Tiger Schulmann

Hi all,

www.tsk.com

Does anyone know about this group and whether they're any good? I have a friend who is thinking about joining them and I'd like any feedback I can get.

Cheers

Matt

 

Tiger Schulmann’s Karate

Looks like a BIG operation. I'm sure some of our friends from over the pond will have heard of them.

 

I have an issue of Black Belt with him in it. He seems to be the real deal. However, you can never tell until you actually go there.

 

Mc Shulman's, or do you want fries with that belt?

Wow, I am amazed that place has spread that far! But like they say, s..t floats(Do you Britishers know that one?) The commercials for that place are all over the TV here, and are appalling. They all have some poor twerp getting roughed up at school,then cut to McShulman's Tiger Style Death Ninja School and the twerp, now a tough guy,getting his revenge, and saying 'Thanks Tiger Schulman!'. In makes me cringe! It looks like those old body building ads with the skinny guy getting sand kicked in his face! All of our collective Karate Kid nightmares have been revived and turned into a money machine.
No practitioner I know has EVER heard of this clown. he seems to be someone very good at exploiting children's and parents' fears about 'self defense'.
Please do not give this person your money. There are many REAL schools with solid LINEAGES looking for SERIOUS people, this is more POP TAE-BO MA-LITE for the masses. This is American pop culture at its very worst.
I SMELL FRIES!!!

 

i asked abt him, word of mouth is that they are known for opening schools closing down and ppl losing their $, and it looks more mcdojo and commercial oriented then any other martial art (more emphesis on rank then on technique), if you wanna buy a black belt, they abt $7 in martial arts stores.
but hey you may as well try out the free class.

 

Only one way to find out. Go train at his place. Just don't commit to anything.

 

In the New York / New Jersey area his fight team always does a good job. I am not talking about point sparring/kata tournies I am talking about full contact kickboxing/mauy thai/grappling matchs. The Louis Neglia produced matchs always has Tigers team competing. I know that the schools vary depending on the instructor. I know Tiger was sued becuase he fired a instructor who was very out of shape saying how can you teach if you can not do. I also heard it is expensive.

 

Yeah, they seem to be pretty much into some of the more hardcore areas of fighting and they apparently don't seem worried about failing BB's either. Can be a good sign. Some of his people are super fit!

 

The general word on Tiger's programs is your milage may vary. Word is that, as others have stated, the quality varies between schools. It's also DEFINITELY a contract situation. And there have bee problems with his schools brow beating people in long contracts in the past (if you google him and "class action" I believe you come up with something from the NY State Attorney General).

At the same time, it's acknowledged that his fighters are pretty good. There are rumors that some of them don't come out of his programs (ie he headhunts and hires good fighters). As far as I know those are just rumors.

- Matt

 

TSK first hand experience

Hi all,

My name is Steve. I am new to this forum and new to MA.
I am not defending Tiger Schulmann just giving my first hand experience.

I am 40 yrs old and have been training at TSK for the last 4 months. I love it. They make you work extremely hard. When I started I was 5"8' tall and weighed 188.5 lbs. I now weigh 172 lbs(still the same height). I have become much more muscular and flexable. I am becoming long and lean.

The cost is expensive, yes I signed up for 65 classes in advance. ( I love it so much I added another 350 classes) I don't see anything wrong with that. If you are dedicated it is worth it.

The adult class average age is about 30-35yrs. I now am attending about 6 hours a week. They train us hard. They offer basic Karate classes. After a while you are required to take kickboxing(yes we spare) and submission grappling (the grappling is brutal). In addition to this every 8 weeks or so they have board breaking seminars to test test your strengh and tech.

As far as ranks (belts) after you reach the minimum hours you begin a six week testing phase in which you must demonstrate your skills. Kicks, Punches,blocks, holds and strength ie; push ups sit ups and other factors based on goals you and your Sensei have set. Belts aren't just handed out do to attendance. The avarege person to obtain his/her black belt is 3-5 years.

