# Greetings from Montreal



## Charbel Hanna (Jul 10, 2020)

Hi! I am new to this forum. I trained in Sogo Budo Jujutsu for a year in a very great dojo, got a yellow belt, and then had to stop. I want to get myself back into martial arts, but since I moved to another city, I am looking for a new dojo. If you know any good dojo in Montreal, let me know!

I am looking for something not competitive, but rather very oriented toward self defense and real-life scenarios. I want something generalist, such as jujitsu. As long as it is effective in real-life scenarios. My wife might also want to train with me, so that she may learn to defend herself against potential aggressors. We are both 25 years old.

Thank you, and I look forward to discussing martial arts with all of you!


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## Headhunter (Jul 10, 2020)

Anything can be effective as long as you have a good teacher and you work hard. Pick a place go check it out. Rinse and repeat until you find what you like


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## Charbel Hanna (Jul 10, 2020)

Headhunter said:


> Anything can be effective as long as you have a good teacher and you work hard. Pick a place go check it out. Rinse and repeat until you find what you like



That's a very good advice. I found out in this forum that people won't necessarily force a particular style unto you, but simply tell you that the best martial art is the one you will practice. I couldn't agree more!


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## Headhunter (Jul 10, 2020)

Charbel Hanna said:


> That's a very good advice. I found out in this forum that people won't necessarily force a particular style unto you, but simply tell you that the best martial art is the one you will practice. I couldn't agree more!


Well some will but the end of the day just because I like a certain style it doesn’t mean you will. There’s no right or wrong answer just preference, personally I don’t like judo. Not saying it’s a bad style it’s absolutely not but for me it isn’t a good style because it’s not my thing. It’s a great style and there’s very good people at it who look awesome doing it but for me i wouldn’t be good at it no matter how hard I trained because it’s not a good fit for me..we can’t all be great at everything


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## frank raud (Jul 10, 2020)

Charbel Hanna said:


> That's a very good advice. I found out in this forum that people won't necessarily force a particular style unto you, but simply tell you that the best martial art is the one you will practice. I couldn't agree more!


  Montreal is a big city!  What section of town are you in?


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## Charbel Hanna (Jul 10, 2020)

frank raud said:


> Montreal is a big city!  What section of town are you in?



I'm in Ahuntsic. I just moved there! There is an aikibudo dojo at walking distance, making it the best choice right now, but I don't know if aikibudo is really what I am looking for. (I actually made a post about that issue in the General Martial Arts forum.)


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## Brian King (Jul 12, 2020)

Kevin is in Montreal. I have trained with him multiple times including at his school in Montreal and can vouch for his skills. His classes were well attended by both men and women.  We are no longer practicing under the same organization and he has gone on to do his own thing but I can still recommend highly that you check out his school and organization. Not sure if there is other Systema schools in the area but if so check them out as well. No matter the art make sure that you and the instructor have good chemistry. 
http://www.montrealsystema.com/

Regards
Brian King


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## Brian King (Jul 12, 2020)

Welcome to the forum and good luck finding your training home.


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## dvcochran (Jul 12, 2020)

Charbel Hanna said:


> Hi! I am new to this forum. I trained in Sogo Budo Jujutsu for a year in a very great dojo, got a yellow belt, and then had to stop. I want to get myself back into martial arts, but since I moved to another city, I am looking for a new dojo. If you know any good dojo in Montreal, let me know!
> 
> I am looking for something not competitive, but rather very oriented toward self defense and real-life scenarios. I want something generalist, such as jujitsu. As long as it is effective in real-life scenarios. My wife might also want to train with me, so that she may learn to defend herself against potential aggressors. We are both 25 years old.
> 
> Thank you, and I look forward to discussing martial arts with all of you!



Welcome to the forum. I hope you hang around and contribute as you go through your journey.

Is it a fair question to ask if you are looking more for martial arts or reality based training? Answering this question should really help with making a decision. I think a location like the one Brian King suggested would be a good mix of both. 
If you are looking for something more 'general' I suggest you give good weight to things like location and convenience. It goes a very long way in sticking to the routine.


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## Charbel Hanna (Jul 13, 2020)

Brian King said:


> Kevin is in Montreal. I have trained with him multiple times including at his school in Montreal and can vouch for his skills. His classes were well attended by both men and women.  We are no longer practicing under the same organization and he has gone on to do his own thing but I can still recommend highly that you check out his school and organization. Not sure if there is other Systema schools in the area but if so check them out as well. No matter the art make sure that you and the instructor have good chemistry.
> integrated Fighting Systems - Systema Montreal, Self Defense, Krav Maga
> 
> Regards
> Brian King



Thank you for recommending a place to me! Unfortunately it is far from where I live. 




dvcochran said:


> Welcome to the forum. I hope you hang around and contribute as you go through your journey.
> 
> Is it a fair question to ask if you are looking more for martial arts or reality based training? Answering this question should really help with making a decision. I think a location like the one Brian King suggested would be a good mix of both.
> If you are looking for something more 'general' I suggest you give good weight to things like location and convenience. It goes a very long way in sticking to the routine.



It's a tough question, for which I myself don't necessarily have an answer, but I'd lean toward the latter. I'm looking for something that matches reality as much as possible. For instance, I'd take jujitsu over capoera. But I still want something generalist.

Yes, location and convenience weight a lot in my choice, as I don't have a car and rely on public transportation. And I know that I am not a very disciplined person when it comes to sport, so if the dojo isn't conveniently located, laziness might get the best of me some days.

I have narrowed my choices to five dojos.
1- A Muay thai gym that I will probably attend with my wife once a week, because my wife wants to punch stuff (she does not want to do locks or grappling, so nothing generalist).
2- My former dojo, which offers exactly what I'm looking for, but isn't the most conveniently located since I moved.
3- A ninjutsu dojo, conveniently located, but I don't know the pricing yet.
4- An aiki-jujitsu dojo that looks very interesting, but again not very conveniently located.
5- An aikibudo dojo perfectly located, but I'm not sure aikido-related styles are generalist and reality-based enough for me.

I'm still weighting my options, haha! Anyways I'm leaving for two weeks next week, so I won't start anything before August. I have time to think.

I do intend to hang around. I am very pleased to see that independent forums not related to either Facebook or Reddit are still operating and alive! I will keep y'all posted when I will have taken a decision.  

Thank you all for your replies and your kind welcoming words!


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