My story. Want to start training karate, but I'm confused

[bushido_man96]

Great information, Bob! Great points!

[Joppe]

*A style focused on the power of the mind as much as the power of the fist. Calmness, selfcontrol and security means more to me, than beeing able to beat people up in a different ways.

Those tenets do exist, or they should. So, you'll be seeing, feeling, and learning those things in a quality dojo.

*I value tradition and respect, and expect that to be a natural part of the training.

That should be found in a quality dojo. It shouldn't be forced, but expected from ALL, instructor(s) and students alike.

* It does not have to be realistic. I have not needed streetfighting skills for my first 36 years, I doubt I will need it in the future. I am not the guy that gets in fights.

EFFECTIVE!! That's what you should be looking for. Is, what you're learning, effective? If not, RUN!! The idea is to not be in a fight, but if it happens, hopefully you'll have enough to apply it effectively.

*Grading should be a natural part of the learning process. I dont see gradings and belts as something exclusive, where every single grading should take years to achieve. In other words - rather many gradings in the beginning to keep the motivation up, and fewer and more demanding the more experienced I get.

Can I be honest? You might not like this.

This, and this alone would not allow me to accept you as a student. Why? You will grade when it's appropriate, not sooner. We conduct testing cycles every quarter, but, you have to be invited by myself. If you want to test at the Hombu, same thing, you have to be invited. However, your request must first be approved, and then, and only then will you possible receive an invitation. A request doesn't guarantee an invite to test. With both, you have to first turn in your request for testing with myself, if you're at my dojo, or with the Hombu if you want to test there. But at the Hombu, that testing cycle is once a year, but every quarter for those who call the Hombu their home dojo.

In that, rank isn't important! Knowledge is!! In that, Effective applied knowledge is tantamount!! Please, don't worry about when you can test, but worry about what knowledge you are gaining.

I'm not there to motivate students through testing grades because not all pass, and our fail rate is high. Why? Because we're extremely, well, stubborn in that area. Our expectations are high, and not because we want to be, it's because we have to. Our students expect that, and they want it no other way!!

Let the testing cycles happen whenever they happen, and when they do, let the testing cycle take care of itself. Train hard, and train well!!

* A good way to get in shape (I know food means more than excersize, but it would be great if the training could help getting me in shape).

Oh yeah...you'll get in shape because you'll be challenged each and everyday at the dojo.

Hang in there, visit as many schools of the MA that you can. When you find one you like, visit it a ton of times for all ranks and ages to get the feel of the entire dojo. Ask for a trail-lesson as well.

You'll be fine!!

Thanks for a great post and good answers.

I think you might have misunderstood my thoughts about grading.

I see grading as something connected to skill. Skill is not acquired automatically by time, but by effort. Different students put different amount of effort in their training, and thus the grading should take different amount of time. The requirements should be high, but if the student can reach the requirements, I think he should be graded in a fair way, be proud of his achievement and motivated to continue on the path.

What I don't want, is a view that grading should be exclusive and exotic.

In my old Aikodo dojo, skill was not enough for a grading. The dojo wanted an 'image' of the dojo as one that "did not give out grades easily". Students that were highly skilled, were not graded, because the dojo wanted to uphold this image.

2-3 years to grade from 10-9 kyu to uphold the dojo's image, killed my motivation.

I have spent most of my adult life at a university. Both as a student and a professor. I tend to see MA grading in the same light as academic grading.

I don't give Bachelor or master degrees to students just because the have enrolled in the university or have spent a certain amount of time as students. They have to reach the requirements. For some it takes a few years, for others decades. But when the can perform at the required level, I don't hesitate in giving them the degree they deserve.

[bushido_man96]

It sounds like you've got a good idea of what you want to see out of making progress. If you go visit some schools, ask the instructors about how they approach gradings, and you should be able to nail down someone with similar ideas to yours.

[wagnerk]

...I was surprised that most of them seemed 'dodgy' (old warehouses and people with a little too many tribal tattoos kind of club)..

