Switching Schools? Possibly out of karate

[pathgen]

Hello, I trained shotokan karate for 5 years when I was younger. I moved to a new location and began training with the JKA for a year and a half now. Things are ok with the JKA, and I love our kata training. However, I am 22 years old and we almost never do sparring. Even if we did most of my classmates are older than I am and all though they have great technique I am starting to feel like I need to switch to somewhere I can spar more intensely/frequently.

I love shotokan, however what I am finding is that in my area I can locate a dojo that fulfills my kihon and kata needs, but not my kumite. Thus, I decided it is time to switch and possibly leave shotokan because I am sure there are quite a few styles in my area (I live in San Francisco) that would be better suited for me.

Mostly i miss the cardio of sparring and competitiveness of sparring.

Anyhow, I was wondering what people on the board might suggest. I do enjoy kata and I thought about the Muai Thai or kickboxing route, but then I would not do kata. Kyokushin seems like a real possibility, but I am in college and am wondering how getting knocked down every night might effect my grades especially if I have to go to class the next morning. The ideal would be a shotokan dojo that had more sparring, but I have yet to find one in my area.

Also, I have considered the mma/bjj scene because I would imagine that there would be ample opportunities to spar with more intensity and I could learn some grappling that I have always wanted to learn. However, I don't really know what the training is like and I am not really looking to get subpar strking skills so I can learn grappling. A lot of the mma I see is grappling, but I am by no means an expert on it.

Boxing is a no-no because I like to kick, and I haven't really investigated kung fu because I on the surface level I have never been as interested as I have other martial arts.

I would love to learn sambo, but there isn't a place that teaches it close to my house I would have to go to Oakland.

I am going to go to many dojos in about a month or so and look around to see what I like, but I wanted to get other's opinions to see if anyone has had a similar experience.

Thanks

[Open minded]

Definetely do some MMA give you a wide range to your kit

I have done karate, judo, jujitsu, mma, tai chi, boxing, JKD and so on

An done all these for a very long period of time

good to learn of all different people that just one person to get a whole wide range of opinions of the arts

Some instructors don't like you training in other arts while training in their art

But it is your life and how you want to play it

My karate sensei didn't like me doing other acts at the time I was at karate but I told him it is my life and how I want to play it

Good luck and do a bit of Boxing as well that is fun and very physical

[MasterPain]

Don't worry about getting the tar knocked out of you every night. Nobody with successful fighters trains that way.

Good luck finding something.

[bushido_man96]

Don't worry about getting the tar knocked out of you every night. Nobody with successful fighters trains that way.

Good luck finding something.

I agree.

What you should do, is find a list of the schools in your area, and start visiting them; a different one every night, if you can. If you get some instructors talking to you, which you should, tell them about your experiences, and your goals. Now, most businessmen out there will want you to sign up, so when every one of the schools is telling you they have what you want, take that with a grain of salt. Ask about class scheduling; maybe someone has a dedicated sparring class. Maybe come to the same school and visit a few different times a week. Also, ask how much sparring each one does. You should get an honest answer.

Also, WTF schools would likely do a lot of sparring, especially ones with a heavy competition focus. Just another thought.

Good luck in your search.