Why is it so difficult?

[muttley]

Oh I intend to go nowhere near his bunch, the guy seems a complete muppet when it comes to martial arts training.

I seriously can't understand why Shotokan Karate in my area has been so diluted in it's teachings (in my experience). There is no contact, virtually no sparring at all. It's not right, Karate is a martial art, I love Karate, it teaches loads of great stuff, discipline, control, self defense...how the hell can you learn these things (especially control of your body and mind) by dropping essential parts of the teachings?

The amount of McDojo's around here is frightening, too many people declaring themselves high dan grades, self appointed mostly is wrong. Fighting Lions is another bunch, I trained with them once a long time ago, I had been a 1st dan for about a year (a mixture of Karate and Kickboxing), the guy told me he'd would get me teaching my own classes within 6 months...no thanks.

[Kusotare]

If you have a passion for a particular art, you must be prepared to put in the travelling time I'm afraid.

There are very good KUGB dojo out there that do have a really practical approach (and a tough approach) to their karate. I have friends that train in these dojo and I have seen the black eyes and broken noses to prove it!

You may have to put in the motorway hours to get to them though.

Unfortunately, decent dojo aren't like Tesco's (one in every town)!

If only

K.

[muttley]

I know, I may well have to expand my search radius a bit.

[CredoTe]

...

Unfortunately, decent dojo aren't like Tesco's (one in every town)!

If only

K.

And, uh... a "Tesco" is...? Please forgive my American ignorance of things British... I would guess it's something like a McDonald's, Starbucks, Walmart, etc?

[Kusotare]

Tesco is a large supermarket chain here in the UK.

A bit like your Walmart.

K.

[CredoTe]

Tesco is a large supermarket chain here in the UK.

A bit like your Walmart.

K.

Ah...OK. Thx

[Th0mas]

I know, I may well have to expand my search radius a bit.

Hi Muttley

Whereabouts in Kent are you based?

Cheers

Tom

[FighterForLife]

All I want to do is find a club in my local area that teaches good self defence. After years of Shotokan Karate, I thought I had found a club but fell out of love with it, not sure if it was the club or the style that I just stopped enjoying. My trouble is finding a club that fits in with my shifts at work.

I want a martial art that will help with close combat as most of the stuff I face at work is in close quarters in confined space and some times against multiple opponents. I just can't seem to find a club that fits in, maybe it's partly down to my own bias towards Karate.

I see loads of clubs that are teaching a mix of "freestyle Karate", Kickboxing, Kung Fu etc etc but nothing more specific! It's starting to annoy me now.

Can yo be more specific? By that I mean WHY do you want self defense instead of all your other alternatives?

You mentioned your work and multiple opponents; are you a prison guard? Bouncer? Work with the mentally unstable? Is there anything that would stop you from using even a blunt force weapon like a kubotan or nightstick?

To your questions I might suggest Combat Hapkido. I trained in it personally and while I do not like that many techniques rely on fine motor skills (which will go bye-bye in an emergency), it has many, many techniques that allow for using pain compliance on your attacker. It also does well in on-your-feet grappling without tying you up with your opponent (so if you do end up in a multiple-attacker situation, you will at least be on your feet and quickly able to disengage)