I wouldn't judge on the appearance of the outside of the training hall. It could be that they hire out the place for X amount of time a week to keep the costs down. I've been studying various martial arts since the late 90's and none of them have had their own building. Plus I've met quite a lot of tattooed martial artists who are as talented and as nice as the non-tattooed ones

...But I found some that left a good impression. When it comes down to the clubs and the atmosphere, my options are shotokan and Gyu-ryu..

I've haven't tried Goju-ryu, but I have seen them, quite impressive. However I'm partial to Shotokan as that was my first art that I ever trained in and that has given the basis on which I have built the rest of my MA skills on.

With Shotokan, in general (provided you meet the requirements and are asked to grade), the gradings are every 3 months until you get to purple & white (4th kyu) or brown belt (3rd kyu), then it's every 6 months to 1st Kyu. Then it's about a year from 1st kyu to 1st Dan. That's an average (with an average of about 4 to 4 1/2 years to get to 1st Dan), but like I said provided you meet the requirements and are asked to grade.

Saying that some people have been promoted to 1st Dan in under 2 years (Hirokazu Kanazawa for example) and some have take more than 20 years.

...Maybe I should just take the free beginners classes both places, and see what I like the most.

Cool, keep us updated on your progress on whichever one you end up going with.

[blade1116]

Since everyone else chimed in here is my opinion. Hapkido! It is a korean martial art,not a sport. It is very much about focusing your mind and body together. It does not require you to be the strongest guy in the room, just the one who is smart enough to keep his head about them. Marc Tedeschi wrote a book on Hapkido, it is great. I have been doing it for over ten years and I love it.

[Joppe]

Time for an update.

I picked the three dojos that gave me the best impression and tried the free trial class in all three of them (I didn't know my hamstring could get so sore so fast )

The styles were Gojo-ryu, Shotokan and Kyokushin

I talked to the sensai/sempai at the different dojos, and they were great answering all my questions.

I liked all of the styles, even though kyokushin was a little bit too phisychal for my taste.

After lots of thinking and consideration I decided to go with the Shotokan Dojo. The main reason was the great impression I got from the sempai, and that I felt immediately welcomed by the others in the class.

Now I have been to a couple of classes, and I love it. Great dojo, great sempai and I look forward to every class.

Now I need to buy a Gi and wear my wite belt with pride.

Thanks for all the input. It has been really helpfull.

[wagnerk]

All three are excellent styles and glad that you made a decision (however if in the future you want a change, you could try out Tang Soo Do ).

Keep us updated on how you go, especially on your first grading (which will probably be in 3 months time).

[Joppe]

Time for an update...

Two months has gone since I started. Still love it and still very motivated

My view on training karate has change alot in these two months.

First of all, it is much tougher than I expected (or maybe I was in a lot worse shape than I thought I was). Training is hard, I really have to push myself to be able to keep up in the cardio and strength exercises. But it is getting easier for every class.

Kihon is working fine. Stances are the hardest, and being 6'4'' doesn't make it easier.

Kumite is fun. A lot more contact than I expected, but that is good. I learn the importance of a block faster with the threat of getting a fist in my face

Kata is my favorite. Tough, demands a lot of concentration, but is also meditative for me.

My first grading is coming up next month. I feel good abut it. I still have tons of work to do, but I feel that I will do good as long as I keep up with the class and do my best.

In the beginning my knees were constantly tired and aching. I was worried that they were taking to much pressure and that karate was a bad idea. But after some extra leg workout in the weekends, and I guess with time, they don't bother my any more.

As you can read in the tread, I was concerned a lot about grading when I started out. But now when I know when the grading are, and I know what will be demanded from me, grading is not important for me.

Getting lower in my stances is important. Getting in better shape is important. Improving my Heian Shodan is important.

I'm glad I started my karate journey and I would like to thank everyone here for helping me out.

[Wastelander]

That's great to hear, Joppe! Thanks for the update!

[tallgeese]

Excellent to hear! Please keep us updated, especially about your grading!