always walk in with a white belt mentality when going into a new dojo or style i say

Good point. I personally understand that if I change styles that they might have totally different ways of doing stuff and thinking. I don't want to fall into the trap of thinking "that is not the way I learned it".

Something I don't like about one of the new dojos I am looking at, is they make a "two" sound on each move. I think this is silly and would make me laugh. I am all for breathing sounds becoming part of a Kata and Kiahs but saying "two" on each move???

I wanna say ju jitsu school is the answer. I have seen some bad things about bjj here in arizona, so don't sign a contract if you can help it. my biggest peeve is the lack of cleanliness. I have also gone to a bjj dojo and seen belts, including black belts, just laying on the floor. I would not study there. A ground art would be a good suplement for your current knowledge. Being close is always a plus, you will increase your odds of working out.

I agree with something someone else said:

Always empty your cup. That way, it can be filled again.

Make sure it's a small cup, with a big saucer.

Always ask yourself first why do you want to change styles? If you spend enough years in Karate you will find similarities in each style to yours, so do you want to leave Karate all together? I have studied Wado Kai Karate for 23 years and having earned a 3rd Dan have no need to change ever! I just keep a open mind and incorporate aspects from each style in terms of self defense and kumite.

Always ask yourself first why do you want to change styles? If you spend enough years in Karate you will find similarities in each style to yours, so do you want to leave Karate all together? I have studied Wado Kai Karate for 23 years and having earned a 3rd Dan have no need to change ever! I just keep a open mind and incorporate aspects from each style in terms of self defense and kumite.

True, however the different style dojo is a short walk from my house and we currently only have one car in our household. The other dojo is not that far but certainly further than a walk.

I would feel most comfortable with sticking with the same style and I know the dojo is respected. The close one has a few things I find hard to accept. First they make you go up in front of the class after each class to show what you have learned so far. I feel this is needless pressure and should be saved for stripe/belt tests. I don't like some other small parts of the dojo and the way they do things. But it would be interesting to learn some kung fu / jujitsu along with karate. Also telling myself to stop doing the programmed into my brain by repetition moves that I have learned in shorin ryu karate I think will be difficult.

I still have not made my mind up. I might be forced to go with the close dojo purely because I will be able to get there and make it to classes while the other might be impossible.

One thing is for sure, I sure am having a hard time keeping weight off since I took this time off karate.

After some consideration I decided to continue on with my old style of Karate, Shorin-ryu and sign up with Roberts Karate.

Although there are some small differences in the kata list, in general the moves etc are the same, so the switch should be pretty painless (pun intended).

I am so looking forward to getting fully back into training.

Good deal that you made a decision.

I went from Shotokan to WTF to Kenpo back to WTF to ITF back to WTF to ATA. Almost all were TKD, so it wasn't that much of a transition.

It's when you go from say TKD to Judo, or Aikido to Shotokan, etc. that people generally get kind of messed up.

Aodhan