Train in Japan

[bjc999]

Hi everyone,

My dream is to study different martial arts in Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, The Philippines and the US with authentic schools and teachers, rather than business/money driven schools here in England.

I have decided to start my journey in Japan, studying Karate and Aikido primarily. I don't want to work and train at evenings a few times per week. I want to train full time, all day, 7 days a week, for as long as it takes!

If anyone has any info on somewhere that this is possible I would be very grateful.

I am ready to quit my job and go!

Many thanks,

Ben

 

[oaktree]

Hi Ben,

First maybe the schools in your area are charging what they think is a fair price or trying to make a living off it. So lets not jump to conclusions.

Second if you truly want to train all over Asia then be prepared to spend some money on it.

You said Japan is your first spot can you speak the language?
Have you thought on how to get a visa? You say you are not going to work while in Japan do you have a lot of money saved up to go there and train every day?

Japan is not cheap but if you have the money than go for it.
I hope you make up a real good plan on how you are going to do things.
Learn the languages of the places you will visit because it could be a life saving skill for you.

 

[Mark Jordan]

Points to consider:

* What you want to get out of the trip?
*The quality of your training depends on many factors, no matter where you train
*If you do not understand the language, your ability to understand the training may be limited.
* It may take a while to find the best dojo/instructor or schedule for you especially because information is not always readily available.
* In general, the cost of living allowance in Japan is very expensive.

 

[Aiki Lee]

I think everyone has this dream at some point. I vacationed in Japan and China for a while and got to train with different martial artists while I was there. They were good, but nothing I haven't seen in America.

So while I don't see a problem with what you want if you have the means for it, just don't make the mistake of thinking that Japanese teachers are necessarily better than the teachers available to you in England. They might be, but it's not a garuntee.

If you are going to do this, spend a lot of time learning about customs and social norms. What might be considered normal behavior for you might be rude in another country and vice versa.

 

[David43515]

I live in Japan full time. I`m thinking that it might be difficult for you to obtain a visa if your plan is to come here first and then find a school. I would suggest that you try using schools in the UK as a way to make contact with schools here in Japan that are part of the same oganization. Then you might be able to apply for a cultural visa (That may not be the exact term, but it`s a visa for someone coming here to study something inherantly Japanese. And you`ll need to get someone to sponsor you, ie: say they`ll look out for you while you`re here.That`s why it pays to make contacts before you come.)

Otherwise you could come in on a tourist visa which is only good for 90 days. However all isn`t lost, that just means you`d have to leave Japan and come back. I used to know guys who`d get around it by going to Guam or Korea for the weekend and then coming back.Japan isn`t cheap. You might want to think about studying Karate full time and teaching English lessons or working somewhere part time to help cover the bills.

The Budokan in Tokyo might be able to put you in touch with schools for both Karate and Aikido, heck they may even have classes there with English speaking teachers. The Budokan is located in Tokyo and the cost of living is really high there. You might want to consider Okinawa. There`s alot of English spoken there and the level of instruction is extremely high, while the cost of living would be much cheaper than Tokyo.Just my two cents.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Good advice from everyone.

Bottom line I hope you have money and lots of it because without working living abroad can be pretty expensive.

 

[Bruno@MT]

Good advice from everyone.

Bottom line I hope you have money and lots of it because without working living abroad can be pretty expensive.

+1.

I have not been there myself (yet) but I was told that Japan is about the world's most expensive country to reside in. So without a job, you are going to burn through a pile of money quickly.

 

[yorkshirelad]

Hi everyone,

My dream is to study different martial arts in Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, The Philippines and the US with authentic schools and teachers, rather than business/money driven schools here in England.

I have decided to start my journey in Japan, studying Karate and Aikido primarily. I don't want to work and train at evenings a few times per week. I want to train full time, all day, 7 days a week, for as long as it takes!

If anyone has any info on somewhere that this is possible I would be very grateful.

I am ready to quit my job and go!

Many thanks,

Ben

England has many great Martial Arts teachers, make use of them before you decide on where you want to go abroad to train. When I was in my teens living in Leeds, I had the same dream, but I had no money. When I left school, I knew that I'd be getting a crap job, so i decided to research the best place possible to learn what and wanted to learn fulltime. My thoughts were that I could have a crap job in Leeds and hate my life, or i could have a crap job in a place where I could get to study with the best and love my life. I wanted to study EPAK and Aikido.

I wanted to study at the Aikikai Tokyo, but I had many obstacles;

1) I didn't speak Japanese.
2) I wasn't educated, so I had little probability in getting a visa.
3) I had no money and Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world.
4) I didn't know anyone in the country.
5) I would be lost culturally.

I wanted to go to California, but my difficulties were;

1) I couldn't speak American (just kidding).
1) I had no money.
2) I couldn't get a visa, as I had no money and no education.
3) I didn't know anyone in the country.

I wrote to various martial Arts masters for advise and only one wrote back, Kenpo Grandmaster Larry Tatum. He gave me advice on how to maximize my training and how to go about serious study. I looked at this as a sign and decided on learning Kenpo.

