I started out studying American Kenpo when I was 13 and did that all the way up until I was about 16, then I had to move to a different city where there were no American Kenpo schools. So, I checked out a Chinese Kenpo school and wasn't very impressed, then I went to a Wushu place about a block away from my house and it was perfect. When I saw the higher level belts they were exactly where I wanted to be. So I did Wushu until I was about 18, then I joined the military and for one reason or another I haven't done anything for the past 3 years, except some kickboxing on my own. There are no American Kenpo schools are Wushu schools here. So, I've been looking for a new school since I moved to this new city for about a year, but only really started seriously looking about 4 months ago. Here's what has happened so far. 1st place- <insert random name here> Martial Arts - I called this guy and he beat around the bush for about 15 minutes and never really told me what style he taught, he would only tell me that he taught "kung fu" so I'm like forget this guy. 2nd place- Wannabe Ninja who teaches his own version of Robert Bussey's style- Ok this guy was actually a pretty decent martial artist, it definately wasn't ninjutsu but he could throw a proper kick. But he taught out of his basement and didn't have any other students, and I really didn't want to learn another style that I can't find in the next city that I move to. 3rd place- Bujinkan - This is the real deal, I'm really excited about this place, and I would get a military discount, the instructor also studied for 3 years in Japan with Hatsumi. But he's a lousy instructor and does the whole, "work on this technique" and then leaves for 15 minutes thing. I really was going to look past that but he only teaches morning classes and I work days, so it just wouldn't work out. 4th- Wing Chun- This place smelled like old cheese- the instructor looked like Jason Lee from Mall Rats and he was very reluctant about me watching the class. His best student was about 300 pounds overweight, and he couldn't stop talking about how much better his style was than anything that I've ever done and it was about a half hour away from my house. 5th place- ITA TKD - I was extremely excited about this place, it's about 2 blocks away from my house, I never really liked TKD much but recently I've had a change of heart and thought I would check it out. WRONG. This place reeked of french fries. There was this giant 300 pound guy sitting at the front desk and he asked me to fill out this questionaire, no big deal. So, while I'm filling this thing out I watch the class. WOW. For an "Adult Advanced Class" there sure was a lack of "adults" and anybody that even resembled someone who was advanced (except for the really hot instructor) So I asked the large fat man at the desk inconspicuously, "how long have these people been in class?" and he said the lowest ranked people in this class were green belts and had been in for a year. Sorry but not one of these kids could throw a decent side kick, not even the brown belts. Then I ask him how much and he says, "$119 per month" and I'm like "holy crap!" I've never seen anything more than $60!" and he's like "well the price fluctuates, trust me he's an excellent instructor" but he wasn't even there! So I ask him if their curriculum consists of mainly WTF or ITF or both, because I've done my research and I know that ITA doesn't have set curriculums and he has no idea what I'm talking about even though he's been there for 3 years. Oh yeah and you test about every 3 months or so, and each test is $50! HOLY CRAP! The last time I checked the ITA site there were no charges for belt tests. Sorry the TKD section was longer than the rest but it's the freshest in my memory because I just went there tonight. So what should I do? Should I keep looking? I'm really sick of getting my hopes up for nothing.
Hahahaha. Been there done that! The sad truth is this: it can be extremely difficult to find a decent MA sometimes. How to fix it? Beats me really, but I was in the exact same situation for a long time. My troubles finnished when I started catching the buss into the city everyday for university. This opened up hundreds of clubs that I never had access to way out in the suberbs. Now I just stay late and train in the evenings. As for wether or not you should give up looking, thats simple. Just ask yourself this: Do you want to do Martial Arts? Yes? Well, there you go.
1. Choy Lay Fut Kung Fu 2. Muay Thai 3. Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu 4. Hung Gar Kung Fu 5. Brazilian Jujitsu 6. Japanese Jujitsu 7. Repeat Process Any one of these will do you good, trust me on this one. There are others, I'm sorry if I didn't mention them. These just came to mind the fastest.
Nope. I know I'm just getting really discouraged because the first time I did it, I went to the 2 schools that were nearest me and they were both good, I just had to pick the better of the two, but this time it just sucks. I do want to do MA though as it's the only thing I've ever really been good at. Thanks for your help, but I am thinking about just forgetting about it for a while, between this and work I'm a nervous wreck. 1. Not here but interested. 2. Not interested, there is a place about 20 miles from here though. 3. Not here. 4. Not here. 5. Not interested and not here. 6. Not here but very interested. 7. Unfortunately, there aren't any legitimate Kung Fu schools near here, except for that Wing Chun place. Thank you all for your help, I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, I have to go out of town soon for over a month, so maybe I'll just continue looking when I get back. I did find 3 more places recently that don't advertise and are real cheap too so I'll check those out. They're Goju Ryu, JKD and ITF TKD.
Goju Ryu is one of the most reputable styles of Karate around, so you probably can't go wrong with that one. I have never done ITF but have watched a few of their tournaments and was quite impressed. Only thing is their methods and standards tend to vary a bit in different areas.
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Deathskull: 20 miles isn't actually all that far if you have transport... If you have a car and can't find anywhere closer, try expanding outwards to see what further options you have.
Once I go to Uni, I'll be travelling over 20 miles to go to Kung Fu. A while back I would travel just over 20 miles to go to Aikido. It's not that far providing you have a good method of transport like car or train to get there.
Yeah, I was pretty excited about that ITA place because I'm pretty sure that's what Thomas does, but I guess that varies as well. This ITF place seems to be very traditional and formal though. Dude, I already promoted myself to 1000th degree black belt. Yeah I actually started out looking out further, the RBWI place, the Bujinkan place and the WC place were all about 20-30 miles away. I have a truck but it's old and I try not to drive it further than I have to, but I just found those 3 places at a gym/community center very near here, so I think I'll be checking those out soon. The JKD class starts May 1st though, and the ITF class is on thursday so I'll probably go there tomorrow.
Well, i have a bit of a biased, but the bujinkan seems to be a good idea. I mean, maybe you just went on a bad day when the instructor was feeling like poo or something. Ask the students about how he teaches and try and sit in on another class, or attend one. Even if i try and ignore my feeling to turn everyone into ninjas, i have to say, out of the classes listed, it seems like your best bet. 1 reason is, if you move, theres bound to be another bujinkan/genbukan school near you. 2nd reason is you dont have to pay for ranks or any of that crap. Too bad there isnt a genbukan school near you, at least they have set curriculuums,
Well like I said, I was going to look past that and train there anyways but there ended up being a conflict with schedules as he teaches morning classes and I work straight days now. Also, it is very different than anthing else I've ever done and I want something that I can use my prior knowledge with, and personally if I had a prospective student participating in class I think I would try harder to make a good first impression.
