age requirements to start karate?

[webmasterc]

This is a little bit off of the subject but somewhat related....I have noticed that since the 1st of the year, our classes have gotten much larger. Are martial art classes similiar to the health clubs with respect to folks making new year's "exercise" resolutions, sticking with it a month or two, and then dropping out? This is a common theme I used to see at the health clubs when I worked out. I'm wondering if the same thing happens in martial arts classes. Can I expect much smaller classes by, let's say, March?

Way to go Rachel! My son and I will be testing for our yellow belt in the next week or so....(!).

Regards,

webmasterc

 

[jfarnsworth]

Your going to see fluxuation from month to month. My experience has been that yes in Jan. & feb. more people join the martial arts. Then they realize it's hard work and don't want to put forth the effort then start to make excuses not to go. Then you'll find the summer months bare to the bones and an instructor starving for students. You'll get the combination of classes to make more sense to keep the doors open. Once school starts again in sept. you'll find once again an increase in studetns. By the end of the year it dwindles down again. Except for the serious students that hang in through thick and thin.

 

[rachel]

Good luck to you and your son on your test. Let us know how you do. At our school alot of kids drop out during the summer months making an ideal class size in my opinion. Then when school starts again the classes get larger. My friends daughter is in a class with 30 other kids. Not all show up but that's a lot I think.

 

[Shinzu]

rachel, small classes are the best!! i go to morning classes and they are very small. what a workout!! plus you have the instructors undivided attention to go over techniques and forms in heavy detail... i love it!

 

[rachel]

that's the whole point. the instructors undivided attention. If you aren't comfortable doing a technique and need more practice you'll get more help if 4 people are in class than 10 or 12 people .I love it when most people don't show up. I don't want to get lost in the crowd.When my friend and I were the only ones to show that night, the instructor asked us what WE wanted to work on. that was cool.

 

[webmasterc]

I couldn't agree more----the smaller the class, the more I get out of it. I'm using the Tracy system and they give you at least 2 private sessions per month with the head instructor who is a 4th dan. Those sessions are fantastic! Often in the group classes that are taught by his other black belt instructors, he will pair us off and give some individual instruction. I've never attended a lesson yet where the head instructor/owner wasn't there working with someone. I have been very happy with his school.

However, sometimes when I go I simply feel like getting a good workout rather than learning anything new (kicking and punching drills, flexibility drills, etc.). In those cases, it is fun to have a larger class and hear all of the simultaneous jabbing, kicking, and chopping!

 

[Eraser]

Hey

I think its cool when ANYONE decides to take up a MA..
Keep this in thought though.. if the first style you start to train in.. is not to your liking (for me.. Aikido was too hard on my lower back) try others... for me.. once the fire was lit in my soul.. I knew i was going to be in MA forever... I love the style that I practice now (Hon Sang Mu Sa Hapkido) I go six days a week.. i would love 7... but.. hey.. i'll take whatever they can throw at me..


Train well my MA friends..

 

[webmasterc]

Ok, I'm really deviating now from Rachel's original post but here goes! What does everyone feel is a reasonable time frame to earn a 1st Degree Blackbelt in Kenpo? I know, I know, it depends on how quickly you pick up taught skills, how often you train, etc. etc. I'm truly in no hurry because I'm primarily doing it because I enjoy it so much, it's great exercise, and it's an excellent skill to have. And perhaps this is even a question that isn't appropriate to ask but I'm just curious....thoughts?

 

[rachel]

Deviate away. My instructor said it's not out of the realm of possibility to have our black belts in 5 years. I thought that was pretty quick. I assumed you'd have to train alot longer for that but I'm new at this so what do I know. Good question.

 

[rmcrobertson]

Well, it took me about seven, and I was working out six days a week. But then, I'm kind of a clunk with zero kinesthetic/spatial memory....I used to call my basic mental state, "dogs watching TV."

However, it took my first teacher ten, and I know a couple of others who took ten years.

Mr. Tatum has been known to say that he could get someone to black belt in a year. You'd just have to train really, really hard for about ten hours or more a day, every day, no breaks no holidays, with him leaning over your shoulder all the time.

I couldn't have done that, and not just because of the time involved. I needed quite a while to even begin to unkink, and I don't just mean physically.

Fortunately, there's no rush. One of the nice things about taking so long to get to the rock bottom of the black belt totem pole is that it seems to have built training into my weekly (if not always daily) routine. I prefer to have taken so long, in other words, because it seems to have built kenpo into my life...now, I'm stuck with it. I'm not sure that would've happened in less time...and I've seen a few people rush to "get their belt," then quit once they've reached the Big O.

 

[Mike]

I know one person in my class who received his black belt in just under four years. He always seems to be at the studio. I hope that I can acheive the same. I'm sure it differs for everyone. Some people go to class four or five times a week and some go once a week. Some practice techniques at home daily, some only practice at the studio.

As to the original post, I just started Kenpo a few months ago at age 40, and I just turned 41. I wish that I had started when my son began taking classes 3 + years ago. I love it though. Kenpo also forces me to actively try to improve my flexibility. I am tall, 6'5", and my legs/hamstrings can get very tight. (but I see long arms/legs as an advantage in sparring).

 

[webmasterc]

Mike: What have you found are some of the best exercises to improve flexibily?

---From A Very Inflexible 42 Year Old Male!