I asked my instructor, who was a fellow aikidoka, where I should go if i wanted to learn fulltime and he recommended Dublin. He told me that Dublin was the European Mecca of Kenpo and that I would find a fulltime school there. I saved up some money, packed my rucksack and headed off to Dublin. I lived in a hostel until I found a job and a flat. I worked night so that I could study at Leeson Street martial Arts Academy.

Now I live in Southern California, and train with a core of good friends. No politics, no bruised ego, no bs. It all worked out for the best.

Remember, fortune favours the bold, but try and think your way through to living your dream. You may have to compromize on your training and plan for a few years before you can attain your ultimate dream. When I was in Dublin, I thought that I was compromizing, in order to put a plan together in order to train in the US. During my time in Ireland thought that I was going there just to learn Kenpo, but the Academy offered fulltime classes in Kenpo under Professor Shay McNamee, eveining classes in Mugendo(kickboxing) under Richie Carton, and Arnis classes under Paul Cox. I got to partake in all these arts and even got time at the end of my time in Ireland to study Hapkido under massan Ghorbani.

When I got to the US, I thought that my Martial Arts dreams had come true, but I was mistaken. The year long, thousands of dollars contracts, training compromizes, due to the liability issues and the politics spoiled it for me. I love living in California and training with good mates, but the training in Dublin was truly second to none.

You might just find that the training closer to home is better than you think. Do some research on local talent first before you make any decision, but don't give up on your dream!

 

[bjc999]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

Looks like I should of asked my bank manager his advice rather than fellow martial artists, since the majority of comments have been about my finances. Not that it's anyones business but I have the funds to travel and partake in an intense training course, pay for rent, food, etc and a training. I've been saving up for years to do this.

Anyway, back to the martial arts...

I've been emailing and networking like crazy, and the advice I have been given by very experienced martial artists is to go to the US, in particular California.

I'm looking at spending a few months in LA next year to train full time. If I am able to prolong the visa past 3 months then I will look to stay. Fingers crossed. In the mean time I will continue to train here in London.

Thanks again for everyones help and financial advice!

 

[Flying Crane]

is you plan to spend a few months here, studying this, and then a few months there, studying that?

If so it's not a good way to go about it. You will learn very little, and if the teachers know that's your plan, I'd say many of them will be reluctant to teach you. They will see it as a waste of their time since you are not serious about what they have to teach.

Better to figure out what you really want to train, then go to where the good teachers are for that system, and dedicate fully and for the long haul.

 

[bjc999]

I completely agree with you.

But due to visa issues I might only be able to spend a few months there. So I'll do that and whilst I'm there (and before) pursue a longer visa so I can continue my training properly.

If I can get the visa then great, I'll stay and train for the long haul. If not, a few months is better than nothing. Then I'll come back to London and continue training with the experience and try to get back as soon as I can.

It's all down to the visas

 

[Bruno@MT]

In that case, do you have a way to contact the dojo in advance? Do you belong to an organization with the honbu dojo in Japan? If you can arrange things in advance, people are more likely to take you seriously. And it would also save you the time of having to find a place and approval of the sensei.

If I would like to go to Japan to train, I would have to ask my sensei permission first, and he'd have to arrange things with honbu dojo. Once I got there however, all I would have to do is train 6 days per week because all the administrative stuff and introduction has been done in advance.

Btw, the reason you got asked to check your finances is that Japan is a very expensive country. While it seems you knew this and planned for this, it happens regularly that people show up here after having seen a movie, and decide there and then to go to Japan to learn MA. And then they ask how they can find a dojo asap, without having spent time thinking about the practical issues.

 

[Tez3]

'Business driven schools in the UK'? We actually have very few of them due to the lack of numbers training here, depending on where you are or where you can relocate to in the UK I can recommend some excellent training places without you having to resort to bankrupting yourself.
You can only spend six months in the USA working/training (my daughter was going to work for the winter there but hurricane Katrina happened so the New York racehorse trainers didn't migrate to Florida as they usually do so she didn't go after all). Vias are quite hard to get, you have to prove you have an income/money in the bank to support yourself, some visas don't allow you to work at all, some like my daughter's allowed her to work for just that six months with a specific employer.

 

[jks9199]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

Looks like I should of asked my bank manager his advice rather than fellow martial artists, since the majority of comments have been about my finances. Not that it's anyones business but I have the funds to travel and partake in an intense training course, pay for rent, food, etc and a training. I've been saving up for years to do this.

Since you didn't start your thread with something like "I recently won the lottery..." or "Hi, I'm Bruce Wayne, and I have more money than anyone can figure out what to do with...", advising you on the financial concerns seems rather reasonable, no? People here don't know you and they don't know how carefully you may have planned various aspects of this dream... and it's sadly not uncommon for someone to walk off the plane in Japan, speaking about 3 words of Japanese (karate, judo, & sushi...) and show up at a dojo, expecting to be welcomed with open arms and given a home in the dojo...

Anyway, back to the martial arts...

I've been emailing and networking like crazy, and the advice I have been given by very experienced martial artists is to go to the US, in particular California.

I'm looking at spending a few months in LA next year to train full time. If I am able to prolong the visa past 3 months then I will look to stay. Fingers crossed. In the mean time I will continue to train here in London.

