# Looking to get started



## AChase13 (Aug 14, 2019)

Recently I've been scratched by the karate bug and wanted to get started. 

I live in the Saint Paul, Minnesota area and there's many karate schools around me. Could anyone here point me to a good school to check out?


----------



## Headhunter (Aug 14, 2019)

Pick a school go to it


----------



## Gerry Seymour (Aug 14, 2019)

Unless someone has been to one of the schools that happens to be in your best area (I'll touch on that), we can only help you consider the process that'll likely lead you to a good (for you) school.

Here's the general recommendation. There are variations:

Make a list of the schools that are convenient to you (near your work, home, or the path between - and with a schedule you could easily work with).
Stop and decide what you want from your training (fight skills, fitness, fun, sense of community, just learning something new that's hard to do, etc.). Know this answer before you go look at schools.
Visit as many of those schools as you can, to observe at least one class of the type you'd be joining (adult  beginner, for instance) and preferably taught by the instructor you're likely to train under. Consider whether you think that class a) offers what you're looking for, and b) looks like something you'd like to be a part of.

Note that it being both convenient and attractive to you is important. Those are things that make it likely you'll keep going, which is more important than the style (and perhaps less important than whether it offers what you want).
Now that you have a shorter list, take a trial class at as many as you can. If one of them doesn't offer trial classes, be willing to spend a month's dues to find out if it's right for you. You're hoping to put a few years of time in at this place, so paying for a month to find out if it's right, while unfortunate, is a small investment.
Go and take classes at the place you liked best. Keep going until it doesn't fit your needs, then go to the next place on your list.
Keep training until you are one of us.


----------



## Deleted member 34973 (Aug 15, 2019)

I would agree with what the other poster have said. It really is not about the style. I would add...just go and watch, if you are not ready to do a trial class, watching will help tremendously.


----------



## Buka (Aug 15, 2019)

Welcome to Martial Talk, AChase13.

Go visit convenient dojos to you. "Convenient" is important, because the further away makes it too easy not to go.

Go visit them and watch some classes. See what you like, what you think you would enjoy the most.

Just turn on your B.S detector before you go in to each place.


----------



## pgsmith (Aug 15, 2019)

Buka said:


> See what you like, what you think you would enjoy the most.



  That bit right there needs to be repeated often. A large number of people ask about what school is better, and what art is best for this or that. The reality is that a great many people start martial arts and then drop out. Finding one that you enjoy going to and being a part of will help to keep you going regularly for the long haul, and that's what will make a person a decent martial artist. One of my Japanese instructors told me (and I repeat it often!) that the hardest part about learning any martial art is to go to the dojo regularly. Everything else will happen if someone can master that single part.


----------



## Headhunter (Mar 27, 2020)

Kyokushin_1054 said:


> I have trained Kyokushin Karate for around 8 years now and really appreciate people around the world getting to know Kyokushin better over the years.
> 
> If you are interested in some more things you can pick up or learn about Kyokushin karate or are looking to learn the basics of Kyokushin Karate, I would like to especially extend a free invitation for you to my online course on Udemy: Kyokushin Karate lessons
> 
> ...


You're not going to be popular coming on here trying to sell people your stuff. This was posted in August 2019 f he's serious about it he'd be training by now, either way a begginer should certainly not be learning off an online course


----------