Even though they have 42 schools the instruction is uniform. Every Sensei trains once a week with Tiger schulmann to insure all the schools are on the same par.

Another cool thing is every 6 months they hold a tornament were all the schools get together and compete against each other in eaither grappling and or kickboxing paired up in wieght class and experience level.

All in all it is expensive, yes, you sign up in advance for lessons. The drop out rate is low, perhaps the contract weeds out any people on the fence. They do offer a 1 month introductory offer for about $100.00 bucks. In my case I couldn't walk for about 1 week after my first class.
Another great thing is there is no experation date you can take 65 classes over ten years if you want. Also you can train at any TSK.

My reason for MA my be different from yours. For me getting in great shape, building endurance & flexablity were my main goals, being able to take care of business (If called for) is also a plus!

If the fact that they are a chain constitutes a Mc Dojo then so be it. As for the quality of the training I'd think any of you hardcore guys might be surprised.

Please check out their website and Judge for your self

www.tsk.com

Steve

 

If youre willing to spend TONS of money..sure why not... I went to check it out once, and the classes looked good...but when it came down to the money issue, it would have cost me over $300 per month to take only three classes a week... Thats just rediculous in my book... thats a car payment!

Deffinitely not worth the money in my opinion. You can find a great art for at MOST a third of that price...with more individual attention. I was amazed at how many parents actually spend that kind of money for their 6 year olds to train, when they could get just as good elsewhere...(if not better, I didnt watch enough to judge how good it was... just watched one class and then laughed in the face of the guy who told me how much it cost and I left)

 

the money

Your are right about the money. It is expensive. I don't mind spending the money. My son is 6 yrs he also takes TSK. We are on a family plan so it is the same price as I a single person went.The gear also gets expensive. Kickboxing, grappling and such.Like I said I don't want to be Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris or Jean-Claude (my son does).

TSK locations are usually in large shopping malls in upscale locations. This way Karate (soccer moms) have a place to go for an hour while the kids take their class. The marketing aspect is great. The facilities are always beautiful and clean.

 

Welcome to MAP Stevecal! Thanks for giving us the insiders view. Quite frankly it pretty much matches up with the image that I've gathered about TSK. Glad to hear you're loving it. That's what matters most.

- Matt

 

I have a dumb statement, 3-5 years for a blackbelt? Shouldnt it take slightly longer? At least? Just a thought.

 

It's not a dumb statement, but it is a common length for black belt these days. This has been debated at fair length on the forum, and basically three is regarded as the minimum for a serious belt, barring special circumstances (although some believe this is still far too short a period), while four five or six are the other numbers that tend to come up. These all presume regular and fairly intense training, I believe.

...except for BJJ. But we knew that.

Hope that helps,

Take care,

Stalks

 

Never been to a class so I can't truly speak on the quality. The martial artists I know who have witnessed some classes did not give a ringing endorsement though. I can say by the commercials that it doesn't look like somewhere I would want to train but that's my opinion and it doesn't mean that someone else couldn't enjoy training there.

 

iv heard one of the reason they do so good in tornements is because scince its a succesful chain ALOT of people enter the tornements. im not sticking by this but its jus sumtin i heard before.

 

Thank you

Mat,

Thank you for the warm welcome. It can be a bit intimidating posting in a forum where you are a novice.

I don't think I will post much. I will read alot. I have found a lot of helpful hints to help me become a better student. Many of you guys seem to know your stuff.I am not familier whith all the different styles.
I do not consider myself a Martial artist, more like a guy who uses Martial arts to keep my mind sharp and my body in top shape.Perhaps In the future I may take up other styles.

I must admit I do like the contact aspect. It was great the first time I was able to repeatedly take down a 6 ft 240 lb guy. I know it was only in class but being only 5'8" and giving up about 70lbs, it was really cool.


Steve

 

Congratz on the takedowns. It's a great feeling.

- Matt

 

If you feel it's worth the $$$ and have realistic expectations, then more power to you. That's the important thing.