Thanks again for everyones help and financial advice!

There are lots and lots of martial arts schools, clubs, and gyms in California and LA. It's also VERY expensive. Both for the training, and for somewhere to stay. (I know, I know, you don't need to worry.)

Walking down the street, you won't have a lot of guidance on good versus bad programs. Let me suggest, as others have, that you start by training in England (as I recall your homeland being). Then seek a referral to a good school in the US; it may not be in LA. For example, in Silver Spring, MD, you can train with the current grandmaster of Hung Fut, Tai Yim. In the same general area, you can train with some of the most senior instructors in Bando. If ninjutsu-derived arts are your thing -- then, in Ohio, you have the chance to train in Toshindo with Stephen Hayes. Go to Las Vegas, and you can train in IRT with its creator, Brian VanCise. In other words -- the USA is huge. There are skilled martial artists in almost every state, including people teaching unique arts or grandmasters. Do the homework before you travel and find yourself on the wrong side of a continent...

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I think everyone just wants you to be wise and know what you are getting into both financially, culturally, etc. Personally, I think it is great that you want to go and train in other places and see how other people move, etc. Find a good place to train where you are at get some advice from them and then also go out and experience other people's approach around the world! I have done this myself and it is very rewarding! Just make sure that you know the details of where you are going, how much it is going to cost and who you can train with! Good luck!

 

[jks9199]

I think everyone just wants you to be wise and know what you are getting into both financially, culturally, etc. Personally, I think it is great that you want to go and train in other places and see how other people move, etc. Find a good place to train where you are at get some advice from them and then also go out and experience other people's approach around the world! I have done this myself and it is very rewarding! Just make sure that you know the details of where you are going, how much it is going to cost and who you can train with! Good luck!

Great point, Brian. I do applaud the original poster's courage and desire, and that he's taking concrete steps to live out his dream. No matter what he does -- he's sure to learn a lot! I'm just hoping that he'll get some advise to help him make the most out of what's likely to be a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

 

[yorkshirelad]

I completely agree with you.

But due to visa issues I might only be able to spend a few months there. So I'll do that and whilst I'm there (and before) pursue a longer visa so I can continue my training properly.

If I can get the visa then great, I'll stay and train for the long haul. If not, a few months is better than nothing. Then I'll come back to London and continue training with the experience and try to get back as soon as I can.

It's all down to the visas

There are other things to consider. Try to research the specific area that the dojo you are visiting is in. When I came to the US, I knew I wanted to go to Huntington Beach, but I didn't know anything about the area. I just got in a cab and said "Take me to Huntington Beach." Fortunately for me, Huntington Beach is a nice place to live, but I could've quite easily have ended up in Compton. When you come through immigration, the CIS official will want to know where you are staying, why you are here and how you are going to support yourself while you are here. Here are a few pointers:1) Know what you want to do and who you want to do it with! Research by finding the school's website. You will then have to find out how much training costs. Remember, martial arts schools are a business here. There is no cleaning the dojo for tuition! In most cases, you will arrive for a scheduled class and leave after it. If you want to train when no classes are offered, most of the time, you will have to pay for private tuition and it will be expensive. Call the instructor and tell him/her what your plan is. Ask them to put together a special financial deal that will take care of your training as long as you're here. Everything can be negotiated and usually an instructor will be pleased that you intend to travel so far to be taught by them. 2) Find a place to live cheaply that is close by and make sure it's as safe a place as possible! Most cities have some kind of hostel. When you've found a place, print some literature from the website and bring it with you, to show the CIS official at immigration when you arrive. The official WILL want to know that you have made arrangements for lodging. Again, call the place and negotiate a tariff for a long term stay. Also make surew that you have proof for immigration that you can support yourself. you can bring travellers cheques or maybe a recent bank statement, with a heavy enough balance.3)Depending on what you want to do, get in reasonable shape. If you want to practise an art that is physically demanding, then your enjoyment and ability to learn will be hampered if you haven't conditioned yourself for fulltime training.4)This is the big one. If you plan to come to the US for less than three months, you can do so under the I-94 program. The I-94 is a visa waiver and being from the UK you are eligible. All you have to do is arrange your flight and when you get to the airport you will fill in a little green slip. The slip is an agreement, that you will spent no more than 90 days in the US, and you will not work when you are here. If you take part in the I-94 program do not even attempt to find work. Please believe me, I know from personal experience that it is not advisable. If you plan to keep coming to the US for months at a time using the I-94 program, you may be denied entry at some point. I know of a few people who have been denied, presumably because, the CIS assumes that because the individual has been here numerous times for prolonged periods, then than that person must be working here to support themselves. One more thing, just because you have all the documentation to prove your intent on staying here legally, the CIS official at immigration is under no obligation to let you in, so please BE NICE TO THEM!If you want to come to the west coast, I know of a good few dojos that offer uchi-deshi programs, in Aikido and related arts. If you want my assistance just shoot me a PM.

 

[yorkshirelad]

Btw, I'm sorry, but it appears that I am unable to separate paragraphs using this particular computer, so my last post is a bit of a mess.