Martial arts: every thing thread

[Lizra]

So should I enroll my seven year old son in karate? They want $99 up front, then sign a contract for 6 months at $70 a month! Way more pricey than I thought it would be!

[Sheeana]

Shop around. Karate is one of the most expensive Martial Arts in NZ, so it may also be true for the US. I would recommend that he do some martial art - the younger they start, the better.

[Lizra]

Yeah, especially since he's a thin, budding wise ass!

[Earniel]

Down here, I pay 20 euros a month for the lessons and 25 a year for membership of the national karate federation.

Does your son really want to do karate or just some martial art?

[congressmn]

i tool TAEK WON DO! lessons for 3 years. this martial art comes from Korea.

I can kick hard and on the head now.

[The Ben]

No, I don't recall the UFC. However, I am familier with the UFO.

[soadfan]

i used to take karate but quit after 2 years because i just didnt like it

[Linaewen]

I did karate for a while. 2 years, perhaps. I liked it, but everyone left, so it was boring.
I got up to green belt - could have done the gradings to get the brown tip, but....oh well, my Evil Half Elf skills suffice for now.

[Lizra]

My son thought karate sounded "cool"! He is rather competitive, and "macho" (for a little boy who just turned 7! ) He really enjoys sports, and has done well in soccer, Bball , and baseball. Some of the boys his age take wrestling, but I didn't like the sound of that! Karate sounded "intellectual". I was looking for something to promote self defense, self discipline, and quiet confidence. I don't really know that much about karate, it's the only martial art offered in our small town. But that price!

[Anglorfin]

That IS a lot. Just be careful though if he thinks of it as just being "cool" it might go to his head. I really can't stand it when martial artists go flaunting thier supposed skill with all the gusto of a Varsity football player. Try to prevent that and have him appreciate the actual "art" of it.

[Lizra]

That's the last thing we need! His head is rather "big" already! I'll have to watch for that!

[Anglorfin]

Then again, maybe this is what he needs to stop the swelling of his head. If he gets the crap kicked out of him enough he would eventually develop the mindset that there will always be somebody better than him, and learn to control himself instead of going off the deep end with "power".

[Lizra]

Ah ha!

[Ragnarok]

Originally posted by afro-elf
I'm back in Asia again for awhile. And I've been downing all the Kung Fu movies /Tv shows that I can

Does anyone here recall the UFC? ( ultimate fighting championships)

For those who don't it was a n event ( several ) in which it was a "no holds barred" multi martial arts competion. Basically all the punching, kicking arts were all crushed by grapplers.

Do you think martial arts makes people over confindent

I was watching some lady who had taken tae bo and said some insane remark like nobody had better mess with her.


I noticed that posters here said some similar things on what if they were suddenly transported into ME that recreational fencing would make them suddenly profiencient warriors

just the first thoughts

At my school our weight lifting coach's son has been training for UFC.

[Bombadillo]

THat's bull. Martial arts do NOT make people over confident. It's just that some arrogant assholes take martial arts (along with plenty of good people) and they're the only ones you hear about mostly. Look at Jackie Chan. If martial arts have made him over confident, I don't know... It just doesn't.

[Spock]

I must say that bad people to show up in martial arts schools and it's up to the instructor to try and weed them out. Not all owners are money hungry and one with principle will get rid of those who want to use the art for ill.
As for cost, I've no frame of reference for the land of NZ but it does seem high. Perhaps you might find someone who doesn't have a school but is willing to teach. It's a possible alternative.

[Lizra]

This would be a price for USA! I think Sheeana was just comparing to NZ. The man who runs this school appears to be around 50, and often gets mentioned in the paper for his students getting trophys etc. They said we could try one week free. (3 nights a week) That means you take you kid, they make sure he loves it, then your kid whines and pleads for you to shell out the bucks!

I just wondered why it would cost so much! The $99 up front pays for registration and the uniform, which I could get as a hand-me-down from a friend...so bleah, to that part! $70 a month....they meet 3 times a week, (once would be fine with me? is three times necessary?) so that would be $5.88 an hour. (I hope it's an hour, surely it is! )
That sounds a little high, but not outrageous, I guess it's the meeting so much that makes the price high. Oh, I just don't have and extra $840 a year laying around in the budget! Hmmmm, decisions! Maybe wrestling would be better?? cheaper! OK, What would a young (7) boy get out of karate lessons...hopefully!

[johnnyrod]

I started laerning karate a few months ago (grading on the 5th July, eeek), so I don't claim to know a lot. If you want to know the cost, it was £55 to join and get my kit, and it's £2.50 for each 2h session.

Does it make me over-confident? I don't think so; as well as being shown how to slap people it also teaches you to think about what you're doing, and the style I'm learning (Mayo Shin Do) steers away from plank-breaking and so on, leaning more towards only clattering poeple if you have to. To me that makes a lot more sense. But as some people have said, there are bad apples, and the instructors try to weed them out. No accounting for individuals.

[Arat-Falathion]

I really enjoyed reading this, I am taking TKD and Kickboxing classes myself and doing acrobatics with some friends.

I agree that MA isn't very handy in a streetfight, not handy for the normal human being. Once you attain a certain level however that drastically changes. That is my experience anyway, not that it has happened to me, but my TKD trainer (korean guy) is one of those who has devoted his life to his style. He teaches TKD 5 days a week! I've seen this guy fight in the streets, he took down 9 men! Yes, he got hurt, but 9 men?!

The normal blackbelt of any art wouldn't nessesarily stand a fight in the streets. I'd say that only those who devote their lives to it and truly have the talent, are those who makes the difference.

I'd like to see someone punch a straight puch at such a guy, believing he actually was going to hit his mark!

I must admit that in the beginning I was too self confident for my own good, but as I changed TKD school and got this korean master as my mentor, things changed drastically. I do not look at myself as a superior to anyone, because I lack the talent and dedication nessesary to become good enough.

Oh, and one tip out of own experience. For gods sake, if you first come in a brawl in the streets do kick low, not high. Atleast do this until you attain enough power. I did lack power, and my highkick was blocked with a simple armblock to the head, and left me open as the blue blue sky. I'd say kick to the skin, knee or groin, then continue with punches and throws.

I am by no means an expert on this matter. And I see that there are atleast two posting here that really know what they are talking about. What I have written above is my own thoughts and beliefs, not nessesarily what you would experience as true.

- Falathion

[Earniel]

I don't think my karate classes are making me overconfident. I still see myself as the slowest and worst student of the group. And there's this feisty little thing with a blue belt and some 10 years younger than me and he gives these very nasty flashing kicks! And then there's the woman at our club of whom I heard she's a triple European champion! I know I'll never get THAT good and I don't really want to. One training a week is good enough for me. If I can keep myself from being beat up, I'm happy. But I'm glad our teacher focuses a lot on self defense instead of competition. It suits me better.