Anyone taken part in any lessons before? I signed myself up tonight and my first lesson is Tuesday night. I figured I should try to get out more, and Karate is something I've wanted to do for years now. I'm only doing a beginning trial to see if I like it. Apparently they have a lot of people signing up so when I attend, there should be heaps of people who haven't done it before so I won't feel too nervous. This is a big freaking deal for me because I am so shy I never go out to meet people. I have paid the registration fee though, so I have basically forced myself to get out of the house and mingle with people. Lets hope I stick with it. I'm trying to get some friends to sign up too so I won't feel so alone. I'm kind of excited.
If youre doing it to get out of the house, meet people, and get a little excersise - fine. But if you're doing it because you are actually interested in self defense or combat sports, you're wasting your time with Karate. Karate teaches you some extremely bad habits and unrealistic BS if you actually end up in a real fight.
It's mainly to get out of the house and meet people. I've spent years alone so walking through those doors will be the hardest thing I'll ever have to do...but I hope I can stick with it, at least for the four months I already paid for!
my grand father once told me that you can do anything that you want to do if you really want to do it. but if you really don't want to do something then you can find a thousand reasons why you can't do it. come on girl, grid thy loins ahd get it done.
Good for you! I hope that you enjoy the lessons and meet new friends. Keep us posted as to how things are going.
I practiced for over 9 years and once I'm back in Idaho I will take it back up. I am not far from my Black Belt, but I never could make the evaluations to get it, but I was the assistant instructor for the classes.
Kronikcope makes some good points. Most traditional arts are full of things that look cool and work well in a controlled environment... but would almost guarantee a win to your opponent in an actual fight. I started out with Hap-Ki-Do. It's like Tae Kwon Do with an emphasis on different pressure points, throws, joint manipulation etc.. I learned a lot about what causes pain... but not necessarily how to use it in a practical fashion. Most traditional arts are this way... more philisophical than realistic... though sometimes those guys get lucky If you end up liking martial arts, and wish to learn truly effective skill, you should study Muay Thai and Brazilian Ju Jitsu. Most MMA schools offer both plus more. You don't have to train as hard and as seriously as those who compete in order to be a competent fighter. Both Muay Thai and BBJ are straight to the point, realistic, and effective. BBJ is a good choice for women as you learn to fight from the same positions that a male aggressor would likely put you in. You could realistically submit a much larger person using basic BJJ technique, especially if they don't know what is going on. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h0GkOcnthE"]YouTube - Brazilian Jiu-jitsu for Women[/ame] And Muay Thai is just f-'n brutal, and reality based. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlpOCUq3nYo"]YouTube - Muay Thai Knockouts[/ame] Notice how quickly and easily some of the knockouts happen with an elbow!
My Shotokan instructor thought the same thing and we actually would train in other arts as well. My teacher would always talk about kinetics and using karate as a base to build upon.
Right on. Shotokan guys mix it up pretty well, they actually fight. I'd have to say that Japanese traditional styles are least guilty of being "flowery", like Chinese and Korean arts. Have you ever seen fight quest? These guys travel the world studying different arts. Here is a clip from Japan. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo5PljH4NBY"]YouTube - Kyokushin Karate 1 (Fight Quest)[/ame]
If they ask you to pay in advance - leave. If they guarantee a black belt - leave. If there are more kids than adults - probably leave. If they seem in any way more interetsted in making money than teaching you to fight - leave and don't look back.
I agree for the most part with you, but the 3rd one. Even at 12 I started out in the adult class, but through the years of absence and attendance I would attend both the kids class and the adult class. I was in great shape, but I learned a lot about kids as we had anything from 8 on up which obviously there is going to be something that happens when its a handful of adults with 20 kids.
I have paid a registration fee, nothing else. For the actual lesson I pay on the night. They haven't promised a black belt - from what I have read, it takes about four years to get that far. They have a kids class before the adults, so no need to worry about that! And as for the last one, that will take a few lessons before I figure it out - but the company (or whatever you call them) are hugely popular, they are pretty much everywhere, so they must be doing alright.
If you're going for the social aspect, awesome. If you're going because you think that you'll be able to defend yourself if someone pulls a knife or a gun and tries to mug you......... not so awesome. That whole aspect of martial arts is a scam. Very few people are able to be that good.
Just came back from the first class. It was fun, but very difficult. I'm amazed that the little kids there can be so good, its so cool! We just learned basic stuff, blocks, kicks and punches, most of which I have forgotten. Seems to be a lot about balance. I suck at my balance so thats something I will work on. The bowing is actually the easiest part! I'm going back next week. It was fun enough and I did enjoy myself.
I like much more Ju-Jutsu, that I think that is much more effective than karate, if you want a martial art and self-defense. But I expect that you enjoy the Karate classes. Every martial art is good, and has his bad points.
That's an unfair assessment. Training in a martial art, even ones that aren't optimal for combat, would still put you head and shoulders above the average person on the street with zero training. The average person would be decimated by a half decent green belt. Just the act of training your body for combat puts on in a better position in a street fight. Personally, I've been training in Muay Thai off and on for nearly a decade. Just being physically ready for combat is a huge plus physically as well as mentally. The increase in confidence will be huge for you. And Mak, training in any martial art puts you in a global club/brotherhood of martial artists regardless of the disciple (although Jujitsu folks do tend to hang out with other Jujitsu folks, Judo folks tend to hang out with Judo folks, etc.).
Best advice I ever got was to focus on your form. With good form, power will come. So practice! Think about how it can apply in your everyday life, not just in the dojo.
I completly disagree. I've seen a 16 year old high school wrestler toss a 20 something year old black belt in Karate around like a ragdoll at our Gracie academy here in Columbus. Karate instills far too many bad habits in a person who trains strictly Karate. Moving the head back instead of covering up, chin high, punching style, the whole 1 strike in and out crap since Karate is a point sport, hands low, etc. Mak is a woman too; unless she's gets into a scrap with another woman who knows nothing about fighting, Karate is pretty worthless. A self defense class, MMA class, etc would be far more valuable if she's going to take the time to practice something.
16 year old WRESTLER. This is why I pointed out people that are not trained, which is pretty much most people. Most people have zero idea how to protect themselves in a fight. Just knowing how to attack and defend, even incorrectly to a degree, would be a tremendous help against the average joe. People often flail about throwing wide looping punches, making the straight in and out very useful. People usually throw straight punches in a street fight (making the in and out defense worthless). I think it should also be mentioned that strikers are often hard pressed to keep a grappler off of them in a combat situation if not trained to do so. I'm not a big karate fan, but it's certainly better than no training at all in a fight. Mak would be fine against the average joe as her confidence alone would be a massive deterrent.
Like I said, mak is a woman. If she ever gets attacked there is a much greater chance it's going to be from a man than a woman. A self defense class would be far more beneficial. She's not ever going to be able to escape a male attacker using karate at any level....and if she would happen to be fighting a woman all that karate goes out the door the second they start grabbing each others hair, which seems to be instilled in women by evolution (or something She needs to he taught how to attack the eyes, groin, bite, effective punching, knees and elbows if she ever expects to realistically defend herself properly in a attack. I hate to see someone waste their time on nonsense when they could be actually putting their efforts into something much more effective and proven.
