Seeking opinons on possible new dojo

[chiliphil1]

Consider these questions:

How is the dojo atmosphere?

Remember that discipline can take many forms and is not necessarily like boot camp. A good instructor can motivate and convey a point to students without barking at them. Training and practise are up to the individual and results depend on personal efforts. The instructor is only there to advise and guide, not police the students.

How is training approached?

To be effective training has to be structured with clear goals. Techniques should be taught and domonstrated in detail, instead of just copying and repeating the movement. This is especially important for the most basic techniques. Kata ought to be analyzed, studied and picked apart to understand every move; not just memorized as a block.

There are of course other criteria for choosing a dojo but these depend on individual goals for training.

This is the one thing that I liked. The youth students have their goals written on the wall, the adults get a book with everything outlined.

At the same time it also put me off just a bit because they, like so many others seem to concentrate on rank, it's not that "you will get better and belts will come" it's "here's what you do to get to the next belt" I guess that isn't too big of an issue but I find myself being turned off by the rank,rank,rank thing.

Now, as far as training methods those I also did and did not like. Firstly, when they were practicing kata they did it as a 2 person group, one would attack while the other executed the kata, I really liked that because it shows the practical use of the movements rather than learning a dance routine you are learning to apply the techniques and how they work. The rest of it was more of the point and shoot type stuff where you just hit the bag and that was that which is fine, just not as well explained. I did notice that they put an emphasis on why your hand went here and no there, if the hand is here you can counter, block, etc. I did like that part.

Perhaps I didn't get the full view since I was a newbie, maybe I was holding them back from their normal routine? I'm not sure.. I spoke with the other local Shorin-Ryu dojo earlier and am going to take their introductory class tonight and see how it goes, if all is well I will sign with him, if not I'll figure it out but the more I think about it the more I think the first one I went to may not be right for me or the kids.

[JR 137]

I was going to respond a few times, but got side tracked each time. The more you type, the more I want to tell you you should look at other schools. Way too many red flags for me. At the end of the day, the most important thing is the training, aka "the proof is on the floor." If the training feels right, that's all that matters. If you find yourself looking for justifications, it's a good sign that you won't be their for the long-haul.

[chiliphil1]

I wanted to update everyone. I went to the free class at the new dojo and I signed up with them. They offer the same program, in fact this instructor and the one at the first school came up together and are from the same lineage!

This place had a much better atmosphere, they were much more structured and it didn't have that pushy "used car salesman" feel. I think I've made a good choice here.

They also do not have contracts! It's month to month and I worked out a deal where it's roughly the same price but it includes 2 classes a week. I'm gonna take all the kids on Thursday and see how they like it, I'm happy and excited, I think this should be a great thing, but if it isn't I'm not stuck!

Thank you all for the advice on this, I think it would have been a big mistake to join the first school.

[sensei8]

That's great new; glad to hear it, chiliphil1!! The only thing left to do is to...

Train hard!!

[chiliphil1]

My children and I attended our first formal class this evening and I am absolutely thrilled!

The children classes were very good, structured but still fun and not restrictive. My class was great as well, very small, only 4 students including me which was nice, got some one on one time with the instructor and went over all of the ciriculum for the yellow belt and I got some great pointers on what I was doing wrong and what I need to unlearn!

All in all a great experience and I am so glad that I picked this dojo over the other one.

[Spodo Komodo]

Sounds like you are in the right place now. Congratulations and enjoy your training!

[JR 137]

I love it when a plan comes together. Congrats.