Originally posted by Shadow Hunter
Well, let us not talk about my work. It really does not matter.
What I want is an art that is combat effective, does not take ten years to get some use out of and does not treat round eyes like trained monkeys. It would be nice if it is an art you can hardly find outside of Japan.
Here are some experiences I have had so far.
In Tokyo I met up with an aikido teacher who wore gloves during the entire session because he was afraid of HIV from his non-Japanese students. He was also one of the guys that dance on the mat instead of fight.
In Yokohama I met a guy teaching Shorinji-ryu Karate who bad mouthed Koreans and when I took offense and challenged him to step out onto the mat, he became very scared. Rather than face me, he got down on his hands and knees and kissed my feet as I demanded.
On the outskirts of Tokyo I observed a ninjutsu class where there were more guys from Spain than Japan. The teacher leading the class would only show things and would not bother to correct any of the Spainish students. Worse, there were several Spainards running around acting like teachers and teaching things that even I could tell were not what the Japanese teacher was doing.
In Chiba I just saw a demo of the Katori Shinto ryu. Ten people took part, 4 of them non-Japanese. They were pretty much treated like trained monkeys. I watched a female doing rokushakubo against another round eye with a sword and they could not even get the distance right. The attacks came either from outside where they could hit, or they had to be stopped short because she was unable to deal with them. Again, the Japanese teacher didn't seem to care enough to correct his students.
So what kind of classes are there that fit my needs?