karate simply because of the convenience of getting to the class, an issue? I've read about some other styles that I'm interested in but there's just too much difficulty in getting to them. Especially since I have a family and job to juggle also.

WEll, after looking at the ad again and googling the names, Marc Asselin 9th adn pierre myre 8th, I don't think those guys are actually instructors at the school. It doesnt' have a website adn I think that it would if those 2 were actually instructors. Marc Asselin instructs in Yoshukai and received his 2nd and 3rd dans in front of 10th dan Master Mamoru Yamamoto and Master Yoshinao Nanbu 10th dan, respectively. and I think the other guy is like that too so maybe this school is just acknowlegded by asselin myre. I don't know. I"ll have to check it out.

Well, the guys that are 8th and 9th dan, their ad in the paper says they are recognized by the Canadian Federation of Martial Arts. Haven't researched that organization yet though. I don't think I mind the full-contact style but I'm not really an agressive person. And again, the kyokushin guy's website site said he had been training for 2 years before opening his first school. But I think I should check out each school for a few classes to get an idea of how they work. thanks

Hi. I've got a couple of questions and would greatly appreciate any help given. I'm 30 years old and live just outside of Montreal, Quebec Canada, and am looking to get into martial arts. I really only have access to 2 styles, kyokushin and shotokan. I've always been interested just never had the chance. Sorry the post is long. There are 3 schools where I live that I can get to. 1 kyokushin and 2 shotokan. I'm not so sure about the kyokushin though. There is only 1 instructor and he is a 3rd dan(?). His website says he's been teaching for 30 years and practicing karate for 32. Which says to me that he started teaching it after he'd been doing it for only 2 years. Doesn't sound quite right to me but I really don't know. It says he"s associated with master Andre Gilbert, if anyone is familiar with that name. For the shotokan, 1 has 2 instructors that are 8th and 9th dans. I dont' know much more than that at this point. It's 100 bucks for 4 months and includes the uniform. Oh, and hte name of school includes the words "Wazate Do Ryu" Can anyone tell me what that means? The other shotokan school's chief instructor has studied under at least 3 different instructors: Sensei Alan Hertz, 4th dan; Sensei Serge Paguin, 2nd dan; and Sensei Yutaka Katsumata,7th dan, who is the chief instructor for the Association of Shotokan Karate and is based in Montreal. Any opinions are greatly appreciated. For what it's worth, I'm leaning toward one of the shotokan schools simply because the kyokushin guy doesn't sit right with me but like I said, that could be because I don't know anything about karate and what it takes to teach it.