new to karate

[tommyhales]

hi there i started shotokan karate last week and im on a 2 week free trial and i love it. the thing is at the end of this week i need to pay £100 fee which is for my gi a years licence my licence book my belt mouth guard and mits and a tshirt i also get the rest of the month free and after that i pay £30 a month considering its only 3 classes a week 2 in a dojo 1 in a highschool is this a good deal? our sensei is a 3rd dan who has trained in japan what im asking is am i going to be paying to much? also im 21 years old and 6ft 1 but i weigh 25.5 stone thats 355 pounds i think not to good with math, any tips on how someone my size and weight could improve there training

[DoctorQui]

hi there i started shotokan karate last week and im on a 2 week free trial and i love it. the thing is at the end of this week i need to pay £100 fee which is for my gi a years licence my licence book my belt mouth guard and mits and a tshirt i also get the rest of the month free and after that i pay £30 a month considering its only 3 classes a week 2 in a dojo 1 in a highschool is this a good deal? our sensei is a 3rd dan who has trained in japan what im asking is am i going to be paying to much? also im 21 years old and 6ft 1 but i weigh 25.5 stone thats 355 pounds i think not to good with math, any tips on how someone my size and weight could improve there training

Sounds about right to me as a start up fee BUT the alarm bell for me is WHY do you have to pay for THEM to supply you with a Gi. In my experience, a Gi that is supplied by the club is either a reasonable quality with a substantial mark up or a very overpriced inferior, same re the sparring gear. Will they not let you pay your membership and licence fee sans other stuff which you can probably source yourself off of ebay for a lot cheaper a price? It doesn't even need to be brand new, my first Gi was a second and it was fine at a fraction of the cost.

Re the training question, my advice is to just do the karate with all the exercises and warm ups. I've lost loads and have got quite toned simply doing karate 3-4 times pw.

[FangPwnsAll7]

Good luck with this. At our dojo, the instructor provides the gi.

[tommyhales]

thanks, im going there tomorrow im going to ask him about supplying my own gi and training equipment

[darksoul]

thanks, im going there tomorrow im going to ask him about supplying my own gi and training equipment

Yes, definitely look for your own gi if possible. I was able to get a $200 gi for $100 on ebay. Obviously this is an advanced/instructor gi, but I sent one of my student there to look for his and he got one for about $40, shipping included.

As for sparring gear, same thing.

[evergrey]

My first dogi was $2.50 for what was a $60 or so gi. With it I got another dogi for $2.50, which was a nice heavyweight gi that I gave to my Sensei as a gift. Craigslist is great. Along with that came four belts, though only two of the colors are used in my style, haha!

If they let you provide your own stuff, that's much better. My dojo provides a dogi free of charge, but charges $25 at ranking. They can sell mouthguards to us but we can also go out and get them, and we're free to get our own dogi, obi, and whatever else we want as well.

Hmm. Well you can always ask, eh?

As for losing weight, on top of your training and practicing your basics and kata outside of class, try swimming or walking. :}

OSU!

[Dobbersky]

GUYS - DoctorQui & Tommy

You live in Manchester UK and you not popped over to see me. I only Charge £30 membership & £25 a month for 2 lessons. but its up to you your choice

[DWx]

hi there i started shotokan karate last week and im on a 2 week free trial and i love it. the thing is at the end of this week i need to pay £100 fee which is for my gi a years licence my licence book my belt mouth guard and mits and a tshirt i also get the rest of the month free and after that i pay £30 a month considering its only 3 classes a week 2 in a dojo 1 in a highschool is this a good deal? our sensei is a 3rd dan who has trained in japan what im asking is am i going to be paying to much? also im 21 years old and 6ft 1 but i weigh 25.5 stone thats 355 pounds i think not to good with math, any tips on how someone my size and weight could improve there training

£100 for a gi, year's licence (=insurance), belt, sparring kit and a months lessons?

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

£30 a month for 12 classes a month is also a very good rate. Wish I only had to pay £2.50 a class.

[DoctorQui]

GUYS - DoctorQui & Tommy

You live in Manchester UK and you not popped over to see me. I only Charge £30 membership & £25 a month for 2 lessons. but its up to you your choice

I've still got the invite Dobbers I will definitely visit but probably not until I've reached 1st Dan in my own style which, god allowing, shouldn't be too long now!

[tommyhales]

GUYS - DoctorQui & Tommy

You live in Manchester UK and you not popped over to see me. I only Charge £30 membership & £25 a month for 2 lessons. but its up to you your choice

i live in Plymouth England not Manchester unfortunately and to the other comments thanks for your input